I am currently waiting for a .30 cal 1:10 twist straight taper Bartlein blank to show up next Tuesday (shout out to the guy at Bartlein who helped me find what I wanted in stock at Grizzly on Thursday). In the meantime I'm left with a choice of what caliber I should chamber in. (I will be having the receiver blueprinted by the same smith doing the barrel).

Currently it's got a Shilen 25" 308Win bastard child that I finish reamed myself with a Clymer reamer, and the factory barrel was 308win as well. I've got plenty of 175 SMK left, so I'd like to keep using those, but also keep the possibility of moving up to the 200+gr territory when the availability is there again.

Without any real knowledge about it my first thought was to just do Winchester because I have all the tooling and supplies. A friend suggested 308win improved, 30-284 ai, and 30-6.5x47, all of which sound like decent options.

I shoot mainly between 300-1000 yards (usually 500-600) and this is just a target rifle right now. Doubtful I'll be shooting competitively with it as I have my Nucleus in 6.5 Creedmoor for that (all comps here are 600yd anyway). I did have a goal of getting this rifle to 1k back when I first got it back in 2013, and it was 308win back then, too, so I'm tempted to just do the Winchester chamber and rechamber it down the road once I've achieved my goal within the majority of my original parameters. Availability of factory ammo would be a boon (not that I use any these days...), for sure.

Down the road I'm probably going to swap to a custom action, but for now since this is a play rifle the Remington receiver is good enough.

With the imminent stock and bottom metal replacement, I'm pretty sure I can get this thing shooting like a boss no matter what I go with.

I like .300wsm myself. But I hunt, not target shoot.

Maybe .300 Norma like the member posting in his long distance thread. I have pondered that one for years.

I'm limited to a short action. I probably should have mentioned that.

Honestly, I'm leaning towards just getting it done with a 308Win match reamer and calling it a day.

Given your requirements of a short action and 308 bore, 308 Win is probably the best option. Other cases will gain some MV, but not enough to appreciably improve the performance of your preferred 175 SMK bullets.

308 Win with 175 SMK will make it to 1,000 yards. You'll struggle with vertical dispersion, and if it's windy you'll struggle with horizontal dispersion. I've shot FGMM 175 to 1,000 yards in south Texas in November with Density Altitude of -1,000 feet. I know it can be done, but accuracy isn't great. Your 6.5 Creedmoor is better suited for this.

If you intend to do much shooting at 700-1000 yards with the 308 Win, there are better bullets than SMK 175. Whether you use 175 grain or the heavies, long distance with a 308 works better with a long barrel and hot loads. The F-Class guys can help here.

I plan on using up these (they weren't my first choice) and moving up to explore the 200+ category.

Hopefully by the time I get through the last of what I've got there will be some better availability - last time I went to purchase it was more than just a little shit.

(Though, last time I was in the toy store they had 185gr Lapua Scenars in 1k boxes, too.)

A buddy is trying to get me to go with 30-.284 Winchester. Only thing stopping me is that you can't load from a mag on a short action from what I've been told. I've got a Bob Sled on my 6.5, but would rather keep the ability to feed from a mag on this one.

It depends on your type of shooting, as to whether single feeding works. It doesn't work for me in the steel-target game. I find it good practice here and there, however.

Understand that my direct 308 Win experience is with a 11.25-twist Bartlein 23" barrel. With 5600 rounds, it's getting a bit long in the tooth for precision shooting. However, it remains very accurate and MV has held steady. So far. I shoot factory loads.

I shot my last boxes of FGMM 168 few weeks ago. Now that I'm out, I don't plan to buy any more. Quite accurate at 600+ yards with calm winds, but the load struggles in windy conditions

Next to be consumed without replacement is Corbon 155 Scenar. A flatter shooting round with less wind drift. A few odd vertical flyers here and there, but a decent round. It's no longer sold.

Have a decent stockpile of FGMM 175. It shoots well for me. But I'll eventually transition to Hornady Black 168 Amax, which does better in the wind. Hornady 168 ELD is a possibility, but more likely for my next barrel. The replacement barrel is also a Bartlein, but I plan to keep it at its full 26" length.

I've generally seen best results with 168-175 grain loads. I do not feel normal 308 loads push the heavy bullets fast enough to make them work well. Now the F-Class guys get the MV up to almost 300WM territory, due to really long barrels and hot loads. I've shot 190 SMK and 185 Scenar loads.

Some 155 grain loads work well -- Scenar, Berger, Amax bullets. They definitely fly flatter than heavier bullets. I have seen some inconsistency in accuracy.

Some bullets are very jump tolerant, and thus work well in most quality barrels, even after noticeable throat erosion. SMK definitely is in this category. For the most part, also Hornady Amax. Sierra TMK bullets tend to be very particular about their jump to the lands. This comes from not only my own rifles in multiple calibers, but from buddies who have shot them in multiple calibers. Hornady ELD bullets can be picky in some barrels.

If you're going long, you need to understand where transonic speeds and subsonic speeds occur with your loads. SMK 175 plays OK with the slower velocities in my thin air -- generally 8,000' to 9.000' Density Altitude. SMK 168 sucks. Hornady 168 Amax performs well. From the little I've pushed Hornady 168 ELD, it does well. I've seen some inconsistent results with 155 bullets below transonic. I don't have enough experience at distance with 185-190 bullets to make the call.

I will shoot my 308 at longer distances to train for reading the wind. But if I really want to hit targets consistently, 6.5 Creedmoor is the better round.

.30 Carbine.



*runs for the hills*

Fritz, thank you for the incredibly detailed response.

I found some 200 SMK for the right price. Does anyone know how much freebore I need for those? I've heard .180 up to .240.

I briefly thought about 30-30 as a joke.