What long range LA caliber?

[Brazilian Jiu-jitsu]

Hello all, I'm new to the forum and need a little help deciding on which caliber to decide on.

My father has a nice Mauser 98 in 30-06, but the barrel has been shot out. Recently he gave it to me to work with, knowing I have been trying to find an action to build on.

The idea is making a long range rig, mainly just for some plinking at the range. I have seen all the 6.5 Kool-aid and am not too sold on that, but have no experlance with that caliber. I have a 30-06 and would like another round to work with.

Long story short what round is good for precise shooting at long range in a long action rifle? I have looked at the 270, 6.5-06, and the 338-06, but I am not quite sold on any. What are your thoughts on which caliber to choose? What has worked for you?

Thank you all!

[Txhillbilly]

I love the 6.5-06, but the 280 Remington or 280AI is also something to think about.

[std7mag]

Brazilial,

Personally i would look into the 280 Rem or the 280AI. Lots of chouces for bullets with good BC.

I also like the 30-06, and the 25-06.

Have heard good things about the 6.5-06.

E.R. Shaw makes a good barrel for your purposes.

[Pathfinder45]

First of all, welcome to the forum.
My preferred caliber is 270 Winchester. But, since you already have a 30-'06, you might want to choose something a little less powerful for less recoil. Perhaps a 6.5x55 Swede? I assume that you reload, since you mentioned 6.5-06? 6mm Remington would be another good choice for a reloader.

[Brazilian Jiu-jitsu]

Now would I be able to form a 6.5-06 from a 30-06 case? I would imagine so but I am not sure. And how does it work on game?

Is 280 brass easy to come by? My only concern is being restricted by brass and bullet selection.

What barrel makers do you guys recommend?
Thanks again

[std7mag]

6.5-06, 280, 280AI, 25-06 all come from the 30-06 casing. Same with 270, 338-06, 35 Whelen.

280 brass is easy to get, or form from 30-06.
Bullet selection for 7mm goes from 110-210gr.

As i said, E.R. Shaw makes a good barrel for your purposes.

[TXAZ]

What's your definition of long range?
15% of TFL'ers think it's 200 yards, but 19% think it 1,000 yards or longer.
57% think its 500 yards or less.

Very different solutions for that wide of a range.

Let us know your definition and we can give you better feedback.


Here's a link to the survey:

https://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=591411

[std7mag]

TXAZ,
You know 83% of statistics are made up, right?? Lol

And all of those calibers capable of shooting 1000 yards.

[TXAZ]

1000 is becoming table stakes. With King of 2 Miles heating up, a wimpy 1 mile shot is becoming "short range"

(and it's actually 87.9% that are made up, please correct your error )

[std7mag]

My humble appoligies..

I must have gotten that from the anti statistic side. :

[Brazilian Jiu-jitsu]

Thanks std7mag, I think im leaning 6.5-06 right now. E.R. Shaw looks really good.

And I definitely plan on hitting around the 1000 yard mark.

And what do y'all think about Boyd's stocks? Sorry I know im full of questions haha

[std7mag]

I have 2 E.R. Shaw barrels.
One on a custom Mauser in 284Win. 24 inches, Shaw1.5 contour. 11 degree recessed target crown. Polished, blued. $272 delivered to my door.

Second is 24 inch Savage sporter contour in 250 Savage. Polished, blued. On special for $120.

Their bluing is a thing of beauty. Haven't shot the 250 yet.
284 Win putting 5 rounds in 0.830"

Personally i like Boyds stocks. Some don't care too much for them. All up to you.

[taylorce1]

I'd go 6.5-284 or plain old .284 Win in a long action. Basically you'll have a 6.5-06 or .280 Rem but you'll have better bullet seating options with the short fat .284 case. Bullets are only getting longer and they'll eat up your powder capacity even in a long action.

[GeauxTide]

I love the 6.5 caliber, having Grendel, 260, and 6.5-06; however, I can push 140s to 3150 and 150s to 2900 in the 280. I can get 3050 with 129s and 2935 with 140s from the 6.5.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Nothing out shines the 270 for accuracy and down range wallop.
And the Win 270 cartridge requires so few additional reloading tools other than a set of FL dies so to swagg that nasty 06 brass to a more e'fficient .277 caliber. Honestly how many cartridges have the reputation a 270 Win has?

[handlerer2]

I second Taylor force. I reload for 6.5x284 and several others.

The long range Vld type bullets sometimes require very long seating depths. Could be longer in 6.5-06 or 280, than a Mauser length action magazines might allow with the longest VLD type Bullets.

No one can argue that 270 isn't a great cartridge, but the bullet availability in VLD type bullets isn't nearly as great as in 6.5 or 284.

284 Win is a cool cartridge design. It has a body diameter greater than the rim which is the same as 30-06. This allows the same powder capacity as the 06 in 54mm case.

As long as others are recommending barrel makers. You won't go wrong with a barrel from Lilja barrels of Montana. Too many world and Olympic records to mention and sole provider of the SEALS of 30 and 50 cal Barrels. Not too expensive either.

[eastbank]

shooting at 1000 yards will take good ammo, equipment and a good shooter and will not be a cheap endeavor. if your just shooting at 3 foot gongs have at it, but if you want small iddi bitti groups you will have a large leaning curve ahead of you. I once had 63"of wind drift at 1000 yards using a heavy 30" barreled 7 mm-mag and 6.5x20 leupold scope and a 162gr match bullet at 3000-3100 fps.

[tobnpr]

.284 Winchester

This article explains why this cartridge is a good fit for the K98k actions, which can be short on mag length for long-action chamberings with heavy vld's...

https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Kno...inchester.html

[Don Fischer]

I suspect that long range is more about ability and bullet's than about what caliber cartridge you use. I fool around with 500 yds once in a great while. I'm not good enough to compete.

[RC20]

First, ER Shaw would not be my choice for a c8utsom rifle. Ok low cost barrels, but if you want a real keeper, Shilen or Criterion.

I would go about the decision differently.

If you plan to shoot a lot, then the choices in 6.5 at LR and higher velocity they can be pushed to are barrel burners.
The 6.5 Sweed is not considered a barrel burner but that supposes shooting it at the levels it came in originally.
If you want to push those FPS (MPS?) then 2500 is the rough area of burn out.
That is a reason Savage is popular (and some Remington) as the Savage barrel is easily replaced with a full pre fit requiring no Gun Smith work.
Remington has the threads that allow that as well, you just have to get the original barrel off. However its got a crappy trigger that needs to be replaced.

308 and 30-06 are much better barrel life. With VLD bullets, you gain some on the range of the 6.5s (not all of it but improve to 1000)

If I had the gun I would set up the Mauser in a lower use hunting or occasional target and get a Savage for the LR target stuff and make the cartridge choice based on what ht economics and the Rang eyou plan to shoot are are like for you.

[std7mag]

The OP already has a long action. Which is unusual in a K98.
Thinking it might be a commercial action?
06' is a fair bit longer than the 57mm length cartridges that the K98 was built for.

I'm shooting 284 Win out of a long commercial Mauser type action.
Whether for the long action, or the intermediate Mauser(K98) action you are going to have to open up the feed lip on the magazine for anything 284 based due to the larger case diameter for smooth feeding.

Having shot a 600 yard match with a sporter barrel, i can attest thst it's not just shooter. Mostly shooter ability, yes i'd agree, but some equipment is involved for small groups at distance.
I can also tell you that a Mauser with a 1.5 contour barrel will weigh 10 lbs.

If you want lighter weight, but also shoot small groups consistently at distance i would recommend a Proof Research barrel. Which would set you back about $900.

[T. O'Heir]

Hi. What makes you think the barrel is shot out? Did you slug it? Check it or have it checked with proper gauges? Most milsurps have been carried a lot but shot little. Mind you, "I want another chambering." is a reason.
However, building a long range(that's 600 plus yards on a range. 1 or 2 miles is not a recognised distance except for playing. 'Playing' is a reason too though.) is an expensive proposition. Isn't a DIY thing either. Unless you have the skills and tools. It's not just the match grade barrel. It's the trigger, sights, stock and having all that put together. So the first thing you need to do is decide on how much money you can/want to spend. You're basically using the receiver and selling the rest of the rifle.
A Shilen(for example), SS, chambered and threaded, match grade, barrel starts at $483.00USD. $112.43US for a Timney trigger. Sights can be iron or optical. Figure on a grand at least for optics. Irons will need a front and rear. Figure on about $200 + for that, installed.
Then there's the ammo. Assuming you're reloading (Target shooting gets really expensive if you're not.), you'll need to work up the load using match grade bullets(175 or 178 grain bullets for past 600 yards. A-Max, Match or Sierra Match Kings) for your rifle. Working up the load is probably the easiest and most enjoyable part of the whole thing.
"...Which is unusual in a K98..." The 8mm Mauser uses a long action. S'why they could be chambered in .30-06 for all those South American armies.
The 57mm length is the case length, not the COAL. SAAMI max OAL for 8mm Mauser is 3.250". 3.340" for the '06.

[TXAZ]

Originally Posted by Don Fischer

I suspect that long range is more about ability and bullet's than about what caliber cartridge you use. I fool around with 500 yds once in a great while. I'm not good enough to compete.

BINGO!!
There are guys shoot the 1 and 2 mile matches (King of 2 Miles for the very long shots) with everything from .338 LM to .50 BMG, with a lot of speciality wildcats in between.

[TXAZ]

Originally Posted by T. O'Heir

However, building a long range(that's 600 plus yards on a range. 1 or 2 miles is not a recognised distance except for playing. 'Playing' is a reason too though.) is an expensive proposition.

Maybe not in Canada but 1 and 2 mile are recognized match distances.
(Wanna see my 1 mile trophy?)

(And ironically the real “Kings of 2 Mile shots that count” are Canadian Army snipers.)

[std7mag]

T.O.
The 8X57 Mauser is the cartridge, not the action. Same with 7mm Mauser, 6.5mm Mauser,
6mm Rem, and 257 Roberts.

I did look up and find that there are indeed 2 lengths of the M98 action, one of which being an intermediate length.

Most of the Mausers i've run accross from South America are 7.62X51, or 308 Win.

Also there are so many more weights and manufactures of bullets out there.

For my 7mm-08AI i was using the 140gr. Berger VLD.
For 7mm Rem Mag i'm using 168gr. Berger VLD.
While they are "hunting" bullets i've been having good results with the Nosler Accubond Long Range in 150gr.