6 http://www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 305be a major consideration. For
the most part, these folks are not
talking about benchrest matches
but F-Class target rifles, although
there appears to be due consider-
ation as hunting cartridges.
Oddly, there seems to be some
jabber about dredging up the circa
1963 .284 Winchester as nearly
ideal for lobbing bullets out to ex-
tended ranges. Some folks, how-
ever, still complain about the
rebated (.470-inch) rim and ques-
tion if there is sufficient powder
capacity for a short-action rifle.
For a few enthusiasts, the ideal
long-range target cartridge would
be a rimless .284 Winchester case
with a longer neck. That, some say,
would require moving the shoul-
der back a scosche and cause a
resultant reduction in powder ca-
pacity, not to overlook what would
become the oddball, .500-inch bolt
head diameter.
Then there is a 7mm Winchester
Short Magnum (WSM) with the
shoulder pushed back to form a
longer neck, which for all practi-
cal purposes is a 7mm Short Ac-
tion Ultra Mag (SAUM). Both,
along with the .284, will push a
168-grain match bullet to at least
3,000 fps when seated out to 2.
inches overall loaded length (OAL)
in a short action. Cartridges with
a larger case capacity and/or not
shorter and fatter than the .284 are
rarely mentioned in target shoot-
ing circles.
None of the current 6.5 short-
action cartridges will push a 140-
grain bullet at those speeds. In
effect, the 6.5 PRC is close, but
it requires a medium or long ac-
tion to accommodate the 2.755-
to 2.955-inch OAL requirements.
The .264 Winchester will do it in
a .30-06-length action, but it is
largely condemned for several
cobbled-up reasons nowadays
that have nothing to do with nor-
mal hunting use.
Not that there is a hard-line
requirement to obtain 3,000 fps
launch speeds for target rifles,
but experienced, extended-range
shooters tend to follow the long-
held assumption that “minimum
time to target” helps to provide
flatter trajectory and reduce wind
deflection. Folks can only hope
that the bullet with the highest
sectional density (SD) and bal-
listic coefficient (BC) is also the
most accurate at the range(s) of
interest.
One of the most interesting
features that rarely, if ever, shows
up in discussions of 6.5mm-,
7mm- and .30-caliber target rifles
is how trajectory, velocity andenergy compare. I’ve seen .30-
caliber tables posted with 6.5s to
demonstrate the heavier recoil
of the former, but 6.5 advocates
appear hesitant to list 7mm num-
bers alongside the 6.5mm. As-
suming similar BC and SD, 7mm
cartridges shoot beside 6.5mms
as far out as anyone might want
to push them. Recoil for the 7mm
load/bullet is heavier, possibly, de-
pending on the weight of the rifle
and the recoil pad. A 7mm PRC
would be a beltless version of
the 7mm Remington Magnum, or
thereabouts, and fairly duplicate
the wildcat 7mm Newton from the
1940s and ’50s, sans the scosche
longer neck. Hunters might choose
to keep their 7mm magnums, and
target shooters will do what target
shooters do.
None of the above is meant to
leave out the .257- and .277-inch
hunting-weight bullets, 100 to 120
grains and 130 to 150 grains, re-
spectively, that have somewhat
lesser BCs and SDs than some
other calibers, but it requires a
rather significant change in BC
to have a meaningful change in
bullet impact as ranges increase.
That means the latest and great-
est 6.5mm-, 7mm- or .30-caliber
target cartridges have nothing on
the .257 Roberts, 7mm Mauser,
.270 Winchester, etc., or anything
based on a short, belted magnum
case in pursuit of big game when
the unwashed start in about plas-The Hornady .300 Precision Rifle
Cartridge features a 225-grain ELD
Match bullet at 2,810 fps.