Help choosing a first deer rifle caliber

pick the rifle that fits you the best. ive read many sports writers say use the biggest caliber that you shoot well. all of the cartridges mentoined will work well all have their merits. i would suggest 308 a little more economical to shoot.
 
had shoulder surgery a while back. madethe mistake of getting 7mm mag to start replacing my rifle inventory. recoil was never a problem before injury. used to shoot 06 and 7 mag all the time now the 06 is still too much bought 243 win have been shooting now for three years
just purchased 7mm-08 to try and build up tolerance level.
next gun will be 308 then 270 to get back to my fsvorite the 3006.
 
Honestly you can't go too wrong getting one of these three all around calibers: .270, .30-06, or .308. No magnum price tag, can be found anywhere hunting ammo is found (certainly can't say the same for 7-08, at least not where I live). If you ever want to hunt something bigger than deer these 3 are called "all around" for a reason. I personally would go with a .270. It's simply a splendid round. I love mine.
 
I have .30-30, .243, .270, and just bought a .260. I have hunted exclusively with the .270 for the last 23 years with a 150 gr Nosler Partition. It has killed many different animals, but was mostly used for whitetails, and most fell within about 15 yards from point of impact if they moved at all. I lost one deer during that time, and it was because I made a poor shot.

Recently I have joined a gun range, (this forum :)), have taken a more technical interest in shooting in general, and bought the .260. I gave my .243 to my brother because he always needed to borrow a rifle and it opened up a spot in the safe. I may also get into reloading as well.

I am now realizing how little I know, but my 2 cents on the .270 is that it is all you need in North America outside of brown bears, but as others have stated, depending on your range, you can do just as well with a lower recoil round with a well placed shot.
 
Unless youre a woman or a small child I'd pass on a 7mm-08 it's just useless in my eyes either go smaller and get a .243 or just get the .308 it's a great cartridge you can get it in basically any rifle platform and it is plenty for deer and with good shot placement it is plenty capable of taking elk which I would not trust the .243 or 7mm-08 to do that cleanly. Buuuuuuuut ultimately I'd go for the .30-06 as previous commentary have suggested. It is probably the most universal cartridges for a reloader (they make 55 gr. bullets for it!!) and it is capable of taking anything in the lower 48 and if I had no other options I wouldn't hesitate to much to hunt brown bear with it although definitely not my first pick but still and excellent cartridge I wIsh they would barrel and AR for 30-06 because it would be on my Christmas list.
 
.308, 7mm-08, .270, .30-06 and 7mm Mag are the do-it-all Western US calibers. There's very little difference in capability between them.

  • .270 shoots a little flatter
  • .270 has a bit more trouble with elk and moose due to low sectional density bullets and smaller diameter
  • .30-06 and 7mm Mag recoil a more
  • .30-06 can begin to push into great bear territory, but is not ideal for that
  • The 7mms have higher BCs and thus retian energy better than the .30s or .270

Anything you pick out of that list is going to be fine. Personally I have a .308, a 7mm-08, and a 7mm mag and find them largely interchangeable.
 
...it is plenty capable of taking elk which I would not trust the .243 or 7mm-08 to do that cleanly.
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Nonsense. The 7mm 160 Accubond and 175 Partition are perfectly well suited to elk and the 7mm-08 can drive them at suitable velocities out to about 350y depending on elevation. If you don't like the round that's your business, but objectively it's 100% suited to the task of shooting elk.

The .243 is in fact too light however. 6.5mm caliber is probably the absolute minimum.
 
When I went deer hunting I used a shotgun as shotguns are the only type of firearm allowed for hunting deer where I was hunting. A shotgun is a good choice for deer hunting but if you want a deer rifle I would recommend a .30 06 which is good for hunting any of the large, not as dangerous game.
 
All are fine and you would be hard pressed to see much difference real world.

To really muddy up your waters, the 30-06 is also a great choice. A little more recoil, a little more performance.

Bottom line, if you want a .308 there is no reason not to buy it.
 
You will have to hunt for 7mm-08 ammo in some places at some times, it's best to stick with .270, .308, or .30-06, for a newbie. In addition, if you don't like hunting some ways down the road, oddball calibers are harder to sell.

The .270 is a bit light for elk, if you can't keep your range under 150 yards with it, might upgun to .308 or .30-06. Use a heavy bullet with the .270 for elk.

I hate to say this, but gun shop clerks sometimes like to push stale merchandise on the newbies, or just do them favors, in their thinking. The .308 is an excellent choice and there is no reason at all to get something else.
 
The .270 is a bit light for elk, if you can't keep your range under 150 yards with it, might upgun to .308 or .30-06. Use a heavy bullet with the .270 for elk.
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There is nothing about the .270 with a 150gr bullet that would suggest that sort of limitation, yardage wise. Certainly going to a .308 IS NOT up-gunning from a .270. The .30-06 might be, IF we were talking about the great bears, but on deer and elk please tell me what shot you would take with a .308 or a .30-06, that you would pass up with a .270?

The .270 IS a .27-06 after all. (I know, I know: .27-03, but...)
 
Certainly going to a .308 IS NOT up-gunning from a .270.
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For bigger game it probably is. I'd take a 180gr. .308 paritition over a 150gr. .277 partition for elk or moose any day.

It's also worth noting that 150gr .277 bullets are only marginally stable in many guns. With a 1-10" twist barrel, 180gr .308 is comfortably stable at all elevations and temperatures.
 
I take your point Llama Bob, and I....sort of agree, but by such a thin margin that I'd hate to live on the difference. I just don't see what one is going to do that the other does not. It is a 6 of one, half a dozen of the other type situation, so I'll take the flatter shooting gun...but then I hunt a lot of prairie too.
 
I have very little experience with 308 and I don't own one. I don't think 308 is step up using 180gr partition compared to the 270 and the 160gr partition that Nosler been making. That bullet been in every Nosler reloading manual starting with #1.

I use the 180gr partition in my 30-06. My 270 I have no problems with getting Stability Factor of 1.5 or greater with either 150gr Partition or 160gr Partition.

There are reason why 270 been around long time and I'm not taking anything away from 308.
 
I would choose .260 Remington, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5x55 or 6.5-.284 Norma. If you need a magnum, .264 Winchester Magnum. But a lot of people would say the .264 caliber is too small for elk. If that's your belief, then go with a .280 Remington.
 
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