First Deer Calibre Rifle

Agree 300yds is special rig territory - not an expectation from a do it all 1st deer rifle in normal conditions
Really, my friend use to shoot deer beyond 300 yds with just a sporter weight 270 all the time.
We use to shoot fox's with just sporter weight rifles beyond 300yds regularly.
Interesting.
 
Either .308 or 6.5cm. My local feo say all the variations these days are for 6.5mm
I think 6.5 creedmoor really is the best starting rifle these days used to be .308 but things move on….
The only issue I would have is the alleged recommendation that a 7mm is the minimum for wild boar which was thrown at me about twenty five years ago!

More importantly I would think that what can I get the police to agree to would be more important provided it meets your needs
I do like classical calibres such as Mauser 7.65 x 53, 7 x 57 and 6.5 x 55!
Everything else is trying to emulate or improve on those especially the second two.
 
Of course can be done and plenty on you tube with people hitting targets with standing hold at much greater distances - but personally v cautious, i hate wounding and loosing large animals of which risk increaces with range and will happen more often if at all casual at taking these shots.
'Special rig' may be a bit of an exaggeration but for sure something that is sighted in and you can hit a 3inch target at the range. Also wind has a big impact at 300m and that needs practice regardless of the gun...

Reply to #82....
 
Sporter barrels can be just as accurate as heavyweights when heat buildup isn’t an issue.

The extra thickness is to maintain better accuracy during a string of shots, which is of no benefit in most hunting situations.
 
Agree 300yds is special rig territory - not an expectation from a do it all 1st deer rifle in normal conditions
why not? my first was a sako, could shoot tiny groups at 300 if I did my part, and that was with a 6x42...no issues, not even a difficulty.

not sure why '1st' rifle should be considered a piece of crap that you learn on before getting specialiesed equipment.

cobblers
 
Of course can be done and plenty on you tube with people hitting targets with standing hold at much greater distances - but personally v cautious, i hate wounding and loosing large animals of which risk increaces with range and will happen more often if at all casual at taking these shots.
'Special rig' may be a bit of an exaggeration but for sure something that is sighted in and you can hit a 3inch target at the range. Also wind has a big impact at 300m and that needs practice regardless of the gun...

Reply to #82....

I dont anybody is advocating shooting offhand at 300m at animals.

One would off course need a solid rest, either over backpack, against a tree, tripod, monopod...

But bullet drop is not severe and the 308 has enough velocity to open up bullets at these ranges.
 
Hi

I am putting in for my first deer legal calibre.

I was thinking of going 308 or maybe even 270 but then I see plenty of posts about 6.5CM....

Is there a better one to pick with the incoming lead ban? I tried to search but it returns almost every thread on here. I have no experience of any of these calibres so I am starting from scratch.

If there is any good threads you could link me too for some more reading then I would appreciate that.

Cheers

Andy
.308 every time. The .270 does too much meat damage.
 
Sporter barrels can be just as accurate as heavyweights when heat buildup isn’t an issue.

The extra thickness is to maintain better accuracy during a string of shots, which is of no benefit in most hunting situations.
Over on Rokslide, a forum, they are showing their rapid fire 10 rounds groups of their Tikka Lite, into 1-1.5moa.

Just a quote:

"
Early 20th century the norm was 20, 30, even 50 round groups. Somewhere around Jack O’Connor’s time it started shifting, first to 10 round groups, then to 5, then finally to 3. This followed marketing and articles that were gear/rifle centric versus experience. The shift from large sample size groups to extremely small sample size was and is 100% about bullshitting users and purchasers as to reality. John Barsness has written about the history multiple times.


As for why 10? The short answer is given the precision of most rifles, a couple of 10 round groups gives around a 90% confidence of where any round from the rifle will fall. A 30 shot group is above 95% that any round will fall inside the cone of 30.

"
 
But bullet drop is not severe and the 308 has enough velocity to open up bullets at these ranges
Try 125mm at 300 m, that’s for standard factory 150 grain doing 2700 fps
That’s ok against a tall target but deer are shorter than the average person
Wind drift at 300 m can be significant
 
As for why 10? The short answer is given the precision of most rifles, a couple of 10 round groups gives around a 90% confidence of where any round from the rifle will fall. A 30 shot group is above 95% that any round will fall inside the cone of
When I learned to shoot professionally in 1981 a 20 round group was fired in four goes with a break every five rounds and you stood up between each group
Adjustment was done and a check group of five was fired for confirmation with a point of impact at 125mm above point of aim at 100m
 
Maybe my bad for mixing different points here but fact is that shooting deer in the field at 300m is a completely different game to 100-200m.
Not much difference in approach at the range but a lot harder to pull off with the 98% plus certainty you need in the hills. Anyone with experience will have lost game and knows how it can happen even at much closer distances.
I was correctly coached when starting out to build up and pay a different level of attention to practice, setup, rests, ammo etc at longer ranges. I now have a different gun for open hills to what i use GP for woods and valleys, my recommendations for 1st deer rifle is get something you like the feel of and the best quality you can afford. Set first expectation to 200m tops and stick to it until you've put a few down (and likely lost one) then move up to 300m when you really know your setup and how to tune and adjust in the field.
 
it's the wind drift that usually catches people out past the 150 ish mark. even a moderate 10mph cross wind will mean a decent hold off,,but the rifle if decently put together should be able to put the bullet where it counts at 300,..it's the user ;)
 
Walk into your local gun shop, ask them to show you the selection of ammunition and reloading components for all three chamberings and that will make your decision…

The question came up once on here and I took a photo in my local gun shop of the selection of a few, the 270 had 3 boxes…the 6.5 had about 12 different options and the 308 was about the same.

Also, it’s only inbred/backward people that but those 270’s…😂
Which 6.5 had 12 different options?
 
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