Hey everyone,

Thinking of picking up a new long gun (not that i need it). First let me start out by telling you all what i already have so as to eliminate some of the suggestions. I currently have a .220 Swift, .30-06, .338-06, .350 Rem. Mag, .35 Whelen, and a .405 Win. As you can see I have a bit of a gap in there between the Swift and the 06 that i am trying to fill with this next rifle. I am obviously a fan of the 06 as a parent cartridge and am leaning towards a .25-06 or .270 right now. However I am also kicking around the idea of a 7mm-08. Any comments/experiences with these cartridges/other suggestions would be greatly appriciated. Oh- I know many of you will jump straight to the .243- thanks but im not a fan. Also just to make it that much easier I already have the rifle narrowed down to a Browning A-bolt or a Kimber 8400 so no need to go back and forth on the rifle itself.

Thanks in advance,
JH

How about a 280 Remington, I find it a dandy cartridge and it fits your gap pretty good. Another to consider is a 257 Roberts, a really overlooked little deer killer and also fits your gap.

ill give another vote for the .257, what about the .260 it is greatly overlooked as a capable cartridge, but im very impressd with what ive seen people do with it, the .264 is also very good, i love the .270 but it is so close to the .30-06 that u might as well not own both, or what about the .308 same shell as the .243 but very accurate, and chambered in anything....

p.s. a nice .204 would fill the small cartridge gap even better, since the .220 is a pretty good sized case

I just bougt a Kimber in a 204. Haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but love the gun. I'm trying to get rid of a 25-06 in a browning to pick up a new kimber sonora in 25-06. I like the 25 caliber guns. I don't think you can go wrong with a 25-06 or 257 roberts. Kimber just came out with 257 roberts in a couple models. I believe the 260 is great round but don't have much experience with it. Besides the new 25-06, a 260 will most likely be the next gun I buy. Don't know if it helps, but you got my opinion.

I'll give another nod to the .257 Roberts. I have a similar gap in my arsenal as well. :D

RJ

Here's another vote for the .257 Roberts. Often overlooked, but a great cartridge. I have one and am very happy with it. :D

Go to the Kimber 84m for the 260, but if even that model change is not an option. Does one of the two listed come or are you willing to change to 6.5x55.

Fireplug

264 win mag gets my vote.

I have thought of a .257 Roberts too. Im not sure, but doesnt the Roberts give up quite a bit to the .25-06. No one really seems to have an opinion on the 7mm-08, should I give up on that.

Thanks for all the response and keep 'em coming.

I've got a .264 Win Mag that has put down innumerable deer and antelope. I love this cartridge, fits nicely in behind the .30-06. The .264 is not that good for brush country. But out here in the wide open prairie it is a great choice.

I vote the 7mm-08. You need another short action in there and there are a lot of good bullets to choose from in the 7mm.

257 Wby...

Wow! I thought everybody would stand up and cheer for the 7mm 08. I have one and it's an outstanding cartridge. Of course it depends what you want to do with it. The 7mm 08 is mostly a short action version of the 7X57 and that is one of the world's greatest all around cartridges.... not that you need an all around cartridge.

If you pass on the 7mm 08, I'd go for the 257 Roberts... or the 260 Remington ( ballistic equal the the 6.5 Sweed). Heck, all of know that you could never fill the hole with just one rifle. Still, you'll have a tough time beating the versatility and friendliness of the 7mm 08.

Enjoy and let us know what you decide

How have you even survived this on without a .257 Roberts??? Shame, Shame!!! :p

I have thought of a .257 Roberts too. Im not sure, but doesnt the Roberts give up quite a bit to the .25-06. No one really seems to have an opinion on the 7mm-08, should I give up on that.

Thanks for all the response and keep 'em coming.
yes bullet wise but the 25-06 is pretty close in comparson to the 30-06, im trying to fill the center of ur gap with the .257, not one peg down from the .30-06

257 Wby...
i like the 257 weatherby, probably the best long range for dummies round in the world. "hold over? never heard of it."

Why would you look at the 7mm-08 if your trying to fill that gap ? Might as well get a 270, nearly as much power and shoots flatter. I like the .257 roberts, but where are ya gonna find ammo ? The .257 Weatherby would fill that gap nicely, and you can actually find ammo for it if you need to. The 25-06 is a great cartridge as well. Me personally, I really really really really like the .243. But to each their own.

Your 220 Swift is a great gun for squirrels, prairie dogs, rockchucks, and coyotes. Too light for deer IMO. I could be swayed to shoot antelope with it. You can twist and contortion the 30-06 into a varmint rifle if you really try, but it's best for elk-sized animals with 180 gr bullets. So what are you left with? Something that is suitable for the larger varmints like rockchucks, coyotes, and for deer/antelope sized animals.

To me, this screams for a 243 Win, 257 Roberts, or 25-06. I like the 257 Wby, but you have considerable overlap with the 30-06 IMO. I think the 260, 7x57, and 7mm-08 are in the same boat in overlap with the 30-06. So, with the 243, you get 55 -100 gr bullets. With the 25's, you get 75-120 gr bullets. What are your targets with this rifle on the wish-list?

I have a 25-06 that I really like. I HAD a 257 Roberts that I'm still kicking myself for selling. I'm really close to getting a 243 Win for dramatic launches of rockchucks, and it would make a fine antelope and deer gun too.

I'm sure glad we have all these choices!

My opinion is you have a swift for varmits and 30-06 will do on big game what all of the other cartridges listed will. You don't really need another rifle, but if you NEED another rifle the 270/280 would fill the gap nicely.

The .270 gets my vote! As Chuck Hawks said, there is no such thing as a magic bullet, but if there was it would be the .270 Winchester. Flat trajectory, long range, powerful enough for almost any North America game and manageable recoil. What's not to like??!! I bought a used Remington 700 in .270 a couple weeks ago and have been grinning ear to ear every day I'm at the range.

My Dad built a 25-06 sporter out of a Mauser 98 and and it was death to prairie dogs out to 300 yards. That's a flat shooting, hard hitting rifle. However, my cousin uses a .270 as his main deer rifle and he swears by that too.

Dad had a couple of loads that he used with the 25-06. One was a Hornady 100 gr bullet over 58 gr of Hodgdon H4831. The other one was a Sierra Boatail 117 gr over 55 gr of Hodgdon H4831. Whether those are great combinations or not is of course up for debate, but the man probably forgot more about guns and reloading than I'll ever know, although I'm trying to come up to speed.

270WSM, or 280 remington, 7MM rem mag, 25WSSM.

Definitely time for a metric to mix things up. My vote - 7x64 Brenneke. It's the European version of the 280 Rem., except that it beat Remington to the market by 70-some years. It's off the chart in terms of coolness factor.

never heard of it, so where do u find ammo for it, and any actual sporting good stors has .257 roberts, even wal-mart does, its still widely used, so im still voting for it, like i said the .25-06 is the same shell as a .30-06 just a smaller bullet, so theres no sense buying one, and the .270 will do anything a .30-06 will do, so i wouldnt buy one to fill ur gap, but no collection is complete without a .270 hahaha

never heard of it

Somehow, this doesn't surprise me in the least :eek:. The OP has the "practical" bases covered. My suggestion was based on adding a little variety to his battery.

284 Winchester.

I used to have basically the same hole in my line up of rifles. I had a .222 rem, 30-30, 30.06, .338 win mag. I always wanted something to fill that gap, so I filled it with a .264 win mag. So far it is one of the funniest cartiridges I have had the opportunity to shoot and load.

No one really seems to have an opinion on the 7mm-08, should I give up on that.

This is my third 7mm-08, it just came home with me yesterday.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y209/TMan51/7-08MtnRifle.jpg

My first one was a Remington M7. I let my best hunting buddy use it after several years of good luck and performance, and he shot the buck of a lifetime with it. Then he bugged me every day for weeks until I sold it to him. About the same time, Winchester had a M70 Compact in 7mm-08, and I decided it would make my life complete, and it had a couple inches more tube for some extra performance. It doesn't shoot quite as well as the Remington, but it's a beautiful gun.

Then I came across this one. One of the guys on 24 Hour Campfire had won it in a raffle, and didn't need another one. With a 2-7X Leupold, it will undoubtedly be as good a deer rifle as ever lived. It weighs 7lbs. 5oz. on my scale with scope and sling, and it's very nicely finished.

But the 7mm-08 cartridge is one of the most useful and acurate cartridges I've ever owned. I've had one for the last 15 years or so, and have used the cartridge to take a couple of deer almost every year. It does a great job with plain old Hornady/Sierra/Nosler/Speer bullets.

Everyone has preferences. The world wouldn't be right without most of the cartridges listed, but the 7's as a general statement, are essential.

I wish Remington would do a run of .257 Roberts mountain rifles with the CDL matte finish. Then I could be truly happy, I think.

Except for the .220 Swift, you have no ultra-velocity, long range chamberings. How about one of the medium caliber Weatherby Magnums or Remington Ultra-mags.

25-06 - just look at the sex appeal

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/GuideGun/5-ShotGroup1.jpg

just get the 7-08 and shoot deer and elk with it and go up to them and clean them and eat them!
unless you find a 7x57 first

It's Wednesday. Buy the winning lottery ticket and get one of each caliber mentioned. Shoot the heck out of them and let us know!

243 is my filler. Even O'Connor said that the .280 was a better cartridge.

My vote still goes to the 25-06. Lighter bullet - killer varmint cartridge. Heavier bullet, it will take down deer with no problem.

If you stick to the rilfe brands that you mentioned you wanted. The 25-06, the 257 roberts, 260 and the 7mm-08 are about the only choice from what has been mentioned so far. I'd go with the 25's in a Kimber. Just my opinion

Well, after all this good talk in here I have narrowed it down to the .25-06 or the .257 Roberts. Nothing against any of the other suggestions just a choice on the availibility of ammo and i feel like i just need a quarter bore.
Thanks to everyone involved on here.
JH

Glad we could help hillestadj. Lots of folks here shooting lots of different guns and years and years of experience of folks willing to share it.

Nothing against any of the other suggestions just a choice on the availibility of ammo....
JH
Somehow or other my Dad got his hands on a whole bunch of fired once 30-06 military brass - he never had a hard time finding ammo for his 25-06 - he had far more than he could ever use.

i have to go in with the 204 because it is so fun to watch it hit stuff with, awesome for anything up to coyote size

.25-06 gets my vote too... Deadly on large game out to 400+ yards and pops varmints (literally) out to 600+. All this velocity and flat trajectory without magnum recoil = accuracy. One of the great dual purpose cartridges. Just look at the ballistics...
http://www.pacinfo.com/~dropinsator/chart2.htm#25-06%20Rem

I hunted for years with a Rem.700 in 30.06, a real tack driver with hand loads. Since I tend to do alot of walking and cover lots of ground in pursuit of mule deer and antelope in easterm MT I wanted something lighter in weight to carry. After doing my research I setttled on a 7mm.08 on the recommendation of a gunsmith. (short action for reduced weight and more than enough caliber,flater shooting that a 308).

I purchased a Rem 700 mountain rifle. I have since had numerous single shot kills on deer and antelope with this cartridge and absolutely love it. I shoot 140g Accubonds loaded with 45g Win. 760. I have a coworker who's 17 year old daughter has killed two cow elk with single shots using this same cartridge (inside of 100 yds). This cartridge is also a pleasure to shoot compared to my .06 with very light recoil.

BK

With the premium bullets available today, what can't you "smoke" in the lower-48 with a .260 Rem??? Accurate and low recoil to boot...

Jim

if you choose the 8400 then why not some flatter/faster loud brass?...270wsm, 300wsm?(make a nice mountain rifle).
me and my bro's have the 7mm08 2506, 270 280 and 3006, and find they all work about the same on deer sized game.

.257 bob or a 260.

if this don't spin ya, 25-06

8mm/06 or 8mm mag
45/70 or 458 win mag
204
7mm/08 or whatever
I think you need a lever action 45/70 or 35 rem

hard to beat a 260 Rem. Problem is there is not a good selection of loaded ammunition, so I would go with a 7/08 unless you handloadf

.257 Bob.

You and I have similar holes in our batteries but I have a .243 that I keep thinking needs a new home cause Im just not sold on it.

.257 Bob.

You and I have similar holes in our batteries but I have a .243 that I keep thinking needs a new home cause Im just not sold on it.


I had that 243 itch. bought a Howa, scope, reloading equipment, bullets, brass....and sold the whole shebang before I ever fired it.:confused:
Figgered my 308 with lighter bullets would be the same gun.

I'd still love to find a lefty 257bob;
plenty in 25-06, but not a one common for a lefty.:mad:

That looks mighty short for a 25-06

I have been doing the same research recently. It depends on what your "hole" really is. 90-120gr, 120-140gr, or 140-160gr shooter? I realize there is alot of overlap, but if you look at the optimum grain bullet for each caliber, I believe it tightens things up. I am in the market for something that will optimally shoot 120-140gr bullets. I am a big guy but I wanted a rifle that was just plain fun to shoot, even after many rounds at the range. I really like the .270, but I wanted to see if I could find something with even less recoil (less recoil often leads to better accuracy). I have narrowed the field down to the .260 and 7mm-08. They both have around 13 ft lbs of recoil energy (vs around 17ft lbs for the .270) and they are flat, accurate calibers. 7mm-08 is more readily avaible in ammo and gun manufacturers. I wish Remington would come back out with the 6.5 Rem Mag. According the ballistics on chuckhawks, it is an awesome caliber in a short action. Anyway, if you want something to fill the 90-120gr void, I would recommend the .257 weatherby unless you want less recoil. Then I would recommend the 25-06 or .257 roberts

I agree you have a little gap there.

If you want a short action rifle then I would definitely go with the 260 remington...I think it's the best of all the cartridges based on the 308 case and would fill your gap nicely. the 7mm-08 is good but the 260 has better ballistics.

If you want a long action then it absolutely, positively, has to be the 25-06. The 270 and 280 are great rounds but are both too close to the 30-06 you already own.

Well...that's what I think anyway.

Hey all,

Sorry I neglected the thread for a while. Just wanted everyone to know i decided to go with the .25-06...However i think im going to wait on buying until the new Browning x-bolts come out. They look real nice.

Keep the post going though....i know how us gun nuts like to argue or amongst eachother.:)

If it were available, I'd want a 6mm Remington.

30-30 marlin 336 and savage 30 06 covers everything for me..just mastering these 2 long guns covers everything for me..but i can understand if a fellas got the change .. the more the better .. but i believe one is really better of mastering one or two..jmo

Hey all,

Sorry I neglected the thread for a while. Just wanted everyone to know i decided to go with the .25-06...However i think im going to wait on buying until the new Browning x-bolts come out. They look real nice.

Keep the post going though....i know how us gun nuts like to argue or amongst eachother.:)

Hill, I think you made a wise choice with the .25-06.
Have you seen a X-bolt yet? I saw and handled one 2 weeks ago.
It felt light, well balanced, and had a better than avg wood but the plastic bottom was unimpressive.
You might want to take a look at a Ruger M77 or a Ruger No.1A in a .25-06.

That looks mighty short for a 25-06

:) That's what is says on the headstamp. Great cartridge.

My 25-06 is a Ruger #1V. It's a super gun but I think Ruger could make it better if they sold the V Model with a fluted barrel.

.260 is certainly an efficient cartridge with great ballistics. 7mm-08 is easier to load with heavier bullets but you've already got that end of the spectrum completely handled. The Roberts has great mystique to it though and the .25/06 is a heckuva cartridge. I agree with the guy who said to get one of each!