What caliber to add?

[mww982]

Someone I know may be purchasing a new rifle (bolt action) for me and was asking what caliber I wanted for hunting. The current calibers I own are .223 rem. (practice and coyote gun), 7mm-08 (deer rifle), and .300-win mag (Elk gun). If you were to add another caliber, what would you add, especially if you want to shoot it suppressed and as a mountain rifle? I'm thinking 7mm PRC. I don't handload, so having factory ammo options is a must.

 

[omicron1792]

Someone I know may be purchasing a new rifle (bolt action) for me and was asking what caliber I wanted for hunting. The current calibers I own are .223 rem. (practice and coyote gun), 7mm-08 (deer rifle), and .300-win mag (Elk gun). If you were to add another caliber, what would you add, especially if you want to shoot it suppressed and as a mountain rifle? I'm thinking 7mm PRC. I don't handload, so having factory ammo options is a must.

If I was getting a new 7mm I would get backcountry with 18-20” barrel

 

[Matt5266]

You have a decent spread there. My vote would be something in a 6 probably. 6 creed or 6 ARC

 

[The Harbor Master]

You're missing a 6mm or .25

 

[SuperDUECE22]

6mm

 

[NRA4LIFE]

.243

 

[wildwilderness]

6.5 prc has good options for what you are looking for

 

[2muchhp]

Yeah, you need a 1/4 bore...me too

 

[Seeknelk]

6 Creed or 243 or 6ARC maybe? That's what's next for me. A 6 CM most likely.

 

[peterk123]

204 ruger. I'm thinking hard about one for a varmint gun.

 

[Luked]

Right now in my stable jsut for comparison.
I have a 223, 300 Blackout & 6mm Arc all in AR platforms
In bolt guns I have
243, 7-08, 270, 300WSM, 6.5CM, 35Rem.

My next one will probably be a 6 Creedmoor

 

[TaperPin]

My primary mountain rifle has been a 7mm for a long time, so I’d definitely do the 7 PRC. Easy to shoot, kills things well.

 

[Slick8]

Lots of options but the 7 PRC would be high on my list. If you don't hand load then even better.

Other options would be a 6.5 PRC or bigger, 7 Saum, or 7RM. They all do pretty much the same thing out of a 20-24 inch barrel.

I have a mid-weight 7PRC in a 22 inch barrel headed my way soon. Plan to load it with 180 Hybrids.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I would get an ultralight 6mm CM

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

The 7mm-08 is not a shoulder buster so any 243/6mm variant is not going to do much for you other than get you membership to the in-crowd on this site. The 6.5 CM is out as there's too much overlap with your 7mm-08. The 7 PRC is nice but will potentially relegate your 300 WM to collect dust. Both the 7 Backcountry and 6.8 Western look and sound good but there's no telling about long-term support especially on the commercial ammo front.

Take a look at the 270 Win. It's old and fallen out of favor with the folks on RS. However, it is a proven killer of NA game, historical epitome of a mountain cartridge, tons of commercial ammo, ballistically you can get past 700 yards on game, and a viable backup to your 7mm-8 or 300 WM should the need arise.

 

[mww982]

The 7mm-08 is not a shoulder buster so any 243/6mm variant is not going to do much for you other than get you membership to the in-crowd on this site. The 6.5 CM is out as there's too much overlap with your 7mm-08. The 7 PRC is nice but will potentially relegate your 300 WM to collect dust. Both the 7 Backcountry and 6.8 Western look and sound good but there's no telling about long-term support especially on the commercial ammo front.

Take a look at the 270 Win. It's old and fallen out of favor with the folks on RS. However, it is a proven killer of NA game, historical epitome of a mountain cartridge, tons of commercial ammo, ballistically you can get past 700 yards on game, and a viable backup to your 7mm-8 or 300 WM should the need arise.

My 7mm-08 is primarily my deer rifle, it's a 22" barrel. However, I am going to get it threaded for a suppressor so I may have to cut it down to 18" or 19" to do so. Most likely that gun will be relegated to just a deer rifle. I wasn't looking for a new rifle for hunting because I have my bases covered for that. I may use end up using this new gun mainly as a long-range target gun primarily and hunting secondary.