I'm curious if anyone has experience using a 16.5in barrel 308 or 6.5cm for hunting. Most of the factory rifles with a 16.5' barrel are heavy. My thought was to buy a tikka tx3 lite in 6.5cm, have a gunsmith cut the barrel to 16.5" and thread it. Could probably either thread to 1/2x28 and add an adapter to get to 5/8x24 or just add the 1/2x28 xeno brake for use with my nomad. Top with a 3x9 or LPVO and have a 8ish pound short light woods rifle for whitetail. I know 6.5cm thrives in long barrels, i have a 24in long range 6.5cm, but looking at the ballistics it seems like i can get over 1000ft/lbs out to 300 yards or so. My shots are typically inside 150 and deer in the carolinas a small. kind of a scout, kind of like a fix or cross but in a traditional stock. 6.5 will have lower recoil and less drift and drop and at the distances I'm hunting I don't think i'll miss the gains in energy by using 308. Has anyone tried anything like this or can talk me out it? The thing holding me back is that if it was a good idea i bet there would be factory rifles in 6.5 this short. Thanks for any input
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Short light suppressed whitetail hunting rifle
- Thread starter Sullivj3
- Start date
6.5 cm’s dont thrive in long barrels, that's just a weird internet myth. You’ll lose 30 fps per inch of barrel from your 24” barrel approx. Other than that, no reason you cant build the rifle you envision.
Edit: The top gun is a 6.5x47 with a 16.5” barrel. 129 ABLR’s at 2550 fps, which is exactly 1k ft/lbs at 500 yds. I run TBAC Ultra 5’s on both.
Edit: The top gun is a 6.5x47 with a 16.5” barrel. 129 ABLR’s at 2550 fps, which is exactly 1k ft/lbs at 500 yds. I run TBAC Ultra 5’s on both.
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Do it.
Load 123 Scenars or something similar.
Will be great.
Load 123 Scenars or something similar.
Will be great.
Thanks for the reply. Those are awesome rifles! Lusted after a fix since they came out, just not in the budget right now.
Thanks! Getting there. I’m not reloading yet, hopefully soon. I’ve been saving brass forever. Do you have a factory hunting round you would recommend?
I’d so 18” 223 and 77gr tmk for your usage
so far have only used the 140 eldm.
Amazing results.
Was just thinking lighter bullet could get more zip from short tube.
Honestly, at those distances, a good shot and it wont matter.
I think the FGMM has a 130 SMK (the 30 cal and .22 cal both work great for game)
Or Berger and their 130 Hybrid (also very good on critters).
Defiance Anti(non-X), 22” proof Sendero light in .260, Geissele two stage trigger, MDT HNT-26 chassis with their flush fit 3rd polymer mags. Scope is a Razor LHT 4.5-22 in Talley Lightweights. I just finished it. Hasn't been coated or marked yet. Interestingly the scope is 5 oz heavier than the Q Fix scope, and the barrel is also 5 oz heavier, but overall it weighs the same as the Fix.
I like my off the shelf Sig Cross with 16” 308 barrel for this role. 6.5 Creedmoor is fine too, but Cross was plug and play with shorty threaded barrel, plus sourcing ammo is both easier and cheaper these days.
Q Fix.
The cross is a POS, finally rid myself of that thing and got another Fix on the way.
The cross is a POS, finally rid myself of that thing and got another Fix on the way.
- Nov 3, 2010
- 9,697
- 20,385
I was just in the thought process of an 18 inch 7mm-08 for a light ish weight deer gun.
16.5" Tacops Tango 51 Suppressed is where its at. I dont care about weight. a few ounces or a pound or two either way, i just dont care. im not a guy who tries to shave ounces off a "hunting rifle". i like heavy guns, soaks up the recoil of the 180 grain 308 easily.
dont make your rifle anorexic, just get stronger. my two cents.
dont make your rifle anorexic, just get stronger. my two cents.
I hunt with a tikka tx3 lite in 6.5cm that I cut down to 17". 200 yards is the longest shot I have available, and it has done just fine on white tail up to that full distance. Harvested everyone I have attempted. I use a Viper HS 2.5-10x44 on it. Very handy rifle for both getting through the thick and moving around the blind. The 308 I used as well is 18" and does just fine as well (Ruger American Compact). I could not imagine a little shorter would make that much of a difference.
Sorry to hear about your bad luck (or too high standards.)
I like mine, and have had zero complaints for a field/hunting rifle that gets carried a lot and shot a little.
Until mile 8 or 9 in the Rockies chasing elk, monster mulies, sheep, or goats.
My tikka for elk season starting tomorrow is just around 9 lbs, I think.
Havent weighed.
Just set up how i like can I go.
Time and place for everything I reckon.
I carry a nearly 18 lb rifle for whitetail.
This year will be a little lighter, say 13ish, but its short and very easy walks.
No more than 3 miles each way and dang near flat.
Plus piles of oxygen at 4300 ft vs 9k.
For a woods gun I'd do a lever action with a can and a dot,
no one says the recoil isnt manageable or unpleasant. i just stated a fact. i like heavy guns. and they soak up recoil. physics is emotionless.
but yes, get stronger. and a well adjusted Biathlon Sling FTW
Have you considered just getting stronger?
Thanks for sharing. Glad to know it can get it done inside that. Most of my shots are the same
I like both but fix is to pricey at the moment. Cross is still more than the tikka or Ruger is was thinking of cutting. But not far off after $150 or so for the work. What turned you off about the cross?
18” 7-08 with manners mcst stock.
6 lbs bare rifle
8.5 lbs as shown
2800 fps with Berger 140 vld.
Very sweet shooting and handling rifle
It would be great in 308 or 6.5 CM as well
What scope is that and what's your muzzle diameter?
I think my 18" 6.5G is heavier, although I have not weighed it yet.
- Nov 3, 2010
- 9,697
- 20,385
Yup.
To a point.
8 lbs 8 oz with an Eagle stock pack, 2 3 rd mags, and a web sling I can use as a hasty sling.
Bushnell LRHS in Talley LW mounts.
All in, less $ than the MDT chassis (I shop used).
I can handle that pound.
Trim weight other places.
Im also 42 and fit enough that 8-10 miles a day in steep country with a lotta deadfall doesnt beat me up much.
Yup.
To a point.
8 lbs 8 oz with an Eagle stock pack, 2 3 rd mags, and a web sling I can use as a hasty sling.
Bushnell LRHS in Talley LW mounts.
All in, less $ than the MDT chassis (I shop used).
I can handle that pound.
Trim weight other places.
Im also 42 and fit enough that 8-10 miles a day in steep country with a lotta deadfall doesnt beat me up much.
you should obviously be struggling mightily and should be drilling weigh saving holes in the stock, fluting the barrel and trying to be as light as possible. YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO CARRY THAT EXTRA 8 OUNCES IN THE BACKCOUNTRY!!!! For the love of all that is holy in the name of John Moses Browning, please shave weight off! OMG!!
You're missing the point. There’s a vast delta between 8 oz and “I dont care about weight”.
16" tikka lite will be great.
Sportsmatch rings with an SWFA 3-9.
Tbac ultra 7.
Great setup!
Anything less than 19" or so should give you plenty of meat for 5/8x24 threads
I have a 16" t1x 22
16" t1x 17hmr
16" t3x 223
18" ctr 6.5cm.
16" tac a1 22gt in a bravo.
Love'm- all wearing SWFA optics.
Great rifles!
Sportsmatch rings with an SWFA 3-9.
Tbac ultra 7.
Great setup!
Anything less than 19" or so should give you plenty of meat for 5/8x24 threads
I have a 16" t1x 22
16" t1x 17hmr
16" t3x 223
18" ctr 6.5cm.
16" tac a1 22gt in a bravo.
Love'm- all wearing SWFA optics.
Great rifles!
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One other thing to think about with Cross is that you’re getting a chassis style butt stock that’s got a lot of adjustability. Don’t know if you value that for a hunting rifle or if that’s factored into your Tikka/Ruger cost comparison. I can’t live without the adjustment, even for a low round count hunting rifle. YMMV.
No, I think I got it. It's probably the delta between "I like heavy rifles" and knowing that an 18 lb prs rig isn't an efficient long-range hiking rifle.
Just for grins, I weighed mine.... I would have bet money on her being under 9 lbs. Damn, she's a big girl in a small package 
My solution
Tikka T3X CTR 6.5 chopped to 16"
KRG Bravo
TB Ultra 7
NF NX* 2-20
Tikka T3X CTR 6.5 chopped to 16"
KRG Bravo
TB Ultra 7
NF NX* 2-20
I made several posts in the cross thread of all the issues with it. It shot decently but that’s where it ends. An RPR for example is a better made rifle than the cross, far better. If the Cross was $800-$1000 new it would be a different story but for $1500 it’s a POS.
The scope is an early bushnell elite tactical. It wears an NXS 2.5-10 now that I like better.
muzzle diameter is .71 which is the smallest I was comfortable with for direct thread on my can.
I'm working on a similar rifle in 6Creed
I want a bit more barrel but looking to keep the package under 10 lb and maybe less...
There are some very lightweight stocks but they can be a bit spendy
I want a bit more barrel but looking to keep the package under 10 lb and maybe less...
There are some very lightweight stocks but they can be a bit spendy
Have you considered a job in the cement industry?
I have a Model 7 with a 20" #3 8 twist Shilen in 6.5 Creedmoor. I love this rifle, and is probably my most accurate hunting rifle I own. I only use it when I hunt the stand where my shots are about 250 yrds or less. I have taken a few hogs with it. My 13 year old son hijacked it and thinks its his. He has shot more animals with it than I have. The load he shoots is a 120 TTSX Barnes and H4350. This load is a hole burner. His first load was a 120 Pro Hunter whith H4350. Great deer load, but the Barnes seems to be better hog medicine.
