Target rifle caliber?

0-500 yard target shooting, I personally choose a 223. No sense in burning ~30%+ more powder and tolerating 165% increased recoil - all to get only ~60-70% of the barrel life.

Without a specific application - competition or hunting - there’s nothing advantageous to be gained by using anything larger than 223rem, 6.5 Grendel, or 6 BR (something pushing a 70-120grn bullet 2700-2900fps over ~30grn of powder) for 0-500 yard target practice. Just noise, cost, and recoil.

Windy day? 243 Win. 85 gr hpbt Sierra #1530. 0r Berger 90 gr hpbt. 4350 powder.

I would like to try a 6mm creedmoor. New stuff is interesting.

6/6.5 cm
243 win/6mm rem
257 Bob
6.5 Grendel
.223 <---

Out to 500 yds/M I'd use a .223 heavy rifle.
Less recoil and wear and tear on you. Still gives a fair ring on steel when you contact.

Theres also shooting 22lr at 50-300 yards.
It is fun, rewarding and educational. Especially on steel.
So much fun to hear the tiny ding on steel at 100+ yds through a suppressed rifle.

wiscoaster said:

What's the difference between 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 Grendel wrt my target range goals?

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This article gives the actual numbers based on common loads. It looks like, honestly, out to 300 yards you aren't going to see a massive difference as far as ballistics. Past 300 is where you would start to.

https://thebiggamehuntingblog.com/6-5-grendel-vs-6-5-creedmoor/

Personally, I think pretty much every caliber mentioned would work fine. At the ranges you're looking at all are pretty capable. I will say, if short term ammo availability is a consideration, I've found .243 Win readily lately which I can't say of .223, .308, 6.5 Creedmoor, etc..

Here's what I'd buy in 6mm Creedmoor.

https://www.bergara.online/us/rifles/premier/hmr-pro-rifle/

@wiscoaster I have owned 2 target rifles a M700 varmint in 223 and a Savage model 12 with in stainless with a laminate stock in 300 wsm. Both rifles shot sub moa. Of the 2 I liked the 300 wsm better on a steel target you hear and see the target move at 300 and farther.
Both rifles that you posted are available in 300 PRC it will reach out a long long ways The weight of the rifle tames the recoil to a nice level.

wiscoaster said:

What's the difference between 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 Grendel wrt my target range goals?

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6.5 Grendel will get a 123grn bullet to about 2600fps. 6.5 creed will get a 147 to 2700fps. Considerably higher ballistic coefficient at a higher velocity... but the Creed eats ~40-42grn of powder instead of 28-30grn and recoils considerably more.

22-250
243
6.5G

270WSM if you want some more recoil

257Bob or 220 Swift if you wanna be old school cool.

wiscoaster said:

Ahhh ... good question!! Hitting the red part of the target at 300 yds 9 times out of 10, w/ scope ... 10x - 12x, and benchrested.

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6.5 Creedmoor plus reload to perfectly match your rifle with the ammo it likes plus you will always have a stock.

A 6 Br Norma with a 272 no turn neck
1-8 twist shooting 105 class bthp projectile and 30 gr of Varget will shoot Small from 100 to 1000 yards
Super easy to load and components are cheap.
You don’t even have to ( do your part)
the br will do it for ya

wiscoaster said:

What's the difference between 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 Grendel wrt my target range goals?

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For shooting paper, not a whole lot. As someone mentioned above, the further you shoot, the better the CM looks.

For “local” ammo availability the Creedmoor wins hands down. Grendel can be sparse in some areas and CM has many more choices of brands and bullets. If you buy through the Internet, both will usually be available. I’m not trying to get political, but online ammo purchases could be in jeopardy depending upon the election. IMO if you don’t reload I’d stick to a more mainstream cartridge.

For rifle choices, again the CM wins by a large margin. Just about everybody is making rifles in 6.5 CM and the choices in bolt action Grendels are CZ, Howa, and Ruger. Howa does have a Grendel with a mini-chassis that would be well suited to your purposes however. The Grendel was designed for an AR15, and if that platform appeals to you there are countless choices for uppers. Grendelhunter.com is a good place to look if you’re interested in a Grendel upper.

I have and shoot 6.5 Grendel. It’s a fine cartridge and Varminterror is right on about powder charges and velocities.

I speak from experience. I have a Premier HMR Pro in 6.5 PRC that I really like, even though I've not fully stretched its legs yet. I'd like another in 6mm Creedmoor, but can't justify it yet, as I already have a nice 243 Ackley Improved.

The problem with saying "only 300 yards" is that there will always be targets a little further out!

I would go with the 6.5 PRC in a Ruger Precision Rifle to start with. I have one and it shoots very well. I have shot <1.5" for five shots at 300 yards.

I went to an estate sale a few weeks ago for an old precision shooter - Palma and other disciplines. While I bought a hunting rifle, I didn’t get any of his precision rifles because I genuinely was not sure that any of them (mostly 30.06, some .308 and .22.-250) would be any more accurate than a modern off the shelf hunting rifle in 6.5 creed. (Especially not knowing anything about preferred loads, or being 100% certain the barrels were fine) The state of the art has come a long way in 10-20 yrs.

One doesn't need a 6.5 PRC for punching paper or ringing steel. It's a hunting round. 6 Creed is plenty for targets.

I will add a 6mmBR into the equation.

6mm BR (benchrest), period, end of discussion.

And does it with a lot less recoil than Creedmoor or 243 or 308 sized rounds.

wiscoaster said:

I'm starting to toy with the idea of aquiring a bolt-action precision target-shooting rife, maybe a Ruger Precision or something on that order. Any input on what caliber I should look for is appreciated. If the Ruger, I'm thinking .308 or 6.5 Creedmoor. Thoughts on which? I'm swayed to those two calibers because I've been noticing they're likely to be in stock locally. My current rifles are milsurps in various calibers, AR-15's in 5.56 and 300 AAC, AK-47 and SKS, and various rimfires, all of which are used only on the range for target shooting. I'd be shooting maybe a max of 300 yds. So that's where I'd be coming from.

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Hey coaster, to be frank I think a 243Win might be right up your alley for max 300yrds. I have recently gotten into bolt guns and I think the next gun I buy will be a 243 win bolt action for sure. It has the same case as a 308 but necked down to 243 size. The lighter bullets have much higher fps and will still reach out and put the hurt on deer or coyotes.

I have a savage hog hunter in 223. It is more accurate than i am and if you throw some more money into it you can have a really nice platform for not a lot of money. They changed the stock design so the older ones are even cheaper but still work well. It has a heavy barrel 1:9 twist so does really well with 55 - 70 gr bullets which are the most affordable. You can get a lot of practice in at a low cost. Last time I hit the range I shot 100 reloads out of it for about 20 bucks. With 223 brass is everywhere

You can always move up to something larger in a few years.