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rifle cal?


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hi lads,

i'm just woundering if you's could help me out? i live in ireland and want to get into deer stalking!

i've been out looking at at lots of deer rifles and cals from .243 right up to 30.06!

everytime i looked at a different rifle in a different shop i was told that one was crap, this is what you want, there to powerfull,to dear, bullets are to expensive!

my head is wrecked!! :realmad: so can anyone here go through the cal and give me the pro's and con's of each!

i like the 25.06 .270 and the.308! and what cal do you's wreckonmend?

 

PLEASE HELP before i lose my mind! :wacko: :no:

 

 

thanks in advance

 

Colin

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25.06 long case very good round/ nice to shoot

 

270 Very good hard hitting round/ Excellent for developing your flinch LOL ! Lots of cheep rifles about in this calibre

 

.308 short case will do every every thing the other two will /nice to shoot /loads of ammo choice/ lots of rifles in this calibre/CAN not be used in some euro countries due it being a military calibre.

 

 

 

My choice of the three would .308 or 25.06 not that any of these two are better than the other just the fact that the .308 is a short chamber and has more factory loaded ammo off the shelf.

Edited by coldweld
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Colin

 

I had the same mind boggling decision to make when i first got into deer stalking. I personally started with a .243. since then i have shot deer with .25-06, .308, 6.5x55, 30-06 and 7mm rem mag. The top and bottom of it is, they all do the job! Which is the reason for all the varying opinions on the matter!

 

If i was to advise on one caliber it would be the .308 for the following reasons:

 

-kills well

-readily available

-will always sell

-ammo easy to purchase anywhere in the country

-ammo manufactured by many different companies

-very versatile round

 

Hope this hasn't added to your confusion! :blink::thumbs:

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Until recently I had used a .270 as my main deer hunting rifle, however the opportunity came up not long back to purchase a Rem Mohawk in .308, I can catergorically say that the .308, despite nearly identical ballistics on paper kills deer better.

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is the .308 better, as in for reloading, flatter shooting or just an all rounder! the deer that i want to shoot, i want to keep for the table! so will the .308 do much meat damage? one of the dealers told me that the .308 does alot of damage to meat!

 

The .308 is a good choice for reloading as there are many differing types of bullet heads available. It is not a flat shooting round, but if you get to know what your rifle and bullet are doing at varying ranges this is not a problem. I once watched a dvd where Andre Georgescu was shooting Roo's in Australia at some serious ranges with a .308! He knew what he was capable of, trusted his rifle, and was aware of the bullet drop/wind drift at those ranges. Amazing to watch! :clapper:

 

The .308 could be described as an all rounder, but a 'good' all rounder in my opinion. :yes:

 

When used with the heavier 150-180 grain heads the caliber does very little meat damage. It is a slow heavy round that holds together well on impact. It will shoot through cover without fragmenting. :yes:

 

This caliber is probably regarded as a little 'old fashioned', but it has stood the test of time. :thumbs:

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Id have to agree with gamekeepa, 243 and 308 have stood the test of time, their the most popular for a reason...they're the best at their jobs.

 

As for your question on meat damage, my view is it doesnt matter what calibre you shoot, if you hit them in the wrong place you've got plenty of damage, hit them in the right place you have less.

 

Best of luck deciding

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the only country i'm aware of that has banned wartime caliber is france.

ihave used the .308 on deer and boar and got on with it well. .270 on sika in ireland and was happy with that too.

good luck with your choice.

atb

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I have both a 243 and 308, originally I just had the 243 but because I wanted to shoot larger deer and boar I bought a 308, I can honestly say the 308 does less meat damage than the lighter 243. Dont get me wrong, the 243 is a brilliant calibre but if I were getting a rifle soley for deer with the intention of shooting red to munty and everything in between Id use a 308.

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thanks lads for all the replys! i sent off for the book to study for going for my deer licence today! so im reading up on a few cals and i'll take my time picking one! the .308 seems to be the popular of them all!

the rife i want has to be light enough, short action!synticic stock! i'm not worried to about black or stainless barrell!

Edited by gentleman jim
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Been reading the responces with interest. Good honest advice. I shoot in 243 for 90% of the time, when I fancy a change I shoot 300 Win Mag. 300 Win Mag is just a beefed up 308, faster and flatter. That said when I loaded it with 125 Gn heads it was going 3700 fps ish, (that's as fast and flat as a 243 in 70 Gn), but it was too fast and the bullet broke up way too quickley on impact. Shot with factory 190 Gn it was fantasticly accurate and clean kills every time.

In short I can agree that 243 and 308 are the workhorses of the stalking community. If I had to choose one calibre then it would be 243 for me. Only reason being that 243 is flatter and when shooting under presure then you have to adjust less for bullet drop, that's all. But which ever you choose then you will not go wrong.

As for rifle then I can say through experiance that the Blazer R93 is superb, my second choice would be Sauer 202, bolt action as smooth as a swiss watch. Both come in Synthetic with matt barrels. Two great guns.

 

Best of luck and let us know what you choose.

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