Caliber conversion

[119er]

Posting this in reloading for the information from that point of view and the likelyhood of more familiarity with odd calibers.

I have a Rem 700 Long Action that will be getting rebuilt into a semi custom rifle soon. This will be a heavy barreled 600yd to 1000yd gun mostly for play to see if the long range game is for me. The rifle is currently a 30-06 which is capable at that distance, but what are the other options?

I have thought of .280 Rem or AI, 6.5-06 or AI, 6.5-284, maybe even stick to 30-06. I like the idea of heavy higher BC bullets at high velocity.

Any good cartridges I'm forgetting?

 

[Edarnold]

Posting this in reloading for the information from that point of view and the likelyhood of more familiarity with odd calibers.

I have a Rem 700 Long Action that will be getting rebuilt into a semi custom rifle soon. This will be a heavy barreled 600yd to 1000yd gun mostly for play to see if the long range game is for me. The rifle is currently a 30-06 which is capable at that distance, but what are the other options?

I have thought of .280 Rem or AI, 6.5-06 or AI, 6.5-284, maybe even stick to 30-06. I like the idea of heavy higher BC bullets at high velocity.

Any good cartridges I'm forgetting?

Of the cartridges you list, 6.5x284 seems the most popular and has the advantage of factory available brass. Another candidate would be the 6x47, again a very popular round. For any of these, make sure you get at least a 1 in 8" twist barrel, otherwise the long high BC bullets that make these cartridges work for long range won't stabilize. Especially for the smaller calibers neck-turned cases in a tight match chamber will pay back the extra effort by starting the projectiles as straight as possible.

IMHO

 

[MtnCreek]

Do some reading on the .284. 162gr a-max gives good ballistics at a good price. Barrel life should be better than the 6.5x284 and 6.5-06.
The x47 cartridges are too short for a long action IMO.

Edit: There's a really sharp guy here that shot 1000yd matches w/ a 6.5x55. According to him and what I've read from many others, that cartridge can be loaded beyond the low pressure loads shown in manuals. May want to search here for some of his posts on that cartridge (USSR). My only exp w/ the 6.5 is low pressure loads for an old rifle.

 

[Etkini]

I would suggest paying http://www.6mmbr.com/index.html a visit. They've got loads of information available for you to browse through to get a good idea of what you may want or need.

It's got 6.5-284 on it as well as quite a few others.

 

[119er]

Thanks for posting that link. I'm leaning toward the .284 Win or the 6.5-284. The 7mm bullet does fill the 6.5/.30 gap as stated in the article and I already reload for the 7mm-08 with great success from a factory rifle.