Caliber?

[bull b 25-06]

One thing i have always done is to add weight to the buttstock(2lbs. of lead shot) then pound a cork in the hole and your done. I did this to my 45-70,and it made a world of difference. If you can manage a few extra pounds ,then this  will allow more initial recoil before you add the weight. I also have a Ruger km77vt MARK II TARGET in .25-06,and  it weighs just a little over 12 lbs. a little heavy yes but i'm of a stocky muscle bound type and don't mind the weight.but my .25-06 has the same felt recoil as my stainless .223 survivor does. Also the question about the collet dies to which my reply is they are the best. Your brass lasts a lot longer using a collet die set.

           

[Pass the mustard]

After much thought and a little more reading, I think I'll go with a .308, for more versatility in case I decide to use it for something bigger than deer later, and the larger selection of factory loads (but I'll probably start reloading anyway).  I figure if I don't like the recoil, I can install a recoil reducer in the buttstock to make it more comfortable to shoot.  The new Brownell's catalog has a good selection of those.

The only other thing is that I would prefer stainless, but it's not available in .308 (or 7mm-08 ).  According to the catalog, it looks like they added three calibers to the stainless model this year (none of the ones I want, though).  I wonder if I should wait until early next year to see if they add .308 to the list for the stainless model (I won't be able to hunt with it this year anyway, due to time constraints).  I asked the customer service people about this when I called the other day, but they say they won't know anything about that until the new catalog is out early next year.  I guess the only way to know is to wait and see.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice.  I really appreciate the help. :agree: