Which rifle for the curious reloader?

[HP-Sauce]

I have recently acquired a huge lot of reloading components from an estate, and have bullets, brass and powder for the following caliber:

.22 Hornet
.222 Rem
.222 Mag
22-250
.243
.260
.270
.280
.283
7mm-08
300 AAC
30-30
30-06

.32 Long/Mag
38/357
38 Super
45 LC

410 Bore
20 Ga

I am curious about some of the calibers but the only Rifles I own at the moment were .22LR and 7.62x39 Bolt action.

What would be a good rifle where I can test out some of these cartridges without breaking the bank? Bolt action is my preferred format and I am completely confused with the available break action that can swap barrels, Encore, Contenders, Handis, etc.

 

[Sunray]

A rifle for any of those will cost roughly the same. It's what you want to do with it that matters.
Break actions that can swap barrels are ok, but the extra barrels usually require factory fitting and are really too light for most of the cartridges you have.
The shotgun stuff requires totally different kit too.
There is no .283 cartridge. That supposed to be .284?
.222 Mag is where the .223 Rem came from. Kind of odd unless you have one. Brass might be worth a bunch of money. Any rifles will be few and far between. Nosler factory ammo runs $80 per 50 at Midway.

 

[Bullseye]

First of all, I would not personally shoot cartridges loaded by someone I do not know.
Did you know the estate owner personally? If not it's a gamble I wouldn't take. I load with a friend and we load at different benches together or separate but I trust his loads because I know how he uses care and visa versa he has confidence in my loads.

The components could be sold or traded off here after you get established with enough quality posts & time as a member in good standing.

I would plan ahead learn all I could about a rifle and shop around for what kind of rifle I would want and what I intend using it for.
Given what equipment you have for that rifle, keep that which goes with it for reloading and sell or trade the rest off that you don't want to offset the cost of buying the rifle. ( or even two )

 

[HP-Sauce]

There is no .283 cartridge. That supposed to be .284?

You are correct! It was .284 Fat fingers on my part.

 

[HP-Sauce]

First of all, I would not personally shoot cartridges loaded by someone I do not know.

Absolutely agree! Bullet puller already on order. There were a small amount that was loaded but otherwise most of the brass were de-primed or had live primers on them.

I do not know the Estate owner personally, but his beautiful .222 Sako Mannlicher is hanging on the shelf of a LGS at the moment. I also saw the targets he tucked away in the ammo boxes, he was a very good with the Sako.

 

[WestKentucky]

Confused about break actions? On a TC platform you take out a screw or two holding the forearm on, slide a pin out, and put on a new barrel. Takes about 45 seconds once your used to it. It's really simple
On other platforms it is very similsr, remove the forearm and roll the barrel forward which unlocks it from the frame. In all break action setups the barrel contains an ejector to remove a spent casing. That would absolutely be your best option for the cost (buy TC) as you can get into a single caliber for anywhere from 350 to 500 bucks, then any additional calibers will only cost about 200-300 bucks because you aren't buying a whole gun, just another barrel. That setup let's you try out stuff and if you don't like it you sell that barrel for what you have in it and don't lose any money. On the other hand you can jump into a caliber with a bolt rifle for 300 to 800 bucks each and risk losing money when you try to sell what you don't care for. Either way, I would get into a caliber with a used gun, so you risk less money lost.

 

[Bullseye]

I like the sounds of that Sako.
Great thing about .224 bullets is groundhogs eat em up and they are neat to work up loads to group tight on paper. I have 22-250 and 223 for that but there's nothing wrong with a .222.
Nice choice, check out the bore before you buy.
I like my .270 as well, great for most anything and flat shooter.
With that you could get any of the newer economy rifles cheap enough to do the job such as a TC Venture, Ruger American, Savage Axis for example. You know ... entry level lower priced rifles. They shoot well enough. Tikka has some nice ones too.

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I would start with a T.C Encore in 30/06

 

[surveyor]

PI would look and see what powders, bullets, brass and dies there were
Before making a decision on what rifle to buy, or what components to sell.

Meaning if you have 35-55 or 60 gr bullets in 224 diameter,
They would fit hornet, 222,223,222 mag, 22-250

But if you have powders slower than 4895, varget, etc, those may not work well together.

Similsr powders should work in hornet and blackout

a reload book would be your friend to help you sort the powders for the cartridges.

 

[Glockula]

I would watch for a sale at one of the big box stores or used at your LGS and pick up a rifle in any of the 30-06, .270, .243, 7mm08, or .284 range. A nice wide ranging centerfire rifle to complement your 7.62 x 39.

Or whatever I had the most components/powder to load for.

 

[kerreckt]

If, I had a choice from those listed, I would start with .243. It is one of the most fun of them all. Varmints to Eastern Whitetail. Can be incredibly accurate, so loading for it is a challenge with many options. It doesn't wear out your shoulder so you can test plenty of loads. You should take all the precautions and not use other peoples loads and work up your own. Finally, there are a lot of them out there, so you can find deals. You're on the way to a good time.

 

[SlowFuse]

.243 is exactly what I was going to say would be my first choice . Or the 7-08, only because it has a little larger (heavier) range of projectiles if you care to go hunting instead of punching paper.

If you're wanting bigger you can't go wrong with the 30-06. Pretty simple to find a good load.

 

[HP-Sauce]

PI would look and see what powders, bullets, brass and dies there were
Before making a decision on what rifle to buy, or what components to sell.

Didn't managed to get any dies with this lot, the guy who sold it to me sold everything he can on eBay and left me with only thing he cannot ship or eBay wouldn't permit.

At least several hundred Nosler/Hornady partition bullets for each caliber, a shoe box full of 270 bullets but only 20pcs of 270 brass.

I'm going to play around with the 30 cal bullets in my bolt action 7.62x39, they range from 80gr for .32 (312 dia) H&R Mag to 180gr .308

At least half a pound each of the following powders:

H335
H380
Unique
VARGET
IMR 4198
IMR 4350
IMR 4895
Universal
Trail Boss
Reloader 7
Reloader 12
Reloader 15
Reloader 19
Reloader 22
Bullseye
Hi-Skor 800X
SR-7625
Alcan AL-8
WIN 748
WIN 760
WIN 540
WIN 571

 

[MEHavey]

Agree with the 243Win recommended by Kerreckt.
It is the do-all cartridge from all those listed.

 

[Clint M]

That would be a hard list to pick from, others mentioned the 243 I don't disagree, but I personally prefer the 260 much more as a dual role rifle varmint/deer. The 243, 260, 7mm-08 will all be easy to load for. Now if you are learning to reload, and want to work up loads shooting at paper to both advance your shooting skills, and handloading skills the triple deuce is the ticket. The triple deuce (222 rem) is one of the easiest cartridges I have ever loaded for, and a nice long neck just begs a bullet to be seated and worked with. Any of the cartridges should be easy enough to load for except the 22 hornet I wouldn't recommend starting out with or learning to handload the 22 hornet.

 

[witchhunter]

Personally, I wouldn't let a half pound of powder influence my decision on caliber. Even dies, although I have bought rifles because I already owned dies for that caliber before. If you are going to shoot for accuracy, do some research and pick what will work for your parameters and get it. Sell what you won't use and get what will work best for your projected use. Or, be like me and buy a rifle for every die you have, no one here will find fault with that logic! After all that, a .223 or a .243 is always a good choice to start.

 

[BCRider]

I would not let any of these supplies steer you other than in a minor final tip over the edge. You still want to get your next gun based on what sort of shooting you plan on doing for the long term. A few bullets or some powder is not a great reason to jump into something.

I imagine you must already have some sort of plan for the long term for hunting or serious target shooting? Or are you the sort which is looking more into the sport of action shooting?

I would sit and ponder the direction you want to go and then review what you've got in this package to see if any of it dovetails with your goals.

 

[GP100man]

I can do ALOT with a 30-06, from lead cat sneeze loads to rompin-stompin 220gr jacketed loads. Brass is everywhere & 30 caliber bullets & lead molds abound.

If a 30-06 won`t do what I need my next caliber of choice is a 458 WIN MAG

GP

 

[desidog]

I'd work backwards, and figure out how much the reloading components are worth... then i'd sell the high dollar/scarce items to fund a new rifle...

 

[mdi]

I'd suggest a Ruger American in 30-06 Springfield. Reported as a good, accurate rifle outta the box (mine in 308 is) without busting the budget. It can be purchased with a scope mounted/bore sighted. 30-06 has been reloaded since prolly 1907 and any problems/loads/etc. have already been worked out and both reload data and factory ammo available nearly everywhere. 30-06 can be loaded for varmints (125 gr. varmint bullets w/light loads) to Elk/Moose/Bear loads (200 gr.+ "Dangerous Game Bullets" available) and easily everything in between...

I only had my powder inventory influence me once; I had 6+ lbs. of IMR 4064 and about 800, 30 cal. bullets so I bought a .308. Had there been any less, I wouldn't have done it, mainly because part of the fun is acquiring load data then components ...