New to rifles, buying a tikka caliber selection?

[Mtslackcountry]

If you are going to put a brake or suppressor on it 6.5 prc. If you are not 6.5 creedmore.

 

[flyfisher117]

6.5 Creedmoor to start. Shoot out the barrel. Learn and gain experience. Then decide if you want to go smaller or larger or keep on keeping on.

 

[Elkslut]

My 6.5 creed filled all my tags this year. Pronghorn at 480 and a mule deer at 175. I shoot the 147g ELDM bullets (my own loads). I found the 143g Eldx just pencil through deer, did not open or expand for me.

There are lots of good ammo choices out there for this cartridge. That will be half of the getting to know your rifle, is figuring out what ammo you want to shoot. Plus the practice it gives you.

If nobody has recommended it yet, I'd say look at a Tikka. They just plain work, and shoot great right out of the box. Pre-threaded muzzle gives you the option to choose if you want a muzzle device or not without having to do any gunsmith work.

Good luck, have some fun with it.

 

[solarshooter]

If you are going to put a brake or suppressor on it 6.5 prc. If you are not 6.5 creedmore.

CM. Has plenty of terminal range, especially for a novice shooter. Less recoil, better barrel life, cheaper ammo.

 

[barrister]

My one gun for all hunting purposes would be a 30-06. It's largely personal as to how a person fills out the list of pros and cons, but for me the 30-06 always comes out on top when I consider every variable.

Second choice for me would be a 308, but I could definitely see a 6.5 CM in that space. I just don't have enough personal experience with the 6.5 CM to change my opinion.

 

[Johnny Tyndall]

I tried to teach myself to shoot with a .270. It didn't work very well. Maybe you're tougher than me, but I'm much happier with a 6.5cm.

 

[Dave Thomas]

I have yet to hear anything about a carbon ring outside of the internet

They are real. Not a big deal though just keep it clean. If there's enough clearance between chamber and bullet it may never cause a problem though.

 

[HuntHarder]

Can we all agree to call our 6.5's bitch biscuits? Creedmoor sounds so feminine.

 

[Speaks]

6.5CM or 243. Honestly best bet is get a 223 and shoot it a ton. Once you can reliably shoot over 450 or so from field positions and make good shots nearly 100% of the time then start looking at what to move up to in order to increase your range.

30-06 will likely make you get worse with practice instead of better.

 

[MTniko]

With being a newer shooter, I'd strongly suggest steering far from anything with recoil. There's a lot of traditional wisdom within the hunting world that is becoming a little outdated when it comes to cartridges and even bullet selection. Nothing wrong with shooting the largest cartridge you can truly handle well, but I've seen big gun claimed folks struggle with even the "little" 6.5creedmoor. Humans just don't deal well with sharp and strong pressure impulses, loud noises, followed by a force to the body. Nobody's fault, nothing to be ashamed of, just the way we are wired. So, all this said, something in the 243win-6.5creedmoor would be an excellent choice, followed by shooting the heck out of it. Either round is plenty for all NA game. If someone tells you otherwise, please consider all the other more crucial variables involved, shot placement being #1. Best way to increase the probability of a good shot placement is to reduce recoil. Following that, lots of practice, which is certainly easier and more enjoyable if you aren't getting the crap beaten out of you. Heck, check out the .223 thread being used for everything from coyotes and pigs to moose and grizzlies if you are on the fence. Ultimately, for your needs, 6.5 is hard to beat, especially with the abundance of good factory ammo.

 

[Matt5266]

I wouldn't look at a PRC if I were you, you need lots of practice and your not going to do that with a PRC. Ammo price and recoil will stop you.

I will echo a 223 will make you a better shooter and get you tons of trigger time. If you can only get one get a Tikka short barrel 6.5 creed. Plenty for anything, good barrel life, decent ammo prices since you don't reload and won't beat you up. You can buy a bunch of cheap stuff to get comfortable shooting before you purchase more expensive precision hunting type loads. I just did a search and you can buy cheap 6.5 creed ammo for as low as $14 a box if you buy in bulk and keep your eyes peeled.

 

[Chris in TN]

As others have said, the correct answer is either 223, 8 twist 243, or 6.5cm.

It is simply unwise to go any larger, and completely superfluous to killing things the size of elk and smaller.

 

[tstowater]

Buy two guns. Get the 223 and a 6.5 PRC. Should easily cover everything you listed plus plenty of practice and varmint shooting.

 

[grfox92]

Can we all agree to call our 6.5's bitch biscuits? Creedmoor sounds so feminine.

A 6.5BB?

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

 

[Jon C]

Rule of thumb: When you don’t know what you want, you want a .30-06. There can be reasons to go up or down from there. Sometimes good reasons, sometimes imagined.

Unless you are replacing stock,running brake or suppressor or experienced 30-06 tikka might not be the best choice. I have a 300wsm without a brake and one with. I don’t shoot the one without the break often. But it’s got a shorter barrel and like it for still hunting

 

[DisplacedHusky]

I sold a T3X in 30-06 and built a Tikka 6.5 PRC (before they had a factory offering). The 6.5 PRC is immensely more enjoyable to practice with than the unsuppressed 30-06.

I should also add that I have a Tikka .223 for practice. It’s a lot of fun to shoot.

 

[peterk123]

Ah the caliber paralysis analysis. I shoot a tikka 308. It's taken whitetail, mule deer, elk, antelope and bear. It's a very accurate and extremely reliable gun.

My wife shoots a 6 5cm. Everything she points that gun at dies. That caliber in a 143 grain bullet can hit a pinhead at 300 yds. And it's just a joy to shoot. Minimal recoil. For my first gun I would think long and hard about this caliber. It ticks off all the right boxes.

 

[evan711]

i should have been a little more clear i have shot a bit and have a couple rifles a 30-06 being one of them and i shot my first deer with it but i havent shot it much and its right handed i want a lefty. i just dont have a ton of trigger time though.

 

[evan711]

Thanks for all these replys everybody. I'll have to take a look into the 6.5cm i just dont know alot about it other than seeing memes about them lol. Im leaning towards a 308 but going to do more research on some of these other calibers too.

 

[tdluke90]

This is really a pretty easy answer. Get the 6.5 creed.
1. Plenty big enough to enough to kill anything you mentioned and get you out plenty far.
2. You’re not a reloader and it has tons of factory ammo options
3. Kills plenty good enough and is the on the upper end of recoil that most ppl will want to shoot regularly.
4. Easier to get accurate loads and shoot accurately than a larger caliber
5. Going 243 will not have as many good factory loads available.
6. All the memes and jokes about the 6.5 is just ppl trolling and because it’s such a popular round. Theres a reason it’s probably the best most popular selling deer size cartridge.

Consider 243 for even less recoil but less factory ammo options. 308 is great but I just can’t see enough upside to offset the additional recoil and slightly less range compared to a 6.5 creed. That’s why the 6.5 creed has overtaken it in popularity.