SmallCaliberCentral

Wanted to ask for fellow board members thoughts on something if I may. My youngest daughter is going to be the law enforcement officer for a Wildlife Refuge in SW WY. They are going to outfit her pretty well for duty weapons, Glock 20, Glock 27, AR15 and Rem 870 12 Ga. She's getting into hunting also and I am going to steer her toward a 6.5 caliber of some sort. Most likely a 6.5x55 or 6.5x55 Ackley or 6.5 Gibbs or 260 Rem. I've no experience with the recoil factor for the 6.5 AI or the 6.5 Gibbs. I have a friend that has a 6.5 Gibbs so I will be able to shoot it to get a comparison. Logic tells me that the 6.5 AI would most likely be very similar to the 6.5 Gibbs recoil wise. I'm hedging toward one of the first 3 mostly because of I would get one built for her to get around the magazine length issues with a short action. The 260 makes more sense for her I suppose cuz it's a factory round and you can buy ammo commercially. Same with 6.5x55. Factory rounds get heavily limited for COL due to action length and presents a decided handicap I feel. One of the drawbacks of the 6.5 Gibbs is to get the optimum out of it you need to use a 26" barrel and that may be a bit unwieldy for a relatively new rifle shooter. I have a source for pre-formed brass for the 6.5 Gibbs so no issues there, same for 6.5 AI. The issues with the wildcats is the necessity to reload them. I can do that for her although it would be neat to get her started at reloading too. My reasoning for the 6.5 choices is based in my experience with the 6.5x55 and it's effectiveness and inherent accuracy.

Anyway... any thoughts, experience, advice to throw my way. Thank you for your input.

My advice FWIW: Go with the 260 Rem for the obvious reasons stated. A Gibbs wildcat is NOT a caliber for a novice.

As an aside, I hate 26" barrels, period. My Swift will remain at that length, but my new Cooper MTV 204 is advertised and cataloged as a 24" barrel. Guess what? Mine came with a 26" tube for some mysterious reason, so after our next rat shoot, it goes back to Cooper to get chopped back to 24" where it should have been in the first place. They do this happily and at no charge thankfully.

HB rifles with 26" barrels handle like a truck axle to me, and the balance of the rifle is ruined.

New shooter, 26" barreled wildcat = Bad Idea. JMO

I too would go with the 260, just for availability of ammo as she may not want to reload. Unfortunately the 260 has not taken off very well in my part of the world. I work in a sporting goods store in the hunting department and we do not have any 260s and very little ammo for it. I would consider the 260, especially in an AR format for more knock down power.

Sorry for not responding sooner.... was over in N. ID for a few days. Thank you for the input. Ammo for the 260 Rem or the 6.5x55 seems to come in only 139-140 gr commercially and that would be OK. Perhaps a bit heavy for deer. I'll just have to see if she is interested in reloading or not. Maybe get a new stock for my m96/38 and give her that one as my big game hunting is pretty limited due to health reasons theses days.

Thanks again!! Much appreciated!!

Out of those choices I would also recommend a .260", one of my employee's just built one up from an old Rem 700 action he picked up. He installed a custom barrel and an aftermarket stock. It shoots quite well the recoil isn't bad. Personally, I don't consider a 140 grain bullet to be too excessive for deer, if everything else seems right I wouldn't let that scare me away.

The 7.62 Nato round is one of the most wildcated rounds in the history of the world.

Some of those are

6mm-08 (243)
6.5mm-08 (260)
7mm-08 (7-08)
7.62-08 (308)
350-08 (350)

Big thing is the availability of had loaded bullets and factory ammo for each.

While I have a .260, if I had it to do again, it would be a 7-08, now that high performance bullets are available for that caliber.

I wonder how long it will be until we see a 6.8-08?

I'm with Rick on the short barrel especially with a new shooter. With the bullet spending less time in the barrel, Shooter error has less effect on accuracy. Most of my hunting shots are off-hand,and for that reason alone, a short barrel (20-24 inches)would be my choice. Have you looked at the 6.5 Creedmoor.Hornady sells factory ammo loaded with 120 and 140gr Amax bullets. They're the most accurate factory ammo I ever shot. I have a Cooper model 22 in that caliber and couldn't be happier with the Creedmoor's performance. Can't say the same for the rifle. It shows way to many signs/issues of a rushed, mass produced, slapped together rifle. Sure is pretty though. And accurate too. Just don't cycle the bolt ,look to see if the barrel is centered in the channel, or read the text on the barrel .

I would NOT go with any wildcat.

Wise person advised me when deciding a caliber that might be used anywhere....."can you walk into any store and buy ammo for it?"

THAT is the question you need to answer.

I LOVE all of my 6.5x55's and 6.5x55 AI. 260 is gaining in popularity.

Would not hesitate to take any game, varmint, or yote with a 139/140 gr 6.5 bullet....including an Elk sized critter.

While I can't claim to be any kind of knowledgeable expert on the larger calibers,,, I do know a little something about law enforcement.. My advice, if she is truly getting into hunting, and I know that "Dad knows best"...

Let her get into the field, and acclimated to the job before she makes a decision on a hunting rifle....Even though family influence can be strong, working group peer pressure can be stronger...LEOs tend to be very much individual people, but advice from co-workers can sometimes have more influence than family...and there is no sense in pushing her into a piece of equipment and having her later make a decision that she wants something different...

OT... good points!!! I 'revised' my email to her and offered my hunting rifle to her if it was a caliber she would be interested in. Learned long ago that.... 'Father knows best.' Isn't a statement that holds a lot of water!! ;0)

Thanks everyone!! Hope ya'll had a great 4th of July!! ;0)