Wanting a new rifle

[Corey Schwanz]

This post could wander a bit, so I'm sorry if I go off track

Current situation: I have a Remington 700 VTR chambered in 22-250 that is as-new (never been fired yet). Nice little gun that I just haven't had time to play with yet (and likely won't for a while now that winter seems to have arrived early in Indiana).

With our deer laws potentially changing next year to allow most standard rifle cartridges, I think I'm wanting a new rifle. Could potentially be a dual-purpose gun for short-medium range hunting (50-250 yards tops) as well as some precision shooting. Some local ranges hold matches out to 600 and 100 yards but stretching that far would not be something I do a lot right now but would like the option to play with.

My dilemma: Do I re-barrel the 22-250 and put a new stock on it or do I sell it as a whole rifle and buy something new (another 700 in different caliber, savage, etc)? I'm thinking along the lines of a 260 or 6.5x47L. Depending on what cartridge I ultimately choose may determine the rifle's plan too (factory available options vs gunsmith made).

Sorry for the ramble, just looking for options

 

[jonbearman]

You can rebarrel it but I would shoot it first to try it out.I had a friend who had one of the VTR's and it was stupid accurate. You could save your money and buy a new Remington receiver from brownelss or another dealer and build it the way you want it from the get go and save the 22-250 for range time and varmints. There are a lot of options out there including the remmage nut system that makes a Remington just like a savage with a nut so you can swap to any caliber you want at any time too. I will probably get burned at the stake for saying the remmage is an option but know a few guys that have them and it requires no gunsmith for barrel changes.

 

[357Mag]

Corey -

Howdy !

I DK what " class " you might end-up shooting in... at your local matches.

If $$$ allow, have you considered keeping the .22-250 for shooting in " Factory " class; and perhaps going w/ an all new rifle for " Custom class " ?

I myself made the move to shooting a custom rifle early-on. In fact, it was over 25yr before I finally
bought a " factory " rifle. Once you step-off into the " custom " rifle realm.....

IMHO - You might be happier w/ your results @ 600, if you campaign a " custom " class rifle ?

Chambering varieties abound: 6.5 X 47L, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6mm versions of the previous two,
.250 Savage; .260 Rem.

Decisions.... decisions !!


With regards,
357Mag

 

[Corey Schwanz]

My original thought was to have one gun that I could hunt with easily enough if our laws changed and be able to take that same gun out to the range and shoot some longer range competitions with it pretty easily. Another idea would be to make it into a switch barrel rig and just change barrels depending on the situation for the day but I don't think that step is something I'm really going need at the moment. Basically a do-it-all type gun. I know I may have to give up a little performance one place or another, but I'm ok with that. I've never really done any serious long range competitive shooting, so just having a rifle setup knowing I can get out there for it will be a big step forward for me. I'm sure I'll get the bug just like I have with every other part of my shooting though

 

[jim_k]

It's hard to beat a .260. Not much recoil. Standard cases. Great BC on the Berger or JLK 140. I am also a fan of the 7-08, so look at that. You can shoot smaller bullets for deer, and really high BC bullets for mid- to long-range target fun. 7mm also gives the option of shooting elk with the big bullets. That would be my choice. Of course, you could just go with .308 Win, and shoot 125 gr bullets or 150 gr for deer, and 180-185-190 for target, and compete in the less-stressful F/TR class. Get the longest barrel you can carry: 24" minimum, better 26".
Jim

 

[Medic505]

Cory,
You list your occupation as a "Berger Bullet Technical Specialist". I'm curious, what does a Berger Bullet Technical Specialist do?

 

[Corey Schwanz]

It's hard to beat a .260. Not much recoil. Standard cases. Great BC on the Berger or JLK 140. I am also a fan of the 7-08, so look at that. You can shoot smaller bullets for deer, and really high BC bullets for mid- to long-range target fun. 7mm also gives the option of shooting elk with the big bullets. That would be my choice. Of course, you could just go with .308 Win, and shoot 125 gr bullets or 150 gr for deer, and 180-185-190 for target, and compete in the less-stressful F/TR class. Get the longest barrel you can carry: 24" minimum, better 26".
Jim

Thanks for the input. I'm leaning more and more towards the .260. I like the 6.5 bullet. I don't have any plans to shoot any game bigger than a standard whitetail for the time being. I'd love to go on an elk hunt, but right now, I just don't see it happening for me in the near to moderate future.

Cory,
You list your occupation as a "Berger Bullet Technical Specialist". I'm curious, what does a Berger Bullet Technical Specialist do?

If you call the Berger Tech Line or email Berger Bullets and you get me (or one of the other guys). I was formally with Sinclair on their reloading tech staff and now am with Berger.

 

[rpierce]

I recommend the 6.5x47. There are numerous benefits to it. First of all Lapua brass which the creedmoor doesn't have. Expect 20+ reloads. Im using 41.1 gr of H4350 with 140 hybrids, .030-.050 off the lands, and the pockets are still as tight as new after 5-6 firings. The pockets will last longer than the 260 with lapua brass and your pushing the bullets the same speed. Expect 1/4 moa accuracy out of that combo with cci 450 primers, as long as your capable of shooting that. The last 3 rifles Ive done are shooting that load lights out. Did a lightweight #5 contour for a guy that's consistently shooting 1 inch at 600 and 4 inch at 1000 with it. He took it to a groundhog match and beat the benchrest guns at 300 yards just throwing his gun on some sandbags. The barrel will last longer than 6mm versions. My throat has moved less than .010 after 1000 rounds. It also has the ability to take down deer out to 800 yards. Whats not to like about it. I won't ever shoot a 6mm cartridge again.

 

[flatlander]

I have to lean towards the 6.5x47 for your stated purposes. Having built myself four rifles in 6.5x47, it's hard to find fault with the cartridge. It'd be a terrific deer cartridge with 130 VLD Hunting bullets, and those same bullets have shot very well out to 1000yds for me in an Eliseo RTS tubegun & BAT 3L prone rifle. Sure, we're talking custom bbls chambered by a gunsmith (myself), but the 6.5x47 Lapua is a fine cartridge. AFAIK, the only U.S. gunmaker to chamber bbls for it is DTA in their SRS chassis, so custom is the way to go.

Your circumstances pretty well dictate which route to take - if you could sell your VTR for what you've got in it, you'd still be left searching for another action to build on, so I'd at least consider re-barreling it, and eventually putting the bbl'd action into a better stock. Which brings up another point in the 6.5x47's favor - if you should decide to go with DBM in the new stock, the 6.5x47's short case length will allow you to seat 130VLDs or any of the 140s out far enough to avoid impinging on case capacity, and still fit easily in AICS-style 308 magazines.

Now I'm not knocking the 260 - and if Remington would pull their collective heads out and start building M700s so chambered with 1-8tw bbls, I don't think they'd be able to keep up with the demand. But for whatever reason(s), they refuse to do so, which forces shooters wanting a M700 in 260 set up to handle 140s to go the custom route.

I've built myself a couple of 260 Improved 30* bolt rifles - one on a M700, the 2nd on a Howa 1500 SA - and both are excellent shooters, even though 123-142gr bullets seated to fit AICS mags jump quite a ways to the lands. In fact, the Berger 140 VLD is jumping around .060", but is still the bullet to beat at 600yds & beyond in the M700. Upside to this improved case is slightly increased case capacity & less case stretching due to less case body taper & 30* shoulder. Downside is the need for custom die set - and that's the only downside I've seen. My fire form loads shoot Lapua or Sierra 123s into one ragged hole at 100yds, at nearly 2900fps out of 26" bbls., and give excellent accuracy out to 700+yds. So naturally, I fire formed 90+% of my brass during practical/tactical steel matches. What's the downside to that?

Good luck with whatever you decide to do - and please let us know how it works out for you!

 

[DocUSMCRetired]

I am another vote for the 6.5 especially working there, you can probably get the Berger stuff pretty cheap. Go with the 140.