Light, flat & fast...What round should I choose?

[farmer_john]

Over the last 20+ years of America's military conflict involvement, the 6.5 Creedmoor hasn't been a commonly used caliber by our snipers, so I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say with your comment.

Personally, I wouldn't call a 6.5 Creedmoor a "laser beam".
With the same zero and same projectile (TTSX - 120gr vs 100gr in the .257wby) at 500yds my 6.5CM is going 500fps slower, has 9.5" of additional drop, and is hitting with a little less than 300 ftlbs of energy compared to my 257Wby. The 6.5 Creedmoor a very soft recoiling, flat shooting round, but it's not even close to a .257wby. My 257 is point and shoot out to about 450yds on deer and I don't need to hold off a deer or dial out to 500yds.

Im aware. Just poking fun of the trend ive seen of folks getting some these new cartridges and all of a sudden wanting to shoot game well outside their capability becsuse of the magic of the caliber.

 

[Bandera]

I have a Ruger 77MKII in 25-06. It is a great shooting left handed rifle.
I do see a 257 Weatherby pop up every so often. I personally am not a fan of the look of a Weatherby rifle.

 

[odonata]

I have a Ruger 77MKII in 25-06. It is a great shooting left handed rifle.
I do see a 257 Weatherby pop up every so often. I personally am not a fan of the look of a Weatherby rifle.

In the past, this has often been my mindset: I've been tempted by LH Rugers but the style of the Weatherby's has always given me pause. There's something about them that limits their appeal.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

7x57mm Mauser. You know you want one !

 

[odonata]

7x57mm Mauser. You know you want one !

I actually do want one! But unfortunately, the 7x57mm is one of those rounds that was only available in right-handed rifles. No one ever made a LH version so I would have to build my own. That's not really a problem as I have gotten very selective lately & less willing to compromise. If I decide that's THE round for me, then I'll make one appear!

I love my Ruger No. 1 RSI in 275 Rigby. With its short 20" barrel, slender stock & 2-7x33 scope, it's a great little woods rifle for hunting deer.

 

[375Ruger416]

@ Red leg
View attachment 734732
100 gn TTSX @100 in my 25 at over 3,600fps.
View attachment 734733
200yds 115gn Winchester combined technology Silver tips.
View attachment 734734
117gn SST 200yards at over 3,300 fps
Got to love an ACCURATE, FAST 25.
I had to get used to the flat trajectory as I sometimes overshot animals. Back line hold at 400 and you will land one in the boiler room with no hold over. With the 100gn TTSX that can be extended to 450 as the drop at 400 is only 8" when sighted 2.5" high at 100.
Bob.
The only thing better than a fast 25 is a properly loaded you guessed WHELEN.
Bob

25 Whelen for the win!

 

[Llano Estacado]

@Russ16
View attachment 734730View attachment 734731
Now this is a sexy fast 25 that don't need no silly belt
Bob

Tell me about this cartridge- parent case? Love the idea of a rimmed modern high performance single shot!

 

[odonata]

Tell me about this cartridge- parent case? Love the idea of a rimmed modern high performance single shot!

If I'm not mistaken, that's a necked-down 25-303 British. I love both of my 303 British falling blocks. This would be a cool rimmed cartridge to shoot.

Post in thread 'My 303-25'

Jun 2, 2021

I remember him!
And if I remember correctly he was the guy who used to ride a little motorcycle through the bush/ scrub after deer!
As you said he liked the .303/243 for sambar hunting and I'm sure it served him well, but all things considered I prefer my .338WM...
But getting back to the .303/25, I'd love to get a .303/25 EPPS in a nice strong front-locker and really wring it out to see what it could do...

@Badboymelvin

Russ top photo is a,100 yard target with 115grain nosler combined technology silver tips
Middle 2 loads of 25/303 Epps...

• Bob Nelson 35Whelen

• 

Post in thread 'What's your one favorite caliber?'

May 7, 2025

7x57

I wonder what Bob's answer will be. Hmmm... ;-)

@cash_tx
I won't keep you guessing any longer mate
As everyone knows I love the 35 Whelen
BUT
My favourite for most of my shooting I reach for my 25. It is my own design and will take all the game I hunt here in Australia.
What's not to love with a 25 cal with a 75gn VMAX at over 3,900 fps to reach way out and explode little fury critters
Or
Switch up to a 100gn Barnes TTSX at over 3,600fps to take on anything up to big deer out to any sane range
Or A 115-117 gn Nosler combined technology Silver tips or SST at over...

• Bob Nelson 35Whelen

• 
• 

 

[DG870]

Some thought should be given to the rifle this light, flat and fast cartridge will be fired in. To get the most speed out of the 257W, 25-06 and similar rounds a 24 inch + barrel and in the weatherby’s case, a magnum action is needed. If a heavier, longer rifle meets your needs then these rounds would be a good choice.

If on the other hand, you want a light portable rifle firing the light, flat and fast round the short action rifles with a 22 inch or shorter barrel would be appropriate. The 257 Roberts , 6.5 Creed, 6mm Creed, 6mm Remington, 6mm/308 (I used this name rather than .243 as to not offend Bob), 260 Remington …..My favorite rifle for spot and stalk is a compromise between the 2…it’s a Weatherby mkV light weight in 270 Winchester. It’s the 6 lug action with a thin barrel.

I think I’d focus first on the type of rifle I wanted then match the cartridge to the rifle. Tikka makes left handed rifles in a variety of calibers. I just saw that they make it in 6.5 PRC. - a 6.5 Creed on steroids.

 

[odonata]

I think I’d focus first on the type of rifle I wanted then match the cartridge to the rifle.

This thread has provided some very good feedback that I've enjoyed reading. At the moment, all options are still being considered. But getting the right balance between cartridge & rifle will definitely be one of the items to mull over. Comparing all of the possible options ad infinitum is part of the fun.

 

[odonata]

Tell me about this cartridge- parent case? Love the idea of a rimmed modern high performance single shot!

FYI - This past week, someone put a 25-303 Winchester 1885 on Guns International with resizing dies. They called their wildcat the 257 RKB (Rimmed Krag British).

 

[Red Leg]

@ Red leg
View attachment 734732
100 gn TTSX @100 in my 25 at over 3,600fps.
View attachment 734733
200yds 115gn Winchester combined technology Silver tips.
View attachment 734734
117gn SST 200yards at over 3,300 fps
Got to love an ACCURATE, FAST 25.
I had to get used to the flat trajectory as I sometimes overshot animals. Back line hold at 400 and you will land one in the boiler room with no hold over. With the 100gn TTSX that can be extended to 450 as the drop at 400 is only 8" when sighted 2.5" high at 100.
Bob.
The only thing better than a fast 25 is a properly loaded you guessed WHELEN.
Bob

It is one of only two rifles on which I have a custom ballistic turret. As you note, those indices are pretty narrow out to 400. My R8 barrel does not like 120s, but I will give the 117's a try. A bit more weight would be useful on ibex.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

I want the bullet to be in the 90~117gr range. Lighter or heavier than that & I have other options than a new rifle already available to me.

I want a rifle that is larger than 224 (22 cal) and smaller than 308. So 6mm, 243, 257, 6.5mm, 270, or 7mm would be good choices. While some of these are obviously appropriate for the projectile weight I'm interested in, I'm curious if anyone is doing something on the edges (e.g. How low can you go weight-wise with a 7x64 Brenneke?).

It would be nice if the bullet / caliber combo was good at taking something antelope-sized at longer distances than I currently hunt at. Based on my shooting ability & eyesight, I doubt I'll ever pull the trigger on anything that is over ~350 meters away except for a target. But I guess that might change based on ideal conditions or how flat the round shoots.

You get bonus points if the round you suggest is available in a left-handed rifle.

I went through this spot about four years ago. I was jones-ing for a 6mm ARC and was discussing this with a local gunsmith about possibly building a bolt action varmint rifle for me. He was not that impressed with the 6 ARC being a former GB sniper, he simply stopped me and suggested the 243 win. He said to me, "The 243 is basically a 308 necked down to 6mm in inherently accurate and can be loaded up or down to take anything from Prairie Dogs to Deer." It is perfect on Pronghorn with an 80g Barnes TTSX and with the 75g VTX it is smoking along at 3450fps. You can shoot up to about 100g to 110g depending one your bbl twist. I ended up with a SAKO S20 Hybrid and it is a honest 1/2 moa rifle with factory ammo. That rifle is heavy and that is my only complaint. But a light weight Tikka or other option would fix that.

When I want to f##k with my buddies, I tell them it is my 6mm/08 when they ask what caliber it is. That leaves most of them scratching their heads. I have a friend with a SAKO TRG in 6.5CM and my little 243 out shoots the TRG at least with the ammo we were using at the time. That is a much higher end rifle. Mine is set up as a long range varmint/tgt rifle and wears a 5-25x optic that is more suited to target shooting than hunting. Originally, I had a 4-16x that was more hunter focused but I found I was shooting it is competitions more than hunting with it so, I swapped the scopes and never looked back. It is not unusual for me to group three of the Hornady SF 75g varmint loads in a 3/4" group at 200y. I have shot hen eggs with it at 300y from a bench. It will hit a 2" tgt most shots at 400y.

 

[Flbt]

@Flbt
But those deer hit with the 25 were very dead very quickly with minimal tracking.
Hit a fallow just behind the shoulder with a 100gn Speer sppbt. When I skun it out the off side shoulder and leg came off with the skin, it was just jelly. But hey it was dead and I still got a lot of meat off it.
Bob

The ones shot with the 6mm just fell over dead to. And got to eat at least one shoulder.
But I have all ways like the high shoulder shot. And it seems to work well.

 

[WyoBull]

I guess I will weigh in as well on the 243 Win. I have always hunted a lot of varmints and because of that I have a number of varmints calibers, the 220 Swift being my all time favorite. But, I had a gap between my Swift and my 7mm RUM I wanted to fill. I wanted a caliber that I could use for Pronghorn Antelope, Mule Deer, and Whitetail Deer but would also do a number on the coyotes as the opportunities presented themselves while carrying it. So, about 5 years ago I bought a Tikka T3X Super Lite.

I am a reloader and also a Barnes bullet fan and knew I wanted to use the 80 gr TTSX bullet. Barnes loads this bullet in their factory Vor-Tx ammunition so I picked up a box just to see how they shot in the Tikka. Out of the box they shot 1/2 inch MOA. I had always heard Tikka's were accurate of of the box and I was impressed. I went on a journey to develop a load using the 80 GR TTSX. Long story short, I have a load now for it that is 50 fps faster (chronographed) that was the published data is from the Barnes factory load using the same bullet. It also shoots 1/2 MOA. I have it topped with a Leupold 4.5-14 and a CDS dial on it spec'd for my load.

I am very happy with this rifle (it is very light and a joy to carry), caliber and load I worked up for it. It fits the niche I was wanting to fill and in fact, just last week I loaded up 150 more rounds for it.
The 25's are great but my 7mm RUM shooting the 145 gr TTSX is a great long range caliber and my rifle is very accurate.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Mt $0.02 would be for the 25-06. It's been my go to for antelope for a long time now, despite the fact I have to shoot an ugly rifle to use it (camo synthetic abomination of a stock). One of these days I'll fit a proper piece of walnut on it. While not the hotrod the 257 Weatherby is, it will do everything needed, and do it well. Easy to find both factory ammo, or components for reloading. Available in LH versions from several makers. Really like my 250-3000 M99, but the 25-06 does add more reach if it's needed.
Btw, since using it for antelope was mentioned, only 1 of over 3 dozen antelope was shot over 250 yards. The majority between 100-200. Last one at 80. They can be snuck up on...

@Woodcarver
Stoke that 25-06 up with 54gn of H4350 behind a 100gn TTSX for 3,400fos and have fun.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Tell me about this cartridge- parent case? Love the idea of a rimmed modern high performance single shot!

@Llano Estacado
303 British case necked down to 25.
Blown out almost straight. Shoulder moved forward and given a 35 degree angle with a .257 one calibre neck length.
Increase the standard 25-393 case capacity from 47 to 62 grains of powder.
Even the standard 25-303 can be loaded up to equal the 257 Roberts and a bit more. So basically a rimmed Roberts +P load in the standard case and a Weatherby in the improved version. Both need a strong action like the P14 Enfield or a good single shot like the Ruger or Winchester Hiwall.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

25 Whelen for the win!

@375Ruger416
Nah the 25 Whelen is actually the 25 Nieder (aka 25-06) .
Mine actually outruns it by Cooke if hundred fps and gives the Weatherby a shake up
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I know it isn’t trendy but I love belts from an aesthetic point of view. And nothing is cooler than that weatherby shoulder.

But you do have the rim which is very cool. Kind of like why I still love the 220 Swift.

@Russ16
The swift is the Original speed demon what's not to love. Our gun guru Nick Harvey loved the slightly modified swift called the Wilson Arrow.. Just a slightly different shoulder angle to stop case stretching and a slight improvement in velocity.
The others 22 I like us the dead as a dodo 225 Winchester. Now that with a 1:8 twist barrel on a nice single shot would be the cats whiskers.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

It's no secret that I'm a big quarter bore fan.
I don't think you can go wrong with any of them but my personal favorite is a .257 Weatherby Mag.
I've used it on Coyotes all the way up to Elk and I jokingly refer to it as the "Hammer of Thor" because almost everything I've shot with it has immediately hit the dirt including elk.
A super super hot handloaded 100gr TTSX is my preferred load and is essentially a laser beam.

@Mtn_Infantry
What do you call a super hot hand load in the Weatherby.
Mine does 3,660fos with a 109gn TTSX and 58gn of superformance. That's hot enough for me. Laser flat and drops game on it's arse zero to very very little tracking maybe 29 yards max.
Bob