Which caliber for first deer rifle?

Being a reloader I have to approach this from a bullet selection point of view. I have never hunted with a 243 but started reloading for 7mag back in 1972. I'm not advocating a magnum rifle.

There appears to me to be very few suitable bullets for 6mm, 90gr, 100gr, and 105 grain would seem adequate for whitetail and a perfect shot at a mule deer

The offerings in 7mm include 120gr, 130gr, 140gr, 145gr, 150gr, 160gr, and 175gr in various types, including spitzer sp, spitzer btsp, a 140gr trophy bonded bear claw, 160gr trophy bonded bear claw.

Here where I live, there are more species to hunt, whitetailed deer, antelope, mule deer, and elk, along with mountain goat, Big Horn sheep and moose.

This data seems to indicated that unless you only going to hunt Pronghorned Antelope, and white tail deer, the 243 seems rather limiting to me. I know hunters can and do use 243 on Mulies, but again you may have to pass on a quartering shot that would be available to 7mm-08. oh, and while 7-08 has been used successful on Moose I think you need real confidence in your ability to take a moose with it.

All together I believe that the 7-08 is more versatile and efficient choice IMO.
 
My first deer rifle was a Ruger 77 in 6mm Remington Back in the day when some of the gun writers touted the 6mm Rem. as the caliber for the 'One gun hunter'. It was considered better than the .243 since it could hold a little more powder. I was never disappointed ... coyote to deer. The 6mm Remington never caught on, so I'd go for the .243 for a first rifle choice.
 
handlerer2 said:
There appears to me to be very few suitable bullets for 6mm, 90gr, 100gr, and 105 grain would seem adequate for whitetail and a perfect shot at a mule deer

The offerings in 7mm include 120gr, 130gr, 140gr, 145gr, 150gr, 160gr, and 175gr in various types, including spitzer sp, spitzer btsp, a 140gr trophy bonded bear claw, 160gr trophy bonded bear claw.
Click to expand...


What's missing from the list of pure bullet weights is the fact that most factory 7mm-08 firearms have a twist rate that won't stabilize bullets heavier than 150gr and/or shorter chambers that require heavier bullets to be seated so deep that performance is sacrificed. Most bullets lighter than 120gr are meant for smaller animals or varmints. What you end up with, in 7mm-08, is one or two basic choices in factory ammo bullet weights. With the vast majority being 139/140gr.

For the handloader, there are more choices, such as Barnes excellent TSX line with bullets as light as 110gr for deer and a number of other choices that are appropriate that are just not loaded in factory ammo.

The 6mm/.243 bullets are the same. For the handloader, bullets down to at least 80gr (again, in the Barnes line and others) are perfectly suited for deer. While the heaviest weights (over 105gr) will not stabilize in many guns.

Also, "perfect shot" requirements are a myth. The 243 is ENTIRELY adequate for elk, with a proper bullet choice, and is used as such regularly. It's certainly fantastic for Mule Deer and anything smaller than elk.

A heavier, slower bullet that is .041" wider is not going to turn a bad shot into a good one. Good shots are good shots, bad shots are bad. The difference between a 375H&H Magnum and a .243Win will almost never turn a bad shot into a good one. Those 1%ers? Sure, but should we base are cartridge choices on that, particularly when we consider that flinching from increased recoil and bad shooting from lack of practice with higher recoil guns has caused more bad shots and lost animals than any increase in power has ever saved?

I'm not knocking the 7-08, I have one and have sung it's praises for quite some time. I'm just saying, trying to differentiate from that list of cartridges based on one being a better killer over the other is silly.
 
Well, I stated what seems reasonable to me, as reloader, and everyone is influenced to some degree by local attitudes. I have never hunted with 7/08, so am not that familiar with the twist rates in models offered. My point is that for a reloader 7mm is a sweet spot along with 30 cal. I received as Valentine last year, a Cooper model 22, 26", 6.5x284, 1/8". Am growing to really enjoy this caliber now, a decent choice of bullets and effective bullets. 6mm isn't used much locally, so I could be ignorant of its real potential. I own and reload for 223, 300WBY, 340WBY, 6.5x284, and 44mag. All but the 223 and 44mag are custom rifles, so I chose the twist before I bought the rifle.

And Pete, I really like the C.S. Lewis quote!
 
As a practical matter, any of the three are perfectly wonderful deer hunting rounds. There's a bunch of others that fill that bill as well. A decent rifle and scope combination that you practice enough with to become familiar and proficient with are much more important than splitting hairs over which chambering has less drop or will handle heavier bullets better.
 
For starters, I think the first deer rifle should be a nice HANDY rifle... So I opt out of any long action cartridge. Just adds extra bulk to me and for deer, there are many short action chamberings that will do the job just perfectly. With that said, I'll recommend the .243. I like the one I share with my younger brother, when he lets me shoot it.... I do like the idea of the 7mm-08 as well though. If the shooter can tolerate a bit more recoil, then by all means, but a bigger hole into your target.
 
How about .280 Remington?

Local guy is selling a Tikka M695.

I'd like something milder than .270 win or .30-06. I have a Garand and I think that's about my upper limit for recoil. I don't like my friend's Mosin much. So I do want an intermediate caliber. OTOH, .308 and .30-06 projectiles with a 190 or 200 grain weight have a higher bc than anything in .243. Maybe it's worth the pounding?

I am getting into reloading, so after collecting some brass and projectiles it wouldn't be too hard to keep feeding it.

I might be interested in hunting west coast white tail, but we actually have more elk around here than deer.

Lots of choices. It's almost aggravating.
 
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