Thread: Economical Gong Gun cartridge?

For a centrefire the only really cheap option is 223, maybe 204 Ruger or a 17cal but you are limited on projectile choices and not available as cheaply as 223.
223 can do very well as a gong rifle and is pleasant and cheap to shoot but will be severely limited in windy conditions.
As Dirk said 223 will be limiting in a competition, I was the guy with the 6.5CM and my mate had the 223.
My mate is a fairly good shooter but the 223 past 300m in switching winds definitely held him back.

A 6mm ARC or 6x45 could be a good compromise, better performance than 223 but a bit cheaper to shoot than a "proper" 6mm but isn't going to be the best of anything.
The price difference between shooting a 6mm ARC and your 6CM will probably be so little that factoring in a new rifle would take many 1000s of rounds before it was any cheaper.

Personally I'd build a nice 22lr, CCI Standard Velocity at $65 for 500 rounds cannot be beat and you can get reliable hits on reasonable targets at 200m+ even in twitchy wind.
A 22lr in the wind at 200m will be better practice than a 6 or 6.5CM at 500m. You can then use the money you save to feed your 6CM for longer range shooting.

I don't bother shooting my 6.5CM for practice or gongs closer than 300m as it's basically cheating, even a moderate wind under 200m requires so little hold its basically just point and shoot.