Which Hunting Rifle - .270, .300, .308 or 30/06?

Well here we are again, Don't does'nt exist in my world since I was young and mom told me don't.
I cant limit myself to knowing all you know, thats why Im a participant on this forum, I learn new things everyday.
And whilest were on the subject of everything you know, let me have it, what the heck do you really know?
 
How viable is an antique WW2 Garand with a scope firing 30-06 as a first hunting rifle?

I'm having success with my 357 Lever for small game but have a chance to hunt pigs and want something with more power

I love historic guns so a Garand would be fun if it makes any sense at all
 
Well the boys lugged them all over Europe in WWII. Not a usual choice but it will shoot fine.


Its more than doable with a few caveats due to the nature of the gun.

You will want a game bullet not mil surplus ammo that is penetrator oriented.

Need to research the powder used in civilian loads though, the OP rod can get bent with the wrong powder burn.

If you reload you can find the right powdered and bullet.
 
glenspen said:
How viable is an antique WW2 Garand with a scope firing 30-06 as a first hunting rifle?
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A lot of people have hunted with the M1 Garand, but like RC20 said research your loads as not to damage your rifle. Do you have a Garand that's already scoped? There really isn't a great way to scope a Garand and have the ability to use multiple enbloc clips.

Most scope mounts have the scope offset to the side so you can use the enbloc clips an not have the empty rounds strike the bottom of the scope or mount and fall back in the action. The one scope mount that mounts over the bore CASM, makes you have to single load a enbloc clip from the top. It isn't a big issue to some, but sounds like a PITA to me. The other option is to mount a long eye relief scout scope and to have a scope mounted directly over the bore.
 
glenspen, I remember back right after Korea that lot of ex soldier sporterized M1 Garand.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs...terized-rifles-m1-garand-vs-m1903-springfield

My dad's boss had one and I never got to handle any ammo was about 14 back then.

My first issue rifle in Marines was the M1 Garand 1960 and 57 yrs later I still enjoy the 30-06 along with 270.

I never wanted to own M1 as a hunting rifle but going back to my dad's boss he hunted with one and he did good on elk/deer with it.
 
I have shot the 270 and 30-06. Both are great calibers. I am not a fan of magnums. (personal choice) As with anything it depends on what you are going to do with it. I no longer like heavy guns. I like short action (308) It weighs less then a long action. 308 is is know to be a accurate. I will be shooting 165 grain nosler accubonds. I just purchased a leupold vx3i-3.5x10x 40mm cds duplex reticle. This package will hit my personal goal of under 8 pounds.
 
Sorry fellas, I'm in the Navy and was gone at sea for quite some time with limited bandwidth to look at the replies.

So some have asked what I'd be hunting.

Deer, Elk, Antelope, Moose primarily (deer more than the other 3).

I live in California (at the moment) but plan on traveling to Wyoming, Montana and other Northwest regions to hunt.

It seems like there is an overwhelming amount of support for .270 .300 and 30-06 more than anything. At the end of the day my goal is to have "one rifle" that can handle most game I'm trying to hunt to keep the cost down long term.

My big desire is to spend more money upfront on a rifle that can do "most if it" vice having to have multiple rifles to do a little bit of everything, if that's even feasible.

Back in the day I have a Winchester 30-06, sadly I sold it when I moved overseas as the first hunt I took it out on landed me a nice 200+ white tail 7 pointer but you live and learn.

Thanks for all the feedback, I'm still on the fence as to what's the best fit for me though.
 
The 30-06 is capable of handling any game in North America. It is the most popular hunting round in the USA. Popularity means that you will have no shortages of ammo no matter where you are.
The 308 looses a lot of velocity with heavy bullets compared to the '06.
The 300 magnums are as much better than the '06 as the '06 is compared to the 308. Recoil is higher and the ammunition is not as popular but it is available.
The 270 is a great round but falls behind the others when going for moose and the big bears.

If recoil and the price of ammo are not concerns then I would recommend the 300 magnum.
If they are a concern then a heavy 30-06 is right there for you.
 
I agree with the 30-06 crowd but would throw in the 7 mm Remington mag as a consideration. I used one in Alaska for 40 some odd years and it worked very well on Caribou, Moose, Sheep and Black bear. Anywhere from 50 yds to 425+, none walked away. It was a one load gun, same load did it all, 175 gr. Speer Mag tip, also called a Grand Slam. I recovered many bullets, 75% or better and a nice mushroom.
Back in the days, we didn't have the bullets, the powders and the hardware choices and improvements that are available now. Today, you can pick a powder, a bullet and just about any barrel configuration you can think of. What they did with a 30-06 and a 220 gr round nose in the bush was one thing, the options were limited as was the competition. Now, the shots are often longer but the technology is much, much improved. Another thing, we didn't shoot them any farther than we could go get them with what we had, usually a back pack. Today, 1000 yard shot across a couple canyons....bust out the wheelers...lol.
It's all good.
 
Redundantly, Just get a model 70 Winchester and make sure it's either a 30-'06 or 270 Winchester, and you can hardly go wrong. Put a Leupold scope on it and go hunting.
 
Swedes been killing moose for over a century with 6.5x55,
and I know I can load 160's in my .270 win and move them faster than they could.
300 win mag is a recoiler but with just about any cartridge, you can load it down for smaller critters..
 
Actually I have never owned a .270. As a young un I went to my LGS to buy a.270 . The Rem 700 they had in stock had a mag issue,the rounds spewed out the magazine. So,I left with a 7 mm Rem Mag.
Many years later I decided I wanted less meat destruction.
I built my .257 AI. I consider it a little brother to a .270. A 115 gr bullet at just over 3000 fps.

If anyone had asked me how the recoil is from a 7 Rem Mag or a 30-06,etc I'd say "Not bad,its fine" And in fact,they aren't bad. I enjoy shooting them.

But I noticed my 257 AI was "deadly" at least in part because my shooting improved. It was so easy on me I never cringed or closed my eye. It was deadly because my shot placement was better.I learned the relatively flat,high vel trajectory with the features of my fixed 6X scope ,always the same,no variable to fiddle with. It made it easy to estimate range and do Kentucky holds to just over 400 yds. Sighting was dead on at 300.Recoil was light enough I could hold it gently and shoot relaxed rather than tensed.Thats a little different. It lets "The Force be with you"

If you put that little slug through ribs into the heart/lungs,its time for a knife.
I never shot an elk with it,but I would in a heartbeat. I'd also let a less than good shot opportunity wait till it got better or walked away.

I imagine the 270 a "Big Brother" to the .257 AI. It will do its job if you do yours,AND it makes it easy for you to do yours.

Nothing wrong with a .270 for anything in North America.
 
Go .308. Short action means lighter, stiffer action inherently. You get to enjoy the variety of 30 cal projectiles that has already been so heavily debated. Ammo availability in some podunk town Walmart is still there in a pinch, though really with all your stated calibers any Walmart would have any of them, it's likely a small town hardware store that sold ammo would have them all too. The only thing that would drive my decision to a caliber in a long action would be Grizzly bears. Then I'd say go 30-06, it is America's caliber. There is no reason for a magnum IMO unless you just want one because 'Murica. I myself shoot a .260 REM because it is better than the 6.5 CM that everyone lusts over and it's been around longer. Hornady is just better at marketing than Remington is. Your only source for loaded ammo in 260 is the internet unless you like overspending or you're in an emergency. Then your options are Gander Mtn, Bass Pro, Cabelas, and the like.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ripnbst said:
Found this article today, all the .30-06 holy grailers may be surprised by what tops it on this list. I was certainly surprised by #1.
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In that article there wasn't a ranking system putting the 6.5 Creedmoor at the top. The Author simply wrote his opinion on 12 cartridges he found suitable for elk, and listed them in numerical order starting with the smallest caliber cartridge and simply moved up in bore diameter and hen case capacity. He even stated that this is what he was doing as indicated by the quote below.

author Joseph von Benedikt said:
Killing a bull cleanly takes a good cartridge. Killing a big bull at a steep quartering angle takes a very good cartridge, topped with a tough, deep-penetrating bullet.

These 12 cartridges have just what it takes. The list starts with the welterweights and moves up to the heavy hitters.
Click to expand...

Again this is one authors opinion, there is no data to back up a ranking system of any kind. Plus there are two cartridges on the list that are just barely over a year old the .28 and .30 Nosler. Then there is effectively one dead cartridge in there as well the .338 RCM. It's just a fluff piece IMO.
 
With the budget the OP listed, he can have almost matching Ruger M77 Hawkeyes in BOTH .270 Win, and 30-06 along with a pair of excellent Leupold scopes.
https://www.cdnnsports.com/firearms.html#category_2=FIREARMS/HUNTING RIFLES&manufacturer=RUGER®&pg=2

As long as he doesn't mind Hogue rubber stocks. Myself, I opted for the one in .270 Win and a regular synthetic stock version in .308 Win.

IF you live in Alaska, and don't mind recoil, the .300 Win Mag is probably the best choice, followed by the 30-06. Anywhere else, the .308 Win or .270 Win makes the most sense, to me at least. The .270 is a milder kicking flatter shooting version of the .30-06 and loaded with a 150 gr Nosler Partition, or similar bullet, can certainly do the job on any deer and capably handle elk or moose with proper shot placement. (Closer is better for all hunting and humane taking of game.) The .308 Win is right on the heels of the 30-06 but does give up some performance with the heavy bullets. I believe it does have an accuracy edge over the 30-06, at least it has demonstrated that in my experience.

As for the lack of bullet variety for the .270, that is a lousy argument offered by 30-06 fanboys. How many different types of bullets and weights do you need? Will your 30-06 shoot ALL of them equally well? Of course not. You will ultimately select 3 or 4 at most that meet your hunting or target shooting requirements and use those. For heavens sake, if you tried to find an optimum load for every .308 bullet available for your 30-06, you would wear out your original barrel and have to start all over again with your new barrel.

I haven't started on developing a hunting load for my .308 Win., but have settled on a 130 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip for the .270 Win. for deer. I have developed my target load for the .308 Win using the 168 gr Nosler HPBT and IMR-4064. I will try that load with the same weight Ballistic Tip in my new Hawkeye and see how it goes.

Let us know how it goes, Toystry. Please consider what you are planning to hunt. If it is mostly deer/antelope with a possibility of elk/moose someday, maybe, consider the .270 Win or .308 Win. Abundant inexpensive factory ammo available, milder recoil and more than adequate performance for 95% of hunting demands.
 
I am going to add another candidate .

Not a solid given but the 300 WSM has some interesting possibilities as technically the best all around.

Its drawback is its availability.

Well and more proven over time, but its an interesting one to consider.
 
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