I’ve been shooting and reloading the 223 Remington for a little over two years now and have learned a lot from it. I’m ready to try something different and am thinking about a new pre-fit barrel in a 6mm chambering to convert one of my Savage 10s. I have the tools and some experience with barrel swaps. My criteria are as follows;

Shooting activity: Paper punching from the bench
Range: Mostly 100-200 yds with an occasional trip to a 300 yd range
Recoil: Not much, .308 Win is too much for me over a range session
Reloading: Not finicky with lots of available bullets, brass, and published data
Factory ammo availability: Some availability would be good but not that important
Feeding: Mostly single shot loading
Shooting volume: 500 rounds per year

Possible candidates I have looked at are the 243 Winchester, 6mm Creedmoor, and the 6mm BR Norma.

It seems like the 243 is an all around good choice for what I want to do. I’m aware of the shorter barrel life of the 243 but maybe that’s a good excuse to start another project in a few years.

With all that said, what are the pros and cons of these options? What other chamberings would you recommend I look at?

Thanks