Opinions needed on new rifle caliber

[homers]

7mm-08

 

[HOOfan_1]

Seems to me that 7mm is quickly becoming the new .30 caliber. If you are reloader, the bullet selection will be almost as good as .30 caliber....25 caliber will not give you as wide a variety of bullets.

6.5 mm is on the rise now.

I have a .30-06 deer rifle, but if I ever bought another, it would be 7mm-08...for the 7mm bullet and for the popularity...and the fact that the parent case is extremely popular.

260 Rem is appealing too, but it is hard to even find factory rifles chambered in it anymore, the only one on Remington's website now is the Model 7.

 

[Jed1124]

I'd go with the 270. From coyote to deer to elk in the right hands, it's a wonderful round.

 

[Red State]

For the OP's needs, the 7mm08 sounds perfect.

If he wanted to extend his ranges a little bit, then maybe the .270 would be a bit better.

 

[kBob]

Go to Wally World, the bait shop down the street and your local stocking gun dealer and look and see what ammo is available. COnsider what ammo sells.

After looking at all the .30-06, .308, and .30-30 you might look at what is easily available and what other non reloaders are in fact buying.

You will likely find the next two most popular rounds are the .243 and .270.

As you mention posibly shooting big old deer at over 200 yards I would look at what can shoot a heavier bullet fastest.

Looks like the .270.

As for not something everyone else has.... good luck on finding ammo for a 5.735mm Mannlicher/ Slimmler Translight Magnum at the corner store in Podunk when you forget your ammo.

-kBob

 

[45Fan]

If you are looking to use it in indiana for deer, 458 socom is just about the only thing that would be leagal in a rifle that would come close to what you are asking for. No centerfire rifles less than .357 diameter bullet, and case length has to be less than 1.8 inches. should give you good performance out to 250 yards, and not alot of people have one .

 

[jimmyraythomason]

I don't see why go with a long action when the .308 case is short action

I don't see why action length even comes into question on a hunting rifle. I have short actions,long actions and magnum actions. Never noticed any appreciable difference in hunting situations.

 

[qajaq59]

Quoted from Captcurt

Here ya go. Get a paper and pencil and write down: 25-06, 257, 260, 270, 280, 7mm08, 7X57, 6.5 Swede and 30-06. Close your eyes and pick one. There isn't a lot differance in performance, all will do the job with the proper bullets and bullet placement. If you look at the price and availability of ammo, you can narrow it down to the 25, 27 and the 30-06. Personally I would take any of them.

Take Curt's list to the store and see which ammo is the easist to get in your area. Then buy that one.

 

[Tirod]

What kind of action? So far, much of what's been discussed is bolt action fodder that's been on the shelf for decades. A lot of it is quite good for deer, but none is different or very advanced.

Now,a hunting AR15 with fixed stock, tube handguard, and a red dot, in 6.8/6.5, would be different. If you reload, ammo wouldn't be hard for the 6.5, more is on the way. If getting it now before the season, 6.8 could have you shooting in a few days. A good case can be made for either, they share low recoil, low carry weight, a wide choice of optics, are extremely durable, have twice the foot pounds of force of the 5.56, are legal hunting calibers almost everywhere, and allow a great deal of customization with features and color. For hunting, the AR is does very well putting a bullet on target.

Or, a medium recoil bolt gun in a Walmart caliber like everyone else recommended, which seems to be a bit contrary to what you asked. But, to be quite honest about it, the deer would be as dead. It's really up to you.

 

[Water-Man]

6.5x55 Swede.Google it and discover just how great this caliber is.

 

[sarduy]

the old 30-06. or a .243

 

[GICO]

I vote for the 270 too! It is versitile and can handle a wide range of loads. It is not fussy with powders, if your going to try your own loads. It can shoot 90gr to 180gr projectiles (though 150gr would be the optimal for heavy)... depending how and what you use them for. It also handles factory amo well. For deer I use a 150gr Barnes MRX loaded with 51gr of 2209... it has plenty of stopping power and accuracy too. I am trying out a 110 gr next week for lighter game and have no doubt that it will perform well.

 

[RainDownmyBlues]

I will be using this rifle for the following(with ranges on each)

Deer (most likely shots under 200 yards, but 300 yards is plausible from one of my stands overlooking a field)
Coyote (under 100 yards, max would be 150)
Target( 100-500 yards)

I will be hunting mainly in SC, but I also have hunting land in Georgia, Indiana and Illinoise) so it needs to be able to handle the bigger midwest deer also.

What caliber would be good?

I keep hearing guys down here rave about a .25-06, But will it handle the bigger midwest deer well?

BTW. I dont want a .308(shot one way to many times while in the Marines), also I know a .30-06 is a good choice, but I want something other than what everyone else has but still able to find ammo for.

Thanks everyone!

I don't know if someone has brought this up yet, but you can not use a rifle to hunt Deer in Illinois. Trust me, I live in this hole.

 

[HOOfan_1]

For the OP's needs, the 7mm08 sounds perfect.

If he wanted to extend his ranges a little bit, then maybe the .270 would be a bit better.

IMO if he is only going to use Factory ammo then he should choose the .270, everyone will pretty much sell .270 ammo and right now there are more bullet weights to choose from in factory .270.

If he is a reloader then the 7mm-08 is what I would suggest. There are only 2 or 3 bullet weights in factory ammo now for the 7mm-08 which will certainly change in the future, but there are TONS of options from the usual suspects for reloading bullets...whereas .25 and .277 bullets don't have quite as many reloading options available.

 

[thaumaturgist]

HOOfan, I hope you're right about only 2 or 3 bullet weights in factory ammo now changing in the future. The 7mm-08 has been with us for 30 years. It will survive a long time, but I really don't see lots more bullet weight options if they're not already here after 30 years.

 

[jmr40]

I don't own one, but if my house were to burn and I lost everything and had to start over I'd probably have a custom rifle built in 7-08 and use it for everything I will ever hunt.

 

[Fremmer]

I dunno. Most of the shops in the midwest boonies almost always have the .25-06 ammo. It's a common caliber in the midwest. Not as common as the .270, but he said he wanted something a little different. I think you're more likely to find .25-06 ammo than 7mm-08 out in the country. JMHO.

Dang, now I want a BAR in .25-06.......:banghead:

 

[Maverick223]

I would suggest a 7mm-08Rem. (alternatively a .260Rem. or 6.5x55mmSwede if you can find a rifle chambered for it) or a .280Rem. if you want something a bit bigger (sufficient for Elk and such).