Economical Gong Gun cartridge?

So after a long reloading session getting 308 ammo ready for a gong/prs match this weekend I'm a bit shell shocked at the value of the components involved. I'm not "scottish" but I've lived in the south long enough to have gained some of their habits!!

I recently built a 6mm CM to take over from the 308 to reduce recoil so I could better see splash, but its not shooting worth a damm so its back to the trusty old Lithgow 308.

All this got me thinking, pouring 46 gns of powder for the 308 and 42 for the 6m CM behind a projectiles at a $1+ a pop isn't viable for me. The 6mm CM being hard on barrels just compounds the issue. Some matches are approaching 160 rounds - a hell of a lot of rounds and even more $$

The 6x45 thread has a lot of very interesting data on the "wee" 6mm's

I wonder what a 6mm/204, 6mm ARC or 6x45 AI with a 95 gn projectile and 27 gns or so of powder will loose to the the bigger boys. By way of comparison, the 308 ammo I've just loaded is a 165gn G1 BC .47 at 2780fps Any of the wee 6mm's will give about the same velocity for 95 gn projectiles of a similar or better BC - and way cheaper to shoot. The 6x45 AI really shines in value with its use of 223 brass (I have 500 Lapua cases !!)

223...

I have a 6mmBRA reamer and have chambered a barrel for varminting etc. Have a barrel on order to replace my 6mm Creedmoor once it burns out (not too far away at the current rate of fire) and am seriously thinking of chambering it in 6mmBRA too. Would run a longer barrel than the Creedmoor but realistically i'll be giving up 200fps in return for doubling the barrel life and only burning 30gr of powder.

I also have a 224 Valkyrie reamer...

223 - I have a 1:8 twist 223 rifle in F Class dress that runs 80gn Sierra's and will sorta match "basic" 308 ballistics - but have you bought any 80's lately, and it needs 30" to get to 2800 fps

22lr

I'm getting 2800 with 80s out of 18" .223 for 25gr 2208, no pressure signs, and bought 200 80gr ELDMs this week - $50/100 without any shopping around

Hmmm - good thought ^^ I have a very good Kreiger 223 1:8 barrel in an Omark M44 that I was using for F Class, shoots 80gn Sierrra's best but wasn't too shabby at all with others (I don't recall if I shot the 80 ELD's in it) - I could pull that and have it fitted to my fairly average Remmy 223 . . . .

The 6x45 really doesnt have the engine room for heavy projectiles and the light ones suffer on low BCs.
Personally Id recomend a 6mmBR or 6mm dasher.
I run a dasher with 2208 and 95gr bullets at 3200fps. Check out the 95gr and 103gr Targex rebated boat tail hps too, kiwi quality and cheaper than the yanky stuff.
The dasher runs 30-34gr of powder and has no problem busting clays at 1000y. Cheap to run, accurate and you are nipping at the heals of the 6mm creedmoors velocities with less powder.

223

Mate stop being such a snow flake. Shooting is not a cheap sport. Giving up performance to justify a budget makes no sense. How much will you really save going from a 308 to a 6cm to a 6x47L. Sure there will be less powder but they still need to be fed match projectiles. If your 6cm wont shoot I recommend you talk to Greg at Custom Guns he shoots 6cm very well and he is down your way.

.223 fits the bill perfect .65c a round factory or reload for much cheaper

45-70
38-55 ( 38-303 )
32-40
30-40
25-35

All good cheap fun

The BPCR guys shoot them out to miles with tang peep sights
Use up some of the scrap lead you are hoarding
Cases last for ever

What about a grendel? I've always thought one would make a neat little reasonably cheap to run gong gun, pleasant to shoot, inherantly accurate, good brass available and a variety of reasonably priced projectiles along with good barrel life and an efficient case

I've though about this as well, but.. The previous GPRE Tarata (Field shooting match to +-600m) I had one guy in my squad with a 223. The problem is that the impacts past 400m are tough to spot as well as the misses. Less splash in the dirt and less energy on target. We had 1x 6.5CM (147eldms at 2700fps) and 2x 6mm CM (108 & 110gn at about 3050fps) and the 223 (not sure but it was factory ammo) in the squad. The 6.5 had the most splash, but the 6mm CM weren't too far behind, the 223 we had multiple "no visual" calls and even when we hit the plate it was sometimes tough to call. Now spotting impacts/splash is obviously dependent on plate size, landscape (dry vs wet), etc etc, but from that 1st hand experience I would not opt for a 223 when competing. You want the spotter to be able to positively call hits/misses and with a 223cal you're putting yourself at a disadvantage from the start. Don't get me wrong, its a great little caliber, but if competing is your goal I'd say a 6.5CM is probably your sweet spot considering you're getting better barrel life vs 6mm and still have less recoil, better bc vs 308. My 2c

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Originally Posted by Tentman

So after a long reloading session getting 308 ammo ready for a gong/prs match this weekend I'm a bit shell shocked at the value of the components involved. I'm not "scottish" but I've lived in the south long enough to have gained some of their habits!!

I recently built a 6mm CM to take over from the 308 to reduce recoil so I could better see splash, but its not shooting worth a damm so its back to the trusty old Lithgow 308.

All this got me thinking, pouring 46 gns of powder for the 308 and 42 for the 6m CM behind a projectiles at a $1+ a pop isn't viable for me. The 6mm CM being hard on barrels just compounds the issue. Some matches are approaching 160 rounds - a hell of a lot of rounds and even more $$

The 6x45 thread has a lot of very interesting data on the "wee" 6mm's

I wonder what a 6mm/204, 6mm ARC or 6x45 AI with a 95 gn projectile and 27 gns or so of powder will loose to the the bigger boys. By way of comparison, the 308 ammo I've just loaded is a 165gn G1 BC .47 at 2780fps Any of the wee 6mm's will give about the same velocity for 95 gn projectiles of a similar or better BC - and way cheaper to shoot. The 6x45 AI really shines in value with its use of 223 brass (I have 500 Lapua cases !!)

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just remember copper wire was invented by 2 scotsmen fighting over a penny

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Originally Posted by Friwi

22lr

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Standard or high velocity? Long or short?

Why not run your 6.5x47L?

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Originally Posted by nor-west

Why not run your 6.5x47L?

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The correct answer to most questions on choice of cartridge.

The main variable cost of reloading is the projectiles. Find your sweet spot of projectile price that will do the job and work back from there.

I think that one of the most affordable and economical gong rounds would have to be the .308, if you take the standard 155 grain projectile shot out to 100 yards competitively (these can be had for as little as 42c).
Marry that to 2206H or 2208 ( that can also be had for around $120 a KG )
You will have a round that is a little under 1$ to make and is capable of hits from 100 to 1000 M and further.
If you load that into Lapua cases that are the cheapest Lapua's to buy compared to other calibers of similar power and effective range, you can get 15 to 20 firings so that also makes for cost effective target shooting and gong shooting.
And barrel life is way out there, even when you pump them up to 3000fps you can still expect 5000 rds.

same as ryan what about 6.5 grendel

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Originally Posted by Puffin

The correct answer to most questions on choice of cartridge.

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I reckon it has to be a good sweet spot of enough bullet weight for seeing splash/hits, lower powder charges than the slightly larger cases that are popular, but still enough ballistic performance to be useful/not putting yourself at too greater disadvantage.

I would suggest going with a 223 and heavy bullets(69, 77gr)
Or 308W components are freely available and if you want to buy ammo, some pretty good stuff its available.

.223 if you only shoot on still days.

If you are not a reloader ,off the shop shelf,308=147gr,$125=100rds,very accurate and good to 300 to 400yds on a calm day.

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Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

What about a grendel? I've always thought one would make a neat little reasonably cheap to run gong gun, pleasant to shoot, inherantly accurate, good brass available and a variety of reasonably priced projectiles along with good barrel life and an efficient case

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+1 something in the 120-130gr range with a decent BC in the Grendel would go well

I would suggest something in .257 or .270 calibre then as these are not popular you might actually be able to buy projectiles unlike 6.5 cal currently

Good luck with .257 cal projectiles or factory fodder.

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.