Handi caliber suggestions

[montveil]

I an thinking about getting a Handi with two barrels

I hunt Eastern whitetails  from 50 t0 200- 300 yds and woodchucks up to 100- 200yds
I do not hand load so I would like to select calibers that would be around a long time. Maybe 308 and 225 for cheap military ammo for practice

Any suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks

[PartsMan]

308 and 223 (I assume that is what you ment) would take care of about anything.
I have a heavy 223 and a 7mm-08 and feal I am covered here in Oklahoma.

The cheaper fmj ammo will shoot out of my 223 but 2.5" to 3" groups at 100yd are about it.
Better ammo and hand loads will come in .5".

If you want to shoot out to 300yd you might consider a 30-06 as the gun won't be any longer anyway.

Also you should know 1 or 2 is just enough to get you hooked.
You may end up with many more.

[rex6666]

welcome
let me try to explain how this works. I only needed/wanted 1 rifle to hunt deer in Texas
so i opted for a 280 Handi had, had 30-06's wanted less recoil.
that was about 1 year ago, then i thought i might get back into varmint shooting.
NOW 1year later i have 280,2506 ultra, 243, 17 hmr, because i might need them.
I would suggest that you not worry too much about getting the RIGHT calibers the
first time because i am sure you will find as easy as they are to obtain, and at the price
you will NEED MORE. This is only my opinion, i am sure you will hear more

[backstrap]

If it where me and i had to start over again buying 2 handi rifles it would be a 223 and 25-06 i have a 223 in a handi rilfe and a 25-06 in a bolt gun and like these calls alott ,the 223 will do all your varmint and predator hunting out to 300 yards and the 25-06 will kill deer well .. and if u where talking about military ammo in a 223 handi rifle your not suppose to

[Sourdough]

My first Handi is a 30-06, I would not think of any other caliber for hunting big game.  Think about this, someday you may get the oppertunity to go hunt something bigger than deer, why not use a gun you are familure with.  That can be a real asset in my openion.  My second barrel for this gun is a .223 that I got to carry for varmits.  The only thing I would change is the smaller barrel, I would recommend a 22-250 instead of the .223, better range. 

Now that said, I carry the 30-06 almost all the time.  I seldom carry anything else.  During the winter when I will be hunting preditors, I load the 30 cal, Speer 125gr TNT. 

[quickdtoo]

Rog, how about a 300 Win mag barrel for your Handi?? See the New for 2008 thread.

Tim

[myarmor]

I hunt the same here in VA. My 30-06 UltraComp and 223 Ultra serve me very well. No complaints with either. I like the .30cals for around here.


-Aaron

[LaOtto222]

I think your potential choices (308 & 223) are good and sound. Both are military calibers and immensely popular. Easy to find a wide variety of ammo for both and relatively cheap for both. I think you would have all your bases covered, but be warned you will find reasons to buy more. It is just the beginning.

Not sure on the 308, but H&R warns against using military ammo in the 223, I have one and that was the warning that came with it. There are plenty of other cheap ammo to shoot however.

[handirifle]

Since you can only buy a Handi with one barrel (initial purchase) I'd suggest getting a 25-06 Ultra to start.  It will do everything you want in one caliber, then if you want, later on add a 223 barrel for less powder, noise and recoil on the chucks.

I doubt the 25-06 is going anywhere soon.  Ammo MIGHT be a little tougher to find, I'm not sure.