Middleweight Caliber Recommendation

[G.R.K]

257/270 bee,would work nice.

[guardian]

Ruger M77 ultra lite .270

[Gutpile]

I love the 6.5's. I'd strongly consider looking at the 6.5 swede or 260 rem. 6.5 swede is a more common chambering and ammo is easier to come by. They are balistic twins with the swede being a bit more potent.

[Huntbear]

huntnphool - what variant of the .257 Roberts would you recommend?  Looks like the .257 Roberts Ackley Improved is the business....but can you buy ammo for that readily

.257 A.I. ammo is a handload only operation, but you can shoot standard .257 Roberts ammo through it with no problems.  That is how you get your cases, by fire forming them, (shooting standard Roberts ammo in your A.I.)  Accuracy is not affected, but you may have to re sight in your gun with the factory Roberts ammo.

I love my .257 A.I.  and am getting 25-06 ballistics from my little "improved bob"

[demontang]

A .338 win mag is on the heavy side but I have shot 3 deer with mine. a 338-06 would be a good one or the 338 federal. I would just stick with the 30-06 if it was me.

[GoldTip]

If I were in your position, I would probably buy a nice lightweight Browning A-bolt in stainless stalked in 7wsm.  Nice and light, narrow fore-end.  Short action, plenty of poop for sheep and yet light enuff to pack in sheep country.  Probably would even run 150gr accubonds out of it.

I have a 25-06 and have had very good luck with it on antelope and both whitetail and Mule deer.  But would want a bit heavier bullet if I were to hunt sheep than what the 25 calibers are geared towards.

[Slider]

There is a 280 Rem (30/06 case necked down to 7mm) in the classifieds.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,23969.0.html

[Coasthunterjay]

yah for middle ide either go 270 or 280....i swear by my 270 up and down, and my buddie swears by his 280.

but if thats to much gun then go for something a little smaller like a 257 Roberts or 25-06...

really its just preferance of what you like....

[rainshadow1]

Hey Grizzle, I'd recommend the 270 without hesitation. 30-06 is good, but a little heavier recoil. 25-06 is a great gun, I have 2, but it's hot, so it's going to tend to tear up meat at modest ranges. 308 is also a good choice, but not as flat shooting. Hard to beat the 270. I know meat/horn hunters who ONLY shoot the 270, from Coyotes to Moose. Not recommended for either species, but they shoot ONE gun, in 270. I like your theory better, 3 calibers in Tikka T3. Very smart.

[thinkingman]

Tikka in 270, 7-08, 308 or 3006.
I chose 7-08 for my light-middleweight, but I handload.
I would go 308 or 3006

[superdown]

+1 on the 6.5 swede it's killing power goes way beyond what the paper ballistics would have you believe .

[Timberstalker]

25-06.  No other recommendations

[jackelope]

shot placement and good quality bullets that maintain high weight retention...no other recommendations. try some barnes triple shocks. (based on that the original poster is looking for in a new gun)
 
there's the cool caliber factor, and then there's killing power/meat loss/etc
it doesn't matter if you're shooting a 243 or a 378, if you hit the animal in the shoulder meat, it's gonna ruin the shoulder meat. if you lung him, you're not going to ruin shoulder meat or hind quarter meat or anything unless your bullet comes apart and spreads inside the animal.

[WA Redneck]

I sure do like my 6.5x55's too but, you really need to hand load to get good performance out of it.  Since you don't reload if you want to go with a 6.5 caliber I would look at the .260.  Or take up reloading and get the Swede!

[GUHunter]

I'd recommend either the 7mm/08 or 6.5 swede. 7mm/08 is easily acquired off the shelf. I've even seen it on Walmart shelves.