What caliber for a budget gun?

Ian's Dad

Ian's Dad

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Here's the thing. One of my 2024 goals is to get a bolt gun and go to a thousand yard class. I am not going to buy a high end gun as I know this is something I will do very rarely. I will probably get a stock Savage or similar and my upgrade a stock but maybe not. About the time I get it I will likely have a 30 caliber suppressor so I will get a threaded barrel. My question is simply this? What caliber should I get? Pros and cons of these options? .243, 6.5 grendel, 308, 6.5cm... I want something with readily available factory ammo. I do reload but probably will not for this. My main interest are ballistics, cost and availability of ammo and recoil is secondary?

I'm not worried about shooting a barrel out as I won't probably ever shoot more than a thousand rounds.


Feel free to recommend something else but not something oddball that I have to reload for or that is difficult to find or super expensive why
 
@Tim is spot on. The 6.5 Creedmoor is the best caliber that checks all your boxes.
 
Ian's Dad said:
243, 6.5 grendel, 308, 6.5cm... I want something with readily available factory ammo. I do reload but probably will not for this. My main interest are ballistics, cost and availability of ammo and recoil is secondary?
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Given these stipulations (as most others have already said or will say) the 6.5 Creedmoor is head and shoulders the best choice, based on what I've seen in comparative analyses. (And I'm a 50 year .308/.243 fan, but I acknowledge the data as presented.)
 
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6.5 creed if using factory ammo, if you reload, which I high recommend for this particular class if you didn’t reload for the gun ever again, look at the 6.5 prc, it will outperform the creed.
 
If you want to get the most out of the class, shoot a 308 with handloads that are 0.5moa or better. The reason being, you are either going to learn to read wind well or not be nearly as successful hitting targets. The 6.5 caliber cartridges are going to give you and edge on your wind reading ability through the higher BC bullets.
 
Jimbob78 said:
If you want to get the most out of the class, shoot a 308 with handloads that are 0.5moa or better. The reason being, you are either going to learn to read wind well or not be nearly as successful hitting targets. The 6.5 caliber cartridges are going to give you and edge on your wind reading ability through the higher BC bullets.
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I started out on .308 back in the early 90’s. Shooting the 6.5 Creedmoor felt like cheating lol.
 
I agree with 6.5 Creedmoor. What rifle depends on your budget. We all will have different thoughts on what is high end or low end depending on our own financial situations.

In my opinion... Savage Axis II is a good lower end. I have one in .308 16" threaded barrel, threw in an Timney adjustable trigger and a cheap scope. If you want to upgrade the stock, I would look at a Magpull stock. I would also look for something with a fully floating barrel if that's in your price range.

Remington 700 is a very popular and solid performer with lots of after market upgrades readily available.

For my 6.5 I went with a Christensen Arms Mesa. It's essentially a Remington 700, but taken up a few notches. Not cheap, but I love it. I feel like it's on the very high end based on my income, but there are definitely far more expensive options out there. I too want to learn to shoot at 1K yards. Right now I have it sighted in to 200 and it holds good tight groups. If you want to make your way up to Burlington I am happy to let you put some rounds down range.

Keep in mind any additional items you might need. A solid scope is important to me. I put on a Leupold VX3-HD. I prefer a bipod I and went with an Atlas, which on the 700 or mesa requires drilling some holes in the stock. I added a cheek riser which also requires drilling some holes.

I don't have any decent pics on hand, but here is what I've got...

IMG_8825.jpg
 
Jimbob78 said:
The only problem with the 260 is production ammo. I wouldn’t say the 260 is for just target shooting either.
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260 is one of my favorite cartridges as well. I’ve shot a few rounds of it and burnt several barrels both straight 260 and ai.
 
6.5 Creedmoor, it just performs, and you can get ammo as low as 80cents.
6 Creedmoor is harder to come by

6.5 PRC is a hotrod 6.5 Creedmoor.

6.5 Grendel is a fantastic round, but losing a lot of performance vs CM
6 ARC is also a fantastic option, but harder to come by for ammo, and losing performance vs the CM

So, conclusion to me:
6.5 Creedmoor for price and performance.

Other considerations for rifle:

Budget:
CVA Cascade (Bergara company)
Ruger Americans

Higher budget:
Bergara (R700 that works lol)
 
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