Remington 788 or Ruger 77 ????

[el Divino]

...........but if I already have a 223 and 30-06 should I buy a 7mm-08 ? It would be used for mainly varmints. I like softer recoiling guns so that is also an issue with the 30-06( I have heard the 7mm-08 is fairly soft) what do you guys think?

Have you thought in buying a rifle chambered in 260 Rem, since you have a 223 and a 30-06 I think is a better option than both the 243 and 7-08, but due that the 7-08 is just across the street buy it's your better choice

 

[Art Eatman]

One aspect of the "do everything" of an '06 if you're a handloader is both varmint loads and plinkers.

Back when I was young and enthusiastic, a pet varmint load (besides the standard 110-grain) was an 80-grain pistol bullet, or the flat-nosed 80-grain .32-20 bullet. Use a whole bunch of 3031. It does terrible things to jackrabbits and buzzards. Skunks, too, but don't hang around.

Plinking? Aw, any old bullets lying around on the bench; part boxes of leftovers from serious work, for instance. Or the old Lyman 160-grain gas checks. Anyhow, 20 to 25 grains of 2400 is easy on the shoulder, and not much under a .30-30 for punch.

.223? I had a ball messing with prairie dogs to 300 yards, Memorial Day last year. Going again this year. And I've done in a coyote or three with a Mini, with most shots being around 75 to 100 yards. I'm partial to bullets like the 42-grain Sierra HPBT. The blunt-nosed 70-grain bullets shoot good groups in my Rugilator, and I could see using it for neck shots on smaller deer, sorta up close and personal...

But if a fella just HAS to split the middle, I'm still favoring the .243.

, Art