Your choice of rifle caliber

[6pack]

.270 for me

OK, What is your favorite caliber for White Tail deer? I have used everything from 30-30 to .270 to 7mm mag to .300 Weatherby.

I am thinking of this year using either .270 or 7mm mag since .300 seems a little much and I have a bad right shoulder and the 30-30 seems a little light in the event of a long shot being needed?

I've used a bunch of 'em and I seem to always go back to the one I love..... the .270 Win.

This year I'll be using the Federal Premium 110gr Barnes Tipped TSX @ 3,400 fps.


I'm hunting with a .270 Win Model 700 BDL Stainless w/ 24" barrel & Leupold VXIII 4.5x14x50mm w/ illuminated German #4 reticle.

I simply love this gun. It's fairly light....even with this scope and easy to tote. It's really accurate, however I've not zeroed it for this load yet....probably on Tuesday of next week.

I can shoot it and see the impact. I just don't have that flinch reaction with this gun.

For me...this is as big of a caliber as I need.


I'd like to add a short barrel woods gun in a hefty caliber to the arsenal. I'm thinking of something like a Marlin 1895 Guide Gun...maybe the stainless model with the large loop and ghost sights. It'd be my thick cover gun.


I'll be toting along a 629 or a 57 as well. My hope is to take a doe or two with the revolvers this season.

I don't begrudge others their magnum rifles...I simply don't shoot 'em that well (had a bunch of them) unless they are really heavy.

The Southeastern deer I've killed just didn't need an overbore to drop at the shortish distances I hunt (well under 250yds). Accuracy...and a nicely constructed bullet will do the job for me.

 

[scorvers]

The round all others are compared to........the Aught Six. I mainly use my molesterated 742 in the swamp I call home, but sometimes the 1894 .44 mag rolls with me( It was my first "deer" rifle some 30+ years ago).
When I'm invited to hunt at soft hands plots, I bring out the Husqvarna H-5000.
Of course my Ruger BH in .41 Mag tags along on all my hunts.

 

[bwickens]

Illinois is a rifle-phobic state when it comes to whitetail hunting. You're allowed to use muzzleloaders .45 cal. or larger, shotguns slugs 20ga. to 10ga., or handguns provided they're not semiautos, but cartridges are limited to bottleneck rounds with a case length not exceeding 1.4 inches or straight walled cases with no length limit, minimum .30 cal., minimum factory rating of 500fpe. Oddly, you can hunt coyotes with whatever the heck you want (I like a Ruger M77MkII Ultralight in .243).
In the creek bottoms where I hunt, the brush is thick and 60 yards is a long shot. The most popular slug among the guys I hunt with is a saboted .50 cal. partition jacket hollowpoint, 385 grains, leaving the muzzle at 1800 fps. For comparison, the old Winchester 50-110 High Velocity launched a 300 grain bullet at 2200 fps. A little bit on the overkill side for whitetails, but when hit well they don't run far, if at all.

 

[Out West]

My favorite rifle caliber is .308. However, I've taken more deer with my CZ 527 in 7.62X39 than any other rifle I own. For Texas white tail deer its more than adequate. The rifle is light and recoil is nonexistent. The CZ is my favorite rifle to take into the field.

Out
West

 

[kscardsfan]

I stand firmly by the .30-06. It is the most useful cartridge. A little too much for coyotes, a little weak for big bears; but is pretty much perfect for everything else in between. However if recoil is a problem for the OP, I would seriously look into a .25-06 or a .257 roberts. Very nice flat shooting rounds, and pretty mild recoil wise too. I also have a fondness for the .260 rem, but find it hard to get ammo for. I hunt from KS to LA and in everything from wide open cut wheat fields, to the piney woods. My normal stand when I'm with my cousin and uncle is on a pipeline right of way, so 300-400 yard shots aren't that hard to fathom, even when otherwise situated in the middle of a dense pine forest in North Louisiana.

 

[GoHogs]

Jack O'Connor put the hoochie coochie on me....so mine's a .270 Win.

 

[Combat_Diver]

As a side note on the .257 Roberts it lauches a 117 gr PSP at 2780 fps. Look at the 6.8 SPC that launches a 115 PSP at 2800fps. Build a nice light rifle in that or buy a Ruger Compact Hawkeye. Wish Rem would build some more Model 7s in 6.8.

CD