So which 6.8 bolt action rifle has caught your eye?

-Stooxie

 

I guess Ruger and Remington make bolt action 6.8mm rifles, but know little about those brands.

 

Welcome, first post in ~8 years? Mine is 24" bbl, not sure any great advantage with longer barrel.

 

My best recommendations for learning how to shoot would be a 22LR. Single shot bolt action preferably.

 

+1 for woodstock. Everyone should start with 22LR. shoots cheap, no recoil, no bruises, forgives mistakes. The alternative to a single shot is maybe a ruger 10/22. everybody makes aftermarket parts and mods if you should decide you want to doll it up.

I love my 6.8 but it would probably be one of my last choices for learning to shoot.

 

Tacoboy, do you really know anything about guns. Never heard of ruger or remington? Never cleaned a gun and you duck and pheasant hunted? Your posts just seem odd to me. Maybe you should go to a good gun shop and have them look at your old 22 if it's never been cleaned

 

I've watched lots of documentaries about guns (more military stuff).
Use to hang around a lot at magazine stores and read the gun magazines.
But up till now never did any reading much on bolt action stuff, so really do not have a lot of knowledge on whats available on the modern market.
Plus i just want to have something in 6.8mm, not really need something in 6.8mm, just want it in 6.8mm.

 

Buy a Savage . Check PTG (Pacific Tool and Gauge) for a bolt head or have your gun smith open the bolt face of a 223/556 .
The CZ 527(?) in 7.62×39 might be a candidate also although it is a more expensive base .
Here's a 27" 270 blank . Green Mountain makes a pretty good barrel , I have 2 and they very well .

http://www.gmriflebarrel.com/rx270-27-270-cal-1-20-od-4140cm-1-10-turned-bbl-blank/

You'll need some machine work done in the form of threading for the receiver and chambering .
With a Savage Axis or a hock shop 110 you'll be in it about $450-600 probably about $750 with the CZ .

 

I've seen numerous 24" barrels but never jumped onto that wagon however I did purchase a 22" barrel from arp and it's my most accurate barrel out of all 3 6.8spc rifles. I can put 15 rounds into a half dollar size hole at 160 yards. Now mind you that I will fire 3 rounds and let the barrel cool before I fire the next 3 rounds. All in all it's my favorite barrel

 

Hope I am not feeding a troll but if want to learn to shoot you first need to learn to maintain your equipment and get your mind around the physics of exterior ballistics. Would buy a few books on precision shooting and equipment, read them then buy a quality 10/22 from vendor like Kidd or Volksquartzen. My favorite rifles to practice marksmanship with are single shot bolt action 22 Hornets. Very light recoil and a nicer rifle will shoot laser straght for 100 yards easily and recoil will not induce bad habits as easily. When you can shoot five shot groups with all holes overlapping at 100 yards with a 22 Hornet in process of working up through your 10/22 and your single shot Hornet will be ready to start shopping for a 6mm turn bolt.

I have some darn accurate 6.8's but for me it's a general purpose hunting and defensive cartridge that does its job well in the roles of taking medium to even medium/heavy game and defensive/offensive role. I would not choose it to learn marksmanship because as you progress need a rifle, cartridge, ammunition combination can start noticing decreasing group sizes in the tenth then hundredth of an inch range.

Your being steered right with rimfire reccomendations. Buy a nice rimfire, get used to buying Ely, Federal Premium Ultra Match, CCI Green Tag or similarquality ammo then when shooting one hole 50 yard groups find a small centerfire such as the Hornet while reading a lot about the light bench rest game. If you really want a 6.8, buy one in a repeater for learning action shooting after you master basics of breathing, trigger control, heart rate, and so many other concepts on stationary targets. Its easier to diagnose shooter ergonomics and mechanical errors with a smaller precision rifle if serious about learning to shoot accurately. I have 10/22's that put ten rounds through one hole at 50 yards and groups 1/2" at 100 yards. Start there before looking at big boy rigs or will waste a ton of cash on ammo.