Two Rifle Setup - What Would You Do?

loadsandlattes

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
149
Hey guys!

I’m moving toward selling a few rifles I have been hanging onto, and building a new rifle with the intention of having a two-rifle setup and pairing everthing down a bit. The older I get, the more I realize that I don’t need a bunch of excess gear, rifles, or anything else sitting around being stored.

A few months back, I built what I thought was about as ideal as a hunting rifle as I could put together in 6.5 PRC. And my gosh, it’s a shooter and an absolute dream to pack around. I absolutely love it, but want to pair it with something else - but I’m not sure if I should go with something slightly larger or slightly smaller. This is what I built:

HNT26 Chassis
Impact NBK Action
Benchmark Sendero 20”
Triggertech Diamond
Nightforce NX8 2.5-20
Spuhr rings

I am in West Texas and hunt a lot of coyotes, pigs, and varmints locally. During season, I hunt whitetail (mostly for meat, I’m not picky). I also sneak off out west for bear, elk, and muledeer. Truth be told, the 6.5 PRC is great for any of those and exactly why I chose that particular cartridge to build off of, though it might be a bit overboard for the smaller stuff. I also try and shoot one or two NRL Hunter matches annually.

So. I’m not sure what I want to do next. I have a donor rifle that I’m pulling a scope off of, so whatever I build will have a Nightforce NX8 4-32 on it. I do shoot suppressed and already have that side of things covered. I do not reload, and I don’t want to get into it. I’m in the middle of building a shop and will have the space for it eventually, but twin 3 year olds take time I do not have. I love the HNT26 chassis and was going to copy/paste it into my next build, but I’m not opposed to considering other options. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Cartridge: ___?
Hnt26 Chassis
Impact NBK Action
Barrel: ___? (20” max)
Triggertech Special
Nightforce NX8 4-32
Spuhr rings

What are your guys thoughts for cartridge? My gut keeps pushing me back toward something like a 6 creed, but I also have been entertaining 7PRC, 22 ARC, and a few others. Go bigger? Go Smaller?
 
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
2,770
Location
hawai'i
I vote smaller something like 6cm with 108 eldm if shooting factory ammo. Then the twins can shoot it too. Also could be set up for comps easily. PVA or PbB .750 taperles or PBB hybrid light are popular contours for 20" 5/8 threaded prefits
 

Long Cut

WKR
Joined
May 24, 2019
Messages
431
AR in .223, with a 6 ARC /or 6.5 CM bolt gun and a 7 PRC or/ .300 WM bolt gun.

I prefer semi auto’s for hog & coyote hunting. Our typical engagements are sub 200 yards, so we don’t need anything crazy for them down here. That gun would have a thermal & suppressor on it as well.
 

OXN939

WKR
Joined
Jun 28, 2018
Messages
1,866
Location
VA
Hey guys!

I’m moving toward selling a few rifles I have been hanging onto, and building a new rifle with the intention of having a two-rifle setup and pairing everthing down a bit. The older I get, the more I realize that I don’t need a bunch of excess gear, rifles, or anything else sitting around being stored.

A few months back, I built what I thought was about as ideal as a hunting rifle as I could put together in 6.5 PRC. And my gosh, it’s a shooter and an absolute dream to pack around. I absolutely love it, but want to pair it with something else - but I’m not sure if I should go with something slightly larger or slightly smaller. This is what I built:

HNT26 Chassis
Impact NBK Action
Benchmark Sendero 20”
Triggertech Diamond
Nightforce NX8 2.5-20
Spuhr rings

I am in West Texas and hunt a lot of coyotes, pigs, and varmints locally. During season, I hunt whitetail (mostly for meat, I’m not picky). I also sneak off out west for bear, elk, and muledeer. Truth be told, the 6.5 PRC is great for any of those and exactly why I chose that particular cartridge to build off of, though it might be a bit overboard for the smaller stuff. I also try and shoot one or two NRL Hunter matches annually.

So. I’m not sure what I want to do next. I have a donor rifle that I’m pulling a scope off of, so whatever I build will have a Nightforce NX8 4-32 on it. I do shoot suppressed and already have that side of things covered. I do not reload, and I don’t want to get into it. I’m in the middle of building a shop and will have the space for it eventually, but twin 3 year olds take time I do not have. I love the HNT26 chassis and was going to copy/paste it into my next build, but I’m not opposed to considering other options. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Cartridge: ___?
Hnt26 Chassis
Impact NBK Action
Barrel: ___? (20” max)
Triggertech Special
Nightforce NX8 4-32
Spuhr rings

What are your guys thoughts for cartridge? My gut keeps pushing me back toward something like a 6 creed, but I also have been entertaining 7PRC, 22 ARC, and a few others. Go bigger? Go Smaller?

A small, handy 7mm-08 and a larger, more distance capable 6.5 PRC would be a hard combo to beat.
 

Taudisio

WKR
Joined
Jan 20, 2023
Messages
1,047
Location
Oregon
A rifle to pair with your 6.5prc….. a 6 creedmoor with an 18” barrel, or a 223 or 6x45 with any length barrel 16-20” if you have others (young kids) that will use your rifle. I have had more 223/5.56s over the years than any other caliber (excluding shotguns). I recently bought a 6x45 and it is my new love at the moment. All 3 of the calibers will comfortably cover all your hunting needs with proper bullet selection. The PRC has the longer range covered.
 
Joined
May 22, 2023
Messages
335
Sounds like you are looking to build two of the same rifle. If it were me I’d go 6.8w as the hunting rifle and 223/5.56 as a cheaper trainier.
 

BKM

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 5, 2024
Messages
110
I’d go .223 bolt gun. I’m planning on doing a tikka .223 to go with my 6.5cm built exactly the same for my two gun set up.

Ok so it’s not really going to be a two gun set up but those will be what is taken out of the safe 9 out of ten times
 
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