Twin Practice Rifle Caliber Pairings

[awildswanger]

I've just finished reading a pretty interesting article written by Mr. Spomer about the benefits of having two of the same or similar rifles to offset the costs of shooting a dragon-slaying cartridge with improved recoil/practice time to have a smaller yet similar caliber that is comparable ballistically.

Link to article: https://ronspomeroutdoors.com/blog/twin-practice-rifle-saves-money/

I was curious if any of you wonderful people had taken stock in this, and what pairings you have come up with? Thanks! Hope y'all are doing well!

 

[JollyRoger]

I shoot a a lot of 22 and 223. They are both T3Xs. And my hunting rifle is also a T3X in 6.5. I think any way you can put more rounds on targets the better. And 22 and 223 do it for cheaper


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[2rocky]

My father did this with a .22Mag from Ruger. Close -ish to his Model 70. He did have to up grade to a custom trigger though....

Not really a ballistic twin

Here's where to compare MV

Rifle Ballistics Summary

www.chuckhawks.com

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Here is one "pairing": Tikka T1X in 17 HMR, Tikka T3X Lite in 300 Win Mag
Here is one "pairing": Tikka T3X Lite in 6.5 CM, Tikka T3X SL in 6.5 CM (waiting for delivery and scope decision)

Former pairing: Savage Axis II in 6.5 CM, Savage FCSS in 6.5x284

The "former" worked well up until I had a booner Coues in my crosshairs. The buck was less than 300 yards walking broadside from me. Got lined up for the shot, one click to make the rile hot, and then CLICK (no boom). Buck took off and never was seen again. Muscle memory killed me. My "practice" rifle safety only took one "click" to make it hot while my 6.5x284 required two "clicks" to make it hot. So that led to me to start buying same model rifles (where it makes sense) but with complimentary calibers.

 

[16Bore]

Been preaching this way before Spamer. A pair of Tikka T3’s in 223 & 30-06, SWFA scopes, 75 HPBT and 167 Scenars is a handy combo.





It doesn’t get much simpler.

 

[bigbaddad71]

I have a Browning A-bolt 22 that feels much like a full size rifle, and I have a Model 7, in 7mm08 to pair with my model 7, 7saum..

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[awildswanger]

Been preaching this way before Spamer. A pair of Tikka T3’s in 223 & 30-06, SWFA scopes, 75 HPBT and 167 Scenars is a handy combo.

View attachment 176675View attachment 176676



It doesn’t get much simpler.

Hell yea man! I'm sure Mr. Spomer wasn't the first to come up wiith the idea, he was just the first I'd read about it from. Thank you for your input, that seems like a killer combination! Do you feel confident with that combo for pretty much anything in North America?

 

[awildswanger]

Here is one "pairing": Tikka T1X in 17 HMR, Tikka T3X Lite in 300 Win Mag
Here is one "pairing": Tikka T3X Lite in 6.5 CM, Tikka T3X SL in 6.5 CM (waiting for delivery and scope decision)

Former pairing: Savage Axis II in 6.5 CM, Savage FCSS in 6.5x284

The "former" worked well up until I had a booner Coues in my crosshairs. The buck was less than 300 yards walking broadside from me. Got lined up for the shot, one click to make the rile hot, and then CLICK (no boom). Buck took off and never was seen again. Muscle memory killed me. My "practice" rifle safety only took one "click" to make it hot while my 6.5x284 required two "clicks" to make it hot. So that led to me to start buying same model rifles (where it makes sense) but with complimentary calibers.

That is an excellent pairing, may i ask why one of your pairings were both in the same caliber?

 

[16Bore]

Hell yea man! I'm sure Mr. Spomer wasn't the first to come up wiith the idea, he was just the first I'd read about it from. Thank you for your input, that seems like a killer combination! Do you feel confident with that combo for pretty much anything in North America?

Dude. It’s a 30-06. I’d argue that every game animal on the planet has been killed with one.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

That is an excellent pairing, may i ask why one of your pairings were both in the same caliber?

I had made arrangements to get hand loads developed for the Lite. I was then cleaning up and noticed that I have 20 boxes of Precision Hunter. So I used that as an excuse to change gears and picked up the SL. The SL will get the hand loads and the Lite will shoot commercial ammo.

Between the T1X in 17 HMR and the T3X Lite in 6.5 CM, those will now get the bulk of the range time.

 

[awildswanger]

Dude. It’s a 30-06. I’d argue that every game animal on the planet has been killed with one.

Excellent point sir, thank you!

 

[Lawnboi]

The more i shoot the more I see value in a 223 setup exactly the same. Maybe one day I’ll have 2 identical setups but for now I’ll deal with some subtle differences.

22lr is fun and all but I don’t really consider it a training rifle, some recoil, noise and more range make the 223 the option for me.

 

[RS3579]

This is why I like my browning rifles. That all feel the same. Trigger feel, safety style, I feel comfortable shooting any of them. I’m not to worried about the similarity in ballistics. I thought about buying other brands (lighter) but I keep going back to what I’m familiar with. It all builds confidence in your shooting abilities.

 

[TxxAgg]

Tagged

 

[Monty3006]

I have a Blaser R8 with .223, 30-06, and .375h&h barrels. Although they are pricey one of the reasons I love it is the practice I can get in with the .223.

 

[awildswanger]

I have a Blaser R8 with .223, 30-06, and .375h&h barrels. Although they are pricey one of the reasons I love it is the practice I can get in with the .223.

That is an interesting idea... Do you have a seperate scope for each barrel?

 

[tdot]

I built a switch barrel. 6.5ss and a 338ss. I played with the barrel contours so they are within 2 ounces of each other. Put a larger adjustable brake on the 338 and it even recoils similar to the 6.5.

I sold off several rifles to make this happen and it was worth the time and energy!

Uses 1 scope and just I record the zero for each load. Easy. By the time I gather the tools, mount the barrel vise, adjust the scope, etc. It is about 15-20 minutes. I could cut that in half if I was concerned about it.

 

[Monty3006]

That is an interesting idea... Do you have a seperate scope for each barrel?

Yes I have a different scope for each barrel. I have played around with sharing one scope between the .223 and 30-06 and it worked fine, I just needed the adjust zero up about 1 mil for the 30-06. I think I got lucky though and windage didn’t need to be adjusted.

 

[16Bore]

This is why I like my browning rifles. That all feel the same. Trigger feel, safety style, I feel comfortable shooting any of them. I’m not to worried about the similarity in ballistics. I thought about buying other brands (lighter) but I keep going back to what I’m familiar with. It all builds confidence in your shooting abilities.

If you’re playing at distance, wind games with similar stuff is good juju

 

[ecsn7d]

Been preaching this way before Spamer. A pair of Tikka T3’s in 223 & 30-06, SWFA scopes, 75 HPBT and 167 Scenars is a handy combo.

View attachment 176675View attachment 176676



It doesn’t get much simpler.

Very handy combo! What SWFA scope would you recommend for hunting within these ranges?