I currently load for .25-06, .30-06, .300WM, and .338WM. I have two .25-06 rifles: a Savage Axis II and a Ruger Hawkeye stainless/laminate. The Ruger proved too long and heavy for my daughter, so now I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. It's been sitting unfired for three years. Here are the choices I'm considering:
1. Put an extra scope on it and use it as a spare camp rifle in case anyone has rifle problems. I'll always have .25-06 ammo for the Savage, so keeping this as a spare would be no extra work/cost. On the other hand, needing a spare is a low probability event. Hasn't happened to anyone at our camp in the 14 years I've been hunting.
2. Sell it and buy a nice accurate rifle. Maybe the Mauser M18 or Sauer 100. Probably go .223 rem (I should probably have at least one .223), 6.5 CM for a nice low recoil hunting rifle, or .30-06 since I already load for my M1.
3. Make it a project gun. I looked into selling the rifle to Cabela's gun library, but their offer was so ridiculously low that the rifle or the action were worth more to me. Upside to this option is that I could have something that is not common. Downside is the cost. This would cost more than an accurate factory rifle and even more so if I funded the factory rifle in part by selling this rifle. Here are the chamberings I'm considering if I do a project:
A. 280AI: Arguably one of the best all-around NA big game cartridges that is not widely available. It also uses powders in the same burn rate range as I already stock. I'd just have to buy the dies and bullets.
B. .338-06: A pretty uncommon cartridge that many swear by. It would offer bullet weights up to 250 gr which none of my other rifles offer. There is some overlap with powders I currently stock, but I'd probably end up stocking some additional powders. At least I already stock the bullets. Brass will be harder to come by than .280AI, but it is easier to form out of .30-06 than it is to form .280AI out of .30-06.
C. 35 Whelen: This one is probably last on my list. I like the big bullet diameter and the "Whelen" history, but there is no synergy with what I'm already doing. I'd need bullets and powders that I don't already stock. This also doesn't allow bullets heavier than the .338-06.
D. 9.3x62: This one has the same problems for me as the Whelen in terms of all new powders and bullets, but now it allows bullet weights from 232 gr to 320 gr. This is the only one that offers something that my current rifles don't. Right now I have .257 and .308 bullets from 75 gr to 220. The 9.3 would pick up right where my existing choices end.
So, what would you do? My head says sell the rifle and buy a Mauser or Sauer. I'd have a nice accurate rifle for a net of a few hundred bucks. I kind of want to do a project rifle, though.
1. Put an extra scope on it and use it as a spare camp rifle in case anyone has rifle problems. I'll always have .25-06 ammo for the Savage, so keeping this as a spare would be no extra work/cost. On the other hand, needing a spare is a low probability event. Hasn't happened to anyone at our camp in the 14 years I've been hunting.
2. Sell it and buy a nice accurate rifle. Maybe the Mauser M18 or Sauer 100. Probably go .223 rem (I should probably have at least one .223), 6.5 CM for a nice low recoil hunting rifle, or .30-06 since I already load for my M1.
3. Make it a project gun. I looked into selling the rifle to Cabela's gun library, but their offer was so ridiculously low that the rifle or the action were worth more to me. Upside to this option is that I could have something that is not common. Downside is the cost. This would cost more than an accurate factory rifle and even more so if I funded the factory rifle in part by selling this rifle. Here are the chamberings I'm considering if I do a project:
A. 280AI: Arguably one of the best all-around NA big game cartridges that is not widely available. It also uses powders in the same burn rate range as I already stock. I'd just have to buy the dies and bullets.
B. .338-06: A pretty uncommon cartridge that many swear by. It would offer bullet weights up to 250 gr which none of my other rifles offer. There is some overlap with powders I currently stock, but I'd probably end up stocking some additional powders. At least I already stock the bullets. Brass will be harder to come by than .280AI, but it is easier to form out of .30-06 than it is to form .280AI out of .30-06.
C. 35 Whelen: This one is probably last on my list. I like the big bullet diameter and the "Whelen" history, but there is no synergy with what I'm already doing. I'd need bullets and powders that I don't already stock. This also doesn't allow bullets heavier than the .338-06.
D. 9.3x62: This one has the same problems for me as the Whelen in terms of all new powders and bullets, but now it allows bullet weights from 232 gr to 320 gr. This is the only one that offers something that my current rifles don't. Right now I have .257 and .308 bullets from 75 gr to 220. The 9.3 would pick up right where my existing choices end.
So, what would you do? My head says sell the rifle and buy a Mauser or Sauer. I'd have a nice accurate rifle for a net of a few hundred bucks. I kind of want to do a project rifle, though.
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