Flattest Trajectory?

A friend bought his girlfriend a .260 but wished it had been a 7mm 08. But she is not a lightweight so your fiancee would be happier with the .260. Or a .243 which will do nearly anything you need to do to a deer.

Do you think she might be interested enough to want Her Own Gun?
This sharing of firearms with men seldom works out well for women.
Especially if she is small statured and would benefit from a Junior model or a shortened stock.

the 243 would have the lighter recoil in the same weight rifle. fine deer cartridge, too!

murf

Out of the selected calibers, the .243 has both the flattest trajectory and the mildest recoil, all things considered. It will do the trick on deer as long long as you hold up your end of the bargain, and don't expect it to be a 400 yd plus deerslayer

The other one to consider is 6.5x55 swede. There are many members here that swear by them. Recoil is likely a bit less than 7mm-08. High bc for flat shooting and high sectional density for penetration.

Seeing that the three cartridges are all based on the same parent case, the round shooting the lightest bullets will usually have the lightest recoil factor.

The 6.5 Creedmoor achieves it's ballistics with high pressures, but in reality there will be little difference in felt recoil between all the rounds mentioned, especially in a hunting situation.
Perceived recoil can be different between all the cartridges mentioned, because of stock fit and/or the firearm's shooting weight.

It would be nice if you could try the different calibers and base your choice on your perception, instead of other people's advice.



NCsmitty

I'd vote for the 243 too. Light round in a light rifle is a joy when in the field

Get a .243 you'll never regret it.

As stated, the .243 will have the lightest recoil and flattest trajectory. It will also have the smallist margin of error on game animals. If deer are your biggest, it'll do the trick.

A couple other cartridges to consider that have a little more oomph than the .243 but still recoil mildly are the 6mm Rem and .257 Roberts. Since you handload, the lower availability of factory ammo for these two isn't a big deal.

On that note, the .25-06 is one of the finest deer cartridges extant; Able to launch 117 or 120 gr. bullets at 3,200 FPS, it has an extremely flat trajectory and awesome killing power on deer-sized animals. It can also be used for elk, though some consider quarter bores too light for them. That said, it's recoil is pretty comparable to a .308. Lighter bullet, but larger powder charge and much higher velocity.

7x57 Mauser is another great round, though pretty similar to the 7mm-08 ballistically. But since you mentioned that 6.5x55 isn't available in your chosen platform, I'm betting neither is the 7x57.

I will have to agree get a .243 Win. you won`t be sorry.

243 here too. It shoots cheap, accurate and flat. The recoil light; it's not a burden to shoot.

.243 is a lot of fun to shoot, and easy to load for.

I laugh at everyone saying get a .243. It gives me whiplash. I much prefer shooting my .308 with the rolling back recoil as opposed to the sharp quick snap kick of the .243. She needs to shoot these guns before buying, I did and I don't regret buying my .308.ll

A 7mm-08 is a .308 Winchester necked down to 7mm. The .260 is a
fine and potent round. That leaves the .243, again the .308 necked
down to 6.5mm. Of the 3 the .243 probably has the least felt recoil.

For the common "deer bullets", the 7mm08 is a .308 with ten grains less bullet weight. IOW, not much difference in recoil.

Since I've tagged some two dozen bucks with a .243, I'd recommend it. And, if need be, install a Limbsaver or equivalent recoil pad.

The .243 is a fine round, and I may be splitting hairs here, but I think the .260 will shoot flatter. I say this because the 260 will run a 120 gr. bullet about the same velocity the .243 will run a 100 gr. bullet.
I know the .260 and many similar .26 caliber cartridges have become quite popular in High Power competition due in no small part to their 600 yd. performance.

35W

I'd go with the 260 personally. It's a necked down 308, pushing a 6.5mm boolit. The 6.5s are great calibers, for so many reasons.

I had spent a ton of time trying to decide on a new caliber for this years deer season and it was a very difficult choice. 260 Rem was on the top of my list but I ended up going with a 270 Bee. Still wish I had gone with the 260, but it'll always leave room for something else later on.

All three choices are fine calibers. I just like the reports I've read on the 260 over the others.

I would also throw in my vote for the .260. They have the flattest trajectories of any of the non-magnum long range precision rounds. Tactical precision rifle competitions are being won pretty regularly with the 6.5mm bullets.

Let me say I have 0 experience with anything listed but I did have a great 7mm rem mag. &mm offers many bullet choices I would think if you went with the lighter bullets the 7mm-08 would be great.
I have also looked at several advertised ballistic charts for the rounds you listed......no one offers much advantage over the other. Some were margionaly flatter for less bullet weight and a little more velocity.
So with that mentioned pick the one that would cost least to load for.

Whomever said the .243 is a 6.5mm was a bit off. The .260 Rem is a 6.5mm, and is a fine, tempting round. The .243 Win is a 6mm, and is also a fine round. The 6mm Rem is a ballistic twin to the .243 Win, based on the x57 Mauser cartridge. It probably has a better case design from the reloader's perspective, but it isn't a commonly available chambering anymore. The .257 Roberts might actually have a bit to recommend it above either of the common 6mm cartridges, but it, along with most .25 calibers (besides the .25-06) kind of died off after the 6mm and .243 came along.

In that power class, in a new factory-built rifle, you've got some choices, but you're probably going to get a .243. There's nothing wrong with the .243! I got one this summer, and I love it.

Back to the long range precision and tactical matches, 6.5mm cartridges certainly do win them regularly, but so do 6mm cartridges. Honestly, though, is that really germane to this discussion? It takes a talented shooter to win one of those competitions, and while one rifle or caliber or chambering may give a shooter an edge, or a perceived one, if they were all limited to the same rifle and caliber, you'd see the same guys getting roughly the same scores and winning about the same amount of comps. Yeah, at that level, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd might change places because of one of those edges, but to a guy looking for a light-kicking, flat-shooting deer rifle, does that even matter? I can't imagine that it could. We're talking about guys hitting tiny things at 600-1000 meters, not deer in Florida.

OP is located in Pensacola. If he wants the lightest-kicking, flattest shooting caliber in the group he picked out, he needs a .243. It'll get you hits on stuff way past where most should be shooting at deer. Brass is common, bullets are common, and he'll have a ball with it, and his fiancee will probably like shooting it more than his .308. Everybody's got a different shoulder, but most recoil-sensitive people get along with a .243 better than a .308.

.223 is even lighter kicking, and has a pretty flat trajectory. It is enough of a cartridge, when loaded with sensible bullets, to cleanly take a Florida swamp deer. But OP said it was really not what he was looking for. There might be some bruiser of a whitetail in UP Michigan, or a mulie in Montana that it would be foolish to try to take with a .223, but again, that's not what he's looking to take (at least, basing my assumptions on his home location). If this rifle is really for the fiancee, then he might end up with one, but if it's to REPLACE the .308 (not that he said that it is, just something that crossed my mind), then he'll be happier with a .243, while letting her shoot something that is more pleasant than the .308 for smaller-statured folks.

OP, I wouldn't replace the .308, if that's what you're thinking - one rifle, one caliber is fine for one person, but if you're hunting together, you want two, anyway. If you're tired of the .308, that's another question altogether.

Anyway, I think you should get a .243. In case I didn't make that clear before.