6.5mm = .264" in cartridge speak.
New York
Paul's T3 30-06 with that exact handload, or factory ammo would kill any Whitetail, Elk, Moose, species of bear anywhere. You would never need to screw around with anything. Just grab your rifle case and go hunt. No need for a future , larger rifle, as the 30-06 will absolutely do it. If you feel the 180 is not up to the task, there are always 200s and 220s that will, and professional Alaskan bear guide Phil Shoemaker has gone after the largest bears in AK with a 30-06 using heavy for caliber projectiles.
The short version is that these days, unless you are doing very extended range shooting, a magnum is really not needed and is usually detrimental in terms of precise placement. I could easily hunt the rest of my days with an -06 or .308 and be quite content.
It’s not a big deal at all but I’m curious what recoil in a 30-06 T3X is like. Not that I’ll be shooting a ton with it. As compared to 308 which I’m familiar with.
I’d have to substitute for a cheaper optic. That Swarovski is $1000.
Last edited by newyork; 02-28-2021 at 01:23 PM.
So far I haven’t seen a 30-06 t3x available. 308 either. I’ve seen some Bergara 308. Weatherby 308.
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
The book One Man, One Rifle, One Land might be of interest to the OP.
Whatever you decide, it's damned exciting isn't it? Every man should have a deer rifle. They act like a time machine. You can drag that rifle out and be immediately transported back to hunts of long ago.
"Rich," the Old Man said dreamily, "is a little whiskey to drink and some food to eat and a roof over your head and a fish pole and a boat and a gun and a dollar for a box of shells." Robert Ruark
I edited my post because there are a lot of good cartridges out there larger than .264. I mainly group cartridges into calibers (dia. in inches) because that's what the reloading manuals do. I'm not sure why cartridge companies feel a need to use a Euro designation for a new cartridge but they do. They don't even adhere to the Euro standard of bullet dia. and case length like 7x57 (7mmx57mm). A 6.5 Creedmoor is actually a 6.5x49 but they opted to confuse everyone with both US and Euro naming conventions. It should have been a .264 Creedmoor. Sorry.
My general perception is just about any cartridge that can shoot a 120 gr bullet at 2500 fps would make an excellent deer rifle. Ammo companies are building some fantastic hunting ammo these days. People get too hung up on the gear and forget about the rest of the equation. That being ones ability to shoot the rifle they chose and the skill to stalk. I don't know anything about stand hunting but I would assume there is some skill evolved there also. Think bow hunting.
I think you would enjoy a 6.5 Creedmoor for a long time.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
I'm not a hunter at all, but came here to post this recommendation. Howa makes really nice bolt guns for the money.
The only .30 cal rifle I own is a .30-06 Howa 1500 purchase on a lark. I am not a hunter (yet) and don't shoot it much, but I'd have a hard time getting rid of it. Until I have the money to get into real long-range precision shooting, the 30-06 Howa will do anything I could conceivably need a .30 cal rifle to do.