what is the best deer caliber

[deerslayer15]

Ok everyone after the little argument we had about the .22-250(my apologies to all) I went and did some research and have decided not to use my .22-250 for deer anymore.

Now i need a good deer rifle. By the end of the summer I should Have around 800 dollars(dad's going to start me a savings account). So what is the best gun/caliber for my type of hunting.

I will be hunting in mostly open fields. The furthest shots could get over 400 yards. But there is a possibility I will hunting in some fairly brushy country to.

I have used a 30-06 in the past. I really don't like the way it messes up the meat. But am willing to go the the bigger bullets if it gives me more nock-down power on those far shot.

So what does everyone thing. I was thinking of either a .270, 7mm-08, or a .243. And one caliber I have really been lockin at is the 300 wsm, but now that dad has made the deciesion not to buy win. shells I guees that is out. But I do know one thing I would like to have a rem. model 700 if I have the money. So if anyone recommends a gun could you please give me some kinda price with it.

[Ramrod]

Hey deerslayer15, for 800 bucks you should be able to get that Rem. 700, along with a good scope, sling, and plenty ammo. Best caliber for deer is the .260 Remington, but that's ballistic twin to the 6.5 mm Swede, and the 7mm-08 is a little more powerfull, although the .250 Savage or .257 Roberts is all anyone needs. (See where this is going?) If there was a best caliber, we would all be using the same thing. Good luck with your choice. Actually, I have killed several deer with a .22-250, and a .223, but you have to be able to pass on the low probability shots, like angling away, or angling toward you. I know this might p-off some .243 fans, but the same advice applies to the 6mms. They are too light for general all-purpose use.

[deerslayer15]

I don't think we should go into the 22-250 thing again(made to many people mad befor). I am kinda aware of how many opinions I will get but I was hoping everyone would back up there opinion with some ballistic fact(not just stating that such in such is the best gun). Then I can do alittle more research and find out witch gun I am going to get.

I might not have 800 $, that is the most I could have, See I am raising caves this year and will sell them back in the fall(depending on how they sell I could loose alot of money :eek:) plus the work that I do I should end up with a new gun befor deer season. :-D

[JPSaxMan]

Please Ramrod, don't give the boy any ideas or don't start another freakin war :-D . My friend uses a .270 and is quite pleased with it. Even though I have a .243 and am quite pleased with the results, I'd get a .270 to replace it. Just my :money:

[JPSaxMan]

Best way to do ballistics is to compare two or more calibers and see who comes out on top. Click here to find out more about ballistics

[Graybeard]

7-08 hands down. None better. Buy the Remington 700 LSS Mtn. Rifle and shoot Hornady light mag ammo. Will give sub MOA performance and lay them deer low. In over 30 years of use by me, my wife and our oldest son the 7-08 has never needed a second shot to finish the job and never once have any of the three of us missed when using it.

Mine wears a Bushnell Elite 3200 2-7 scope. My wife's wears a Bushnell Elite 4200 1.75-6 scope.

[JPSaxMan]

7-08 hands down. None better.

Well that depends on who ya ask.  :-D  

[deerslayer15]

Please Ramrod, don't give the boy any ideas or don't start another freakin war :-D . My friend uses a .270 and is quite pleased with it. Even though I have a .243 and am quite pleased with the results, I'd get a .270 to replace it. Just my :money:

 :-D What did you mean by not givin me any ideas? Seriously I'm not understaning you even though I read over everything 2 or 3 times :-D

By the way thanks for shuttin down the last war...I was really geting tired of it and wish I never would have ask , but I guess everyone makes mistakes.  :mrgreen:

Everyone else keep um' come in

[JPSaxMan]

Sometimes, I don't understand what I write, like you're supposed to understand?   . I think I started a war myself a while ago. I think we all do at one point or another. OH yea, it was politics. Ah that ain't hard to start a war in :-D .

Oh by the way, I meant don't give the boy ideas bout letting him (you) to keep using your .22-250. Not really a wise move. We've made that clear already. So you've got .270, 7mm-08, and some others Ramrod mentioned but I can't think of them rite now. I know Remington rifles are priced similarly so calibers ain't going be cheaper. All you need to do now is compare them as far as ballistics are concerned. Then you're set.  

[jvs]

In an attempt to contribute, in general terms, without falling into a 'generation gap', for deer you should be shooting 130gr to about 180gr bullets, which should already slim down your options.  What ever caliber you choose is a personal choice as there is no Holy Grail of deer calibers.  

Shot placement is as important if not more important than what caliber you use.  For instance, a 30-06 at close range on a shoulder is messy, while placement in a vital area with less bone is just as deadly without blowing it to kingdom come.

Whatever you choose will cost money to shoot, which is another consideration.  Some calibers are more expensive than others, even if you reload.  

The whole point is to not have a mis-match between weapon and intended game while being a good enough marksman to put the animal down quickly.  

If you bought a .22, a 12 gauge shotgun and a .30-06, you'd never have to buy another firearm in your life.  But life isn't like that, it's full of choices and opinions.  

Pick what you think is best for you and live with it.

[Ramrod]

you should be shooting 130gr to about 180gr bullets

What about the 117-120 grain .25 caliber bullets? :shock:  These have proven themselves to be excellent killers over many decades.
deerslayer15 asked for recomendations on a DEER gun , not a deer-moose-elk-bear gun. There is a difference, you know. :-)
Hey kid, don't let these guys bully you into more gun than you need, or want.

[Thebear_78]

I've shot as many deer with my .243 as anything else.  Never had any trouble with it at all.  100gr Sierra gamekings have worked flawlessly out to 300 yards.  Start with .243 and continue on up.  My vote would be 270, or 30/06.  I've always found the 25/06s that I've had to be fairly picky and that kind of soured me on the caliber but its a dandy for deer hunting.    Can't go wrong with the 270 or 30/06 though.  I'd get the 30/06 because down the line you never know if you will do a hunt for bigger game.

[riddleofsteel]

A local gunstore owner is fond of telling folks, that ask; "There is not 5% difference between the top 10 popular deer cartridges sold in the US at the ranges and conditions 95% of the deer are killed." and I tend to agree. This is the type of discussion that keeps campfires at deer camp burning long into the night and keeps the gun scribes in business.
Having said all that, during over 3 decades of deer hunting all my deer rifles have evolved to either .25 or .26 and I have come to believe that the .26 bore may be ideal for most deer size game. I like the 6.5X55, .260, or the 6.5-284 in a bolt action with a top end 30mm scope 2.5x8 or 3x9 about 7 lbs total rifle and scope weight.

[deerslayer15]

I went to the site that Fisherman gave me and compared the .270 and 7-08. Now sombody translater this thing for me.

http://www.remington.com/ammo/ballistics/centerfire/comp_ballistics_results.asp

I'm not to sure how many ft/lbs of energy it takes to kill a deer and I don't understand what the short and long range trajectory. Never used one of these things befor. SOMEBODY HELPPPPPPPPP :eek:

[Rummer]

Deerslayer15,

Approach this like you would any other major purchase.  You are going to shell out your hard earned cash, so make sure you get what you want. You've got some time so think about all the attributes you want in a rifle, not just caliber.  In fact, take a few minutes and write it down.  How important is weight? Stainless or blued?  Synthetic or wood?  Scope or Irons?  Are you recoil sensitive?  How much is ammo? How available is ammo? Do you handload?


As to caliber you have a lot of choice when picking a deer rifle because deer are just not that hard to kill.  You don't need premium bullets you just need to put them in the right spot.  

Basically any bullet 6mm or bigger, of appropriate weight and construction, properly placed will kill deer well enough, so don't fall in love with the ballistics tables.  Make sure you can ut the bullets where you want them.

Although I am personally partial to 30 caliber and up,I have often thought that a 7-08 would be ideal.  You can make the same argument for a .300 savage, .308, .30-06, .270, .280, .260, .25-06, 6.5x55, 7x57, 8x57 etc.

The thing do do might be to go to ammo manufacturers websites.  See how many different loads they have for the calibers you are considering.  At www.midwayusa.com you can browse ammo and read reviews left by other customers.

Whatever you decide to buy, shoot it as much as you can.  It will make you a better marksman and it is just plane fun to go to the range.
John

[deerslayer15]

I have already figure out what gun I want. I would like to have a remington 700 with synthetic stock and stainless barrel. But that could be changed. :grin: I am not to sensitive to recoil, I have no problem shooting 3 inch turkey load in my synthetic stock 12 guage. And I have a local pro shop within 25 min. drive so ammuniton would not be a problem. The only thing I need to know is what caliber and that one is going to take some time.

[NYH1]

Although I am personally partial to 30 caliber and up,I have often thought that a 7-08 would be ideal.  You can make the same argument for a .300 savage, .308, .30-06, .270, .280, .260, .25-06, 6.5x55, 7x57, 8x57 etc.

John

I agree with this 100%. If I was going to buy and own just one deer rifle. It would be a Remington model 700 of some sort and it would be a 280 Rem. I have a Remington model 700 Classic in 280 Rem. right now. I have five rifles that I can hunt deer with so I don't always use my 280 Rem. but I'll never let it go either!

[riddleofsteel]

I went to the site that Fisherman gave me and compared the .270 and 7-08. Now sombody translater this thing for me.

http://www.remington.com/ammo/ballistics/centerfire/comp_ballistics_re sults.asp

I'm not to sure how many ft/lbs of energy it takes to kill a deer and I don't understand what the short and long range trajectory. Never used one of these

One figure batted back and forth in gun circles is that a deer cartridge should have a minimum retained energy of at least 1000 ft/lbs to give quick, humane kills. Again, this is a hotly debated topic. It is a figure I use a a guide. For example my 25-06 117 grain handloads start out with 2577 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle and does not fall below 1000ft/lbs until the bullet has traveled 525 yards. This means that if, and I mean if, I can hit a deer at 525 yards the bullet will have enough energy to expand, do damge, ect. ect. does that mean I should be plinking at big game animals at 525 yards? NO WAY. If you have the rifle and skills pull off such shots you probably aren't seeking advice here on caliber selection. This goes back to the quote;
 
"There is not 5% difference between the top 10 popular deer cartridges sold in the US at the ranges and conditions 95% of the deer are killed."

If you look a couple of the lists of the top ten cartridges like;

1. .308
2. .270
3. 30-06
4. 45-70
5. 30-30
6. 7mm Mag
7. .223
8. .270
9. 300 Win Mag
10. .243

You see that while all are capable of killing a deer they are all designed for different jobs or specialties. However, if you compare the trajectories of variuos projectiles from these fine cartrides you begin to see that most, if not all of them will outshoot the shooter. what I am driving at is that the shooter is usually the weak link. Most od them will shoot flat enough to eliminate figuring holdover ect. at ranges most of us can effectively shoot in the field.

[JPSaxMan]

And it's all about what you like as far as a gun is concerned. My 700 is a synthetic matte .243 ADL. I dropped it in a crick and dropped it on numerous rocks :eek: , the only thing I might have to do to it is get the barrel re-blued. No biggie. On a wood stocked gun, it would have been beaten to crap over the rocks and would have waterlogged when it fell in the crick. Something to consider. Also the fact that once wood is exposed to A LOT of water (rain, snow, w/e) it will warp. Eventually, it will, and you'll never have accuracy again.

But wood is warm, natural, and nice to hold. Out of my seven guns, the 700 is the only gun that's synthetic stocked. My Hawken is wood (oh so nice ), my two .22's are wood stocked, my Wingmaster and Moosberg bolt action are wood stocked. Plus my NEF Pardner. And that .243 has never let me down. A nice thing to know. But like I said, it's all about what you like. If you like wood, get it. Just be careful on the mountains with it :-D .

[RaySendero]

.....
..... So what is the best gun/caliber for my type of hunting?
.....

Deer slayer,

You need a bolt action rifle chambered for the 270 Winchester!

[deerslayer15]

I am considering a .270 But now I might have my mind changed on what type of gun. I have been lookin at the T/C Encore. then I could have both a .270 and 7-08. An posablely another shot gun. :grin: Does anyone know the price on a new one, every thing I have read about them does not include the price.

[JPSaxMan]

I think (don't kno for fact) that the frame and a barrel are around $500 if not more. So you can buy the frame and one barrel in .270, then another barrel in another caliber. Extra barrels are around $300. And you can get them out of Bass Pro Shops. Actually, you said something about a shotgun barrel, how about an in-line barrel? Muzzleloading is always something cool to get into (plus if you live in a state like mine you get extra hunting time than with just regular rifle). Of course I don't use an in-line....yet :twisted: . But I might be wrong about the pricing. But the Encore is a nice system to have. And there's multiflarous choices with that too. Wood or synthetic or synthetic camo, blued or stainless or camo barrel (I think the turkey gun is the only one w/ the camo barrel). Take your pick and have a ball!  

[george]

I went to the site that Fisherman gave me and compared the .270 and 7-08. Now sombody translater this thing for me.

I'm not to sure how many ft/lbs of energy it takes to kill a deer and I don't understand what the short and long range trajectory. Never used one of these things befor. SOMEBODY HELPPPPPPPPP :eek:

The short/long range trajectories show you the (vertical) path of the bullet. The only difference between them is the distance that the gun has been sighted in at. You'll see they each have a different range (in yards) where the result is 0.0, that's the range it's zeroed at, so the bullet strikes the target where you're aiming. At ranges closer than your zero range the bullet is higher (shown in inches, as a positive number) and at ranges past your zero distance the bullet drops below your point of aim (shown in inches, as negative numbers).

As for how much energy is required to kill a deer... well even relatively low-powered cartidges such as the 30-30 or 35 Remington have killed uncountable numbers of deer (and other animals), and as a plus these are fun to shoot without any huge recoil. Of course rounds like these bring distance limitations into your shooting, giving you the challenge of having to stalk closer before firing.

[deerslayer15]

George i am understanding it more :wink:  

Now I just need to know some more about the gun :-D I think I like the encore but have never heard the bad things about it, just read articals that brag on it.

[John R.]

I'm with Graybeard, get a Rem. 700 LSS mtn.rifle in 7mm/08 and you've got all the deer gun you'll ever need. Then you can buy an encore later on. (Base price on a stainless encore is $600.00 plus 275 per extra bbl and 40 more for a matching forearm.)

[Chuck White]

If I had to suggest a specific cartridge for someone to hunt with, I'd choose the 7mm-08 Rem in whichever firearm they wished!
There are some that are just as good, but there isn't one that is better!

The bottom line is as follows:
1. Get something that fits you well!
2. Get something that you can shoot with confidence and accuracy!
3. Listen to all suggestions, but pick the one you want!

Good luck in your search!

[deerslayer15]

Ok the encore is out for now :grin: Didn't think the bbl was gunna be that much. Know I'm back to the bolt actions :lol: Still researching calibers but the .270 and the 7-08 are on the top of the list right now.

[JPSaxMan]

Uh oh, here we go. Another debate sounds like it's on the horizon. You kno the rules guys. Have at it.

[THE#1hunter]

.....
..... So what is the best gun/caliber for my type of hunting?
.....

Deer slayer,

You need a bolt action rifle chambered for the 270 Winchester!

Definitely

deerslayer, Id go withe the .270....I have shot both and I own a .270 win, the 7-08 rem that i shot..i dono I didnt care for it much, to me the .270 is a much smoother caliber, it will take down anything you plan on going for in this country :-D , Plus out to the farther ranges...in most cases the .270 will have more punch and velocity, its all around a good caliber  :agree:

Good luck with/ your decision    

Keep us posted

[whodowl]

I thought Deerslayer said Winchester cartridges were not an option in initial post.

Narrows the field somewhat, especially with 400 yard range, to the 7mm class