help deciding what caliber

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ellerja said:
Im in the market for a new hunting rifle.I have owned the following cal.308,7mm rem mag,45/70,30/30.I am thinking of a 30/06,270,243.I want a gun for just about anything from deer to hogs.I will be hunting fields and woods.

anything from deer to hogs the .243 with a .95 gr bullet will do the job..WINCHESTER ballistic silvertip will work if you do YOUR part . the .243 has low recoil so there is no reason for flinching or jerking the trigger . all the other calibers that you mentioned will also work .
 
[/img]I picked up a 300 WSM a few years back...same performance as a 300 win mag with less powder. short actions are stiff and accurate.
I have killed mule deer bucks Elk and a Bighorn sheep with mine. Oh yeah and a few 300 yard + coyotes. Great caliber!
If I am only hunting Elk 338 win or 340 wby mag
I have looked at the 270 wsm but I already have a 270 wby in the safe.
 
I've had great success with 270 & 30-06 can't speak as to the others listed.
 
I'm sorry forgot to add .243 win is an awesome caliber. My dad gave me mine. It will shoot three touching every time. Easy on the shoulder. Makes me look good. Just use the right bullet. People even use them for elk. The new copper solid bullet s are good for this.

accuracy is everything
 
308...holds the most shooting records of any caliber as far as I know...will kill all the deer & black bear I need & if I go out west for elk,I can just get hot loads or (light mag loads).Im a smaller guy with no man issues...Magnum calibers are no fun to shoot for me.I like to enjoy shooting the gun...not flinch all the time.but thats just me. the recoil on a 308 is quite comfortable. hope that helps.
 
Im a fan of the 3006. It will kill anything i will ever hunt, ammo is easy to find and there is a lot of varety of loads, esp if you reload.

If i didnt already have the '06 I would probably go with the 308 for the same reasons.
 
Depends on the day sometimes and where I'll be sitting. Could be a .270, .257 Roberts or a 6.5 Creedmoor. Then again I take my muzzleloader many times during the rifle season also.
 
edmehlig said:
Ditto to what Dave said. If you were to go for Elk or the like, then I would opt for the 300 Winchester Mag. Personally my favorite caliber is the .280 Remington. As once advertised by Remington. "The 280 Rem closes the gap between the 270 and 30-06 but outperforms them both". But if I had to go for big bears, I'd opt for the 30-06 shooting 200gr bullets over the 280.

old post, I know. I love my 280! what did you go with?
 
Right now I'm in South Africa. With my 280 shooting 150gr Barnes TSX bullets. Three shots and I harvested Impala, Zebra,and a Kudu. Shots ranged from 206-230 yards and the 280 performed admirably!!!
 
I'm in Virginia, and I have two favorite calibers for hunting Eastern deer with a rifle: 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser and 6.8 Remington SPC. Both have plenty of power to kill anything you'll find in our state with modest recoil.

6.5x55 I shoot out of a Remington 700, 6.8 SPC out of an AR-15 (dedicated upper with 6.8 barrel & bolt plus 6.8 magazines, but it will work with any standard lower).
 
Tannhauser said:
I'm in Virginia, and I have two favorite calibers for hunting Eastern deer with a rifle: 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser and 6.8 Remington SPC. Both have plenty of power to kill anything you'll find in our state with modest recoil.

6.5x55 I shoot out of a Remington 700, 6.8 SPC out of an AR-15 (dedicated upper with 6.8 barrel & bolt plus 6.8 magazines, but it will work with any standard lower).
Blasphemy, no one needs an AR-15 to hunt!
ee1b094a4bb168d5dd610f5df6cbe83d.jpg



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50bowhunter said:
Tannhauser said:
I'm in Virginia, and I have two favorite calibers for hunting Eastern deer with a rifle: 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser and 6.8 Remington SPC. Both have plenty of power to kill anything you'll find in our state with modest recoil.

6.5x55 I shoot out of a Remington 700, 6.8 SPC out of an AR-15 (dedicated upper with 6.8 barrel & bolt plus 6.8 magazines, but it will work with any standard lower).
Blasphemy, no one needs an AR-15 to hunt!
ee1b094a4bb168d5dd610f5df6cbe83d.jpg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I know! Weapons of war and all that.

The thought of carrying an Evil Black Rifle into the field was concerning, so I made sure I used OD where possible:
BCF84F6A-75C7-4A64-B86A-22170896DB7C_zpswqvv4rsz.jpg
 
Bully for you! If you like it and it's legal, its a beautiful thing!
Just cuz an autoloader can fire fast, doesn't mean it has to... M98's, 1903's etc, weapons of war too. Here in Pa, you should hear the rate of fire fellows get from a Remington 760. However, the Game Commission got the go ahead and this year autoloading rifles will be legal for the first time.
 
ny just made rifles legal, debating on getting one now.

Not sure what i want we just have whitetails and black bear and all shots under 200 yds. probably will go .308 for the ammo being so available
 
sawtoothscream said:
ny just made rifles legal, debating on getting one now.

Not sure what i want we just have whitetails and black bear and all shots under 200 yds. probably will go .308 for the ammo being so available
There are probably 200+ cartridges that will kill a deer out to 200 yards efficiently. Anything from a .243 Winchester to a 45-70 willl do the job. Everyone has their favorite cartridge for whatever reason, mine happens to be the .257 Roberts. Nothing wrong with a .308 Win, but personally I like the 7mm-08 a little better.
 
The good thing about the .308 is as you state, generally ammo is available at so many locations. Certainly a consideration and it will do the job.
 
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