Hey, I'm brand new to the forum, though I've come here before from the outside looking in for advice. I got into the "long range" scene about 2 years ago. I have several rifles and steel target that i use to ring steel out to about 1000 yards. current long is 1056 yards give or take a few. The thing is my wife wants to join me in my hobby, which is great for me. I want to build/get her a rifle to get slowly into the hobby while also meeting a bunch of criteria for a rifle project I've had in mind, kill 2 birds with one stone. So my issue is she is a small frame person who is somewhat recoil sensitive and doesn't want some 20+ pound, 28 inch straight barreled behemoth to try to shoot with or move around either. Also I've always kind of wanted a tactical looking 16 to 18.5 ish inch barreled bolt action rifle that i could thread and throw a suppressor on. though I know something like good ole 308 would be awesome for that kind of application, the recoil and muzzle blast from that round in that application would be too much and too unpleasant for her and the last thing I want to do is scare her away when she's finally showing interest in something I love. I also would like to be able to take small to medium game with the rifle should i want to. I hunt in georgia so whitetail is the largest game I would possibly take at ranges inside of 200 yards. I still want the round to be usable to ring steel out at 600 plus yards so my wife can have a rifle she can grow into, since I think it will take a while for her to get that far out on her own and that pretty much rules 300blkout out since the drop would be enormous at that range and I already have one of those anyways. I want something that can be bought over the shelf, and I'd like to keep it below $2.00 a round. I do reload, so if its a bit on the high end of that price point, i can reload to make it work. So in short, I need a low recoil, medium power round that shoots relatively flatter out of a sub 20 inch barrel. please help me. thanks
Best cartridge for low recoil, long range, short barrel shooting
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I already have a similar setup in a 20 inch odinworks barrel laying around oddly enough. I do like it, but for this application, i just want a bolt action, i already have an old burned out 700 in 22-250 laying around along with a magpul 700 hunter stock, I just wanted to re barrel the action in something for her to save me a little on the cash verses building/buying another ar 15. I do like grendel though. how well does it fair in shorter barrels like say 18 inches or less? and what twist would be optimal to still shoot something like the 123 gr eld-ms? and what else compares to it ballistically in short action? I want to hear all my options before I commit to a barrel since its not something I can easily go back on. also how does something like 6x45 or 243 win fair out of shorter barrels?
I know I keep posting on my own post, but I keep having thoughts as I keep looking into this. Is there a particular cartridge/rifle combo that does very well when cut down to this length? say i found a good deal on a 700 action and barrel in good shape or used or whatever but in a longer barrel. it would be very reasonable I think for me to take it to a gunsmith and chop it down and thread it. is there any particular cartridge that meets that requirement? that would honestly be the most favorable option so I can keep my spare action for another varmint build down the road.
I would do a 260 rem with a 20" barrel and a good break and recoil pad.
If you just want a target gun a 223 will easily ding steel ar 600yds but I like something with a little more for hunting.
Edit: also Cliff's suggestions of a howa is a good one im not a fan of the new 700's they just ain't what they used to be. Also check out Boyd's at-one stock the jury is still out but looks nice
If you just want a target gun a 223 will easily ding steel ar 600yds but I like something with a little more for hunting.
Edit: also Cliff's suggestions of a howa is a good one im not a fan of the new 700's they just ain't what they used to be. Also check out Boyd's at-one stock the jury is still out but looks nice
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This is what I would try too.
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Low recoil? Efficient in short barrels? Ballistically capable? You're a handloader?
Yeah, you just described a 6BR, 6BRX, and 6Dasher. The straight BR is easiest to get along with since there is no forming or brass work required. It's also the tamest of the bunch.
Here's a trajectory map for my 16" 6BR.
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Here's the rifle:
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You'll want to call Travis @ TS Customs to talk through the build. Trust me... do yourself a favor and call him BEFORE you start spending money. If there's anything you'd like to talk through with me, I'm available to you as well.
There are some issues to overcome with rem700 actions and BR builds. Sometimes they don't behave themselves. You'll want a 7 to 7.75 twist barrel and I'd use a benchmark. (which is available from TS Customs) If you go the BR route, you'll want some good bottom metal and our AICS mag kits.
In the event that the BR route isn't available or appealing to you, I'd go with a 22-250 or 22-250AI in a fast twist. That combo with 80gr bergers kills our big bodied northern deer like a lightning strike and fits all your other requirements as well. Absolutely stunning ballistics on an 80gr berger going 3200fps. In a 16" barrel you'll likely only get around 3000fps... but it's still impressive. I run 52SMK's out of my 16" 22-250 at about 3600fps. If you go this route you'll want an 8 twist barrel for shooting heavies. (7 would work also) Though on the 308 bolt face there's only so many options that provide low recoil and impressive performance. The 22-250 eats barrels pretty good.
If you wanted to get a new bolt for that action, you could go to something like a fast twist .223 or .223AI.
Here's my 16" .223AI.
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Yeah, you just described a 6BR, 6BRX, and 6Dasher. The straight BR is easiest to get along with since there is no forming or brass work required. It's also the tamest of the bunch.
Here's a trajectory map for my 16" 6BR.
Here's the rifle:
You'll want to call Travis @ TS Customs to talk through the build. Trust me... do yourself a favor and call him BEFORE you start spending money. If there's anything you'd like to talk through with me, I'm available to you as well.
There are some issues to overcome with rem700 actions and BR builds. Sometimes they don't behave themselves. You'll want a 7 to 7.75 twist barrel and I'd use a benchmark. (which is available from TS Customs) If you go the BR route, you'll want some good bottom metal and our AICS mag kits.
In the event that the BR route isn't available or appealing to you, I'd go with a 22-250 or 22-250AI in a fast twist. That combo with 80gr bergers kills our big bodied northern deer like a lightning strike and fits all your other requirements as well. Absolutely stunning ballistics on an 80gr berger going 3200fps. In a 16" barrel you'll likely only get around 3000fps... but it's still impressive. I run 52SMK's out of my 16" 22-250 at about 3600fps. If you go this route you'll want an 8 twist barrel for shooting heavies. (7 would work also) Though on the 308 bolt face there's only so many options that provide low recoil and impressive performance. The 22-250 eats barrels pretty good.
If you wanted to get a new bolt for that action, you could go to something like a fast twist .223 or .223AI.
Here's my 16" .223AI.
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4,851 Posts
Since the OP already has an old(er) Rem 700 action why not just true it, add a decent trigger, and new barrel. The way to keep a shooter interested in the sport is to put a nice accurate rifle in their hands.
If the OP's 700 is an older unit it may even have a trigger that doesn't need the replacement the new ones pretty much do.
I got my lady a kids size 700 in .243. This was about 5 years ago. I picked that caliber because of the availablility of ammo if traveling. If all your shooting will be local, this is a non-issue for you. For us there wasn't much deer hunting wanted to do in Sou. Fla. .243 made sense for us. The little woman could shoot that rifle. Recoil was nothing for her. Barrel length was 20" I believe. We're not together anymore. I miss that rifle.
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Maybe so if buying a rifle to be shot as is.
Since a lot of new rifles turn into "projects" a good option is to buy a trued Remington action from PT&G then add barrel, trigger, and stock, all of your choice. Their trued actions come with PT&G one piece bolts modified for Mini-M16 extractors and nice snug firing pin holes. Starting this way means no pile of leftover parts when you have the rifle as you want it. Even better, buy a "Remage" barrel and you can install and headspace it yourself. No waiting for a "slot" in a gunsmith's busy schedule.
This still allows one to have access to all the aftermarket parts, pieces, and gizmos that are readily available for the Remington platform but without the flaws (real or perceived) of a factory Remington rifle.
This is absolutely true. My experience shows that if a new shooter can't see improvement on paper targets because the rifle's a 4 MOA shooter, they lose interest immediately. You can see it in their faces. Only exception is rapid firing at milk jugs where you're just making a lot of noise and throwing lead down range, they seem to enjoy that also.
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Is this for her to hit steel out that far or just you but still have her shoot it. With working the benefit of getting a new gun out off it.
I agree with deadshot entirely on this. You can always do what i do since you reload. I have a newer remmington sps v in 308 with a brake. Even with it having the light recoil she still doesn't like it so i use h4895 for my go to powder. With that powder i make reduced loads for her and the rifle doesn't even budge. Sure they are not as accurate but it gets her behind the trigger without being scared. You can slowly work up with powder and her experience to get where she is doing full accurate loads.
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I agree with deadshot entirely on this. You can always do what i do since you reload. I have a newer remmington sps v in 308 with a brake. Even with it having the light recoil she still doesn't like it so i use h4895 for my go to powder. With that powder i make reduced loads for her and the rifle doesn't even budge. Sure they are not as accurate but it gets her behind the trigger without being scared. You can slowly work up with powder and her experience to get where she is doing full accurate loads.
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Actually, there's an old saying... No matter how good looking she is there's a guy somewhere that's tired of her S..T.
Got fed up with one sided stuff.
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