Oh, the confusion of it all!

It’s Yule. The longest night of the year, and a Pagan holy day. I hope you and yours have had a happy and relaxing Yuletide and wish my Christian readers a very Merry Christmas.

We too exchange gifts and my bride, Lady Beth, out-did herself by gifting me a new case tumbler for my soon-to-be-built reloading bench. She happens to work in a pet store so I also have a source for cheap media for said tumbler. Both crushed walnut shells and ground corn cobs can be purchased in varying quanities very cheaply. When it comes to my purchasing habits, cheap = good. I’ll have the new tumbler in operation tomorrow night. Walnut shells are better for cleaning and corn cob is better at the polishing end of the scale. Either can be ‘doped’ with a polishing compound if needed or desired. My plan is to keep both medias on hand and change then out as needed. A handy bucket will serve for holding the media not in use at the time. I’m going to take a shot at cleaning and polishing without adding chemical compounds. Seems that if I can avoid adding any possible contaminates to my loads, then so much the better. In the future I may purchase an extra bowl for the tumbler and give moly-coating bullets a try. I currently only shoot guns chambered for the ancient-but-potent .45 Colt. I’m also cursed with too much time on my hands, so the extra tumbling time to clean the cases I expect is of no real concern.

Now that I’m back into target shooting, (a means of getting back into the outdoors despite my disabilities), I’m becoming more eager each day for a good shooting, medium-to-long range rifle/cartridge combination. That is where the title of this post comes to the forefront. Good Gods! Have you seen the possibilities out there?! Literally thousands of rifle/cartridge combinations are possible. Now, some can be culled right off the bat. The heavy recoiling cartridges are not usable by this child anymore due to the implants in my neck and the weakened spinal column. That also cans most of the new magnums as well. No loss, really. I’ve never been a big fan of the latest, greatest, over-bore calibers that burn pounds of powder like teenagers burn cash. I’m one of those that puts more faith in bullet placement than sheer speed and power when it comes to rifle shooting. One notable exception is the fine old .45-70 Gov’t. Power and accuracy - even at extreme ranges. Man, I wish I could afford a heavy barrelled falling block rifle chambered in that round with enough overall weight to make it tolerable to my back! Back in the day I promised myself a .45-70 Marlin Guide Gun. Guess that is one promise I’ll have to break.

On a side note, handguns I see somewhat differently from rifles. With the relatively low velocities for even the magnum handgun cartridges, the added energy of a hulking chunk of lead and the massive wound channels of large caliber, (.40 or better), is required in handgun rounds for quick stops of game - or attacking sub-human thugs. Add that train of thought to my love of things that work as advertised & all things old, and it is easy to understand my facination with the old .45 Colt and its 20th Century cousin, the .45 ACP. Model 1911s… Yum. I’ve got to have one one of these days! Mom, keep you son in mind. (She has a Colt Commander I polished out many years ago.)

Getting back on topic, I see that I’m going to be limited to the lower case sizes. While I’m still doubting that I’ll ever hunt big game again I’d like to keep the option open. That more or less scratches the wee cases of the lower end of the scale - like the .223 Rem., the .22-250, the exciting new .204 Ruger, and my old favorite T/C Contender round - the .22 Hornet. Another fly in the ointment is my distaste for the norm. I like things slightly different from what is normally seen on the range. That rules out the old stand-bys like the .30-06, the .308 Win., and the .270 Win. What does that leave us? Still a huge pile of possibilities! I think if I limit my choices to the .25, the 6.5mm, the .270 and the 7mm calibers I’m getting closer. Let’s look at those in more detail…

In the quarter inch bore crowd we have the .257 Roberts, the .25-06, and the new .25 WSSM. The last two are nearly ballistic twins. The big difference being action length. The .257 Roberts has an Ackley Imporved version that brings it near to the other two, but has a rich history. The Roberts was my Dad’s dream cartridge. Oh, he carried a Savage Mod. 99 in .300 Savage, but always dreamed of a bolt action in what he considered the finest cartridge for hunting Western game ever created. Funny, isn’t it? Today many consider a 7mm Magnum a minimum for hunting mule deer and elk. Back when Dad hunted in Northern California, Colorado and Utah carrying a .30-06 was nearly to be ‘over gunned’. Dad’s .300 Savage was considered a grand cartridge indeed. Of the quarter-bores, I’ll go the .257 Roberts.

The 6.5mm. What a shame it seems that American hunters and target shooters have not paid more attention. Outside of military surplus, so many never consider this caliber. It has a great history and in the 6.5×55mm Swede incarnation it is considered the finest ‘moose’ cartridge in Europe - and one of the most accurate rounds ever. Today we have the ancient 6.5×55mm Swedish, the 260 Remington, and the 6.5 Rem. Magnum in factory arms. I understand that the 264/284 Win. wildcat is being chambered by someone but I have not confirmed this info yet. The 260 Rem is yet another of the long list of great cartridges based on the 308 Win. Mild recoil, supreme accuracy, and excellent killing power, the 260 Rem is only languishing due to the 6.5mm curse. Same goes for the 6.5 Rem Mag. The only surviving 6.5mm magnum is getting a bit of new life by being chambered in the Remington 673 Guide Gun. Tough decision here as I wonder what recoil the 6.5mm Rem Mag generates. A couple of fine US makers chamber bolt actions for both the 260 Rem and the 6.5×55 Swede. The Remington 673 is a huge temptation though… The jury is still out on the 6.5mm’s.

O’Conner’s favorite bore - 270. Today we have the 270 Win., 270 WSM, 270 WSSM, and the brand new 6.8mm Rem Special Purpose Cartridge. As I said before, no overbore magnums. Also, nothing ‘normal’. That leaves the 6.8mm SPC. This round was designed to improve the terminal ballistics of the 5.56mm round for the military. While it will have a following, I’m sure, it doesn’t seem to meet my needs for hunting and medium-to-long range accuracy. Scratch all the 270 rounds.

The 7mm’s. Here there is, at least, some experience on my part. My old hunting/fishing partner, Mike Bottoms, favors the 7mm Remington Mag. Me, I favored the 7mm-08. Together we sent many thousands of 7mm bullets downrange and more than a few into game from elk down to whistle-pigs. Well, scratch the magnums and we are left with the 7mm-08, the 7×57mm Mauser, and the 280 Rem. I’ve been unable to find a single bolt action rifle chambered in the Mauser round. Only the Ruger #1 single shot. Here at last is a simple choice - the 7mm-08 Remington wins hands down.

Ok. My list is down to the 257 Roberts, the 6.5×55, the 260 Remington, the 6.5 Rem Mag, and the 7mm-08. Five cartridges. Now, what rifle? Well, single shots - my favorites - are impossible to find. Looks like it will be a bolt action. I want a 22 inch barrel as well. Minimum. Ruger? Remington? Winchester? Savage? Well, let’s see…

Frankly, Remington’s model 673 in 6.5mm Remington Mag is just odd enough to really catch my eye. Thier Model 700 SPS in 7mm-08 looks to be a lot of rifle for the money - and a 24 inch barrel to boot.
Winchester’s Model 70 has to be one of the most beautiful of the bolt actions, it is strong, good after-market support, and is available in both the 6.5×55 and the 7mm-08.
Ruger has a hell-for-strong action and I’m already a loyal Ruger fan in handguns and rimfire semi-autos. Ruger’s customer service, though rarely needed, is legendary. Quality is really job #1. Their model 77 Mk. II is availible in 260 Rem, 6.5×55mm Swede and 7mm-08.

Geez! What a mass of confusion! Most of it is moot as well. It will take time for The Bull’s penny jar to get up to the price of any of the above listed rifles. Then there will be cases, bullets, primers, powder and dies to buy. Who knows? Perhaps I’ll one day actually play the lottery and win. Nah, too much like gambling, i.e.: throwing money in the trash. There is still hope for a best-selling book though!

If you’ve got thoughts on all of this confusing mess, leave a comment.

Until next time,
Omar, out.