I’ve dabbled around the firearm world plenty in my life, but centerfire bolt guns have been my focus for decades, they’re just what I’m most interested in.
I’m relaxing on a Sunday, and @brockel's post about his chamberings inspired me to see if I could recall all the rifles & barrels I've had along the way, centerfire bolt gun only. To the best of my recollection:
223 (7x I think)
223 AI
22 BR
22-250
22-250 AI
6BR
6 Dasher (10x I think)
243 (2x)
6 Creedmoor (2x)
25-284
257 Weatherby
6.5x47L (4x)
260
6.5x284 (2x)
6.5 PRC
270
7-08
7-08 AI
284
280 AI (2x)
30-06
I expect I'm forgetting something in there, sometimes I'll go through old posts of mine looking for something and see I bought or sold an item I can't recall owning. Some of the above was churn for certain, and there's a rifle or barrel in there that got sold without being shot for various reasons.
Nothing too crazy on the chambering side, I never did different for the sake of different but I was willing to stray a little off the beaten path for certain attributes. Shooting is my focus so making the logistics as straightforward as possible has been my MO, with an aim at quality brass availability and efficiency.
What I actually use now:
223 - hunting weight
223 - PRS style build
22 BR - hunting weight - as much as I LOVE this rifle I’d consider a slightly faster option (22 GT, 22x47L, or 22 Creed) for increased magazine options, greater range for terminal performance, and less wind drift. When I built it I was trying to split the difference between a 223 practice rifle and a higher performance lower volume chambering, but I ended up with a dedicated light 223 again anyways.
6 Dasher - PRS style build - I often have two of these setup at once, one with my current match barrel and one with an older barrel for practice and play. I have two fresh barrels ready to go and plenty of older ones with some life left.
243 - hunting weight - this is a factory 1-8” Tikka and I haven’t fully wrung out the barrel for accuracy testing. If that barrel doesn’t meet my expectations it’ll get rebarreled as a 6 Creed
6 Creedmoor - NRL Hunter - this is a factory Seekins for competing in NRL’s factory division. I’ve also taken multiple elk with it. Once I get the factory Tikka fully set up I plan to use this just for competition and loaning out.
If it isn’t for dedicated competition use it is probably suppressed. I may dabble with running suppressed for PRS here sometime, I’m undecided.
Setup’s I have some interest in adding at some point (not a ton of urgency on any of these):
223 - mid weight - something in the 13 lb range for a range toy that isn’t as heavy as the PRS style builds with some adjustability.
6 Dasher or 6 Creedmoor - mid weight - same as the 223, I am introducing more people to shooting these days and these two would be exceedingly friendly and adjustable without being as heavy and long as the full PRS builds.
Faster 22 - extra light - my hunting setups are in the 9+ lb range and an extra light build for certain hunts has its appeal. Pretty expensive way to drop overall weight though.
Faster 22 - hunting weight with wooden stock - I haven’t used a wood stock anything in ages, but for some reason I’ve had some interest in doing so in the last year.
6.5x284, 6.5 PRC, 284, 7 PRCW, 7 PRC - mid weight - one of the above chamberings in a 14ish lb setup for dedicated ELR use, and maybe to finally shoot the Nightforce ELR one of these years. I hesitate as I KNOW it wouldn’t get used much.
For everyone else, what path did you take, where’d you end up, and what’s still on the wish list?
I’m relaxing on a Sunday, and @brockel's post about his chamberings inspired me to see if I could recall all the rifles & barrels I've had along the way, centerfire bolt gun only. To the best of my recollection:
223 (7x I think)
223 AI
22 BR
22-250
22-250 AI
6BR
6 Dasher (10x I think)
243 (2x)
6 Creedmoor (2x)
25-284
257 Weatherby
6.5x47L (4x)
260
6.5x284 (2x)
6.5 PRC
270
7-08
7-08 AI
284
280 AI (2x)
30-06
I expect I'm forgetting something in there, sometimes I'll go through old posts of mine looking for something and see I bought or sold an item I can't recall owning. Some of the above was churn for certain, and there's a rifle or barrel in there that got sold without being shot for various reasons.
Nothing too crazy on the chambering side, I never did different for the sake of different but I was willing to stray a little off the beaten path for certain attributes. Shooting is my focus so making the logistics as straightforward as possible has been my MO, with an aim at quality brass availability and efficiency.
What I actually use now:
223 - hunting weight
223 - PRS style build
22 BR - hunting weight - as much as I LOVE this rifle I’d consider a slightly faster option (22 GT, 22x47L, or 22 Creed) for increased magazine options, greater range for terminal performance, and less wind drift. When I built it I was trying to split the difference between a 223 practice rifle and a higher performance lower volume chambering, but I ended up with a dedicated light 223 again anyways.
6 Dasher - PRS style build - I often have two of these setup at once, one with my current match barrel and one with an older barrel for practice and play. I have two fresh barrels ready to go and plenty of older ones with some life left.
243 - hunting weight - this is a factory 1-8” Tikka and I haven’t fully wrung out the barrel for accuracy testing. If that barrel doesn’t meet my expectations it’ll get rebarreled as a 6 Creed
6 Creedmoor - NRL Hunter - this is a factory Seekins for competing in NRL’s factory division. I’ve also taken multiple elk with it. Once I get the factory Tikka fully set up I plan to use this just for competition and loaning out.
If it isn’t for dedicated competition use it is probably suppressed. I may dabble with running suppressed for PRS here sometime, I’m undecided.
Setup’s I have some interest in adding at some point (not a ton of urgency on any of these):
223 - mid weight - something in the 13 lb range for a range toy that isn’t as heavy as the PRS style builds with some adjustability.
6 Dasher or 6 Creedmoor - mid weight - same as the 223, I am introducing more people to shooting these days and these two would be exceedingly friendly and adjustable without being as heavy and long as the full PRS builds.
Faster 22 - extra light - my hunting setups are in the 9+ lb range and an extra light build for certain hunts has its appeal. Pretty expensive way to drop overall weight though.
Faster 22 - hunting weight with wooden stock - I haven’t used a wood stock anything in ages, but for some reason I’ve had some interest in doing so in the last year.
6.5x284, 6.5 PRC, 284, 7 PRCW, 7 PRC - mid weight - one of the above chamberings in a 14ish lb setup for dedicated ELR use, and maybe to finally shoot the Nightforce ELR one of these years. I hesitate as I KNOW it wouldn’t get used much.
For everyone else, what path did you take, where’d you end up, and what’s still on the wish list?
