New red deer and target rifle

[Stalker-of-the-deer]

Brought a 6.5 creedmoor bergara hmr pro for this exact reason. Just waiting to pick it up.

6.5 prc I belive takes you over the HME threshold at bisley which may potentially limit you on some ranges

 

[Ronin]

Brought a 6.5 creedmoor bergara hmr pro for this exact reason. Just waiting to pick it up.

6.5 prc I belive takes you over the HME threshold at bisley which may potentially limit you on some ranges

Let’s hope you are not disappointed with it

 

[Lever357]

What's wrong with good old 308 for target shooting??? Reloading companies readily available, good performing round. Also decide where you are going to shoot - all 6.5 calibres are currently banned on MoD ranges

 

[Heym SR20]

Target shooting. Biggest constraint to your shooting and fun levels is cost of ammo.

Look for cartridges for which you can readily get lots of ammo for little money.

The 223 wins hands down on this front.

Followed by the 308 win and 6.5 CM.

223 you can get 30 rounds for the cost of 20 308 or 6.5. This soon adds up.

 

[HonestJohn]

Target shooting. Biggest constraint to your shooting and fun levels is cost of ammo.

Look for cartridges for which you can readily get lots of ammo for little money.

The 223 wins hands down on this front.

Followed by the 308 win and 6.5 CM.

223 you can get 30 rounds for the cost of 20 308 or 6.5. This soon adds up.

Spot on.

No point in blowing the budget on rifle, glass and all sorts, then finding you can’t afford to buy fuel and ammo to feed it, then sell it for 60% off discounted because your custom rifle - nobody else wants. Classic

 

[Tim1989]

or 110gr vmax

 

[scotch_egg]

7mm cartridge with a 180gr Hornady ELD-M at 2950fps has just about the best ballistics. To achieve this you will need to burn >60gr of powder. There is a noticeable increase in recoil moving from a 160gr bullet at the same speed.

A 6.5 shooting a 147gr Hornady ELD-M at 3000fps will have almost the ballistics of the 180gr 7mm with reduced recoil.

Place any bullet in the correct place on a deer and it will die. I’ve got 6.5 and 7mm carbon barrels ready to go on my longer range rifle to loose a little weight as it’s a beast to carry currently. My choice is going to be 7mm SAUM and 6.5 PrC as I’ve got a magnum bolt face and short action. If life was boring and I was restricted to just the one it would probably be the 6.5 PrC in a PSE stock.

 

[PasqualeM]

Some of the recommended calibers are pretty hard on the barrel life...just a reminder.

 

[scotch_egg]

Some of the recommended calibers are pretty hard on the barrel life...just a reminder.

A valid observation, performance does come at a cost and to be honest that advantage is only really seen beyond 600m when you look at ballistic charts. The retained energy transfer of the larger calibres is a pleasure witness at those longer ranges.

Expect 1500 rounds through a magnum if you’re lucky.

 

[hendrix's rifle]

Some of the recommended calibers are pretty hard on the barrel life...just a reminder.

As a dedicated deer rifle its really irrelevant though isn't it. Even shooting a couple hundred deer a year, its still a minimum 5 year. Likely rusted out before then!

 

[PasqualeM]

As a dedicated deer rifle its really irrelevant though isn't it. Even shooting a couple hundred deer a year, its still a minimum 5 year. Likely rusted out before then!

..."now looking for a larger calibre rifle for red deer and also some target shooting". Going to the range with a "barrel burner" you are likely to get it hot and even more reduce barrel life.

 

[trickie]

Some of the recommended calibers are pretty hard on the barrel life...just a reminder.

6.5 Creedmoor at that speed 1,800 rounds at a rough guess, depending of course on sheeting speed and no of shot in a string

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

Barrels are like condoms and tyres
More fun when used not saved!!

You need a nice 6.5-284 in a Carbon stock
Now I saw one somewhere recently…

 

[Bowland blades]

You know what ... The 243 win is actually a very good and proven target rifle in std or improved cases . Low recoil pretty good BC if you look around. its just a 6mm at the end of the day that means low recoil to spot your shots . But there is more available like 6 BR etc , 6 mm Creedmore etc etc
Less recoil and great BC the lot of them
If your doing single feed the 6BR should be considered if you take a look see at how it has performed competitively also the 243 Ackerly improved with a fast twist and long sleek heavy for calibre

 

[Callumno112]

I had exactly the same question when buying my rifle. I’ve now got a tikka t3X CTR 308WIN

It’s used for target and everything from muntjac to red deer, with no issues. Barrel life is great. I mix up the ammo. More expensive for hunting and Hornady Amax for target (£28 for 20 shoots sub MOA).occasionally buy some Hornady Match but that’s expensive!

I had a super varmint which was too heavy for stalking (for me) so swapped out for a tikka t3x CTR. 10 round magasine medium-heavy profile barrel and weighs 3.5kg (on my scales before anyone points out it’s 3.6kg) which is the same as many hunting focussed rifles.

Only downside is it’s not going to as accurate at range as a target focussed rifle in 6mm creedmoor etc. but it’ll still stretch out to 900 yards which is all I needed.

One rifle for everything will ultimately be a compromise. I’d much rather have a 308 & 243 for hunting, and a 6creed & 7 PRC for target….. but one rifle is much cheaper and easier to deal with!

 

[Twodogs]

Brought a 6.5 creedmoor bergara hmr pro for this exact reason. Just waiting to pick it up.

6.5 prc I belive takes you over the HME threshold at bisley which may potentially limit you on some ranges

A High Muzzle Energy (HME) Firearm is defined as any firearm which, using a particular round, develops a muzzle energy in excess of 4500 J (3,319 ft lb).

A YewTree Fieldsports 114 grain TLR, in 6.5mm, at 3200 fps, develops a muzzle energy of 2593ft/lb or 3515 Joules. A m/v of 3650 fps would classify as a HME round. And a barrel life, I guess, of about one round.

A Hornady 147 grain ELDM would have to exceed a muzzle velocity of 3200 fps to classify at HME.

The 6.5 PRC is not, in normal usage, a HME rifle/cartridge.

In relation to range use.

https://nra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/HME-Procedures.pdf

 

[Twodogs]

If your doing single feed the 6BR should be considered if you take a look see at how it has performed competitively also the 243 Ackerly improved with a fast twist and long sleek heavy for calibre

No reason to not consider 6BR as a magazine feed. If set up properly feeds from a magazine as well as anything else.
Can easily be loaded to all deer legal and an excellent target round. Cheap to feed as well.

 

[Utectok]

I use one of @Ronin creations for exactly that in 6.5x55 but 6.5cm would also do. I use it for all my stalking red/roe/sika and for long range work and competitive shooting. Get a 24” barrel but a normal taper is fine. I’m very happy with it. It’s competitive and kills 50 deer a year.

 

[Bowland blades]

No reason to not consider 6BR as a magazine feed. If set up properly feeds from a magazine as well as anything else.
Can easily be loaded to all deer legal and an excellent target round. Cheap to feed as well.

RE post that using all that i actually wrote as a whole AS it actually makes an entirely different point when its not in context Than that i was actually making

 

[JTO]

Been shooting the last few years with my sako 85 .243 mainly on roe, and now looking for a larger calibre rifle for red deer and also some target shooting pushing the distances, I have used my friends sako S20 6.5 creed and really liked it, I have also looked at the 6.5 PRC, does anyone have any suggestions for a new calibre, many thanks in advance.

Jack

Do you homeload?