pitweiler

really? I have a reg book right here. I'll check. The back tag makes zero sense to me. I don't understand it's purpose.

north

The tape is reinforcing the holes I poked through it. I ran a thick lacrosse sidewall string through it and the pack....

Yes, all I had was pink duct tape.

Even going back to 16.5 in I only have .541 to work with. Staying .243.

That's not a bad idea. I'm gonna go check it. I probably have enough rifle for most NY/Northeastern game as is with a good Barnes or Trophy Copper load. I messaged Barnes and they told me most folks have no problems poking elk, let alone whitetail, black bear or mulies with the 85 TSX. They said one customer just tagged an elk at a touch over 500yds with an 85 TSX. Since NY doesn't have an elk herd....

Well, looks like my barrel is too skinny for a rebore. Would anyone spend the $$$ for a rebore from .243 to 6.5 Creedmoor or .260 Rem? I'm not sure that's worth it.

Thanks! I hope I have enough barrel for it!

If you know someone that will do it, let me know. I couldn't find anyone on the interwebz. I don't think the contour is thick enough to go bigger than .308.

Those are some good points. Maybe after this season I'll send it off for a new barrel. I think I'm going to stick with 20 inches if I do. The biggest issue with all of this will be having a stock made. I doubt the barrel profile will match the OEM profile and I can't find a good place that makes 77 stocks to match the slightly shorter barrel.

I think they still make the Hot Cor but it's a 100gr now.

When I bought my .243 I considered a .280. The 20in size of the .243 is perfect. Which Speer bullet did you use? Was it a Grand Slam? I don't see a 105gr in their line up anymore. I've heard other folks reference that bullet.

That's a nice rifle. If you're recommending a .308, wouldn't a .260 be fine as well? Even from a 16.5 inch tube a 120gr bullet will reach 2750 fps and a 140gr bullet will make 2550-2600. Could you make the argument that a .243 with the right load can handle everything?

I want something I can walk with and sit with. Something that will be capable of touching 300 yards if needed to and not carry like a boat anchor when I'm walking. My '06 is long and heavy. My .243 is short and light. I want something that is short and light with no more recoil than an '06, give or take a little. I think the parameters you listed above are good.

That makes sense.

Seems like more .338 bullets are available than .358 bullets. Most everyone makes a 210 gr .338 and the federal seems to work with a 210. Why do you say the .338 suffers from bullet selection?

I can't decide if I want to move on the .260, rebarrel to .260 or .338 Fed, or just stick with .243. I have more interest in hunting the northern zone than southern zone and that means I have more opportunities to run across a blackie. I know .243 kills plenty of black bear, but I've been face to face with them as a kid and I just can't imagine poking one with a 6mm. Once I get back into a house next month I was planning on working up a load with 85gr TSX, trying to hit 2850 fps from the 20in tube. I've read how the TSX bullets perform a lot bigger than they are. If the .260 had a 20 inch tube I wouldn't even have posted this. I also found a 16.5 inch 77 in .300 RCM. That could be interesting.

I like short barrel guns. My .243 has a 20 inch barrel and that is pretty handy in the woods. I've always liked the Ruger compacts, but I always worried that I'd be losing a lot of velocity from the short barrel. From what I'm reading it looks like the .260 loses ~175 fps in the 16.5 bbl compared to a 24 bbl. I thought about making my own compact in .338 or .358 with an 18 inch tube. Just saw this .260 and thought it might be nice.

Why wouldn't you buy another one?

Lately I've been mulling over the idea of rebarreling my .243 M77 Ultralight (20 in bbl) to .338 Fed, .260 Rem or 7-08. I just don't see much point in owning a .243 when I have a .223, .30/30 and .30-06. The slightly larger .260 and 7-08 are more versatile than the 243. Anyways, I have an opportunity to jump on a M77 (I like Ruger, leave me alone, lol.) Laminate Compact stainless in .260 Rem, NIB. I'm thinking of moving on it and then putting my .243 up for sale. The .260 has a 16.5in bbl so it'll suffer some velocity loss, but nothing worth noting inside 300 yards. Would you move on it? (I don't care about factory ammo availability.)

Decided to roll with the 243. I have a few ammo options available. Has anyone used 85gr Trophy Copper (Federal) or 95gr Deer Season XP (Winchester)?

My EDC pistol has a weapon light affixed to it. Do I need to remove the light if I take it into the woods while hunting? Reading the regs it seems like I do. I'd like to just leave it on if I could. Also reads like I could just pop the batteries out of the light and it would be good to go.

I have the same thing happen to me. They flip my permit over to check to see if I have a pistol in that caliber. I called them out on it once and actually took it all the way to the store manager (I think, probably wasn't) and was told it was company policy to check for a pistol permit when selling handgun ammo. I was buying 9mm and asked them what they considered handgun ammo. He didn't have an answer, just a lot of umms. I asked if they'd sell me .357 Mag ammo if it wasn't on my permit. He told me no. I told him a lot of rifles are made in .357 Mag. Then I asked if he'd sell me .308 Win without a permit. He said yes. I asked why. He said because it was rifle ammo. I asked him if he had ever heard of a T/C Contender. He said no. I said thats a pistol that shoots just about every rifle ammo available. He looked like his head was going to explode and gave me the number to corporate. I never bothered to call them.

I've found with new trucks the incentives on full sizes are insane compared to the mid size trucks and the price ends up being almost a wash. If you're only talking about $2-3k difference it just doesn't make sense to me to buy a mid size. I have a 2015 crew cab Silveraydo. I really like. However, I put some all terrain tires on it and my gas mileage dropped from 27/18-20mpg to 18/16mpg. Mine is a V6 too. The 10 speeds on the new Fords are interesting. We use my truck as a family vehicle (3 kinds all in seats and a 100lb Pitweiler.) and I think it actually works better than an SUV for a family car. I put an Xtang Trifecta tonneau cover on it and I can store anything in the bed without having to worry about rain.

That's an option.