Caliber suggestion for a light- to medium powered all-round bolt rifle

[Revoltella]

I was originally going to suggest .223, until your location in Austria came up. I don't know how available .223 Rem is there, but 5.56 is a NATO round so should be available. Problem is, most bolt rifles are chambered in .223, not 5.56 and it's not considered a good idea to shoot 5.56 in rifles chambered in .223.

So I'm going to suggest .308. 7.62 NATO is safe to shoot in a .308 chambered rifle.

 

[upstate81]

The mossberg MVP predator is chambered in 5.56 and is a light portable little bolt gun, love mine. Takes AR mags to boot. Nice stock, fluted barrel and at a price less than 600 bucks. I know its a mossberg rifle but hey considering it works great, very accurate.

 

[Mystro]

Any Savage 223 will fit the bill. Its a good honest, accurate, hard use rifle. A 243 would be my next choice. There are some very good bonded 223 billets that increase the potential of game with the 223.

 

[simonrichter]

I guess it will be the .223 then. I've already checked and you are right, although it is the more potent round, it is considerably cheaper than the .22 Hornet. And yes, .223 is available here in Austria.

.308 has definitely too much punch for me.

Another detail that attracted me about the Hornet was that several sources claim it produces a relatively low noise level, making it the ideal round when you shoot in area not completely uninhabited and/or with no noise protection (like an actual shooting range has). Thus, next question: Does anybody know about the noise level of .223 compared to .22 Hornet?

 

[jhenry]

Certainly louder. Not excessively so.

Many European countries have very permissive attitudes toward suppressors. Can they be had easily in Austria?

 

[simonrichter]

Many European countries have very permissive attitudes toward suppressors. Can they be had easily in Austria?

no, the law treats them in the same way as, say, a mortar or RPG or the like... Completely unavailable...

 

[ripnbst]

.223 you will want to use ear plugs for range shooting. If you are hunting, I wouldn't be overly concerned with it as you will not be taking nearly as many shots.

 

[Paul B.]

I don't know if you are allowed to eload your ammo in Austria but if so, you can reload cartridges to the level of the .22 Hornet. I do that in my Kimber
M84 .223 Rem. using my home made cast bullets for target shooting and small game. Take the lightest bullet made and use a light charge a relatively fast burning powder and voila, you have a .22 Hornet. You could even play with power levels between the the two cartridges.
Paul B.

 

[Claude Clay]

.223 you will want to use ear plugs for range shooting. If you are hunting, I wouldn't be overly concerned with it as you will not be taking nearly as many shots.

not to fight with anyone but ANY rounds, even a 22 Lr, and especially a 223 fired even ONCE will result in permanent damage to your hearing.

invest in a good pair of e-muffs ( Dillon for $135)
and learn to re-load -- even on a $90 Lee press by changing dies ( ~$40 each set) you can have a 308/7.62x51 and a 30-30 and a k31 7.5x55 or a Mosin-Nagant -- all firing the same bullet (.308 in 140, 150 168, 170 grains) using the same powder (varget) and the same Large Rifle Primers.
lots of potential for variety of loads for each rifle.
re-loading brings the cost per round to under 50 cents and you can make the cartridge for your specific needs; hunting, target shooting @ 100 yards out to 1000.

not want to reload, almost as versatile is the 38/357

good luck to ua

 

[simonrichter]

Thank y'all for the suggestions!

 

[simonrichter]

Thanks for the input again, that was really helpful.

Finally dropped the idea of a .22 Hornet and got me a .223 instead.

Indeed, whereas the .22 hornet is about 25 bucks per 20 rds, I can have (cheap) .223 stuff at 6 bucks per 20.

 

[Erno86]

I like the 7mm/08 for deer hunting.

 

[Art Eatman]

Erno, the 7mm08 is a great cartridge, but it's well outside his interest.