Cartridge consideration

[stan5677]

So you're building a rifle and not wanting to go the Tikka T3X 6.5 Creedmoor route. You want to shoot sane distances but you want to get into longer range hunting eventually prefer factory ammo support but would consider reloading no 30 cals and because America 223, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 6mm Creedmoor are not your options.

 

[grfox92]

So you're building a rifle and not wanting to go the Tikka T3X 6.5 Creedmoor route. You want to shoot sane distances but you want to get into longer range hunting eventually prefer factory ammo support but would consider reloading no 30 cals and because America 223, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 6mm Creedmoor are not your options.

7mm08

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[Rippey715]

7 SAUM and start reloading. Only because it’s a true short action where you can seat heavy for caliber bullets at mag length and not single feed. If you have a medium length action or longer box magazine it maybe changes the answer but most of these walk the line between short and long action for optimum performance.

 

[stan5677]

7 SAUM and start reloading. Only because it’s a true short action where you can seat heavy for caliber bullets at mag length and not single feed. If you have a medium length action or longer box magazine it maybe changes the answer but most of these walk the line between short and long action for optimum performance.

I'm terrible at explaining. Stay true short action not wanting any crazy loads that would benefit a medium action length.

 

[Trogon]

4 of those 6 options are basically reloader only cartridges unless you want to pay 4 bucks a pull.

 

[Jt89]

There's no such thing as a free lunch, staying true short action puts the brakes on loading long projectiles. 6.5 PRC isn't quite a true short action, COAL is 2.995" and true SAAMI spec short action dimensions are 2.8"

May as well accept it, go with a tikka action. My pick would be 7mm-Latté (7mm08 ) for mild recoil, spotting shots lots of barrel life and bulk ammo training.

 

[sharps54]

240 Weatherby, they now come with a fast twist from the factory.

 

[stan5677]

There's no such thing as a free lunch, staying true short action puts the brakes on loading long projectiles. 6.5 PRC isn't quite a true short action, COAL is 2.995" and true SAAMI spec short action dimensions are 2.8"

May as well accept it, go with a tikka action. My pick would be 7mm-Latté (7mm08 ) for mild recoil, spotting shots lots of barrel life and bulk ammo training.

Lol I know right.

 

[Rippey715]

I'm terrible at explaining. Stay true short action not wanting any crazy loads that would benefit a medium action length.

Speaking in generalities here. Heavy for caliber bullets will have better ballistics for long range. When seating bullets it’s good to try and seat the boat tail of the bullet to the shoulder of the cartridge for optimum performance. Heavy bullets tend to be longer.

Short action magazines are limited to 2.800ish but internal box magazines might be longer. So even if you have a short action cartridge, you might not be able to seat the bullets long enough to take advantage of ballistics and still fit in a magazine. And who wants to single feed?

Lastly, is the throat and freebore sufficient in the factory chambering to seat long? Newer bullet and cartridge designs appreciate jump and you don’t really want to jam bullets for hunting, where your environment is not always optimal or guaranteed like a BR match.

So the issue is heavy for caliber bullets, seated longer, will be optimum for long range but probably will not fit in a short action magazine(but possibly will fit your internal magazine) and your factory rifle might not be throated with sufficient free bore to allow the longer seating.

Out of your list, short action, heavy bullets, seated long, mag length, newer cartridge with freebore, and some factory loads. 7SAUM.

(Buddy went through all this for the last year trying to build a “500yd Elk rifle”)

Good luck either way. New rifles are always awesome.

 

[Rippey715]

Personally I kind of want to do a 7-08ai in a Bolt action SBR with a dedicated can. Fun project if nothing else.

 

[3325]

……. want to shoot sane distances but you want to get into longer range…….

Define “sane distances” and “longer range.”