308 bolt face...what caliber should I rebarrel for?

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My 22 CHeetah barrel is fading...quite a few years of nailing coyotes with a 55 grain bullet at 4400 fps has taken it's toll on the barrel and as it has already been set back once I think the barrel is rapidly approaching the end of it's life. And as I don't plan on anymore trips out west to hunt I don't need the range the CHeetah provided and I have a 22-250 Savage in the stable.

I will not entertain anything that would require any change to the stock for obvious reasons, this is a Mike Cross stock and the best looking stick of wood I own.

chee3.jpg

So the basic requirements are:

short action
.308 bolt face
pencil barrel
recoil on the low end (I consider a 375H&H to be in the moderate range)
no exotic bullet sizes but wildcats are welcome

Right now the 260 Remington is peaking my interest but everyone I know is shooting it out of a bull barrel. Does it perform as well in a light weight barrel? Anyone with experience? The ballistics of the VLD bullets in 6.5 have always impressed me and that is why I am leaning that way. I am also considering the venerable .243. I have a good 8mm rifle so dropping down to 7mm seems almost redundant.

Suggestions? Remington 700 action btw...
 
I think you're on the right track with the .260 Remington. I think it is just about the most underrated, over performing short action cartridge ever designed.

Accuracy should be fine for your "pencil" barrel. Recoil will fall squarely between the .308 and the .243, but ballistics will be better than the former, and it won't burn barrels as fast as the latter.
 
.260, 6.5 Creedmore, and 6.5 Lapua are all good ones to look at. I think the Lapua is a .308 bolt face, but not sure.

I have a 6.5 Grendel AR, totally different from what you are looking at and have, but the bullet... That bullet is magic! (Maybe the one that killed Kennedy was too...). Anyway, I can honestly say that is my favorite round and it is amazingly accurate. Shoots almost like a laser beam under 300m. Prints tiny groups. My 5.56 rifles don't come close to the consistency and accuracy of this weapon.

I can only imagine what it would do out of a bolt gun and with a few hundred more fps, ie, a .260 instead of a Grendel (although a Grendel bolt gun would be nice, low recoil and short action...).

When I build a .308 AR, I plan on building it in .338 Federal (another understated .308 derivative, almost twice the energy, but not as accurate at range) and another upper in .260 or 6.5 just for dinging gongs at 1000m.

Not sure which one has the biggest case capacity, but that is the one I'd go with. I load so ammo cost is not much of a factor, just performance.
 
Very similar rounds, the .260 and the Creedmore, but I must admit the Creedmore hadn't crossed my mind...thanks for mentioning it. No big differences, only.7 grains less in capacity but the straighter wall cases do seem to wear less when resized. I must say that having a barreled marked 6.5 Creedmore has a better ring to it than 260 Remington, in my opinion at least. and it has one big advantage in my mind...Hornady brass. Not to mention factory loadings with the excellent A-Max bullet.

Thanks for the suggestion and definitely in the running. I am glad I asked here...

The Lapua is a .308 bolt face...another to consider but I like factory ammo a bit easier to find and I have to believe the Honady wouldn't be as heavy a hit on the wallet, but a great suggestion and I will be comparing it as well. Building up a Grendel would be fun in a bolt but the .308 bolt face isn't quite right for it.
 
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I'll suggest 7mm-08 because that's one of my favorites and it fits your requirements as I understand them.
(edit - missed your bit on 7mm, but I still like the round ;) )
 
Three good choices would be (1) .260 Rem. (2) .260 Rem. (3) .260 Rem. Take your pick, you won't go wrong. And you can now get Lapua .260 brass.
 
Very limited exp; a friend of mine has a Rem Seven in .260 with a light contour barrel. It's a great shooting little gun for hunting.
 
.257 roberts or roberts ackley improved... wonderfully accurate shooting & low recoil... i love that stock!
 
How about the 250 Humdinger? Same case as the 243, but it is a quarter bore and can handle slightly heavier bullets. I keep waiting for someone to commercialize this one...
 
Taurus44...thanks for the link...

I own a very nice .308 bolt gun already...no need to duplicate it.

I plan on scouring through my Copy of Wildcats of the World and my Book of Cartridge Conversions, I know there are any number of wildcats based on the .308 and while I like wildcats they do have to offer a something besides a cool name, they have to perform better than a factory round.
 
The 6.5 Creedmore is looking like it is taking the lead here, thinking a Krieger light sporter barrel. The Creedmore round just looks like a more reloader friendly case and I like Hornady cases...always had great luck with them.
 
.260 seems to be the preferred caliber here. That's definitely what I would rebarrel it for, and it certainly doesn't lack in the diversity department!

I think the .260 is huge in the "straight out unlucky caliber" area. It didn't start well, then when it got around to being a good caliber, nobody was interested. Prairie dogs to black bear, it can be hand loaded to some nice performers.
 
If it was mine, I think I'd go for the 7mm-08. I've got an 8mm Mauser, too, but there is a much wider variety of bullets available in 7mm than in 8mm, and the 7mm-08 works through a shorter receiver, where the 8x57mm requires a full-length receiver.
 
I'm confused why no one has mentioned any of the .260 options yet.

Oh - right.

Apart from that extremely sensible choice, I think it would be amusing to do something like a .17-308 or a .20-308. Aiming for a mile a second. Hopefully enough barrel life to get it sighted in.
 
I favor the .260Rem., but the 6.5mmCreedmore or 7mm-08Rem. aren't bad either. Obviously the pencil bbl will heat quickly, but a good bbl (I consider Krieger to be amongst the best) will markedly improve consistency so I doubt that you'll find it to be a poor performer.

:)
 
I plan on having it done when I buy the barrel, I have no desire to do it myself. if they have my receiver they can fit the carrel, true everything and finish chamber it...I am thinking Turnbull for the bluing ...tho I have considered having the receiver case colored.
 
how hard is it to rebarrel a Remington 700 action?
Click to expand...

It's not too hard if you have the knowledge and equipment to tackle a project like that.
It is more involved than removing the old barrel and screwing a new barrel onto the action.
Attention to details will assure an accurate and esthetically pleasing rifle.

If you have to get a gunsmith to do the work, you may have more money into the rebuild, than purchasing a new budget rifle like the Marlin X7 or Stevens and Mossberg versions, and they are decent rifles for the money.
That's not to say that it isn't worth it to rework your M700, only you can decide that.


NCsmitty
 
As the other have said, the .260 Rem or the 6.5 Creedmore are very versatile calibers for a wide variety of hunting and the occastional varmint. You have a .308 and 8mm, so the only 7mm I might recommend is a .284 Winchester. And many people will tell you that a 6.5-.284 belongs in a standard (.30-06 length) action. A hunting .284 Win can get by in a short action.
 
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