King of deer calibers?

Bella, no that's not a red flag for me. Red flags would be split cases, blown primers, excessive case length after firing. Powder from lot to lot can produce varying velocities.

I don't chest pound. I like rifles. I just favor the .270 because Jack made it sound magical. Is it, for all practical purposes, no. I just don't understand how someone who has posted all these mathematical figures for ballistics, recoil, and efficiency could be so hard headed to not understand that there are rifles and calibers built for certain terrians and certain types of hunting. It seems they only want to argue ballistics and not actual deer hunting. Anyone who has ever really hunted deer understands shot placement above all else is paramount, no matter whether the bullet was a .264 or a .308. A one trick pony like the .30/30 can be king from Maine to New Mexico, the .30/06 can do the same, hell multiple others could as well. If you know your rifle and are confident with shot placement, pick your poison. I've killed deer with every cartridge on the original list, I've killed deer with none that where considered. My dads .25/20 claimed 1 or 2.

Quoting ballistics from a manual is not a suitable source for the argument.
 
another thought..........

.....or two..... If readily available factory ammo at the best prices counts for anything in this discussion, then it narrows the list. Assuming we are in the USA, that leaves us with 243 Winchester, 270 Winchester, 308 Winchester, and 30-'06 Springfield. There are some cheaper calibers like 223 and 30-30. But they are already off our list. Throw in recoil shy and the winner is 243 Winchester. Otherwise, take your pick from just these. As far as cartridges like 6mm Remington, 280 Remington, 6.5 Creedmoore, 25-06 and the like, good as they are, cannot be considered. Maybe someday one of them will out-sell the 243 and then you could add it to the list. To be the King of the deer calibers begs the question: Out of all the deer that were tagged in the last several years, which caliber took more than the others? I could be wrong, but I would guess that the top three would be 30-30, 30-'06, and 270; probably in that order. Of course, this is all a waste of time. But the days are short, dark, and rainy here, and this is more interesting than TV.
 
Who took them off the list pathfinder? You just said the .30/30 was off the list and then listed it first as most deer kills?:confused:
 
The 30-30 was never on the OP's list. I keep mentioning it because it may well be the top deer killer in America. I don't know if there is a way to find out for sure, though. In my view, I can't see how it could be left out. It's certainly a contender.
 
Again I did not add the 30-30 simply because at rang it's performance is bad and I get flame mail over it, same goes for the 45-70. Great brush guns but clearly not all arounders even with the new FXTs
 
Everyone, I mean every hunter I know, including me, took their fist white tail with a 30-30. I like the .270 and 30-06 but where I hunt they are overkill.

For me it goes like this;

Open fields(which I rarely hunt) .243(used mostly for coyote)
Brush, 20ga slug gun or my .44 SBH

So I guess I don't count. I agree it depends on the terrain/cover that your hunting in or if your in a stand or stalking.

I know nothing about ballistics so thats just my $.02
 
SARuger, my first deer was with a model 94 .30/30 not far from where your from. The woods and terrain of south west and south central VA make a prime candidate for a quick handling 336 or 94. My step-dad is from North West PA and almost all of his hunting buddies use either a 336 or 94. All of those guys have multiple other rifles and shotguns, but choose the .30/30. First year I went I got picked on because I carried my .270, more like ribbing I should say. There's a reason they still make it a 119 years later, it works.

Nice buck Jack.
 
Kachok, the 6.5-06 is another good deer caliber, although not as popular as 30-30, .243, 270, 308, 30-06, and 7mm rem mag. It still works wonderfully and with little or no recoil, loaded with good bullets it can "hammer deer dead".

But the op is "The King of deer calibers", so its between 3030, .270, 30-06, and of those three the .270 win probably wins the monicker.
 
But the op is "The King of deer calibers", so its between 3030, .270, 30-06, and of those three the .270 win probably wins the monicker.
Click to expand...

But just how does the Prince, the offspring of the King, a 30-06 necked down from .308 to .277 become the "King" while the very capable parent is still alive and well?

Maybe the deer woods is not a Monarchy, but rather a Representative Democracy with a Congress made up of the 243 Winchester, 270 Winchester, 30-30 Winchester, 308 Winchester, and the 30-06 Springfield.
 
Wasn't there some guy that killed a bunch of elephants with a 7mm Mauser? If a 7mm Mauser can take a pachyderm, I am sure a 30-30 can take a deer or even an elk.
 
I killed deer with 30-30, but it ran away hundreds of yards.
I also killed deer with 7 mm. magnum, and never made one more step.
So We can kill deer many different ways, the question here is the effectiveness.
 
Looking at Jack's picture above one could reasonably conclude that his 30-30 was effective. If you shoot at an elephant with an ineffective cartridge, you will learn how effective its tusks, feet and trunk are.
 
But just how does the Prince, the offspring of the King, a 30-06 necked down from .308 to .277 become the "King" while the very capable parent is still alive and well?
Click to expand...
Because the .277 can do exactly what the 'King' .30-06 can do, generally with less recoil and flatter shooting, often with less wind drift as well, depending on bullet selection.
.270 is capable of launching higher BC/SD bullets at a higher velocity than the .30-06

The .30-06 is only slightly faster with equal weight bullets, but the larger diameter of the .308 will have a negative effect on sectional density and the bullet's ballistic coefficient.

That's why I consider .270 'king', personally. Nothing wrong with the .30-06 I just think the .270 does the same job 'better'
less drop, drift, and flight time, makes the shooter's job easier IMO.

It's not about what kills what, or making an animal 'deader' it's about getting that flying piece of metal to the correct location. Less recoil, less drop, and less flight time would only make getting that piece of metal to the correct location easier. Terminal ballistics between the cartridges are pretty much negligible when we're talking about deer. They're both more than capable with the right load and shot placement.
 
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30/30 s

I believe in Jack O'Conner's book he said anybody that can't go in woods with a
30/30 and come out with a deer, has no business in the woods! I've got 16"
Marlin,Maurader 30/30. Killed many, and lots kids have used it to get their 1 st.
I always shot it with peeps but put on 2 3/4x scope for kids.
 
All of those calibers will kill deer, Even drop them on the spot. so.... how is one better than the other?
A deer killed with a 30-06 is no more dead than a deer killed with .243.
 
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