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Need Help Choosing Caliber for New Rifle

I've owned a Browning A-Bolt 7mm Mag with the boss system for about 25 years now. The thing kicks about like a .243 and I have taken whitetails, bear and several moose with it. It handles a variety of loads well and is a tack driver. It is loud as all hell when you touch her off but I don't ever remember having to fire more than one shot at a game animal with it. The ammo is also readily available at most sporting good stores and It has better ballistics than the '06 too.
 
ThePennsylvanian said:
If your wanting a .30 cal hands 30-06 over .308. Cheaper rounds, slightly flatter shooting, slightly faster, and it's a classic. Not to mention just as versatile as a 308. But if your looking for a magnum, 7mm rem mag is a better choice then a 300. It performs better across the board with the exception of being able to find heavier loads in the 300 more easily. I also primarily shoot a 7mm and just took a nice buck @ 220 yard with it, which is a chip shot for the 7mm. Not to sound pompous there but the 7mm is a shooters cartridge, easily managed, flat shooting, and fast. My recommendation would be the 7mm overall, #2 30-06.....
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I love mine. I load 140gr Nosler Ballistic tips a few percent under max load and they are devastating on deer. For heavier game I load the 160gr Sierra HPBT Gameking. It loves them both.


I still want a 6.5-300 soon though. 22-250 speed with a 264 :hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes:

DroptineKrazy said:
I've owned a Browning A-Bolt 7mm Mag with the boss system for about 25 years now. The thing kicks about like a .243 and I have taken whitetails, bear and several moose with it. It handles a variety of loads well and is a tack driver. It is loud as all hell when you touch her off but I don't ever remember having to fire more than one shot at a game animal with it. The ammo is also readily available at most sporting good stores and It has better ballistics than the '06 too.
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I have a close friend with a 270WSM with the boss. That is one loud muzzle brake!
 
DroptineKrazy said:
I've owned a Browning A-Bolt 7mm Mag with the boss system for about 25 years now. The thing kicks about like a .243 and I have taken whitetails, bear and several moose with it. It handles a variety of loads well and is a tack driver. It is loud as all hell when you touch her off but I don't ever remember having to fire more than one shot at a game animal with it. The ammo is also readily available at most sporting good stores and It has better ballistics than the '06 too.
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My dad has the same gun & it’s a sweet shooter. I can always tell when he shoots though....
 
30.06 is a great round with the most varieties of ammo available without reloading but as far as rounds go I am surprised nobody has mentioned the 280 or 280AI as far as rounds go the 280 has better ballistic coefficientcy for better accuracy at longer ranges and is a flat shooter as well plus you are starting to see alot more commercially available rounds for this caliber so it would be one I would look into but you cannot go wrong with the old '06 and it is not going anywhere anytime soon!
 
Recurveaholic said:
30.06 is a great round with the most varieties of ammo available without reloading but as far as rounds go I am surprised nobody has mentioned the 280 or 280AI as far as rounds go the 280 has better ballistic coefficientcy for better accuracy at longer ranges and is a flat shooter as well plus you are starting to see alot more commercially available rounds for this caliber so it would be one I would look into but you cannot go wrong with the old '06 and it is not going anywhere anytime soon!
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I never see .280 rounds on the shelf anywhere in my area.
 
I love my Kimber Hunter in 7mm08. I got it for 500.00 as a display model. I’ve only shot it out to 300 yards, but it likes 150gr eldx.

I’d shoot elk at that distance with no hesitation. And it’s fun to shoot.

I pulled the gel out of the stock and dropped a half pound. I think the total rifle weight with scope and sling is like 6.25lbs. Maybe lessthan 6 it’s been a minute.

The rifle costs 900 normally, but if you could get a deal like I did, it would be a good buy.

Or just go buy a Remington 30-06 from Walmart.
 
Nutterbuster said:
You have 2 choices.

30-06

Or those lesser cartridges.

In all seriousness, .30 caliber bullets are just good killers. And I believe with firearms it makes sense to bring as much thunder as you can manage. For most folks an 06 is as much thunder as they can handle behind a .30 caliber bullet.
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I beg to differ. Check the ballistics and compare the trajectory between the 7mm and 06. With the boss my 7mm kicks a hell of a lot less than an 06 too.
 
DroptineKrazy said:
I beg to differ. Check the ballistics and compare the trajectory between the 7mm and 06. With the boss my 7mm kicks a hell of a lot less than an 06 too.
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I have owned a 7mm mag and a 7 08. 7mm bullets do not perform the same as .30 caliber ones. Its like the 9mm vs 45 thing. A 9mm may expand to a 45 hole, but a 45 won't shrink to a 9mm. You do not need a well designed 30 caliber bullet. Regular ole whatever will kill heckfire out of deer. Not true for 7mm and definitely 6mm bullets. 30 caliber bullets just kill deer better. I don't know why, and I went through a phase where I dabbled with other calibers. I circled back to the ole 06 because it just works.

As far as trajectory, on paper it's not hard to beat the 06. I'm aware of that. But for the vast majority of hunters it doesn't matter because they have no business shooting far enough that they have to calculate drop. Inside of the 200 yards that most people are shooting, I'd just rather have the magic a 30 caliber bullet brings.

That said, I've killed deer with a 7 mag and 7 08. They worked fine. I'd shoot a 308 without hesitation. 270 is fine. 280 is fine. 243 I wouldn't keep if you gave it to me, and 30 30 is to me really and truly outdated and we only keep it around for nostalgia's sake. But even those will kill deer.

The ole 30-06 just works better.
 
I’ve shot deer out to 500yards with 3 rifles. 270, 30.06, 308. All deer where dead when I got to them. All died with in sight of bullet impact.
I think it would be up to you to decide on a few things.
Do you handload?
Availability factory ammo for caliber of choice?
How does the caliber of choice handle heavier ammo?
Long action or short action? Know some will say it don’t matter but sometimes you need to take a hurried second shot. I honestly thank a short action is better suited for that.
Weight of weapon, weight of ammo for weapon will come in to play on a back country elk hunt.
Recoil? Can you handle it? Do you WANT to handle it?
Scope requirements? Heavier recoil = higher quality scope. IMHO.
There are a ton more items needed on this list but that’s just a few.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I beg to differ again. I use 165 grain Nosler Partitions in my 7mm Mag and 2 of the moose I have shot with them dropped with one shot after getting complete pass through penetration on shoulder shots. 785 lb bull and a 610 lb cow. 275 yards and 125 yards respectively. Can't get much better performance and knock down power than that.
 
I don't think Weatherby makes the Vanguard in a .300 WSM any more, but that is a nice compromise on performance and recoil.

I was looking for something to do exactly what you listed a couple of years ago. I settled on the .270. Zeroed at 200 yards, I can ring a 5" gong reliably at 300 yards with a 3" holdover and only be 1.5" at 100. I am dead on for anything inside 300 and win with every trigger pull. I can shoot 2 boxes of cartridges at the range and not be sore.
 
If you're sure range will be 300 yards or less, all those cartridges will work. I shoot steel at 1000 yards with 300 WM, I was never able to get my 308 to ring that steel with any consistency. But even out to 800 yards they are all capable.

Ever shot a 300 WM that does not have some kind of recoil-reducing muzzle device? It is punishing. You can put a brake on but then the issue is hearing damage--muzzle brakes will really increase DBs on the shooter. In a hunting situation you may not have time for ear protection.

Should also look into the issue of ammo availability. 308 is most popular of those cartridges and I would not be surprised if it's totally unavailable to you locally right now.
 
sureshotscott said:
If you're sure range will be 300 yards or less, all those cartridges will work. I shoot steel at 1000 yards with 300 WM, I was never able to get my 308 to ring that steel with any consistency. But even out to 800 yards they are all capable.

Ever shot a 300 WM that does not have some kind of recoil-reducing muzzle device? It is punishing. You can put a brake on but then the issue is hearing damage--muzzle brakes will really increase DBs on the shooter. In a hunting situation you may not have time for ear protection.

Should also look into the issue of ammo availability. 308 is most popular of those cartridges and I would not be surprised if it's totally unavailable to you locally right now.
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I think a lot of calibers are unavailable right now :rage: I may be wrong but I think the longest shot on record was taken with a .308 caliber.
 
DroptineKrazy said:
I beg to differ again. I use 165 grain Nosler Partitions in my 7mm Mag and 2 of the moose I have shot with them dropped with one shot after getting complete pass through penetration on shoulder shots. 785 lb bull and a 610 lb cow. 275 yards and 125 yards respectively. Can't get much better performance and knock down power than that.
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No, you can't. It's obviously working for you and a lot of folks. You are shooting bigger animals further away it seems, and for that I would cede an edge to a 7mm rem mag. But, pit the 7mm mag against a 30 cal mag and I think the tables turn.

I know I did not like a 7mm mag on deer. It seemed to zip through them and never really expand. It was also louder and more expensive to feed. I will say though, you could take a shot on any angle deer and the bullet would come out the other side.

I bought the 7mm because I thought I wanted a gun for deer and maybe elk/moose/etc. I sold it and went back to 06 because I shoot more deer, and I feel like the 06 would not be a handicap if I ever go west or north.

Different strokes I reckon.
 
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