deer calibre, .270, .308, 6.5x55 or any others

[blackfox 9]

Well chaps im looking for a deer rifle.... i already have a .204 ruger for foxing and general long range varminting. Thats why the .243 isnt on my list, i need something thats hard hitting and pretty flat, could you please give me users advice on the calibres avaliable, personally i think the .308 isnt really what i want but may be swayed. I reload for the .204 and would reload for the new rifle. i have a few things on my check list that it has to meet.

 

 

- Flat as possible shooting

- readily avaliable reloading consumables

- not too expensive reloading

 

 

 

if there are any other calibres that anyone could suggest im just looking for some pros and cons. Basically i want a rifle thats a sensible price to buy, flat and accurate. because i may want to use on fox now and again ....

 

 

 

 

Deer species i would be shooting Fallow, Roe and Red.

 

 

 

 

Any advice would be great!

 

 

 

Sam

[danw 1,748]

25 06 fella with an 85 grain nosler it launches at 3600 it will stop any deer you find and is wicked on fox I shoot about 150 deer including fallow,red and sika plus 100 fox a year with it

Edited January 28, 2010 by danw

[Yokel Matt 918]

Lucky you reload – Bog standard 6.5 ammo is pushing £37 a box You may have a problem getting a fox variation on a 308 in which case the 6.5 is a happy medium. A .243 will still do the job on everything – the .270 is slightly flatter and has a further MPBR for your Hill Reds but would be greedier with powder and brass one would imagine.

 

At the end of the day, as seems to be the case on every ‘deer calibre’ thread on here (of which there are many) it’s down to personal choice. Ie Personally I think that DanW’s combo recipe of an 85 gr bullet doing 3600fps is great for fox but a bit too light and fast for deer - Not having a pop DW, I’ve never tried it – It may be the dogs bollocks.

 

Its all way overcomplicated - All the calibers will be within a couple on inches holdover at 200 yards... The main thing is that you can group your shots.

 

ATB

[HUnter_zero 58]

.308

- Flat as possible shooting / +/- 2.5" <200 yards

- readily avaliable reloading consumables / Loads and as cheap as you want.

- not too expensive reloading / 1000's cases , loads of bullet options

 

Bit heavy on the Roe, but for Fallow & Red's it's superb.

 

John

[danw 1,748]

Lucky you reload – Bog standard 6.5 ammo is pushing £37 a box You may have a problem getting a fox variation on a 308 in which case the 6.5 is a happy medium. A .243 will still do the job on everything – the .270 is slightly flatter and has a further MPBR for your Hill Reds but would be greedier with powder and brass one would imagine.

 

At the end of the day, as seems to be the case on every ‘deer calibre’ thread on here (of which there are many) it’s down to personal choice. Ie Personally I think that DanW’s combo recipe of an 85 gr bullet doing 3600fps is great for fox but a bit too light and fast for deer - Not having a pop DW, I’ve never tried it – It may be the dogs bollocks.

 

Its all way overcomplicated - All the calibers will be within a couple on inches holdover at 200 yards... The main thing is that you can group your shots.

 

ATB

 

I think you could be right re my load,For my application (head/neck shots only) I find it perfect but it would not be legal in Scotland and if you heart shoot it makes a hell of a mess so might not appeal to everyone if however you used a 100g soft point you get a compromise between .243 and .270

[coldweld 65]

6.5 x 08 is the way to go if you reload !

 

Feels like a .243 to shoot but where SOME .243 struggle with 100gr bullets the 6.5 shoots .95 grn upto 155 gr bullets. although my experience is 100gr and 129gr both put fallow and muntjack on the grass with little meat damage.

Short case and therefore less powder lots of 6.5 bullets to chose from , and you can use .243 cases neck up if you want. But i buy new cases.

 

Supposed to shoot the same tradjectory as 300 win mag with less recoil but i have not used a win mag so can't say if it is true

Edited January 28, 2010 by coldweld

[john robbo 30]

The 6.5x55 is my choice should have had 1, 20 years ago.

I've had 243, 2506,308, and have a 7mm rem mag.

But the swede shoots flat hits hard and has little recoil.

If you hand load its better still as you can squeeze alot from the case and seat the bullets well out.

A great calibre as are the others but the swede does it all without the recoil.

Edited January 28, 2010 by john robbo

[dicehorn 38]

Personally, never understood this business of flat shooting, especially when it comes to stalking. Flat shooting does not always mean accuracy - take the 6mm PPC - perhaps the most loopy flight path there is, but boy is it accurate. In reality nothing shoots flat because we have this thing called gravity.

 

To be honest, if you plan to take boiler room shots at deer what is required is a cartridge with a fps less than 3000 fps shooting a bullet that will give this speed, which on the ones you mention they are all ideal. The trouble with these fast bullets is that you are left sometimes with no options but to take head/neck shots - I have skinned out too many deer shot by clients using these super speed bullets and even the perfect heart/lung shots have left front legs covered in red jelly.

 

Your best bet is to try the three calibres and see what you like best - maybe someone in your area can give you a taste of their rifle. FWIW I had a 270 and (for me) did not like the recoil so changed it in for a 6.5 x 55 - that is all the rifle I will ever need. Having said that, the only other rifle I would use would be a 308 - shot one many times and very much like the calibre + its boar legal + plus from a reloading point of view it is very much not too fussy what goes through the barrel - you probably know what I mean by fussy as you have a 204!!

[waidmann 105]

for a bit of everything i would go with the .308. you have a huge choice of factory loads( some are quite cheap and still usefull) and alot of reloading opportunities. is has the speed without kicking the rear out of it.

 

i have shot pig and deer with .308 and was very happy with the effect( heart shot,min damage stopped on the spot).i have also shot sika with the .270 and found too much bruising(haematome) in the meat.i very rarely shoot at the head and neck as i have seen first hand what happens when you "scratch" them. from pigs shot through the snout and roe through the windpipe and or throat.very nasty follow ups,where the animal is not at all slower than a healthy one and very difficult to get( a day or two later and its a different story,maggots,wound poisoning...........).

imho target practice is for the range and we should try and kill as reliably as possible.

p.s. a forester once said:

try shooting a piece of drainpipe(30mm relative to a roe spine you cannot see) at 100 yards in a sandbag,if you can hit it five times with five rounds you are a better shot than i.

 

i have shot deer under 50m ONLY when straight shots(directly frontal/facing away) only then can you be sure the spine is where you are aiming.

 

cheers.

[john robbo 30]

 

try shooting a piece of drainpipe(30mm relative to a roe spine you cannot see) at 100 yards in a sandbag,if you can hit it five times with five rounds you are a better shot than i.

 

i have shot deer under 50m ONLY when straight shots(directly frontal/facing away) only then can you be sure the spine is where you are aiming.

 

cheers.

 

 

Very WISE words indeed.

Edited January 28, 2010 by john robbo

[flytie 1]

I have a 6.5x55 and would not part with it. It does all i want to fallow, roe, muntjac and foxes. I will at some time have another, but boar capable (yes I know they are legal in some places)rifle, and at the moment i favour the 7mm-08. A mate has one and it's a honey

 

ft

[DeerNut 0]

Very good choice,the 7mm08 an underated caliber that does everything Ive been using one for the past 5 or so years and its cock on! :gunsmilie:

[SNAP SHOT 194]

personal choice would be the 6.5x55 se, shooting 129g hornady sst, all the bullet you'll ever need for deer, and extremely accurate.

 

if thinking of maybe boar down the line then i'd go .308,

 

but i've seen the 6.5 take some impressive shots this season..

 

 

Snap.