Just nabbed my sixth bolt action handgun. This now brings me up to three XP's and three Striker's. The current inventory is.......

.222 Remmy (14" Hart tube, XP),
.222 Rem Mag Imp (16" tube, XP),
22-250 (26" factory varmint weight tube cut to 16",Striker),
7mm-08 (16" Shilen tube, Striker),
7mm-270WSM (17" Lilja tube, XP)

The latest toy is a Striker with a factory skinny 7-08 barrel. Honestly I'm not really sure what I want to do with this gun. Definately a LR rig (I use T/C's for sub-200yd hunting) so weight is not an issue. But for my style of hunting and limited number of deer tags that I have each year, all the bases are pretty much covered for big game. What the 7-08 can not do , the big WSM XP can.

I don't do much varmint hunting, but I have all the bases covered there as well...the .222 Remmy is my go to accuracy gun (shoots in the .1's and .2's), then the .222 RMI and 22-250 are good to 400-500yds on a calm day.

There is a lot of room from .22 cal to 7mm but I'm not sure what there would be in that hole (6mm, .257, 6,5mm) that I would really like. Don't really want another WSM. I like the thoughts of a .260 Rem but the 7-08 will do about all that the .260 can.

I have entertained the idea of a 6mm-250 or 250-3000 (possibly the Improved version) for a deer/varmint combo gun. But I can not see this having a very long effective range in a handgun.

Your thoughts??

Seems to me you need something for Africa , Alaska, or the deep dark swamps of Somerset County while hunting Bear! Your 338JDJ might need a much bigger brother, but you are limited my case length.

you have all the "needs" covered 10 times over dan. so....it's gonna boil down to what you desire to "just have".
if yer lookin to stay in the theme of things then you need another 7mm(3-22's n 3 7mm's). i don't think that is necessarily a desirable thing to chase though, unless ya just want another big 7mm for a backup long range gun

me personally.....i'd do the 6br, n the 6mm-250 sounds like a fine idea to me as well. but.... i know you gotta be far fetched n different

yes you are correct. since the 7-08 is there, i can't see adding a 260rem unless ya just like it so much ya got to.

so........HERE is an idea on what i'm thinkin you actually "need"........ the 6-6.5x47, which is the 6.5x47 lapua case necked down. should be near perfect for your pennsylvania shooting

a lil info starts about half way down this page link.
http://www.6mmbr.com/6BRBlog.html

Well Dan, you have the 22 cals covered. Then a big jump to 7mm. The best selection for bullets and long range are 6.5mm with the high BC's. I would suggest 6.5 Rem Mag, it's short and has a good powder capacity and you can run the 6.5 case quite hot. With the reintroduction of the 6.5 Rem Mag brass is easy to find. The 6.5 is just enough different to be appealing

Well Dan considering you said LONG RANGE is the goal, and you have the bases covered pretty well, I do see a hole.

I think you need something based on the .284 Case, ie 6mmx284, .257x284 or 6.5mmx284. Depending on the final decision on what to do with this round / gun, would determine what bullet weights you want.

Personally I am a 6mm fan so for me it would obviously have to be a 6mmx284. Probably built with a 1 - 8 or 9 twist. The way I look at it is this, I hunt Deer a couple weeks a year but I am out after Varmints the other 50 weeks per year. The 6mmx284 would make a dandy long range Coyote Thumper.

Larry

Larry

How about a 25 WSM or a big brother to the 7 WSM such as a 325 WSM? Just read an article that had info on a 375X284 that should be a shooter as well for big game.
just some thoughts
nmhunter

Dan, have you seen the new cartridges hornady is partnered up on, the 300 Marlin and 375 Ruger, I think they have handgun cartridge all over them, the 375 is supposed to be a 30-06 length cartridge but will beat the 375H&H by 150fps. I don't know if rim dimensions are compatible with your bolt but it would be an interesting set up and I would think they should definately work in an Encore.

Dan.. I'm with Larry...go with the 284 based cartridge. That 6mm-284 really looks appealing and should fill the void between the 22's and the 7mm's you have. It's heavy enough for deer, mule deer and maybe even elk (being careful of course)and anything else in between in the right hands. That's what I want to do sometime down the road with one of my Strikers. Go for it!

John

for the 284 based rounds such as 6.5x284 and 6-284....does anyone worry about throat erosion ya hear about?

i would have no desire to shoot one that erodes the throat within 1000-1500rnds ..... IF they do

Dan,
I think a 350 Rem Mag would be a perfect chambering for the bolt action. Give it a good look over.
Ed

I was thinking along the lines of Larry's thoughts.

Silly me!!

I think the "problem" is solved.

Just remembered that I have the .270 OTTR barrel laying in the safe. Mike at OTT never made me up the right set of dies so I think I'll go elsewhere to have a set made and really ring that thing out. My memory was slightly off from what my notes indicated regarding the results of that project. I had gotten 140gr .277" slugs up to 2700fps...kinda like 6.5-284 or .284 Winny performance. A 140gr SST or BT in the 140-ish grain weight arena would have a slightly better BC than a 7mm bore.

Maybe I could drive the 135gr SMK to 2750-2800? That would work pretty good w/ that bullet having a BC in the .480's.

Ya see now Dan, that wasn't so tought now was it.

I knew you'd figure it out in the end.

Larry

How about the 6mmBR? 3700fps, 70gr, V-Max's could be the ticket for varmints.

6mm BR, 3700 fps, 70g pill . Launched out of what?

Actually i got a deal for you if interested. I've got 200 6.5X55 Lapua brass and a Carsten-modified Redding die set for 224 Vais i'd sell cheap.