What caliber?
I'm going to cover a few parts of this topic for now and leave the rest for the future. This will be about practical precision and to a small degree, hunting.
There are many caliber choices and no one single right answer.
I'll start with practical precision. You'll find there are a few different concepts or styles followed in practical precision when it comes to caliber choices. The first thing I'd recommend is to see what the pros are using. Look at those top hundred or two hundred shooters and see what they choose. See if you can figure out why they picked that caliber. Most of the time they have made their way to the caliber they like after shooting through quite a few barrels.
There are a few ways to look at the different methods for what caliber to choose. One of the overall ideals is either choosing a caliber that is smaller (6mm) and faster, thus having less recoil or something a little bigger (6.5mm) that will hit the target a little harder at further distances. Generally, the smaller and faster 6mm caliber will make it easier for you to spot your shots (hits/misses) off of barricades or positions where you aren't as stable; while the 6.5mm will allow the RO to spot hits easier at distance.
Recoil:
This term is often misunderstood in the discussion of caliber choices. A lot of the time a person will say, or think, the recoil doesn't bother me so I don't have to be concerned with that. Most of the time when we are discussing recoil as related to practical precision we mean it more from the perspective of being able to watch your own shots land. Many of us find it critical to be able to see our own hit or miss on each shot so that we can decide how to correct for the next shot. If we choose a caliber that jumps up too much when we fire a shot it will keep us from being able to see where our shot lands and then we have no new information, to make a decision on, for the next shot. Even if we score a hit, we still want to know where we hit the plate so we know if we held a little too much wind, or not quite enough (and if we are a little high or a little low). We shoot from a lot of odd positions where we aren't as stable as we would be from the prone position. The lesser the recoil the better our chances are of seeing that shot, even at close distances. Lesser recoil also allows us to stay on target better, allowing for a faster follow-up shot. Weight of the rifle, brake or suppressor, and body position are just a few other things that will also have some effect on recoil.
Here is a short clip as an example of where/when recoil can matter. This was my last two shots on a 10 shot stage. I was down to the last 20 seconds to get the two shots off.
Here is a short clip as an example of where/when recoil can matter. This was my last two shots on a 10 shot stage. I was down to the last 20 seconds to get the two shots off.
Why do most practical precision competitors choose 6mm and 6.5mm?
The 6mm and 6.5mm projectiles have a nice high BC (ballistic coefficient). Generally, you can get really nice speeds and have to hold less wind with these calibers, while still maintaining acceptable recoil. If watching our shots and getting back on target quickly didn't matter we would most likely see some different calibers picked more often. 6mm and 6.5mm are very well supported with excellent projectiles for both hunting and practical precision. There are numerous projectile choices for these two calibers.
The external ballistics of many of the 6mm and 6.5mm cartridges are similar and they tend to only differ in minor ways. There are exceptions to this when it comes to using different cartridges. Generally, we see better barrel life from the 6.5mm as compared to the 6mm.
What chamber?
There are a good number of chambers used in practical precision and tremendously more for hunting. There are quite a few ways to start a process of elimination to decide what you want for yourself. The intended use would be where I would start. The practical precision chambers and hunting chambers will overlap, to some extent. I tend to look at choice of brass and projectiles once I know what the rifle will be used for. I won't consider a chamber/caliber that doesn't have excellent brass and projectiles available. For practical precision we also want to be certain that we can make good use of the cartridge. Some cartridges don't make good sense due to mag length and the inability to make good use of the better projectiles. Often, that is one of the things that is corrected in these 'newer' designs. Talk to your gunsmith and work through everything to be certain all of the parts will fall into place as they should. As previously mentioned, the 6mm and 6.5mm calibers are widely supported when it comes to projectiles. From here, I'll move into individual discussion of chambers to discuss specifics. Almost all of these rounds mentioned will fit in a short action and any that don't will be mentioned.
I'm going to cover the chambers that are used most often by the top 100 shooters. It doesn't mean you have to stick with one of these, but it does mean it's worth checking into.
Common chambers used by top practical precision shooters.
6.5x47 Lapua is one of the better cartridges we have when it comes to 6.5 and practical precision. The Lapua brass is excellent and it has a small primer pocket and that helps us a lot on the reloading side of things. 6.5 Lapua is very forgiving to load for and is extremely inherently accurate. This chamber is very well liked and respected in a few different shooting disciplines.
6.5 Creedmoor is also a great chamber that sees wide use for practical precision. This is a great cartridge to reload for and is also a great choice for the shooter that doesn't reload yet because it is very well supported by ammunition manufacturers. You can order excellent ammo and it's now found at most sporting good stores. Norma brass is available for this cartridge and it uses a large primer pocket. Lapua has now released 6.5 Creedmoor brass and it has a small primer pocket.
260 Remington is another great 6.5 chamber. We don't see it as widely used as the two previously mentioned, for practical precision. Brass is available from Lapua and Norma. 260 Remington is another choice for the shooter that doesn't reload. Generally, 260 Remington costs a little more than 6.5 Creedmoor when it comes to purchasing factory ammo.
6 Creedmoor and 6 Lapua are each excellent chambers for the 6mm projectiles. The 6mm Creedmoor may be slightly favored for being able to get a little better speed, but both are excellent. We are seeing companies offer factory loaded 6 Creedmoor so it will begin to be another good choice for the shooter that doesn't reload.
Lapua is favored by some folks over the Creedmoor for a few reasons, one being the brass choices. Now that we have Norma brass for Creedmoor and Lapua small primer pocket brass for Creedmoor, the gap between those cartridges is a little closer. There will be people that prefer each of these.
6mm Dasher, 6mm SLR, and 6XC are other excellent choices for the 6mm caliber. I see a lot more 6XC than the other two mentioned and that may be because the 6XC is easy to buy brass for. The other two take a little more work so take a good look at what that means if those interest you.
There are others of course, but I'm just covering those that are used the most by the top 100 practical precision shooters. If you hand-load and are so inclined, you have many options available.
Some of the common hunting chambers that also cross over some into practical precision.
On the hunting side, I'll just cover some of the more popular rounds. I won't get into many of the big magnum cartridges as that can be an entire topic of its own. There will be a large number of hunting chambers not covered here, to keeping this from getting too long to read.
For starters, all of the chambers mentioned above are each excellent choices for hunting. When it comes to hunting it's vital to understand your limitations as a shooter and to also know the limitations of your projectile when it comes to speed and energy. This is a huge discussion in itself and won't be covered at this time. Sometimes we choose a different projectile for hunting, as compared to practical precision, but not always. A good study of projectiles is in order to really understand what you want to use for hunting and/or practical precision.
243 is a great 6mm choice for hunting and has been for many years. Good brass and projectiles are readily available. We do see 243 used for practical precision from time to time as well, but we don't see it used much by those top 100 practical precision shooters.
6.5 SAUM is a great cartridge that we see used for practical precision and for hunting. Norma brass is available, but has been scarce lately. To use the Norma brass it has to be necked down from 7mm to 6.5. The 6.5 SAUM moves the same 140 gr 6.5mm projectiles 200+ feet per second faster than the 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 Lapua. It is an excellent hunting round and is used some in practical precision already and I believe we will see it used more. The 6.5 SAUM is a very inherently accurate round.
7mm-08 is another excellent hunting cartridge that crosses over a little to the practical precision side. 7mm-08 is similar in external ballistics to the 6.5 Creedmoor, but the 7mm-08 carries a lot more energy making it an excellent choice for hunting. The 7mm-08 does have more recoil than the 6.5 Lapua and Creedmoor, making it more difficult to spot shots from those barricade type positions. For a 7mm caliber, the 7mm-08 has great barrel life. This could be a good choice for some hunters that want a rifle to cross over from mostly hunting to the occasional practical precision match.
7 SAUM is an excellent hunting round, but won't be seen very often on the practical precision side. It carries tremendous energy and speed from a short action, getting very close to some 7 mag speeds. I've only seen this round used at a few matches and I don't imagine it will gain much more following on the practical precision side. For hunters this is an excellent short action choice and Norma brass is available, although somewhat scarce lately. The 7 SAUM is a very inherently accurate round and also crosses over into a different shooting sport.
223 and 308
There is a division where we see 223 and 308 used. 223 is very forgiving. Often, competitors will build a trainer rifle in 223. The 223 rifle will be almost identical to their match rifle, yet be chambered in 223. This can be good for practice and can also double for certain types of hunting. 308 is a caliber that is talked about very often and it is almost always compared to other cartridges. The 308 can be loaded with 155gr projectiles where it runs at faster speeds and then it becomes more competitive with the excellent 6mm and 6.5mm calibers, at average practical precision match distances. None of this information is meant as a knock against 308 in any way. It is widely used and accepted for many different purposes.
264 Win Mag, 7 Rem Mag, and 300 Win Mag
These are each built on long actions. We wouldn't consider these much for practical precision, but one will show up every once in a while to a match. These of course make excellent hunting calibers. Between these, each will have strengths and weaknesses as compared to each other. Barrel life, recoil, and ammo costs would be the main reasons we don't see these used at practical precision matches.
Other Chambers/Calibers/Matches
There are plenty of other choices for hunting and for practical precision. These chosen for this blog are simply those that are are used often by top competitors for practical precision and/or some I chamber a decent number of rifles in for competition and hunting. Just because a round isn't listed here doesn't mean it's a bad choice. Just do your homework and figure out what is best for you.
Lots of other types of matches are available for those interested. Some of the cartridges like the 7 SAUM, 264 Win Mag, 7 Rem Mag, and 300 Win Mag (for example) can cross over from hunting to some of the extended long range matches. When we get into extended long range we see a lot of other choices such as 300 Norma, 338 Lapua, Norma, and Edge, and 375 CheyTac to name just a few. This is well out of the spectrum of the intention of this topic and can be detailed further in the future.
Multiple Rifles and/or a Switch Lug Design:
Many of us end up with multiple rifles for different uses from hunting, to practical precision, extended long range, etc. There are times where we just can't make the same rifle fit each use well enough to keep from wanting another rifle. Or, we just like having more.
WTO (West Texas Ordnance) has an excellent Switch Lug for making it easy to swap barrels on hunting rifles or competition rifles. It serves many purposes and can certainly save money when you don't want to buy another action, stock/chassis, and scope. Rifles can be retrofitted with a Switch Lug or you can build that way from the start. If you are interested in the Switch Lug, get in touch with West Texas Ordnance, Texas Custom Rifles, or BullWorx. It's a neat design that fits many applications and no big tools are needed to complete the barrel swap so it's easy for most shooters to accomplish.
Get out and shoot!
If you have a 243 or a 308 (for example) that you want to use to get started then go for it. You can get out there and learn a lot and have a ton of fun. Don't let all of the caliber discussions keep you away.
There will be more blog entries in the future covering more long range topics. Thanks for reading and feel free to share this or my other blog entries if you think it will help someone.
There is a division where we see 223 and 308 used. 223 is very forgiving. Often, competitors will build a trainer rifle in 223. The 223 rifle will be almost identical to their match rifle, yet be chambered in 223. This can be good for practice and can also double for certain types of hunting. 308 is a caliber that is talked about very often and it is almost always compared to other cartridges. The 308 can be loaded with 155gr projectiles where it runs at faster speeds and then it becomes more competitive with the excellent 6mm and 6.5mm calibers, at average practical precision match distances. None of this information is meant as a knock against 308 in any way. It is widely used and accepted for many different purposes.
264 Win Mag, 7 Rem Mag, and 300 Win Mag
These are each built on long actions. We wouldn't consider these much for practical precision, but one will show up every once in a while to a match. These of course make excellent hunting calibers. Between these, each will have strengths and weaknesses as compared to each other. Barrel life, recoil, and ammo costs would be the main reasons we don't see these used at practical precision matches.
Other Chambers/Calibers/Matches
There are plenty of other choices for hunting and for practical precision. These chosen for this blog are simply those that are are used often by top competitors for practical precision and/or some I chamber a decent number of rifles in for competition and hunting. Just because a round isn't listed here doesn't mean it's a bad choice. Just do your homework and figure out what is best for you.
Lots of other types of matches are available for those interested. Some of the cartridges like the 7 SAUM, 264 Win Mag, 7 Rem Mag, and 300 Win Mag (for example) can cross over from hunting to some of the extended long range matches. When we get into extended long range we see a lot of other choices such as 300 Norma, 338 Lapua, Norma, and Edge, and 375 CheyTac to name just a few. This is well out of the spectrum of the intention of this topic and can be detailed further in the future.
Multiple Rifles and/or a Switch Lug Design:
Many of us end up with multiple rifles for different uses from hunting, to practical precision, extended long range, etc. There are times where we just can't make the same rifle fit each use well enough to keep from wanting another rifle. Or, we just like having more.
WTO (West Texas Ordnance) has an excellent Switch Lug for making it easy to swap barrels on hunting rifles or competition rifles. It serves many purposes and can certainly save money when you don't want to buy another action, stock/chassis, and scope. Rifles can be retrofitted with a Switch Lug or you can build that way from the start. If you are interested in the Switch Lug, get in touch with West Texas Ordnance, Texas Custom Rifles, or BullWorx. It's a neat design that fits many applications and no big tools are needed to complete the barrel swap so it's easy for most shooters to accomplish.
Get out and shoot!
If you have a 243 or a 308 (for example) that you want to use to get started then go for it. You can get out there and learn a lot and have a ton of fun. Don't let all of the caliber discussions keep you away.
There will be more blog entries in the future covering more long range topics. Thanks for reading and feel free to share this or my other blog entries if you think it will help someone.
