Caliber based on 243 70gr tnt

8

806 guns

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What would be your choice and why. For lots of rounds down range for a varmint gun. Bolt action 18" is preffered. Also twist rates, stay with a 1-8 or go to a 12 twist?

243
243 ai
6xc
6gt
6x47L
 
Personally I'd go with the 6mm ARC. A lot of performance from a moderate powder charge, 20 to 25 % less. With modern dialling scope a little slower isn't that big of a deal, plus barrel life might improve also. With that short of a barrel the ARC, PPC, even a 6x45AI or 6x47 Rem or 6mm/204 as your building around a mid weight bullet.

I'd go 1-10, maybe 1-12 twist, you picked a flat-base mid to lower weight bullet so your not looking for plus 500 yard work.

I shoot a 6mm ARC, 6x45 and 6mm/204(6x47 Rem Improved 30 degree)
 
806 guns said:
What would be your choice and why. For lots of rounds down range for a varmint gun. Bolt action 18" is preferred. Also twist rates, stay with a 1-8 or go to a 12 twist?

243
243 ai
6xc
6gt
6x47L
Click to expand...
I'll assume you have a 308 bolt face to work with, so.....

I believe it's best to pick a bullet and/or weight you want to shoot, at the velocity you would like to shoot them at, then pick the cartridge that will do that at sane pressures.

First choice would be a 6BR. Great accuracy, good velocity, with decent barrel life.

6GT might be 2nd choice, as you have a 22 in the works. If you use bushing dies, just switching to the appropriate bushing size would be the easy button.

I wouldn't go bigger than the GT, in fact my choice for a 6mm prairie dog cartridge is the 6 Dasher. I have them in fast & slow twists.

I'm a huge 6x47 Lapua fan, & have several of those too, but not for high volume endeavors.

Bullet & twist would be determined from max yardage you're anticipating.

I never subscribe to the notion to just get a fast twist, as it'll shoot everything just fine....maybe, maybe not.

Max accuracy generally come from matching the twist to the bullet.
 
I use 70gr Nosler BT's in my 6mm Creedmoor that has a 20in 9tw Proof Research barrel and it shoots pretty good.
6CMTarget.jpeg

6Creedmoor.jpg
 
When you wrote "for lots of rounds down range", that eliminated the bigger cases imo. I've burned out several 243 barrels, I love the round but it won't have a long life as a varminter. Of the ones you listed I suppose the br is the smallest? That's what I'd do and if that's the only bullet you want to shoot 12 twist would be plenty I'm sure.

So the round you choose really depends on what you want for barrel life, and one more thing I'll add is if you're talking colony varmints, something the size of a 243 makes it very difficult to spot your misses if you hunt by yourself. This coming from a guy who's sent way more than his fair share of pdogs to their maker. The less recoil, the better for that task.
 
Edit, I guess you didn't list the br, but I like alf's advice. And the 6 arc or ppc would be great too unless you need to stick with the larger bolt face like was mentioned.
 
Just got done shooting a 18" 6 GT for a buddy and I'm liking it. Fed amazing with a standard 308 mag. I may spin up a 12 twist 6 GT now.
 
Couple weeks ago my daughter shot a nice 3x4 white tail with my 6 Creedmoor and those 70gr Nosler BT and it hammered him hard. It wasn't a real long range shot at 175-180 yds but it left a nice size hole going in and destroyed the lungs. It took about two steps and piled up. Entrance hole, there was no exit.
IMG_6843.jpg
 
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