Have a lightweight mountain rifle in the works. Looking at running about a 24" barrel with a 700 action. Be used for mulies, antelope and possibly coyotes from time to time. Want a caliber capable of long range shots out to 800 yards or so. Looking at the 25-06, 6.5 rem mag, 6.5x284 or possibly something bigger with a as I want this lightweight. What's everyone's thoughts and opinions on a caliber
mountain rifle caliber?
- Thread starter beav906
- Start date
Never had very good luck with a 25-06 with a 24" barrel, usually needed at least 26"
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hvfd21walker
Active Member
6.5X284 would be my choice. Thats my next gun. It is very flat shooting with a good choice of bullets. Theres always the 257 weatherby mag. to.
Bitterroot Bulls
Veteran member
You can get a 7mm wsm from savage with the plastic stock that is very light weight and will kick like a mule. I just got my daughter a 7mm-08 youth model and am thinking about packing it on my next hunt. Very short but very packable. If I can get the eye relief rite I'm going to give it a try.
bigshot
Very Active Member
For a light weight rig, u would want to stay with a short action rifle. The 6.5x284 will be that bill and an excellent choice. Especially since you want to reach out and touch up to 800 yards. The 6.5x284 is winning a lot of the 1000 yard matches right now. It would be my choice with a 140 grain Berger VLD.
Whisky
Member
6.5x284 is a good round, but it eats barrels real quick. You're looking at approx 1000 round barrel life. Depending on the amount of shooting you do, or don't do, that may not be a concern.
Personally, I'd opt for the 260 Rem or 6.5 Creed. MUCH better barrel life, ever increasing choices of bullets and brass, and of course excellent LR performance. The 140 Hunting VLD would be the bullet to shoot.
Personally, I'd opt for the 260 Rem or 6.5 Creed. MUCH better barrel life, ever increasing choices of bullets and brass, and of course excellent LR performance. The 140 Hunting VLD would be the bullet to shoot.
Jon Boy
Active Member
I really dont think a light weight rifle and long range shooting go hand and hand too much. We might have different ideas on what "light" means though 
buckbull
Veteran member
- Jun 20, 2011
- 2,171
- 1,361
There are certainly alot of options. I've always liked the .264 winchester magnum. Its reputation as a barrel burner hindered its popularity but with today's advances in barrel material (chrome moly, stainless) you should get quite a few more shots thru the barrel. Also, you have to throw the .270 or the .270wsm into the mix. Any round that leaves the barral at over 3000ft/second and has a MBPR of 300 yards certainly qualifies as a long range rig.
Bitterroot Bulls
Veteran member
The problem with .25 cal. and .277 cal is their projectiles don't have the kind of monster Ballistic Coefficients that the 6.5 and 7 do. If 800 yards is on the table, a G1 BC of around .6 is going to have substantially less wind drift than one in the mid .4s.
The fast .25s and .277s are awesome for flat shooting out to MPBR, but I think those long sleek 6.5s and 7s get the nod past there.
BTW, I love the idea of the 6.5 Creed for an 800 yard gun.
The fast .25s and .277s are awesome for flat shooting out to MPBR, but I think those long sleek 6.5s and 7s get the nod past there.
BTW, I love the idea of the 6.5 Creed for an 800 yard gun.
Montana
Veteran member
I shoot a 25 wssm which is supposed to shoot just a bit faster than a 25-06. I use a Barnes triple shock bullet. LOVE it... and confidence is everything, BUT, it is like a whiffle ball and I have to know my max range. It screams out to 300 yards and then drops worse than a 30-06 180 grn bullet at further distances. As much as I love that caliber I wouldn't even consider it 500 yards gun.
Jon Boy
Active Member
[video=youtube_share;d2COAcHZRlI]http://youtu.be/d2COAcHZRlI[/video]
Pretty awesome little caliber. I want one in the savage light weight.
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HuskyMusky
Veteran member
This is the never ending debate in my own head!
Someone beat me to it but the 6.5-284Norma is a long action cartridge essentially.
Remington mtn syn stainless is offered in 280rem this year!
IMO you don't need a 24" barrel for the .270win, 280rem, 30.06, the 25-06 I would get in 24" although it has poor BC's so it's a loose-loose IMO for a mtn. rifle/sheep rifle.
I currently am at 2 sheep rifles, a lightweight/but not too lightweight .300wsm, for sheep in grizzly country etc... and a super light 7mm-08 type rifle, although I haven't decided on the perfect version of this, also in the running are the 270wsm, 270win/280rem(maybe AI version).
so many options/so complicated, .308win is also an option.
BC's tend to goto the 6.5mm and 7mm.
Also how light do you want to go? how much do you want to spend??
That remington mtn. stainless/synthetic in 270win or 280rem at 6.5lbs would be very nice in a stock rifle!
Weatherby ultra-lightweight in .270win/280rem/30-06 at 5.75lbs is a nice option too, the 6.75lbs version in 7mm Rem.Mag wouldn't be a bad option either.
browning a-bolt titanium in 270wsm is also nice at 5.75lbs.
sako a7/tikka/sako finnlight also nice options.
Someone beat me to it but the 6.5-284Norma is a long action cartridge essentially.
Remington mtn syn stainless is offered in 280rem this year!
IMO you don't need a 24" barrel for the .270win, 280rem, 30.06, the 25-06 I would get in 24" although it has poor BC's so it's a loose-loose IMO for a mtn. rifle/sheep rifle.
I currently am at 2 sheep rifles, a lightweight/but not too lightweight .300wsm, for sheep in grizzly country etc... and a super light 7mm-08 type rifle, although I haven't decided on the perfect version of this, also in the running are the 270wsm, 270win/280rem(maybe AI version).
so many options/so complicated, .308win is also an option.
BC's tend to goto the 6.5mm and 7mm.
Also how light do you want to go? how much do you want to spend??
That remington mtn. stainless/synthetic in 270win or 280rem at 6.5lbs would be very nice in a stock rifle!
Weatherby ultra-lightweight in .270win/280rem/30-06 at 5.75lbs is a nice option too, the 6.75lbs version in 7mm Rem.Mag wouldn't be a bad option either.
browning a-bolt titanium in 270wsm is also nice at 5.75lbs.
sako a7/tikka/sako finnlight also nice options.
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Shaun
Active Member
- Jan 7, 2012
- 243
- 0
Personally for a lr rig I would look toward a 7mm wsm a little less kick than a standard 7mm and if you use a Berger vld it will have super high bc's witch is a must for shooting that distance I would also look at longrangehunting.com and see what those boys are shooting over there just my .02$
Tenmilestyle
New Member
BKC
Very Active Member
Ultra light arms in .284 It is not a 800 yard gun ( maybe at the range but not across a canyon) but at 500 yards it is the perfect mountain rifle. Shooting 150 gr barnes ttsx and topped w/ leupold vx3 4.5 x 14 lr, it is like carrying a kids gun!
ChadH
Active Member
I agree. I have a Savage short action that "needs" a new barrel and stock
I was going to buy a Benchmark Barrel and McMillan Stock for it and turn it into a 6.5 Creedmore. After adding up the cost of that, I may just go with a stock Savage LRH in 6.5 Creed ($775) and order a stock later....This is an interesting topic for me, I have been considering building a lighweight rifle for mountain muley and elk hunting for several years. I haven't done anything because I haven't decided exactly what I want. If I want to do it with just one gun I'd go with a 7WSM or 300WSM in a Browning A-bolt Mountain TI with a Vias brake added. If I want to do 2 guns I'd go with the 300WSM for elk, and build a custom 6.5x284 or 260 rem. I carry my rifle in an eberlestock scabbard often also, so a shorter overall length keeps the stock from sticking way over my head. Problem with that is that every cartridge I like benefits greatly from a longer barrel.
While I am debating all this, I keep hunting with the custom gun I had built when a friend went through gunsmith school. It's seen THOUSANDS of rounds starting as a factory 7 mag. When my friend needed guns to work on he re-barelled it to a 300 win for the price of parts. When I shot that barrel out and developed a substantial flinch doing it, it got it's 3rd barrel in 264 win mag. The 264 is my favorite, and what it will stay. I like the light recoil, great penetration, and good ballistics. It weighs 10.5lbs with it's 4.5x14 Leupold CDS scope, ammo, and sling but it's easy to shoot well and just seems to be lucky. It's taken a 198" whitetail and a 200" muley, plus lots of other game, coyotes, prairie dogs, etc for me over the years and I just keep using it. I wanted to shoot 140gr Bergers in this rifle but it just hasn't ever shot them well. It does shoot 140gr accubonds very well and they have awesome terminal performance with decent ballistics. I shoot 600 practicing alot, but I'm not quite consistent enough to feel comfortable shooting game that far. I shoot alot kneeling from my Stoney Point Rapid Pivot bipod and spend alot of my practice time shooting 200-350yds that way. It gets me high enough to clear most grass or sage, and is real quick to get into. I try real hard to get prone for longer shots.
While I am debating all this, I keep hunting with the custom gun I had built when a friend went through gunsmith school. It's seen THOUSANDS of rounds starting as a factory 7 mag. When my friend needed guns to work on he re-barelled it to a 300 win for the price of parts. When I shot that barrel out and developed a substantial flinch doing it, it got it's 3rd barrel in 264 win mag. The 264 is my favorite, and what it will stay. I like the light recoil, great penetration, and good ballistics. It weighs 10.5lbs with it's 4.5x14 Leupold CDS scope, ammo, and sling but it's easy to shoot well and just seems to be lucky. It's taken a 198" whitetail and a 200" muley, plus lots of other game, coyotes, prairie dogs, etc for me over the years and I just keep using it. I wanted to shoot 140gr Bergers in this rifle but it just hasn't ever shot them well. It does shoot 140gr accubonds very well and they have awesome terminal performance with decent ballistics. I shoot 600 practicing alot, but I'm not quite consistent enough to feel comfortable shooting game that far. I shoot alot kneeling from my Stoney Point Rapid Pivot bipod and spend alot of my practice time shooting 200-350yds that way. It gets me high enough to clear most grass or sage, and is real quick to get into. I try real hard to get prone for longer shots.