Thread: calibre for short barrel(18-20")longer range(-600m) rifle

7mm or 30 cal with a reasonably heavy pill will be sweet out to 600-700 yards.
Just cut my 300 wsm down to 18”, shooting 168 AMAX doing 2850 fps. That tops out at smack on 700 yards if you’re going off the 1000ft/lb theory. 600-700 yards is a bloody long way for the average shooter

Originally Posted by akaroa1

Show is the numbers

I like where this post is going as I have a modern rifle build planned for the near future

Greetings @akaroa1,
Modern rifle build eh. Will that eliminate all but 21st century cartridges? That would simplify the choice somewhat. Will watch this space with interest.
Regards Grandpamac.

some good info there.the short mag family might seem to be popular.cheers

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings @akaroa1,
Modern rifle build eh. Will that eliminate all but 21st century cartridges? That would simplify the choice somewhat. Will watch this space with interest.
Regards Grandpamac.

@grandpamac

Modern build
Old concept. Single shot
So rimmed calibers for ease of extraction although I could easily make a plunger style rimless extractor

So first up rimmed and plenty of viable options
222 Rimmed
And 307 Winchester are my preference first try

I hoped the .307 would get mention.....
222 rimmed...or go 22hp savage with a .224 barrel for the ultimate something different....

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I hoped the .307 would get mention.....
222 rimmed...or go 22hp savage with a .224 barrel for the ultimate something different....

.307 Winchester in a modern strong single shot will easily be equal to any bolt action 308

Historically 307 was a notch down because it originally went in lever action rifles

Originally Posted by akaroa1

@grandpamac

Modern build
Old concept. Single shot
So rimmed calibers for ease of extraction although I could easily make a plunger style rimless extractor

So first up rimmed and plenty of viable options
222 Rimmed
And 307 Winchester are my preference first try

Now your talking. A .30-40 Krag (.30 US Army or .30 Flanged Nitro by Purdey all actually much the same) might be worth considering. Definitely an "A what"? rifle.
GPM.

@grandpamac what do you think of a 375 2 1/2" flanged ?

Originally Posted by akaroa1

@grandpamac what do you think of a 375 2 1/2" flanged ?

You sweet talking devil. Cases could be a bit tricky but possible is a pretty broard term these days.
GPM.
So many calibres and so little time.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

You sweet talking devil. Cases could be a bit tricky but possible is a pretty broard term these days.
GPM.
So many calibres and so little time.

You only have to stretch 303 brass 1/2" to make 375 2 1/2" flanged brass

Originally Posted by akaroa1

.307 Winchester in a modern strong single shot will easily be equal to any bolt action 308

Historically 307 was a notch down because it originally went in lever action rifles

There is the small problem of brass or the lack of.

Originally Posted by Got-ya

There is the small problem of brass or the lack of.

Got plenty

Standard 308 dies work fine
Standard 308 chamber reamer plus a quick bit of turning to cut the rim rebate

Greetings @Yesmate,
My apologies for thoroghly hijacking your thread. In penance I offer my thoughts on the matter. As you will have spotted that the range of candidates is broad. For ease of load development and availability of components it is hard to go past the .308. The panic buying driven component shortages seem to becoming more frequent and longer lasting due to the unstable political climate in the US. Other than that any of the medium capacity cartridges from 6.5mm to .308 will do the job given an accurate rifle and decent scope. This includes tghe .307 Win, the .30-40 Krag and even the .303. Projectile choice for the last is limited however. If building a rifle it would be best to ensure a fast enough twist to stabilise the high BC projectiles now available. A case can be made for a minimum 1 in 8 inch twist for the calibres mentioned above. Some may need more.
At the end of the day it will be your rifle and your choice so choose what you like and not anyone else considers to be a must have.
Regards Grandpamac.

There's always the .338LM or Edge. No issues with horsepower, or being too close. Anything under 10m gets automatically singed as well as shot... You do tend to loose a little velocity with the short barrels but you are starting out at around 7000joules depending on load.

Something German would probably work, 8x57 or 8x62(?) Would be awesome