243 vs 260 vs 270 for longrange small/medium game hunting in south africa

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>>>The 260 is basicaly unknown here and I think the 270 is to much gun for the task at hand. I am worried about wind drift in the 243 and the 260's lack of velocity? What should I get?<<<

Getting back to the OP, I simply must return to .257 Weatherby. If that's too much heat then .257 Roberts is reportedly a handloader's delight. +P tables for it have been published and there's even an Ackley improved version of it.

Regards,
Oly
 
I'm still thinking that a .270 Win is close to perfect for what you want to do. There are reduced recoil loads that may mimic the 6.5 close enough, some regular deer loads that may be fine for most medium game, then there are premium rounds and hot handloads that will get the job done on heavier medium game.

Talking about a .257 Weatherby as being just right when a person thinks a .270 Win is too heavy is kinda nuts. The .257 Weatherby is very destructive on tissue, due to the higher velocity.

I say bring enough GUN, whatever you choose, and bring something you can get ammo for, should your ammo get lost, stolen, damaged or used up. I'd probably take a 30-06, but that's just me.
 
That is a good point. A handloader could easily download the 270 Winchester for mild recoil. And there are good varmint type bullets available for it, ranging from 90 to 110 grains in weight.

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You mentioned that the .243 is a very popular cartridge in your country for the type of hunting you're talking about. My guess is that there's a reason for that. So, I'd go with the flow and choose .243 Winchester which is also a very popular cartridge in the US. My experience with the cartridge has been excellent. It's flat shooting and will reach out there a long way. You don't need the more expensive types of this ammo. I use the same old-fashioned inexpensive 100 grain Winchester ammo for deer that I used 30 years ago. Never had a deer walk away yet. Did I mention that ammo is reasonably priced and can be found just about anywhere in the US. It's Probably cheap and plentiful there too, if as you say, it's a popular cartridge there too.
 
The .260 Remington

By Chuck Hawks



Federal, Remington and Speer are offering factory loads for the .260 Remington. Bullet weights offered are 120 grains (SD = .246) and 140 grains (SD = .287). The handloader also has 87-100 grain, 125 grain, 129-130 grain, 150 grain, and 160-165 grain hunting bullets from which to choose.

Generally speaking, the 87-100 grain bullets are for varmints and small predators, the 120-130 grain bullets are intended for medium size deer, sheep, goats, and antelope, the 140 grain bullets are the favorite choice for larger or tougher animals like wild boar, black bear, and caribou, and the heavy 150-165 grain bullets are for the largest non-dangerous game.

I have to say to Firepower and other critics, the .243 can't do what a .260/6.5mm can do...PERIOD!
 
Like i said 6.5 is the way to go. You can shoot anything from varmints to moose. Light recoil, great penetration and bc. If you wanna get into long range shooting slap a tactical scope on it and go ahead. Has the velocity comparable to a .300WM at 1000yds cause of the retained velocity. 35% less wind drift than a .308. You really can't go wrong.
 
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custom .260. Built on a highly accurised vz24 action,laminated stock,custom trigger,semi bull 24 inch fluited barrel,haris bi-pod,supresos and a 6.5-20 leupold whith varmint hunters reticule. How does that sound?
 
piet, i have struggled with the same question the last two years.

i have a 300magnum a 308 and a .22. i live in the N-west and we do a lot of medium game hunting wart-hog and a lot of varmint hunting.

at the moment i do this with the 308 seeing that my 300H&H is still being built. however my hunting buddies shoot with a variety of calibres amongst them are 223, 222, 22-250. 25-06, 270,303,308,250-3000 7x57 and even 300wm.

from all of these i finally decided on the 243win. the 270 and the 25-06 are close seconds. i have no experience with a 260 and have never seen one, or their ammo over here. being Africa like we know it i would stick to calibres that is common and as a guide i would suggest sticking to calibres that are locally produced (PMP calibres). every now and then there are rumours that the Americans see the political leaders in s-africa as borderline terrorist sympathisers and the net result is stricter regulating of guns and ammo related exports to us, and to be honest and don't blame them. hence the fact that you see so many European and former east-block ammo and reloading equipment in our local gun shops. add to this our local gun laws i would strongly suggest to keep to the "every day calibres".


taking into consideration that you don't have a flat shooting 30 calibre for plains game, and you want to do both plains game and varmint hunting i think you may rate the 270 and the 25-06 above the 243.

finally i would suggest to do the dedicated hunters course. that would allow you under the new laws to own limitless calibres including shotguns. you can then own a semi-auto shotgun and one extra handgun. as well as the fact that you can keep more ammo and powder. since i have done this course people have offered me their rifles rather than have it destroyed or handing it in at the police.


if you haven't tried it already go to wikipedia and search all the calibres you are interested in and compare them, it makes for some interesting reading.


good luck with your choice. (keep the 243win in mind)
 
thanx 4 the advice. I do reload so factory ammo doesnt bother me(dont use it anymore). The 260 wont be a problem over here as dies are avalibel and i wont strugel finding 6.5mm bullets and 243/308 cases. I like the 243 but want some extra bullet weight. I dont wat a 30cal flatshooter. The 375 wil take care of the longrange big game. Have you seen wat a 375 can do whith 235/250gr bullets? Not to even mention our local 200gr gs custom. I want less recoil than wat the 270 dishes out.. For smal/medium/big bushveld game i am more than happy whith my 303.. 180gr game kings@2550fps and 215gr rhinos at 2250fps is all i need.for the bushveld. Infact i wil take eland whith my 303 but a 375 would be better. Wat i dont like about the 243 is its wind sensitivety. That why i was thinking about the 260 whith 120,130 or 140gr bullets, the 270 would be a my choice if i didnt have a 303. I realy love my old but modern 303 and dont want to get rid of it.. The 375 stroked whith 250gr bullets and 2.5-8 scope,303 whith 215gr bullets and 1.5-6 scope(it has a 3-9 at the moment) and the 260 whith 120 or 140 or 130gr bullets(wil 1st test then 4 trajectory,recoil and accuracy) and a 6.5-20 scope is all i wil eva need for all game in all conditions in my opinion?
 
piet, it sounds as if your minds made up. in that case go for the 260 otherwise you will always be thinking what if....?

there is plenty to be done with the recoil of a 270 but if you shoot 303 with 215grn and 375 with 250 grn then 270 recoil will be nothing.

i must admit that i only checked out the 260 stats after i posted my reply and i didn't realise that although it is not a common caliber it is easy to load for it due to the availability of the 308 cases and bullets. so go for it, it does sound like a caliber for the connoisseur.

see how light bullets you can get for varmint hunting. i subscribe to the school of thought that a good varminter should shoot at at least 3100f/s.
that way you dont need to compensate for trajectory from 50m to 350m. this comes in handy especially at night when judging distance becomes a problem especially when you hunt jackal and cats who tends to show only an eye(in the beam of the spotlight) and that being your only piont of aim. i am not a big fan of fast shooting rifles as this does to much meat damage, but seeing that you want your new rifle to be a varminter amongst other things, one of its attributes should be speed, if need be. this should be easy to do with a lighter bullet.
 
apples and bananas

243 and 260 based on 308, might as well go with the 308, to big step down to 260.

270 based on 30-06, to big, step down to 25-06. I don't really get why you are asking for a recommendation between such disparate power levels. 270 is adequate but over powered for your small to medium game needs and you already have a 303 so you aren't varying much.

From what I understand you are having a 375 built for you so I would just drop the 303 and go with both 243 and 270 and all 3 of your bases are covered. For a 2 gun system I would simplify it with the 260 and the 375. just 2 cents fro a dinosaur who likes things simple.

(Okay, okay, I have to many guns too but I said I like things simple, I didn't say I was smart.)
 
how wil the 260's 120gr bullets trajectory compare to the 243's whith 100gr bullets? And how wil its 140 grainer compare to that of the 270's 140 grainer? Both whith a 100yard zero(i am plaining on useing the varmint hunters recticule)
 
take the 260 rem you will love it also just a note make sure your rifle is marked for calber and matches your ammo . it makes coustoms a lot easer
 
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