Which centerfire caliber will win out ?

[bladeracer]

I spoke with deye243 last night, about the 6x45, there are a few pros and cons from his first hand perspective. The gist is that long 223 projectiles slow more gradually, and have more sectional density which helps the further out you get in terms of energy and wind drift.
Spoke in terms of bullet weights and case capacity, the point of diminishing returns, more or less
I myself, think that for a 200-250 yard general purpose rifle, shooting around 75-87 gn maximum projectile weight, ya do get a lot from little powder and cheap, common brass. The other thing is light 6mm projectiles always seem to be available, whereas high BC 223 projectiles always seem to be harder to find
These views are MY interpretation of information gained through a conversation. Don’t hold deye243 to account for anything I’ve just said

Cheers

In .224" I have bullets from 30gn to 90gn so far, for the .223Rem. My Ruger lets me seat the VLD's 5mm longer than the standard .223Rem length of .2.260" so I don't lose as much case capacity as many other rifles might. I haven't tried the 95gn SMK yet. Obviously you're not going to push a 90gn bullet to super high velocities from the small .223Rem case, but 2500fps is achievable without blowing primers. And it's still supersonic at 1100m, with 2850mm drift in a 10mph wind at 1000m.

In .243 I have bullets from 55gn to 117gn, but my rifle only shoots bullets up to around 1.175" in length, around the 100gn region. The 95gn SMK can make about 3100fps, and is supersonic for another 150m, with 2550mm drift in a 10mph wind at 1000m.

For hunting at closer ranges the .243 hits much harder than the .223 due to the significantly higher close-range velocity, but at longer distances the differences are marginal, but the .243 burns twice as much powder for it.

[bigrich]

I spoke with deye243 last night, about the 6x45, there are a few pros and cons from his first hand perspective. The gist is that long 223 projectiles slow more gradually, and have more sectional density which helps the further out you get in terms of energy and wind drift.
Spoke in terms of bullet weights and case capacity, the point of diminishing returns, more or less
I myself, think that for a 200-250 yard general purpose rifle, shooting around 75-87 gn maximum projectile weight, ya do get a lot from little powder and cheap, common brass. The other thing is light 6mm projectiles always seem to be available, whereas high BC 223 projectiles always seem to be harder to find
These views are MY interpretation of information gained through a conversation. Don’t hold deye243 to account for anything I’ve just said

Cheers

In .224" I have bullets from 30gn to 90gn so far, for the .223Rem. My Ruger lets me seat the VLD's 5mm longer than the standard .223Rem length of .2.260" so I don't lose as much case capacity as many other rifles might. I haven't tried the 95gn SMK yet. Obviously you're not going to push a 90gn bullet to super high velocities from the small .223Rem case, but 2500fps is achievable without blowing primers. And it's still supersonic at 1100m, with 2850mm drift in a 10mph wind at 1000m.

In .243 I have bullets from 55gn to 117gn, but my rifle only shoots bullets up to around 1.175" in length, around the 100gn region. The 95gn SMK can make about 3100fps, and is supersonic for another 150m, with 2550mm drift in a 10mph wind at 1000m.

For hunting at closer ranges the .243 hits much harder than the .223 due to the significantly higher close-range velocity, but at longer distances the differences are marginal, but the .243 burns twice as much powder for it.

thanks for the input blade . i'm thinking the 6x45 could be a useful thing 300 yards or less , dogs , goats , ect . with select projectiles it could be of use on pigs at closer range . mind you , all the pig zapping i've done has been under 50 yards i'm thinking 70-85 gn would be the best for this caliber where your getting reasonable BC's and a decent weight at decent FPS

[bigpete]

I have a book called Cartridges for Africa ( or something similar ) by Gregor Woods,and he rather likes the 6x45 for smaller antelope species.

[bigrich]

I have a book called Cartridges for Africa ( or something similar ) by Gregor Woods,and he rather likes the 6x45 for smaller antelope species.

yeah , from what i've heard the hunters in africa like it as a meat getter/pot rifle .doesn't scare the crap out of everything for miles around with muzzle blast either

[bladeracer]

thanks for the input blade . i'm thinking the 6x45 could be a useful thing 300 yards or less , dogs , goats , ect . with select projectiles it could be of use on pigs at closer range . mind you , all the pig zapping i've done has been under 50 yards i'm thinking 70-85 gn would be the best for this caliber where your getting reasonable BC's and a decent weight at decent FPS

Indeed, such a chambering could be a lot of fun, but the same fun can be achieved with reduced loads in any number of standard 6mm rifles, with the additional versatility offered by full-power loads when those are required. The .243 is very pleasant shooting at around 2000fps, but can still spit a 55gn bullet at 4000fps.

[Oldbloke]

If you reload you can make most cartridges do almost anything you want.
Look at say, 308. You can make it shoot a 110 at 1200fps to about 3000fps
and a 150 at 1200fps to 2850fps

That's a lot of versatility.

So when people argue about the merits of a particular cartridge or they need to buy this or that cartridge, with just a bit of thought most likely they can achieve what they need ( or close to it) with a bit of creative reloading.

[bladeracer]

If you reload you can make most cartridges do almost anything you want.
Look at say, 308. You can make it shoot a 110 at 1200fps to about 3000fps
and a 150 at 1200fps to 2850fps

That's a lot of versatility.

So when people argue about the merits of a particular cartridge or they need to buy this or that cartridge, with just a bit of thought most likely they can achieve what they need ( or close to it) with a bit of creative reloading.

Yep. I regularly get asked which is my favorite cartridge.
I think of them all as one cartridge with myriad options
I have bullets in all calibers from .172" to .323" except for .257".

[bigrich]

yeah blade, i reload . i already have a 243 . but what about all the unwanted , unloved free 223 brass that goes in the brass bin at my local range

i want to adopt it , and take it home to have my way with it and forcibly shove it through a 6x45 die ! bwahaha

. i think the 6x45 will have a looooong barrel life too . i've been looking at overbore cartridges lately to do with throat erosion and barrel life as well . i just reckon the 6x45 would be a flexable cheap thing to run . i'm thinking a rem 7 maybe ? compact , the same action also takes 243, 308 , so just remove any spacers in the mag for the 223 chambering to get more COL if needed

i got a lot of great ideas , i'm just too much of a tight@ss at the moment . i've recently added a 45-70 and 9.3x62 to the safe and my wallets still screaming bloody murder

[bigpete]

I still reckon a cz would be best,the Remington 7,as good as it is,is built around 308 sized rounds. I think a rifle built around a 223 sized case would be lighter,although my Remington 7 WAS very light....

[bigrich]

I still reckon a cz would be best,the Remington 7,as good as it is,is built around 308 sized rounds. I think a rifle built around a 223 sized case would be lighter,although my Remington 7 WAS very light....

the advantage of the rem 7/700 platform is you can increase COL if nessessary . however , 25-45 sharps was designed to work within the standard 223 COL
hmmmm, that would work well in a brno fox . so many potential projects and so little time . and money .....