which action/ caliber

[Spike A]

I agree with there not being a huge difference but I thought people had feeding issues running let's say a 243 through the long action? If not than that's exactly what he will do is just rebarrel his 25

 

[Ledd Slinger]

I agree with there not being a huge difference but I thought people had feeding issues running let's say a 243 through the long action? If not than that's exactly what he will do is just rebarrel his 25

The 6mm Remington will do everything a 243 Win can for speed if you want it to and the case is longer so feeding from a long action will be less trouble. 6mm Remington is generally a lot more forgiving with accuracy as well when devoloping a load.

 

[284winner]

The 243 is a great non finicky round thats easy to load and easy to get great accuracy from. Id suggest sticking with Savage or Remington from personal experience with finding aftermarket stocks, bolt handles, picatinny rails and accs etc. Both models offer varmint contours at great prices. My daughter shoots one thats factory spec and 95 grain berger VLDs are running 3100 fps and she holds less than .5 moa out to 500 yds. Very impressive. I did some load developement to get good results but thats almost mandatory for any gun thats out of the box. Sure they can be trued, lapped etc but with that accuracy unless the guns going to be used in competition, i wouldnt mess with it. Hope that helps. By the way, ive used it in ohio to kill alot of ground hogs out to 800 + yards. Daughter killed a pronghorn at 660 with the 95 berger and it dropped like a stone on the first shot. Good luck.

 

[dkhunt14]

The 6.5-284 is a barrel burner and uses as much powder as the 25-06. The 6BR uses about 12 grains less powder then the 243 with just about as much velocity. The barrel will last twice as long with better accuracy. Good accuracy to 1000 yards. Matt

 

[SteveOak]

Going from 25-06 to 6.5x284 only increases your bullet choices. Still long action is required .......

I don't understand your reply. The 284 Win was designed to afford '06 case capacity in a short action. The SAMMI spec for OAL for the 284 Win is 2.8" (same as the 308 Win) and the 6.5x284 uses the same case.

Why do you say a long action is required?

 

[SteveOak]

The 243 is a great non finicky round thats easy to load and easy to get great accuracy from. Id suggest sticking with Savage or Remington from personal experience with finding aftermarket stocks, bolt handles, picatinny rails and accs etc. Both models offer varmint contours at great prices.

All true and sage advice. The only concern I would have is that factory barrels tend to be of a rather slow twist and have difficulty with some of the better .243 caliber bullets so you would want to look at the twist rate if you plan to shoot the barrel as is.

 

[BoydAllen]

At the rate that you guys are shooting, rounds per session, and given his other goals, I think that a fast twist 6BR would do the job quite nicely. You could shoot the shorter bullets jumped with decent accuracy, and have excellent accuracy at long range with the longer ones. If I were going to start down this path, I think that I would consider having fewer rifles and that those have greater potential. On the number of shots and accuracy, I suggest that you slow down your rate of fire and put out some wind flags.

 

[Ringostar]

With the amount of rounds your shooting, I would rebarrel the existing action. Pick a cartridge with good barrel life, and reasonable priced components. Get a prefit barrel that's easy to change yourself. Criterion or similar. You can always put the 25-06 barrel back on for hunting season.

 

[dkhunt14]

I don't understand your reply. The 284 Win was designed to afford '06 case capacity in a short action. The SAMMI spec for OAL for the 284 Win is 2.8" (same as the 308 Win) and the 6.5x284 uses the same case.

Why do you say a long action is required?

To throat the barrel out where it should be for the long bullets, the bullet will make it to long for a short action. You would have to remove the bolt to get the loaded round out. Matt

 

[BoydAllen]

On the .284 action length question, if you load to magazine length for a short action, with the typical bullets that are used for long range work, the bullets will be in the powder space to such a degree that the maximum potential of the cartridge cannot be realized. The long action solves that problem. Bullets can be seated out, the magazine used, and loaded rounds ejected without removing the bolt.

 

[Larryh128]

I agree, why get rid of the long action? My 300WSM's are all on long actions, it gives you a lot more options in bullets and setting lengths. If the round doesn't feed from a long action, there are other issues.

 

[284winner]

All true and sage advice. The only concern I would have is that factory barrels tend to be of a rather slow twist and have difficulty with some of the better .243 caliber bullets so you would want to look at the twist rate if you plan to shoot the barrel as is.

That is right on the money. You have to buy an aftermarket barrel for fast twist. I find that a 9.25 is not perfect but gets the work done very nicely as long as you keep the bullet weight under 100 grains for the long vlds