Author Topic: Caliber for chucks, targets and the occasional deer (Read 2139 times)

inthebeech · « **on:** April 04, 2011, 03:37:57 AM »

I am getting a commercial Mauser re-barreled and want to maintain the reliable chamberring and extraction that I now get with the 270 Win that the gun is chambered in now, but still achieve my goals of low recoil and good variety of bullets. I handload so obsolete or dying cartridges are not an issue. I therefore am fairly certain that I must rule out such excellent callibers as the 250 Savage and 243 Win - I experimented a bit with feeding some loaded rounds like the 22-250 and found that short action rounds are probably going to require rail, feed ramp and mag mods to get them to feed and extract with the same reliability. I wish to stay away from these kinds of alterations with this project.

So I am somewhere in the neighborhood of the 6mm Rem and 257 Roberts I think; slight nod to the 6mm for the wider range of bullets and slightly lower recoil with the lightest within the respective calibers (55 gr for the 6mm and (excluding the stubby little 60 gr) the 70 gr for the quarter bores), and maybe a bit of an edge to the 257 for versatility.
As I say, maybe I go out for deer in a season and maybe not, but this would be the gun so this rifle needs to have that capability. I am a good shot and an ethical hunter so the necessary precision and good decision making needed to humanely take deer are not a problem. I am certainly willing to pass up shots. But ninety percent of the use would be chucks and targets and both rounds can be tailored to meet my recoil objectives with careful handloading.

I am not sure however how the rounds compare in their tendency to deliver good accuracy when loaded around the starting and moderate charges with the lightest bullets in their ranges. Maybe you guys have experience here in what I hear called "inherent accuracy" and "not being finicky."

Of course, I welcome input in any other aspect of the project that you would like to share.
Thanks everyone,
ed

the jigger · « **Reply #1 on:** April 04, 2011, 06:47:43 AM »

257 Roberts Ackley Improved 40*. 75gr V-Max for chucks and 110gr Accubond for deer.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

Catfish · « **Reply #2 on:** April 04, 2011, 07:06:39 AM »

First you can use any round with a .473 case head without changing the bolt face. As for low recoil round?

Different people have difference tolerances for recoil. That plus the weight of the rifle itself has alot to do with felt recoil. 1 other concern is the twist rate you go with. Lite for cal. bullets are more accurate with slower twist while heaver bullets need a faster twist. This means you will have to give up a little on both end if your wanting to hunt both deer and varmints. There are alot of different rounds that fall into the category you decribed. The 243, 6mm, 257 Roberts and a bunch of other rounds both factory and wildcat. Since your are haveing it rebarreled you could also have a tight necked chamber put in it. It will help accuracy alittle but you have to make up your mind if it is worth the neck turnning required.

BBF · « **Reply #3 on:** April 04, 2011, 02:08:21 PM »

Go down one size, the 25-06 should be just fine for you.

Reverend Recoil · « **Reply #4 on:** April 05, 2011, 04:20:00 AM »

The 260 Rem or 6.5x55 will work well for varmits, targets and big game with low recoil. Berger and Sierra both make superior 6.5mm match bullets. There are many other good varmit and big game bullets. The 2010 high power rifle championship and a new national record were won with the 260 Rem. If you chose the 6.5x55, best performance will be with modern chamber dimensions cut with a match reamer.

GWC · « **Reply #5 on:** April 05, 2011, 06:53:24 AM »

+1 on the 257 Roberts Ackley Improved. Fine round, plus the "cool factor" .

parkergunshop · « **Reply #6 on:** April 05, 2011, 07:06:18 AM »

Since you handload, I vote for the .257 Ackley Improved Roberts.

In my rifle with a 22 inch barrel, commercial Mauser Action, MPI stock, Shaw Barrel, this rifle weighs under 8 pounds with scope.

My loads are the following

100 grain bullets at 3281
90 grain bullets at 3350

I have not tried lighter bullets than the 90 grain Barnes. It looked like lightning struck the deer I shot with it.

Recoil is light compared to your current .270 Winchester chambering.

mcwoodduck · « **Reply #7 on:** April 05, 2011, 08:11:31 AM »

What about just a 250 Savage?
was the first to hit 3,000 FPS
Originally called the 250-3000.
Other than that the 257 Roberts would be my choice.

GWC · « **Reply #8 on:** April 05, 2011, 09:12:33 AM »

Not ideally suited to a long action, but the 6mmBR would also fill the bill especially with a fast twist 1-8 barrel.

BBF · « **Reply #9 on:** April 05, 2011, 10:09:19 AM »

The OP didn't care much for shorty cases as I recall.

gr8ful · « **Reply #10 on:** April 05, 2011, 11:39:42 AM »

Quote from: scatterbrain on April 04, 2011, 02:08:21 PM

Go down one size, the 25-06 should be just fine for you.

+1+ for the 25-06

the jigger · « **Reply #11 on:** April 06, 2011, 05:18:59 AM »

The Roberts is an intermediate length cartridge and have experienced no feeding problems in my long action Stevens 200. I would have suggested the 250/3000 Ackley Improved(which is my favorite) in the beginning except for the probable feeding problems in a long action. Those feeding problems are solvable; however it is a tedious process finding the correct magazine block size to accomodate the cartridge overall length that you choose.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

dks7895 · « **Reply #12 on:** April 06, 2011, 07:12:11 AM »

Quote from: gr8ful on April 05, 2011, 11:39:42 AM

Quote from: scatterbrain on April 04, 2011, 02:08:21 PM
Go down one size, the 25-06 should be just fine for you.

+1+ for the 25-06

Make that +2

The .25-06 uses the same parent case as the .270. Should work like a champ, and is a perfect cartridge for chucks, targets and whitetails.

Sensai · « **Reply #13 on:** April 06, 2011, 09:30:03 AM »

If you're not afraid of "wildcats", the 6mm-06 is a fantastic round. It'll handle anything from 55 grain to over 110 grain bullets and field mice to mule deer. It also has the advantage of being able to use that 270 brass that you already have on hand. Just sayin'

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #14 on:** April 06, 2011, 11:32:48 AM »

Quote from: scatterbrain on April 04, 2011, 02:08:21 PM

Go down one size, the 25-06 should be just fine for you.

+1
can I vote more than once ?

Freezer · « **Reply #15 on:** April 08, 2011, 04:37:58 PM »

My criteria was very similar to yours. What I wanted was to fill the last nitch in my arsinal. A long distance rifle the would dispatch everything from ground squirrel to Cabibou at distance. I have a 1909 Arg. Mauser that I decided would fill this nitch well. I chose a 26" Shilen lite varmint barrel chambered in 6.5-06. The bullet coefficent of the 6.5 is as high as you'll get, as is the sectional density. There is a great variety of bullet wieghts and over bore is not a problem. Since the parent cartidge is 30-06 feeding is not an issue. The only thing I'm considering is the 6.5-06 AI. Do I really need the AI? Norma is making brass for it eliminating the need for fire forming. Dies are readily available.

The rifle will have a thumb tang safety, Shilen lite varment barrel. walnut stock, Leupold VXL CDS 4.5x14 scope and a Harris Bipod. Weight should be 10 tto 10.5 lbs.

Mikey · « **Reply #16 on:** April 09, 2011, 02:33:05 AM »

Freezer - my personal opinion is that you do not need the AI. The 6.5-06 should work for you all by itself.

BBF · « **Reply #17 on:** April 09, 2011, 11:12:42 AM »

If you really want a big K o o l factor, there are several 6.5mm metric cartridges availabe.

inthebeech · « **Reply #18 on:** April 13, 2011, 05:55:57 AM »

I shipped the BBL'ed action off to Shaw for a 24 inch, heavy sporter taper barrel in the standard 257 Bob. One of the other reasons for this project is that, in spite of the fact that I could load reasonably accurate reduced loads in the 270 for chucks, the case was less than half full and I recall most of the information from reputable sources claim that best accuracy is found when the case is nearly fully utilized- hence ruling out the larger '06 based options suggested here - I just don't need that much space.
So the path forward will be to work up some accurate 75 grain and 117 grain loads which fill the 257 case, as well as some reduced loads which will "nearly" fill the case (probably using 4759), bolt on a 3-9x, 4-12x, or 4.5-14x, depending on what my local gun shop has lying in their used scope case, and call it done.
Thanks all for your opinions.

BBF · « **Reply #19 on:** April 13, 2011, 08:08:52 AM »

Since you made the choice it becomes redundant to make any other caliber suggestion.

I do wonder why you used or wanted reduced loads for chucks. A light fragile 270 bullet with a appropriate amount of faster powder would still fill up the case.

gr8ful · « **Reply #20 on:** April 13, 2011, 05:12:15 PM »

Good choice in the 257 Roberts I am actually thinking of having a Ruger No. 1 rebarreled to 257 Roberts just for the "cool" factor

Hard to beat the 25-06 though

pastorp · « **Reply #21 on:** May 28, 2011, 01:50:52 AM »

Good choice in the 257bob. I have several rifles in that caliber..

Regards,

Freezer · « **Reply #22 on:** May 28, 2011, 04:10:04 AM »

257 Roberts is a great cartridge but the two cartridges that benefit most from Akley's improved shoulder was the 280 Rem and the 257 Roberts. The 257 AI has a greater case capacity, better burn uniformity and you can always down load.

inthebeech · « **Reply #23 on:** June 14, 2011, 05:51:39 AM »

News came yesterday that Shaw has my barelled action lined up for their next blueing batch; way shy of their forecasted 4-5 month leadtime. Just thought folks might wish to know that few and far between are the businesses that take the time to communicate progress and do what they say they will do (or better).
I am anxious to see what the new 257 Roberts can do on paper/deer/critters.

the jigger · « **Reply #24 on:** June 15, 2011, 04:45:15 AM »

I'd like to suggest that during your load development be sure to try Varget, Sierra 100grSBT, and Nosler 110gr Accubond.
I used loads off the Hodgdon web site as well as Steve's Pages. My Roberts is a Stevens 200 Hybrid.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

Freezer · « **Reply #25 on:** June 15, 2011, 02:22:54 PM »

An article I read recently in Shooting times stated the two calibers that benefit most form Ackley's improvement are 280 Rem and 257 Roberts. Just something to think about if your a hand loader.

inthebeech · « **Reply #26 on:** June 22, 2011, 04:09:58 AM »

Freezer,
Too late. It's on its way, but I know the article you refer to.