What Calibre?

Grand Slam

Well-Known Member
Quite new to the shooting game and looking for any advice on what is the right calibre to get? Im looking at a .22 for the small game ie Rabbits but still undecided about the right calibre for Deer. I spent a week stalking up in scotland and all i used was a .243 and in my eyes this was a suitable size for what i was doing. A few people have suggested a .270 but being in suffolk not sure how much meat damage etc a .270 would do to a muntie???


Any help with this matter would be great as dont want to fork out money for something if there is a better option out there.

Many thanks
 
What species are you looking to stalk? Will it be used for fox as well? I dont have the experience of other guys on here to offer much guidance but im based in Suffolk and use a .243 for everything but im sure someone much wiser than myself will be along to help!

Tom
 
You won't necessarily find that a smaller calibre causes less meat damage, in fact the reverse is often true.
I would choose a calibre that is at least fairly common and for which a large choice of factory ammunition is readily available: .243 .270 .308 25-06 30-06 6.5x55 any of these would be fine
 
For all round use I would go for a 6.5x55, 308, 270, 7 x 57, 7mm/08 or 30/06. If you are shooting Munties stick with a reasonable weight of bullet rather than going lighter. Starting points would be 120 grain for 6.5, 150g for 308. If in doubt go heavier not lighter providing you are shooting at normal ranges
 
Quite new to the shooting game and looking for any advice on what is the right calibre to get? Im looking at a .22 for the small game ie Rabbits but still undecided about the right calibre for Deer. I spent a week stalking up in scotland and all i used was a .243 and in my eyes this was a suitable size for what i was doing. A few people have suggested a .270 but being in suffolk not sure how much meat damage etc a .270 would do to a muntie???


Any help with this matter would be great as dont want to fork out money for something if there is a better option out there.

Many thanks


You dont say how much experience you have. Like a lot of sports confidence is everything with shooting. If you shoot rabbits with a .22rf and get the odd ricochet and are close to buildings it may undermine your confidence. If you have shot a .243 and are comfortable with it and are not likely to be stalking the reds on a regular basis then I would stick with it. Low recoiling, lots of factory ammo, a great fox round if required, lots of choice second hand, make a good choice. Lots on here would disagree.
 
You dont say how much experience you have. Like a lot of sports confidence is everything with shooting. If you shoot rabbits with a .22rf and get the odd ricochet and are close to buildings it may undermine your confidence. If you have shot a .243 and are comfortable with it and are not likely to be stalking the reds on a regular basis then I would stick with it. Low recoiling, lots of factory ammo, a great fox round if required, lots of choice second hand, make a good choice. Lots on here would disagree.


Been shooting about a year now. Never missed a rabbit with .22, unfortunately my mate got posted so im now in process of getting my own FAC etc. Done a little deer stalking up in scotland. I did get the chance to use a .270 with mod on a hill stalk and found it to be a nice smooth shot.
 
Iv got a 243, again another Suffolk boy here. Depends on what your planning to stalk really mate! Basically its roe, muntjac and fallow round me, all which can be taken comfortably with that size. If your doing a bit of red stalking maybe try a 6.5x55? Id say go for something youll be confident in, there is nothing worse than feeling under-gunned if your asked to take a large beast.
 
Iv got a 243, again another Suffolk boy here. Depends on what your planning to stalk really mate! Basically its roe, muntjac and fallow round me, all which can be taken comfortably with that size. If your doing a bit of red stalking maybe try a 6.5x55? Id say go for something youll be confident in, there is nothing worse than feeling under-gunned if your asked to take a large beast.

Whilst still quite new to the stalking game i will be happy with any stalking. My first deer was a red and that was taken with a .243 so more than happy to stick with it i feel and if the need arises then i can address that issue.

Cheers again for advice.
 
If you are going for one rifle the .243 is a good all round option.
If funds allow something like .308 for the big beasts and possibly 22-250 for the wee ones.
 
But a 308 will do them all, big or small! Beware the man with one gun....not me obviously cause I have three!!

Three in each caliber may be a bit obsessive, but then if you live in a glass house?

As for too much gun? I often shoot deer with a 458, one reason being, "you can eat right up to the hole". There is very little meat damage.
Its more so velocity on impact & projectile construction, which causes blood shot meat not the caliber itself.

Cheers Sharkey
 
I started off with a .243 and then got a 30.06 when I decided to go for Reds - have to admit now whenever I go stalking I always take the 30.06 regardless and the .243 seldom gets an outing.
 
.243 is a good way to start you don't have to bother about reloading co's there's loads of good factory ammo about i used one for years on the hill for hinds never had a problem with it
but i tend to use something a bit heavier in woodland just in case, its a confidence thing
 
Quite new to the shooting game and looking for any advice on what is the right calibre to get? Im looking at a .22 for the small game ie Rabbits but still undecided about the right calibre for Deer. I spent a week stalking up in scotland and all i used was a .243 and in my eyes this was a suitable size for what i was doing. A few people have suggested a .270 but being in suffolk not sure how much meat damage etc a .270 would do to a muntie???


Any help with this matter would be great as dont want to fork out money for something if there is a better option out there.

Many thanks

If you like and desire a 270 Winchester chambered rifle go for it. Use 150 Grain bullets like the federal Fusion maybe in factory ammunition and you will not lose much on a Muntjac. If you hit the shoulder then you will lose some due to bruising but lets face it there is not much edible on the shoulder anyway.

I have used the 270 Winchester with hand loaded ammunition several times on Muntjac along with the 6.5x55, .308 and 7x57. All work well. My last one was shot with the 270 Winchester cartridge hand loaded with the last few 130 grain Nosler Solid Base bullets I had left through my 59 vintage BSA Majestic Featherweight deluxe rifle. Nice yearling Buck for the table with no meat loss. This was in Hampshire.

I used the same rifle but with some 150 grin Federal Fusion factory ammunition in Yorkshire on Roe Buck with excellent results. At the shot the Buck leapt into the hedgerow and was found dead about 6 feet from the place he was standing when shot. Nice clean kill with little meat loss those being the ribs.

As your new would assume that your going to be using factory ammunition for a while so the 270 Win or perhaps the .308 would be about ideal.

Good luck with your choice and have fun deciding and using what ever you get in the end.
 
Three in each caliber may be a bit obsessive,

Cheers Sharkey

:rofl: yes the Plods do seem to get upset when you have multiple rifles in the same chambering. I believe the most I had in one chambering was Eight at one time. That being 303 British. I also own 4x 270 Winchester chambered rifles although one got re-barreled to .280 AI. One could say there are 4 x .308's but in fact two are chambered for 7.62x51 and are clearly tamed and proofed as such.

Once again we see calibre interposed for chambering :rolleyes: now if I was add up the rifles in each calibre then we would have many multiples like in .30 cal there are Six rifles. In 6.5mm there are three ( all being chambered for different cartridges though), .24/6mm there are three (two being .243 and one in 6mm Rem) and so it goes on.
 
Sounds like you are leaning towards .270, go with what you know, absolutely nothing wrong with it for Muntjac and actually the meat damage argument in my opinion for Muntjac is a bit of a non starter, how much meat do you get off a headshot muntjac shoulder? Not much anyway, hit them in the chest a bit forward, break both shoulders and write off the front end, humane shooting and no pea soup no matter what rifle/ammo you are using.

In truth all of the deer legal calibres in the UK will kill deer, that's why they are deer legal, so as someone said before go with what you are confident with. If that is .270 then great because it is easy to get ammo for and relatively cheap.
 
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