Deer rifle for the desert?

[LoonWulf]

63k vs 60.....ive read that hornadys brass dosent stand up to that pressure to well, but thats just what the interwebs said. From my own personal experience ive driven the 143eldx well beyond book max velocity with only flatish primers to suggest im at limit.

The .260 only has about a grain more capacity (i was thinking it was closer to 4gr) so given the pressure difference your right (im playing with quickloads), they are almost exactly equal.

When both loaded to the same pressure the difference is less than 100fps, for some reason i was thinking it was more than that.

 

[Newtosavage]

Desert deer says one thing to me - .243 - for this reason:

What they say is to have a flat shooting rifle. Doesn't need to be big as they are small, but you definitely want a flat trajectory. Getting a good stalk on one to get to a close range is highly unlikely.

 

[CoalTrain49]

JMO but I wouldn't consider any straight wall cartridge a good idea for deer in southern AZ. I've hunted in SE AZ a lot and 200 yard shots are fairly common. You might even want to take a 300 yard shot if you are a competent shooter at that range. You are going to see deer even beyond that range so get used to passing up the really long shots.

It mostly depends on your ability with the rifle and limiting your range to that ability. I would much prefer a Grendel to a 45-70 if I were hunting in southern AZ.

 

[Gtscotty]

63k vs 60.....ive read that hornadys brass dosent stand up to that pressure to well, but thats just what the interwebs said. From my own personal experience ive driven the 143eldx well beyond book max velocity with only flatish primers to suggest im at limit.

The .260 only has about a grain more capacity (i was thinking it was closer to 4gr) so given the pressure difference your right (im playing with quickloads), they are almost exactly equal.

When both loaded to the same pressure the difference is less than 100fps, for some reason i was thinking it was more than that.

Any velocity differences between them is in the noise. I've heard that the Hornady cases don't hold up too, I've got around 10 over-book firings on my current Hornady brass and haven't lost one.... Regardless, if one doesn't like Hornady brass, Nosler, Norma, Lapua are available. Starline is apparently coming.

As for the OP's actual question, I'd agree with everyone else and recommend that he get a decent bolt gun chambered in pretty much any standard bottle-neck deer cartridge, put some decent glass on top and go hunt. I personally think that if you are trying to get into hunting, you shouldn't choose gear that will be the limiting factor in your system right off the bat. You can always play with more challenging options later after you've built up some hunting skill and experience.

 

[Sunray]

"...I really want a..." That'd be reason enough to buy anything you want.
"...The "excessive recoil" of the .45-70..." All about the firearm it's fired out of. A cast 405 with 70 grains of BP fired out of a 6 pound TrapDoor Carbine hurts. Different thing out of a Guide gun. The 70 grains was the wrong load anyway(everybody knows .45-70 is a .45 cal. bullet with 70 grains of BP, right?), but any cartridge can be loaded down.