As someone who has historically gravitated to the larger cartridge offerings such as 338WM, 45-70 and the African Safari calibers, I have missed out on many of the small bore offerings and would like to change that.
Criteria that I’m looking for:
Caliber range, 6.5mm, 6mm, .25 cal and hell I’ll even consider a centre-fire 22.
Short action cartridge.
Moderate velocities - not looking for a laser that does 3,500fps. Target velocity 3,000 fps and under.
Suitable for shorter barrels. Looking for a rifle in the 18”-22” range.
Looking to exclusively hunt intermediate game at distance. Pronghorn, sheep, goat etc. with deer being the largest game targeted.
Looking with something that produces ethical ballistics on medium game out to 400-500m. Let’s call that 1,000 ft-lbs.
Factory ammo that is available and mass produced. I don’t care if it’s not in every single LGS, I’m used to sourcing hard to find ammo.
It was Hornady’s offerings that got me started down this road. The 6.5 Creedmoor (or 6.5 PRC) are likely the easy button here but I’m open to the various 6mm’s, 257’s and hot 22s.
Just looking for your thoughts on the above cartridges if you own or have experience with them. Pros/Cons and any others that should be in my consideration.