Whats best calibre for roe, sika and red?

pablo.222

Well-Known Member
i currently have .222 for doing a bit of foxing and stalking. Have thought about when certificate is up for renewal applying for a larger calibre to have a trry at reds and sika.

Could anyone possibly guide in me in the right direction. 6.5x55? 243? 308? 270? the choices are endless.

A little bit of feedback from anyone that has a calibre they use for this type of shooting would be great.
 
All my stalking is for sika/hybreds, i have a 25-06 and a 6.5/55, id take the 25-06 over the 6.5/55 for the sika, the 25-06 with 100 grain nosler btips is a great setup for sika on the hill.

Would definatley recomend the 25-06.

wicklow202
 
I have a 6.5 and would recommend using 120gn Hunting ballistic tips. Wolverine told me to try them, I have yet to try anything better on fallow or roe. He uses them on reds to great effect!

But if the day ever came that i had the sika/red stag of a lifetime in my sights, i would rather have a little more gun than the 6.5. Perhaps a 7x64, a 7mm-08, .308 etc. etc.

Simon
 
pretty much anything that you will enjoy using if you are a reloader i can tell you the 7mm08 is a great caliber easy to load low recoil long barrel life that allows you to practice practice practice without worry of rebarreling after 1000 rounds
270 30-06 308 6.5x55 the world is oyster on this one pick one that suits you mate
i agree with flytie i would rather have more gun than not as if you plan on shooting big reds and (ive heard sika are tough aswell but cant vouch for that)then pick somthing like a 308 7mm08 or 3006

kris
 
cheers for that. just i had heard 6.5x55 was a good all round gun to use but thought ad ask impion of others. Most of my shooting would just be roe deer but on occasion sika or red might be available. So by what ur saying there kris the 6.5 would be a gd enough calibre to have.
 
cheers for that. just i had heard 6.5x55 was a good all round gun to use but thought ad ask impion of others. Most of my shooting would just be roe deer but on occasion sika or red might be available. So by what ur saying there kris the 6.5 would be a gd enough calibre to have.

Give Wolverine a PM, he is a top bloke and will gladly give you his view on the 6.5, even if he does use a Blaser ;)

Simon
 
get yourself a good 270 and you will be finished, no messin , does exactly what it says on the tin,, dead
no more recoil than a shotgun , and everyone shoots a shotgun without complaint of recoil.
 
the 6.5x55 is a good caliber for all round use and will suit roe deer nicley mate im not sure on availabilty of factory ammo though to be honest mate and im no expert by any means but i have seen alot of different calibers used on different deer us british stalkers are very sensible in our ranges we shoot and unless your taking on some serious big reds or boar a 243 win will cover all our species if used at its limitations
dont let anyone bully you into a certain caliber ive learned theres alot of ego assosiated with this topic and peoples needs and tastes are different your obviously an experienced rifle user mate whatever your heart tells you go with as you will enjoy using it alot more

kris
 
20mm for sika - put as big a hole in them as you can and then rely on the land mines you positioned the night before to stop them running too far :)

If you are into guns then by all means pick something obscure but if your main interest is in stalking then pick something common as muck that you can get a good supply of ammo locally and that has cheap ammo. That will probably narrow it down to 2 or 3 cartridges. Then try a few rifles in the 2 - 3 cartridges that you've narrowed it down to and go for the one that feels best to you and that fits you.

If it were me I'd probably look at 270 and 308 with maybe 30-06 depending on local ammo supplies.

I own a 308 and my choice was all based on practical things such as cheap mil surplus ammo available for lots of practise and so on. I've never once looked at a sika in the scope and thought "I wish I had a smaller caliber rifle with me right now."
 
cheers for the help from what i agther its your own preference as to what you feel more comfortable with. So i think am certainly going to try before a buy too see what suits me.
 
So i think am certainly going to try before a buy too see what suits me.

Pablo, I think that is a very sensible idea. As Gr1ffer and Caorach have said, any calibre mentioned on the thread will kill any uk deer. Find what you like and what suits you. Don't be put off by calibre snobs, or even certain manufacturer snobs either. There are some fantasic rifles, accurate out of the box, available all over the country. Try a few!

Atb, Simon
 
I am biased towards the 6.5x55 as I have used it to great effect for many years on mainly roe with the odd Red popping up now and again. There is a large choice of bullets from 85 to 160gn, and with the right bullet meat damage is minimal. Plus side no great recoil either.
 
cheer lads. been helpful. be while before i get one as my renewal is not until next year so got a bit of time to do my homework. Just have too get on with the .222 at the moment it does the job fine with the old home loads.
 
sika are much hardier than reds and WILL run if shot in the engine room, seen sika hinds shot with 30.06 in the heart race off at 100 mph for 300 yrds and keel over(where the hound comes into play!). i think accuracy is more important than how much gun you have. that said i do use 270 for guests for reds and sika which does have a bit more knockdown power in the situation the bullet does not go where it should have. but personally 243 is the tool to use. you could go on all day but there has been more deer shot with 243 and 270 than any other round :stag:
 
I've used .25-06Rem. 1 in 10 twist, on all species, both male & female in the UK for the last 10 years. I use a 100gn bullet & have taken Red Stags & Sika with it easily.
It's a calibre that has low recoil & allows you to see quarry reaction to bullet impact easily, also with half decent reloads it's a very accurate round.
The only other calibre I'd seriously consider is .260Rem. rifle with a 1-8 twist. (In my view, it's better than 6.5x55 & uses less propellant than .25-06Rem.)
Cheers.
 
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it depends if you reload or buy factory ammo ,i like the 243 for roe and fox and occasional reds its perfect some would say its underguned then the 260 and a 7mm08 would be my other choices or a 308 all incerdibly accurate ,243 and 308 ammo you would get in most gunshops
 
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