wanderinwalker
Member
While tossing some sabots down-range from my TC Encore muzzleloader today, I got to thinking how much fun it would be to have the option of switching to a center-fire rifle barrel. Well, okay, that can be done easily enough, only thing required is cash.
So, while waiting to save the money to get a barrel, I'm trying to decide on what caliber to get. I'm thinking of staying in the common center-fire range, nothing too fancy. I do reload, but don't always want to sit down and swap out the pistol stuff to make up a run of rifle ammo. (OK, laziness is a key factor here! )
These are the calibers I have in mind:
.243 Winchester
.308 Winchester
.270 Winchester
.30-06 Springfield
I really can't decide which one to get. I'm not recoil shy by any means; I've fired .300 Magnums before and have shot .30-06s since I was 14 (now about 23). The majority of the use this rifle will see is punching holes in paper, ringing steel plates, maybe coyote hunting with some friends, possibly woodchuckin' (I can hope...) and deer hunting.
(As much as I hope to go hunting larger game in the future, I am realistic enough to know 99% of my big-game hunting is going to be for whitetailed deer. And the 20" muzzleloader barrel is capable of handling some whomping mega loads.)
What is the concensus of the board? And what about optics in the $150-250 range?
Thanks all.
Edited: The 20" peep-sight muzzleloader barrel is capable of shooting 1" or better groups at 50-yards with just about any bullet/sabot combo. It really like real blackpowder and I've backed off my loading levels down into the 80-95gr range; I started off with the idea of shooting pellets or Pyrodex in 100-120gr levels!
So, while waiting to save the money to get a barrel, I'm trying to decide on what caliber to get. I'm thinking of staying in the common center-fire range, nothing too fancy. I do reload, but don't always want to sit down and swap out the pistol stuff to make up a run of rifle ammo. (OK, laziness is a key factor here! )
These are the calibers I have in mind:
.243 Winchester
.308 Winchester
.270 Winchester
.30-06 Springfield
I really can't decide which one to get. I'm not recoil shy by any means; I've fired .300 Magnums before and have shot .30-06s since I was 14 (now about 23). The majority of the use this rifle will see is punching holes in paper, ringing steel plates, maybe coyote hunting with some friends, possibly woodchuckin' (I can hope...) and deer hunting.
(As much as I hope to go hunting larger game in the future, I am realistic enough to know 99% of my big-game hunting is going to be for whitetailed deer. And the 20" muzzleloader barrel is capable of handling some whomping mega loads.)
What is the concensus of the board? And what about optics in the $150-250 range?
Thanks all.
Edited: The 20" peep-sight muzzleloader barrel is capable of shooting 1" or better groups at 50-yards with just about any bullet/sabot combo. It really like real blackpowder and I've backed off my loading levels down into the 80-95gr range; I started off with the idea of shooting pellets or Pyrodex in 100-120gr levels!