Inexpensive, low recoil caliber for Newbie Hunter?

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gorby

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I am going flip'n crazy trying to decide on a cartridge for my first centre-fire hunting rifle. Will be hunting and shooting in the mountains - deer then elk then sheep.

Was all set to jump on the 6.5CM, 6.5X55, or 7-08 short-action, low recoil, better in wind bandwagon, but then started looking around Calgary for ammo. All I could find was the good stuff and nothing cheap. I will be learning to shoot with this rifle (right now I just have a .22) and will be going through a ton of rounds this summer and next winter. Now I am thinking .270, just because you can find it everywhere and in some cheaper brands.

Any suggestions for where to get cheap ammo in the Calgary area for the 6.5-7 short actions. Is it worth (in your mind) sucking up the extra expense or should I just get a .270 and be done with it? Getting set-up to reload is not in my budget for a couple years.

Thanks!

Matt
 
I would forget about either the 6.5 Swede or 7-08 if you want cheaper factory loads.

How about a 308 for deer/elk/sheep and cheap plinking? Recoil will be near same as a 270 you are considering.

A 243 will be less recoil and still make a good deer/coyote round, add something bigger down the road for elk.
 
I would say there’s nothing wrong with a .270 either. Good round thats put down a ton of game. I wouldnt turn up my nose at a guy who’s shooting one. In fact I have a 6.5x55 and Im trying to sell it to buy a .270. Go figger eh? We all want what we aint got.
 
Coolhand_Luke said:
I would forget about either the 6.5 Swede or 7-08 if you want cheaper factory loads.

How about a 308 for deer/elk/sheep and cheap plinking? Recoil will be near same as a 270 you are considering.

A 243 will be less recoil and still make a good deer/coyote round, add something bigger down the road for elk.
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I had also been considering the .308 as well - my only concern was the recoil. the possibility of surplus ammo is inviting.
 
Jordan Weber said:
I would say there’s nothing wrong with a .270 either. Good round thats put down a ton of game. I wouldnt turn up my nose at a guy who’s shooting one. In fact I have a 6.5x55 and Im trying to sell it to buy a .270. Go figger eh? We all want what we aint got.
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Ya, I wonder how much is just chasing my tail and if I will just learn to shoot whatever I get.
 
GMC403 said:
The 308 would be my solution to this question.
Differences between the 7mm-08, 270, and 308win (shooting factory ammo) are entirely splitting hairs.

The 308 gives you the short action you’re looking for, the ammo is available from cheap surplus to premium offerings, and in way more bullet configurations than practically every other caliber out there.

Not sure what type of rifle you’re considering, but get something that fits you, in the 7.5-8 lb range (scoped). Recoil won’t be an issue.
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Something stainless and around $1000 bucks, looking at the Vanguard, Tikka, Sako A7, and Kimber Hunter. All easilly available locally in .270 and .308.
 
I'm with the rest of the guys suggesting the 308win,.. recoil about the same as the 270win,.. ammo available every where,.. cheap surplus to premium rounds. Nothing wrong with the 270win, but the 308win gives you the short action that you seem to want.
 
Don't reload. Get a caliber that can be bought at most gun stores. I have guns that to shoot them any amount I have to reload for them. Nothing wrong with 308, 270 and 30-06 except being so common but ammunition is readily accessible as factory rounds. 308 Winchester is a good choice.
 
If you think that all ammo is too expensive AND you want to shoot a lot, you have only 2 options:

1) Shoot surplus ammo, but for the very mediocre results
2) Reload your own, but you have to invest upfront and learn how to do reloading properly.


For milsurp you have 3 options: 308, 7.62x39, 223.

Cheapest 308 is around $0.75 per round, before taxes, in bulk. Will shoot around 2.5-3 MOA from a bolt.

223 is probably too weak for you, is around $0.44 per round in bulk. Can do a lot of plinking. Probably not a good idea if you aim for deer and up.

7.62x39, as low as $0.25 per round, before taxes, in bulk, corrosive. Will shot around 4 MOA, "minute of a man" kinda. Howa 1500 in 7.62x39 is nice, look it up. You can reload 7.62x39 later for a very decent hunting ammo. However corrosive is corrosive, you will have to clean that junk out right away.

All these are only if you want to shoot a lot and can trade accuracy for that.

2) Reload your own, you can get something like Lee Hand Press:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kHgzkWoS64

and probably start on very cheap, but you can load anything you like. It won't be as cheap as milsurp, but it will be a very good ammo at a price of cheapest new factory junk retail. However if you reload you can get any caliber you see fit.

If you are going for reload, don't buy new rifle, don't even settle on a caliber yet. Watch EE for a good deal on a rifle, if it is a good deal you can save significantly and reload for whatever chambering the rifle will be for practically the same price for most calibers.

If you buy everything on EE, from dies to press to rifle to optics you can get it half price if you really patient and lucky. If you don't have time or patience it won't work that well.

PS
If you really greedy and you have a lot of free time, you can even get these:

https://leeprecision.com/reloading-kits/lee-loader-rifle/
 
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Tabacco Brook said:
I'm with the rest of the guys suggesting the 308win,.. recoil about the same as the 270win,.. ammo available every where,.. cheap surplus to premium rounds. Nothing wrong with the 270win, but the 308win gives you the short action that you seem to want.
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^^^^This.
Use the cheap stuff for practice, sight in with a good hunting round before the season, and you have now have had all kinds of inexpensive practice and are ready to hunt with a great all-around cartridge.
 
OK, thanks guys.

I am going to keep it simple, cheap and go with .308 or .270. I actually had a .308 on order and it got cancelled by the factory - gave me to much time to read about more options.
 
My first hunting rifle was a .270 Winchester CZ 550 LUX. My original intention was to get a 6.5x55 Swedish CZ 550 LUX. I decided on the .270win for the same reason you're thinking. Today I reload and I really do wish I had chosen the 6.5x55. A classy round for a European rifle. However I don't regret it to the point of selling the rifle. Its my first hunting rifle and I used it to bag my first mule deer with it. The .270win is a great cartridge and the rifle shoots very well.

Oh yea, and when I was picking my first hunting rifle, boy did I swap from caliber to caliber and even rifle to rifle. I would think, "Okay! I'm for sure going with this rifle and this caliber." Well a few days later and a few youtube videos later and I've moved on to a different caliber and rifle. I went from a Winchester M70 with iron sights in a .300wm to a Remington 700BDL in a 7mm Rem Mag, to a Ruger M77 Alaska in 30-06, to a Sako 85 Bavarian 30-06 but then realized how expensive they are so I discovered CZ was a rifle with essentially the same looks but for much cheaper. Then when I decided on the CZ I was swapping from caliber to caliber. I thought Id get it in 7x64, then 8x57, then 6.5x55, then decided the .270 was similar to the 7x64 but with much easier to find and cheaper ammo. All I can say is, its normal for someone to go berserk trying to figure this out. Luckily I'm not a scope shooter so that was one less thing I had to worry about.
 
owlowl said:
If you think that all ammo is too expensive AND you want to shoot a lot, you have only 2 options:

1) Shoot surplus ammo, but for the very mediocre results
2) Reload your own, but you have to invest upfront and learn how to do reloading properly.


For milsurp you have 3 options: 308, 7.62x39, 223.

Cheapest 308 is around $0.75 per round, before taxes, in bulk. Will shoot around 2.5-3 MOA from a bolt.

223 is probably too weak for you, is around $0.44 per round in bulk. Can do a lot of plinking. Probably not a good idea if you aim for deer and up.

7.62x39, as low as $0.25 per round, before taxes, in bulk, corrosive. Will shot around 4 MOA, "minute of a man" kinda. Howa 1500 in 7.62x39 is nice, look it up. You can reload 7.62x39 later for a very decent hunting ammo. However corrosive is corrosive, you will have to clean that junk out right away.

All these are only if you want to shoot a lot and can trade accuracy for that.

2) Reload your own, you can get something like Lee Hand Press:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kHgzkWoS64

and probably start on very cheap, but you can load anything you like. It won't be as cheap as milsurp, but it will be a very good ammo at a price of cheapest new factory junk retail. However if you reload you can get any caliber you see fit.

If you are going for reload, don't buy new rifle, don't even settle on a caliber yet. Watch EE for a good deal on a rifle, if it is a good deal you can save significantly and reload for whatever chambering the rifle will be for practically the same price for most calibers.

If you buy everything on EE, from dies to press to rifle to optics you can get it half price if you really patient and lucky. If you don't have time or patience it won't work that well.

PS
If you really greedy and you have a lot of free time, you can even get these:

https://leeprecision.com/reloading-kits/lee-loader-rifle/
Click to expand...

Dang... I am not sure if I am that patient, but it sounds like solid advice. I want to spend the summer getting ready for the fall. Gotta think about this one.
 
As noted, 308 Win is dandy for folks not into reloading, but by reloading, one can save money & play with loads to suit their individual requirements. It ain't expensive to get into rolling yer own. Get a good loading manual like the Lyman or Lee ones & learn 'em well. Beats the fook outta staring at a screen fer sure.;)
 
I was shooting a 308 (Rem 600 or 660 - I forget which) at the ripe old age of 9. And doing it reasonably accurately. My son started shooting one in Savage 99 at about the same age. That was with full house 150 gr. ammo. You can also get managed recoil stuff. As some have mentioned, pretty hard to beat a Vanguard. Stainless is nice, but remember - all the guns that have gone to war - not always a very nice environment - for the last 140 years have been blued/parkerized.
 
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