Best his & hers "do it all" calibers

[SouthPaw]

What does that recoil get you? About 250 fps. That means less drop and more energy when the bullet gets there.

Even down at sea level, factory 6.5CM Hornady PH/Match ammo will get you 600ish yards for 1800fps minimum upset which is well past the OP's 500yd max. 6.5CM and 6.5PRC also have the same wind number. So really the 40% extra recoil gains the OP no practical advantage for 0-500 hunting, and makes for less fun practice sessions.

What if you get a shot at a big Elk bull and it is at a range that makes the 6.5CM marginal? What if the presentation is not idea?

What sub-500 shot presentation would you take with the 6.5PRC that you wouldn't with the 6.5CM, assuming factory 143eldx/140eldm fired from both, and why?

 

[woods89]

Yes. Adequate is not good enough in my opinion.

Ok. I was just wondering, as there are multiple examples of those questions s in that thread.

 

[PurpleDriver]

I share a 7-08 with my 11 and 15 yr old. I reload for each of us. 8# scoped and loaded.

162 ELDx @2750fps for me
130 Speer SPBT @2600 for them

so far only whitetail, Axis deer, and mouflan sheep but all 1 shot kills out to 450.

if I had to use factory, I’d choose a bonded 140gr bullet and feel just fine inside 500yds on most NA animals minus big bears.

 

[209hunter]

My vote is for the 7mm-08. I just love the 7mm calibers in general. From my completely unscientific and anecdotal experience, they just seem to hit harder and kill stuff deader.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[OKHunter84]

I own few Browning's couple X bolts and one A bolt medallion and they're all shooters. One in 300WSM, one in 6.5CM and one in 300WM. Sometimes with ammo availability I've thought about selling both the x bolts and just getting a 30-06. It's always easy to find and without a doubt can kill anything in north America. I know a lot of folks are partial to Tikka but I personally don't think it gets much better than Browning.

 

[Addisonjd1]

Love 7mm’s.
7-08 or 7wsm are personal favorites

 

[pwdrski]

My wife and I both shoot 7mm-08 and are very happy with it. It has excellent performance and good availability, and a wide range of bullets and suitable loads. (I went with a 150gr round.)

This started by my buying her a Weatherby Vanguard Camilla, a rifle with a stock specifically made for women. https://weatherby.com/store/vanguard-camilla/ It's a great rifle and in this caliber, shoots soft but hits hard. She fell in love with it.

I had been shooting 30-06 until then, but I fell in love with the round too and decided to try it myself. I picked up a budget Savage XP Hunter in it in a carbine length and that's been my go-to for the past 3-4 years.

I'm not sure about the ammo-harder-to-find detail. I feel like a lot of ammo is still in that category if it isn't shipped by the pallet (e.g. 9mm handgun). Right now, Sportsman's Warehouse and Midway both have several options available. YMMV, but for me, this thing is the sweet spot.

The only issue you are likely to have with two 6.5 cms is the number of memes and people who will make odd faces when you tell them what you are shooting. I get around that by telling people that I’m shooting a 265 Scandinavian or a 260 pseudo Swede. Occasionally I will tell people it’s a 500 Gibbs with a wicked muzzle break. Usually there is a long enough delay in the conversation that I can exit stage left or I can just whip out pictures of dead stuff.

Pictures of dead stuff always a conversation changer!!

 

[MarkOrtiz]

280ai for you and 7mm-08 for the wife.

 

[6mm Remington]

280ai for you and 7mm-08 for the wife.

Or 280AI and 7x57 Mauser.

 

[casey36]

I would get a couple of 7mm-08 rifles and shoot Barnes 120gr.ttsx or 120grn Nosler bt. Should handle anything you wish to do.

 

[sierracharlie338]

6cm for her shooting 108eldms

You can stick with the 6.5 if you like but if it were me I’d go 308 or 7mm-08 so you have three different setups to choose from down the road.

 

[mtnbound]

TLDR at bottom.

I am in the market for two new rifles - one for myself and one for my wife. We both hunt deer and elk every year in CO and antelope when we can get tags. We currently share a Savage 12FV in 6.5 creedmoor which has served us just fine for our purposes but it is heavy (10.4 lbs scoped), long, unbalanced, and not a pleasure to haul around the woods (especially for my wife). I picked it up a few years ago on a great black Friday deal at Cabelas and for what it is and what I paid for it, it has been great, but now that we're in a different phase in life and have the ability to invest in something new for each of us. I have gone round and round with ideas of trying to modify the 12FV to be what we'd like it to be and keep coming back to the conclusion that I would be throwing good money at bad. With that, I am set on keeping it as a dedicated range/coyote gun.

My ambition is that both of our setups will ultimately be suppressed in the coming years, but we would hunt the immediate couple years unsuppressed. Compared to other rifles my wife has shot in the past my wife loves the recoil (or lack there of) of our current 6.5 creedmoor (reminder that it is 10.4 lbs). I started out hunting with an old 3006 which helped me successfully develop a flinch and after shooting the 6.5 I am pretty set on something with a fairly light recoil as well.

I would plan to keep shots under 500 yards, she would keep shots under 400 yards. The more research I do the less difference there seems to be between calibers under 500 yards. The more people I talk to that I know personally that have shot the most critters seem to fall in the 25-06/7mm-08/6.5CM camp, so I'm fairly sold on these calibers (or similar), at least for my wife. I am interested in stepping up a bit for my setup with the idea that once it is suppressed it would have tolerable recoil for my wife (thinking 6.5 PRC/7PRC/270) and give a little more confidence at longer ranges on elk.

I am fairly certain the most reasonable approach would be for us to each end up with Tikka Lites, or at least something in a similar weight class, recognizing that the felt recoil (unsuppressed) would be affected by this.

TLDR:
-Two rifles, each rifle will be used for antelope/deer/elk. Up to 400 yards for hers, up to 500 yards for mine
-Both on the lighter recoil spectrum, this being more important for hers than mine
-The plan to cut and thread barrels to use suppressed down the road. 20" +/-. If this meant her gun would no longer be an elk gun out to 400 yards that would be fine as she could use mine (suppressed).
-"Relatively" lightweight - thinking 8 lbs scoped max. Would prefer lighter if recoil was manageable. Maybe a heavier setup for her would be justified to help with recoil?
-Given sensitivity to sound and my inability to use ear plugs in the heat of the moment, I am not interested in a break for either gun
-Factory ammo. The idea of handloading sounds great, but realistically not something I see picking up until the kids are out of the house (15 years from now)
-We already own a 6.5 CM that would be a dedicated range gun. This provides a cheap option for practice if we ended up with a more expensive caliber to shoot
-I am not really looking for a "youth" or "compact" model for her setup as I like the idea of either of us being able to use either gun at any time. The adjustable LOP and comb stocks seem very intriguing but come at enough of a weight penalty that I think they are out.

Calibers I am considering:

Hers
25-06: Pros: Seems like a slam dunk ballistically. Cons: Ammo is pricier/hard to find. Seems like a poor candidate for a barrel chop.
7mm-08: Pros: seems ballistically superiors to the 6.5 CM under 400 yards (or very close match) Ammo seems similarly priced. Cons: Ammo is harder to find
6.5 CM: Pros: Already have one so I could share ammo with the range gun. She as been happy with the one we have. Ammo is cheap and readily available. Cons: Already have one - something additional/different is appealing.

Mine:
6.5 PRC: Pros: seems to be a nice step up from the 6.5 CM with minimal recoil. Cons: Too small of a step up from 6.5 CM? Ammo price and availability.
7 PRC: Pros: same as above. Cons: Same as above. Recoil?
270 WIN: Pros: Ammo price and availability. Under 500 yards, would I notice any significant difference in this and the two PRC calibers mentioned above? Cons: Recoil? From research I think this would recoil more than the 6.5 PRC for similar ballistics. Unsure compared to the 7 PRC.

Am I way too far down the rabbit hole on this? Am I slitting hairs between any of these calibers given the 400/500 yard limit?

Apologies in advance for another "which rifle" thread, but some real world input/comparison on those that own above mentioned calibers would be very helpful.

I would say 6CM for both of you if you were to start reloading but that’s not where you’re at so get a 6.5PRC and see if she can handle the increased recoil over your 6.5CM. Good factory ammo selection and good ballistics with a short barrel make the 6.5 PRC a good choice.

 

[Thegman]

The same caliber for both of us certainly makes alot of sense, and would likely be adequate in most/all possible hunting scenarios. Things that come to mind that give me an itch for something that hits a little harder would be:

-oryx
-moose
-bull elk at longer ranges (approaching 500 yards) (More specifically looking at burning preference point hunts in CO in the next few years).

Again, I think the 6.5 CM could do all of these, but something bigger would give me more confidence in those scenarios/eliminate the variable of being under-gunned (maybe an irrational concern). Maybe I am putting too much weight on the suppressor idea, but the idea of me having a "bigger gun", suppressed, would give the wife the ability to comfortably jump up to something bigger (my gun) if/when needed on one of these more "once in a lifetime"/preference point elk hunts (where she would specifically be targeting a bigger bodied animal).

Considering all the success with the 223 as documented here on Rokslide, I really don't think you need anything that "hits harder" than a 6.5CM. It's more than adequate for everything you're thinking of hunting, and frankly, anything in N.A.