Advice please

Alan108

Member
At the moment my shooting is vermin and foxes,i'm using a .22lr for the short range rabbits, and my.22wmr and .22 hornet for longer range.I also have a .223 which to be honest ,I rarely use nowadays.I thinking of selling this and getting a calibre suitable for deer,what should I look at? .243?. or .270? all advice gratefully accepted, thanks

Alan :)

ps, I should mention that I do reload.
 
hi alan , depends on what species of deer you intend to stalk. i use .243 for the smaller deer, roe etc , and .308 for reds. however, i have shot reds with .243 in the past. if your stalking mainley the smaller species, i would go for .243, just my opinion you understand.

thomas
 
That's an easy one to answer - get a .308!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

If it has to be one of the two you mention then you would be better served with regard to deer with the .270.
 
Alan

Careful - you will find as many opinions on calibres as there are members of the site ;)

As Thomas says, a lot will depend on what species you intend to shoot, but I'd also second Iwrch's recommendation - if you are going for a new calibre then a .308 is a good choice. Of course I would recommend a .308, because I have one that I use one on everything from muntjac to red :D

The good news about the .308 is that you will also be okay if you want to get wild boar added to your ticket, but on the downside if you anticipate hunting abroad at some point certain countries prohibit the use of military calibres, of which the .308 is a prime example.

willie_gunn
 
I'm starting to realise that I shall be overwhelmed by different opinions on what calbre to use,but, it's all good advice and in the end it will be my choice to make,hopefully it's the correct one. :rolleyes:

Alan :)
 
My vote goes for the 308, might not be fancy but it works.
Has many good points that add up such as:
-long barrel life
-cheap practice ammo available
-huge bullet selection
-huge ammo selection
-short action
-very accurate
-easy to load
-good knock down power
-good selection of rifles
-very efficient cartridge
-best cartridge for short barreled rifles.

Around here many are selling their 6.5's and going 308 or 30-06.
243 is perfect for roe, maybe a bit light for the bigger deer.
270 is a great round for putting deer down, advantage is a bit flatter shooting than the 308 with most loads.
edi
 
As said by others, depends what you want to shoot. If you are only really after smaller species (Roe & Muntjac) until a couple of weeks ago, I would have said .243 - I've got one, and it's been absolutley superb for Roe, and has evem dropped an adrenaline charged 10 pointer red in the height of the rut.

But, having recently started shooting Munties, a couple of weeks ago I had one run off like an express train, after a perfect shot - see my thread on munties being tough little so-and-so's. Having been a great .243 fan for a long time, I'm now beginning to wonder about moving up to a .308.

The .270 does have a bit of a reputation for kicking like a mule, but depends how much of a problem you see that as being. It will certainly be harder kicking than your .223!

As said elsewhere, there are as many opinions as there are members of the site!

Good luck!

RH
 
if I could only have one rifle for deer I would choose a .308. Ithink a .243 is a bit small for Fallow bucks and Red and Sika Stags

125gr bullet for Muntjac and Roe
150gr good all round bullet for any deer
170-180gr for Stags and wild Boar

I have fitted an ASE Utra Jet-Z moderator on it after hearing so many stories about Reflexs rusting out. If you look at an ASE that thing will never rust!
 
My vote goes for the 308, might not be fancy but it works.
Has many good points that add up such as:
-long barrel life
-cheap practice ammo available
-huge bullet selection
-huge ammo selection
-short action
-very accurate
-easy to load
-good knock down power
-good selection of rifles
-very efficient cartridge
-best cartridge for short barreled rifles.

Around here many are selling their 6.5's and going 308 or 30-06.
243 is perfect for roe, maybe a bit light for the bigger deer.
270 is a great round for putting deer down, advantage is a bit flatter shooting than the 308 with most loads.
edi

+1 for .308. I have .223, .243 and .308 and can take deer with all three (over the Border). If i was to have only one for deer it would be .308win. Heavier 165gr bullet from a .308 does less damage to a Roe in my opinion than a 100gr from a .243win. But that's another arguement.
 
Resurrected but I hope valid to ask: "Around here many are selling their 6.5's and going 308 or 30-06".

Names please.
 
This site is brilliant for those of us with Alzheimer's because we have been having the same three discussions for years. :lol:
 
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