Thread: A Rifle for Almost Everything.

Greetings All,
Recent receipt of a bit of unexpected money had dislodged me from my normal state of terminal procrastination. This morning found me at what I call Chateau Jeremy's and others call Rivers to Ranges. My mission was to have a suppressor fitted to my long serving .308. After explaining what I wanted and handing over the skeleton of my .308 the chap who served me was recording the order in the order book. I couldn't help noticing that the last 4 jobs, including mine were for .308 rifles. I remarked on this and was told that it was still really popular as it did most things well. Couldn't fault him on that. I asked what was hot at the moment? 6.5 PRC was the answer. I half expected that. I might be an old Fudd but I don't spend my evenings sitting in a cave reading 50 year old magazines by candle light. I was handed a cartridge to admire. They certainly do look racy and I can see why they are popular. Am I going to rush out and trade my T3 6.5 x 55 in on a PRC? No. Do I think that 6.5 PRC is going to cut all other cartridges down like ripe wheat? Probably not. Is it going to carve out a niche for itself over time? I hope so. It seems a very good cartridge. For me I will continue with my current cartridges, most developed last century or the century before that. That PRC did look nice though.
Regards Grandpamac.

just another way to skin a cat... (can I still say that...) the only things that change are a flatter or better wind bucking way to get there.

Rather the cat you use it to skin, will have less meat left on the skin, than if you used a 6.5x55!

Remember when everyone HAD to have a 260 or you weren't worth your salt as a hunter.. but then everyone HAD to have a 7mm Saum.. but then you had to move that on to less awesome hunters/gods of the outdoors because everone HAD to have a 6.5 Creedmore, which you then found out 2 years down the track was complete rubbish and now all the best hunters have 6.5 PRC's....



*waiting patiently for next must have caliber to come along... *

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Remember when everyone HAD to have a 260 or you weren't worth your salt as a hunter.. but then everyone HAD to have a 7mm Saum.. but then you had to move that on to less awesome hunters/gods of the outdoors because everone HAD to have a 6.5 Creedmore, which you then found out 2 years down the track was complete rubbish and now all the best hunters have 6.5 PRC's....



*waiting patiently for next must have caliber to come along... *

next thing you know the 270superloudboomer will be popular again!!

I was discussing it the other day with forum member@PERRISCICABA whlist looking at rifles on the LGS rack.

He remarked that it (6.5 PRS) was at its best in the actions that handle all cartridge lengths (as opposed to short 308 class actions) and after consideration I'd have to agree with this, for the likes of a Tikka T3 or Sauer 100/Mauser M18 its going to be great.

The thing is that if a manufacturer are wanting to sell a 6.5 with a fast enough twist to launch the new heavies, then its easier to "sell" with a new cartridge rather than just changing up the dear old 6.5x55 - firearms are a "fashion industry"!!

Originally Posted by Tentman

firearms are a "fashion industry"!!

Sad but true #Gun Snob

You can't re-invent the wheel, but you can tinker with the motor driving it I guess.
Each to their own.

I will stick with my 308. It does everything I need it to do well.

Originally Posted by Allizdog

You can't re-invent the wheel, but you can tinker with the motor driving it I guess.
Each to their own.

I will stick with my 308. It does everything I need it to do well.

Likewise, nothing wrong with a lot of calibers but my 308 has always done the job for me, nothing I shot ever did anything but conveniently fall over dead.

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Remember when everyone HAD to have a 260 or you weren't worth your salt as a hunter.. but then everyone HAD to have a 7mm Saum.. but then you had to move that on to less awesome hunters/gods of the outdoors because everone HAD to have a 6.5 Creedmore, which you then found out 2 years down the track was complete rubbish and now all the best hunters have 6.5 PRC's....

think i was in that cave reading old hunting mags by candlelight mentioned in the earlier post while all that was going on........all my current and past rifle calibres pre-date that new fangled .308 thingy........

No, you need to go to a 338 or bigger diametre pill that is slow, heavy and can be easily run subsonic for the coming post election law changes that ban loud noises during the birds nesting season

I'm sticking with my faithful ol' .308, as it has served me well for 40 years. I do understand that shooters will want to experiment with new calibres, but many seem to rely totally on a mate's recommendation. There is an old saying (grandpamac will have heard it, I'm sure): "Beware the man with only one rifle- he probably knows how to use it!". I wrote an article recently for the NZ Cartridge Collectors Club bulletin on the plethora of new rifle calibres available in the past few years. In the 1990s, we saw the .223 WSSM, .243 WSSM, .25 WSSM, .270 WSM, 7mm WSM, .300 WSM, .325 WSM, 7mm RSAUM, 7mm RSUM, 7mm RUM, .300 RUM, .300 SAUM, .338 RUM, .375 RUM, and this decade, we have available the .204 Ruger, .22 TCM, 6mm TCU, .28 Nosler, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 PRC, .300 Blackout, .338 Edge, and the .450 Bushmaster...how the heck does a new shooter choose out of that lot??.interestingly, one of Auckland's busiest gun shops sells more 6.5 Creedmoor than any other calibre.

When osmium becomes plentiful and the tech becomes available to make 180gr .223 projectiles with perfect BC, propelled by batteries at eye-watering velocities delivered with pinpoint accuracy to targets at jaw-dropping distances, maybe - just maybe, I'll buy into the hype.

Originally Posted by mikee

next thing you know the 270superloudboomer will be popular again!!

Mickey Duck will likely tell us it always has been popular.
Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Mickey Duck will likely tell us it always has been popular.
Grandpamac.

And he’d be right, at least amongst the cognoscenti!