The ultimate deer caliber ??????

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Benji53

Benji53

Well-Known Member
Which caliber do you think is the best for all uk deer species from muntjac to big lowland reds ? Your thoughts please regards Benji
 
2130martin said:
.270 or .308
Click to expand...

+1 on that.

I went for .308 myself. Huge range of grain weight available, every gun shop has it and dead easy to reload for.

I have also shot .270 and TBH it was a toss up between the two. The only reason I went .308 is that its the caliber I shoot for target rifle so I know it like the back of my hand.
 
Benji53 said:
Which caliber do you think is the best for all uk deer species from muntjac to big lowland reds ? Your thoughts please regards Benji
Click to expand...
If you buy factory ammo .308 BUT if you reload then for me it's got to be 7mm-08. Got a crappy rem 700 that shoots 0.6 groups at 100 with hand loads. 140 grain at about 2800 fps. It will kill anything in the uk no problem ( if you hit it where you should)
 
I have seen Muntjac, Roe, Fallow, Sika and Reds shot with a 30-06 and using a 180gn bullet and in all cases they have all been without excess meat damage.
I have also seen the same with a .308
Both calibres have a range of bullet weights available worldwide so take your pick.
 
The ultimate question, I have shot and killed 4 species of deer in the UK with every calibre I have owned, mainly because we only had 4 species, I suppose that makes the answer, the one in your hand.
 
.270 for me. Ok, so it doesn't offer the range of bullet weights that the likes of the .308 does, but does anyone really need such a range? I guess it comes down to personal preference. . . . .270, .308. 30-06, 7mm . . . . . none of them make deer too dead, do they? ;)

If I was only to have one rifle in the cabinet it would be my .270, though
 
6.5x55 with 140gr ammo will drop everything that the UK has to offer, including boar.

That said, anything 6.5mm and up will do the same, so pick one and spend time at the range to understand what YOUR rifle/ammo/scope combination does.
 
OK, has anyone ever shot a deer in the right place and it didn't die shortly thereafter? Or shot at a deer within reasonable range and the bullet bounced off?
 
Funnily enough PM........

It was the other day....saw a the outline of a roe in the rough grass.....crept in to about 200m....safe back stop.........cross hairs just behind the shoulder , half way up the chest....squeezed the trigger .........

Kerboom!!!

CLANG!!!!!

Damn steel sihouette's!!! Bullet vapourised and the wretched thing just stood there!! :rofl:
 
30-06 without hesitation. Little meat dammage with good strong bullets on the small species, enough power on any big lowland red. 180 grains Nosler Partition, Sako Hammerhead, Norma Oryx, RWS Uni Classic, .....
 
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