[Supertroll]

I've been wondering what's the difference between some of these caliber sizes... other than... you know - the bigger bullet and such. Which has less kick and the like? I've just been wondering . I know .308 rifles are very popular, but what are the pro's and con's of each of these?

.223
.243
6.5x55 Swede
6.5x284 Norma
.308
.30-06
7mm Rem Mag
.300 WSM
.300 Win Mag
(copied this list from a post in the rifle section)

 

[morpheus]

I've been wondering what's the difference between some of these caliber sizes... other than... you know - the bigger bullet and such. Which has less kick and the like? I've just been wondering . I know .308 rifles are very popular, but what are the pro's and con's of each of these?

.223
.243
6.5x55 Swede
6.5x284 Norma
.308
.30-06
7mm Rem Mag
.300 WSM
.300 Win Mag
(copied this list from a post in the rifle section)

Well you listed them in order of the size of the bullet except just swith the .30-06 and 7mm. I'm not sure which kicks more between them but they should be comparabe, ditto with the .300WSM and .300 Win Mag.

The pro's and con's depends on what you want to do with them. This list is very diverse. Such as if you want to hunt a varmint a .243 would be, in my opinion, the best. For hunting deer I would chose the 6.5 Swede or .30-06 and .308 as best all around. For elk the .300 Win Mag would far exceed that role. But main thing is what do you want to do?

 

[Supertroll]

Target shooting! .

Then again, going out for some deer sounds nice. .

 

[mele]

For a breif overview on most of these, check out my calibers section

http://www.snipercentral.com/caliber.htm

MEL

 

[morpheus]

Target shooting! .

Then again, going out for some deer sounds nice. .

My recommendation for those two would either be the .243 or .308, but the their are a couple of others on that list that would also do just fine.

But wadda I know?

 

[Supertroll]

I've read over the list, and it looks like I'd go with the 6.5x66 Swede if I ever had a custom rifle made. Mainly because of less recoil (I think?), and it being a smaller round.

Thanks alot for the info!

 

[morpheus]

6.5 Swede is an extremely good round. But there isn't, to my knowledge, any match ammo for it, if you want to shoot targets or matches with it. Unless you handload.

I can't wait to get my hands on my Ruger 6.5 Swede I'm saving up to get a good scope to get for it.

 

[Nekekami]

morpheus:

There's lots of match ammo available for 6.5x55. Lapua, Norma, Raufoss...

 

[Jake S]

I think even Federal loads Gold Medal match for it.

Pretty much recoil increases with an increase in bullet diameter. .243 kicks more than .223, .308 kicks more than .243, .300 mag kicks more than 7mm mag. And with an increase in bullet diameter, you usually get an increase in case size and powder capacity, which leads to more power on both ends, except with cases based off of the same parent round. For example, the .243, .260, and 7mm-08 are all based off of the .308 case, but the .308 will still kick more due to the bigger bullets.

Yet magnums tend to kick more than standard calibers of equal or bigger diameter. i.e., the 7mm mag, despite its .284 bullet diameter, will kick more then the .308 diameter bullet of the .30-06.

I hope this did not cause any confusion...

THe 6.5x55 swede is a great choice.

 

[mele]

Federal "used" to make match ammo for 6.5 swede, they discontinued about 2 years ago. PMC makes match ammo for it though.... but the best would be Lapua and Norma, with some looking, its available in the USA

MEL

 

[Jake S]

Federal stopped loading match for it ? I was considering a 6.5 swede for the reason that it is a good cartridge, made exponentially better by the Federal match loads.

I agree, and in my experience the PMC "match" isn't even worth your time.
Stick with spending the extra money for the better stuff from Lapua and Norma.