I will be ordering my first ever non take off aftermarket centerfire barrel on Friday and had thought I had hashed out my decision on cartridge earlier but am having second thoughts. I will be going with an 18" barrel for thick woods hunting. The purpose of this build is a foul weather backup to my nice wood stocked '06. I hunted with my '06 in a mix of freezing rain and then 4" of snow fell and it made me cringe. Gun will be used for deer, coyotes, and hogs every couple years I hope, and paper killing. I already have a .473 bolt head and 243/260/7-08/308 go and no go gauges so it needs to be one of those.

Here is my pros and cons list a made with a friend a few weeks ago

260

Pros-
Always wanted one
great ballistics
Plenty for both coyotes and deer
Has the cool factor
Will need to reload for it to afford to shoot it
Its the caliber my kids will have there first big game rifle in
lower recoil

Cons-
Expensive ammo
Expensive brass
Ammo tough to find in a pinch
Will need to reload for it to afford to shoot it
Who am I kidding that I have time to reload with 3 kids and one more on the way!



.308

Pros-
Cheap ammo. Can get loaded ammo for what the cost of just .260 brass is
Share reloading bullets with my 30-06 and 300 weatherby if I need to.
Cheap brass
Ammo everywhere
Don't have to reload as I can find cheap mil surplus ammo
Cheap ammo
Ive had oddball calibers before and hated not being able to find cheap ammo. Love the fact with my '06 I can get cheap ammo anywhere. a 308 would be even better
Cheap ammo Id more than likely shoot it more.
(notice the theme of cheap ammo)


Con's
Boring...(no offense)
Over kill for coyotes. But dead is dead right