How do you chose your hunting cartridge?

How do you chose your hunting caliber?

  • I go with what everyone else is using for that game.

    Votes: 11 6.5%

  • I go with what my dad and grandad used.

    Votes: 13 7.7%

  • I go with the most powerful thing I can accurately shoot.

    Votes: 26 15.5%

  • I go with the caliber everyone else say's is too small.

    Votes: 6 3.6%

  • I don't care about the caliber, I go with the GUN I like best, whatever that is.

    Votes: 44 26.2%

  • I don't have a choice, I use the only firearm I own.

    Votes: 13 7.7%

  • Other...please explain.

    Votes: 55 32.7%
  • Total voters
    168
There is much overlap in the terminal performance of many modern rifle cartridges, thus many cartridges are suitable for doing many of the same things. The suggestion that one does something remarkably better than another is in most instances dishonest if the speaker is knowledgeable on the subject. When the new shooter is attempting to select his cartridge, the choices can be a little overwhelming, so answering some basic questions will hopefully simplify his problem.

1) What is it for?
As in what size of game? The cartridge should be chosen with the hopes of meeting the criteria of having a reasonable expectation of making a one shot kill, from any angle, within the range limitations of the rifle, cartridge, and marksman. This might be a .250 Savage if the game is a deer or it might be a .500 Nitro for an elephant. Without some experience however, the new hunter must rely on anecdotal evidence presented by others. Under most circumstances, if the smallest and the largest recommendations are discounted, you will probably be close to making a good choice.

2) How far away?
There is little need in choosing a cartridge which drives a bullet at 3500 fps for bush hunting when your absolute maximum range is 75 yards. Conversely, a .32-20 or a .45/70 might not be the top choices for speed goats in Southeastern Alberta. Under most hunting conditions, ranges rarely exceed 300 yards, and any rifle with a muzzle velocity of 2500 fps can provide a flat trajectory that far out.

3) Will it fit in a conveniently sized rifle?
If you have your heart set on a traditional lever action carbine, a cartridge based on the .378 Weatherby is not for you.

4) Can I manage it?
There is an attraction to powerful rifles for some people, I was/am one of them. Heavy recoil is however an acquired taste and if you have to ask the question, you probably don't have the experience to manage a cartridge with more punch than a .30/06. More than a few find a .30/06 in a light sporter, firing factory ammo, too objectionable for them to ever become proficient marksmen with and end up believing that rifle shooting is just beyond their abilities. That is unfortunate because with a well mannered 6.5X55 or a 7X57 they could end up becoming deadly field shots on any North American game.

5) Is it affordable?
Of course not, but buy it anyway. I have come to the conclusion that the cost of a rifle is almost irrelevant. The true cost of shooting comes from the ammo you must feed the beast. I found that regularly shooting a .416 Rigby was intimidating, not from recoil, but from dropping a $5 bill every time I pressed the trigger. The scariest words in the world were, "Hey, nice rifle . . . can I try it?" That was 10-12 years ago, what it would cost today to buy 100 Norma .416 Rigby cases, stuff them with over 100 grs of 4350, and top them off with premium bullets, then shoot it often enough to keep proficient, I don't know.
 
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Boomer

About 45-50 bucks a box, without factoring brass costs. Budget bullets will take a little off that for practice.
Oddly, few people have asked to shoot it. Few that have been offered a chance have taken me up on it, but those that do are right on it. Very few seem to need more than one.
 
So im stuck between a few choices. I was thinkin .270 win for deer but I dont think that would suffice for moose and bear. 30-06 is an obvious good choice, and 7mm rem mag....would this be too much for wt and mule deer? I dont want to damage the meat just want nice clean kills
 
You can never go wrong with a 30-06...

I am currently working on a 2650fps 180gr Scirroco load for my new 20" barreled Rem 700 LSS in 30-06 and I will have it sighted in for 200 yards making this combo a 300 yard capable moose/deer/bear rifle/load.

Recoil is very manageable...
 
I go to my safe and pickup my 444 Marlin.

Far too much is made of this question.

I see it as two approaches, heavy large calibre slower bullets (.375 up) or small fast bullets. Each kills in a different fashion so they should be measured differently. After years of 243s and 7mm Rem Mag I settled on the 444.

Elk and bigger must be capable of breaking heavy bone and bullet must hold together after.

Deer and such anything from 243 up with the correct bullet. Black bear would want to start at 7mm.
 
Adam F85 said:
So im stuck between a few choices. I was thinkin .270 win for deer but I dont think that would suffice for moose and bear. 30-06 is an obvious good choice, and 7mm rem mag....would this be too much for wt and mule deer? I dont want to damage the meat just want nice clean kills
Click to expand...

Any of those cartridges will put meat in the freezer and the critter on the receiving end is unlikely to know the difference. The .270 has killed thousands of moose, probably hundreds of thousands since 1925, although most .270 moose shooters opt for the 150 gr bullet.

The dimensional difference between a .270 and a 7mm is .007", so close that the .270 could be considered a 7mm, and given two bullets of similar weight and construction, one .277 and the other .284, the terminal performance has to be all but the same at any given impact velocity.

I like the .30/06, not because it is any better a cartridge, but because there is a broader selection of bullet weights in .308 than in any other diameter. Many years ago when the earth was young, Townsend Whelen stated that between the .270 Winchester, the .280 Remington, and the .30/06 that the .280 was just a bit better thus made the best choice of the 3. He went on to say however, that it was not so much better that those who already owned .270 or .30/06 rifles would benefit by switching. By the Colonel's logic, the 7 mag would be just a bit better yet. Warren Page thought so and killed a dump truck load of game with his 7mm Mashburn most often loaded with a 160 gr Partition IIRC.

If you don't want to loose edible meat, keep you bullet out of the shoulder. A lung shot results in a quick humane kill with little if any meat loss. A shoulder shot is more a stopping shot than it is a killing shot on most North American game. If the hunter aims at the space between the front legs of a game animal, then brings his sight half way up the body, he has arranged for a dead game animal when the shot provided is other than broadside.
 
Thanks Boomer. This is new to me and I just want to pick a versatile cartridge to get me going. In your opinion would .270 be fine for black bear as well....
 
Just did a comparison on 7mm-08, 270, 30-06, and the lowly 308. 150gr Power Point. They are pretty much identical out to about 400yds. Love the Winchester Ballistics Calculator-so much fun to play with. Even at 500yds there is only a difference of around 10in spread out. I have a 30-06 and a 308 and will likely stay there. Still I think the 30-06 with its bigger case and 308 bullet is about the bestest choice cuz it goes all the way up to 220gr and down to 100. Even takes the same weight bullet as my 250-3000 but I bet it pushes it a whole lot faster. Not even close to going into the WSSMs but I will be doing some serious load workup. Another excuse to go shootin. Woo hoo!
 
Cost of ammunition is always a factor when choosing a firearm for hunting.

ie. You wouldn't choose a .338LM for hunting deer, but a .30-06 or a .270 might be something that you'd consider, or perhaps a 7mm RM or a .280 Remington....

Of course, if you're shooting at smaller game like 'yotes or varmints, you'd probably consider a .223 or look at a .22-250 (.22-250 having arguably better ballistics, but costing more for ammo).

You could debate this until the end of time... ie. Would you choose a .25-06 versus a .243 or a .270? etc. etc. etc....

In short, find a rifle and cartridge match that works with you and practice with it until you know where the bullet is going. All in all, the more time behind the trigger the better.
 
I ask myself 2 questions.
1. Whats the farthest distance that I may see the quarry being hunted. (or the farthest I feel comfortable shooting at the animals being hunted,whichever is shorter)

2. What cartridge carries enough energy at that distance to cleanly harvest the game being hunted.

If a cartridge meets both of these criteria it boils down to which specific firearm I like the best for the type of hunting I'm doing.
Just my 2 cents
Eric
 
i dont reload, so i ask myself what range of cartridges are adequate for what i want to hunt - then i pick the most common/accessible out of the lot (.30-06, .308, .223, .22LR, etc). when i finally get some reloading gear ill be rebarreling some of my rifles to less vanilla chamberings (like one of my .308s to .260).

the one exception to this so far is my .25-06 -- kindof an expensive way to blow up groundhogs, but they are getting scarcer where i hunt so i may as well make the shots count :sniper:
i bought it as a varmint rifle, but im going to try it out for deer this year instead of .308.
 
Like most others, I look at what I'm hunting for and the possible range that I'm likely to get a shot in the area I'm hunting. This year, I'm planning for whitetail in fairly thick woods, so I'm packing my Win 1894 in .38-55 with irons and cast lead bullets. If I was going for moose or elk in relatively open country, I'd be carrying my scoped 9.3x64mm mauser.

Erik.
 
I pick whatever I feel like shooting that day. I'm usually swayed a bit in that decision by what's more appropriate for the game I'm chasing that day, and how far the expected ranges might be. My magnums or one of the the 30-06s will be more likely to come out when going for elk, and the 6.5 and .280 will be more likely to come out when going for deer, but it's not a hard and fast rule. Sometimes the .280 comes out when going for elk, and sometimes a magnum comes out when going for deer [even whitetails]. Just depends on what I want that day.
 
I buy every I own for a specific purpose after personal experience, and from doing research. I have owned around 15 different guns, and currently own 7 guns right now. Every gun I right now is because after several years of hunting, I have learned what is best for my own needs.

I have 4 specific guns for hunting they are:

Moose hunting--Savage Weather Warrior .300WinMag. Detachable magazine, stainless barrel, accutrigger, accustock.

Deer hunting---Marlin 336 30-30 lever action for pushing the bush, because it is well balanced, light to carry, robust, dependable. I also use the Savage weather warrior, if I am in a tree stand, so I can really reach out and get a deer from far away if I need to. However if I am dogging it in the bush, I take the Marlin, since its a older gun, and I don't mind putting a few scratches on it.

Grouse hunting---Winchester 20 gauge shotgun(single shot) I carry in my front Atv Gun boot (I have 2 boots on the atv) with the top of the boot not on, so I can quickly stop from on a trail, grab my gun, through in a shell, and shoot a Grouse. I have used a.22lr also, but I find a 20 gauge is faster, and its does'nt damage the meat badly.

Waterfowl hunting---Baikal MP-153 Semi auto 12 gauge supermag shotgun. Max-4 camo, very durable to bad weather conditions, the gun is extremely robust, very reliable, and its shoots everything from 2 3/4 shells up to 3 1/2 supermag. I have thought about trading it in for a more expensive shotgun like a beretta, but I have had such good success with the Baikal, I think I will just keep it for now. I don't care if the gun is not really pretty, because I am very hard on my shotguns, and I don't want to have to be careful with them.

I have a few more guns, but they are for target shooting. They are a SKS, Ruger 10/22, and a CZ-75 Satin Nickel 9mm.

One of the most important things for Moose hunting, to me anyways, is that if you are going away far, in a remote location, its good to have a popular size of cartridge. If you were to ever loose, or forget to pack your ammo, your screwed if the local Canadian Tire does'nt carry it. I use .300 Win Mag because you can find it anywere, and its a perfect size round for Moose. .300 Weatherby, and .300WSM is also a perfect size, but you would be screwed if you can't find it up North at the local Hardware store, if you need more ammo in a emergency.

Alot of factors go into getting the perfect hunting guns, but if I had hand me downs, and thats all I had, then it would not keep me from hunting.
 
i have one big game rifle a 30-06,i got it because my father/brother both have them.ammo can be picked up any place and out of 10 guys that hunt out of our camp only one shoots something other than a 30-06.it will harvest any big game animal in this country with the correct/proper cartridge/shot placement.so why not.that and the fact i can not afford to have 6-8 different rifles that will do the same job,even though i would like to.
 
well I just go by what works.

I started out with a 308 because thats what I had, but I wanted something better, so for an all round rifle I moved up to 7mmRM, flat shooting with good energy.

shot a bunch of deer and a moose or 2 and some yotes with that rifle it did everything.

Then I really started thinking, and my hunting rack got bigger.

First the 25-06, that would work good on all the smaller critters, good flat shooting and good selection of bullets to choose from.

oh then the 25-06 got a smaller friend 22-250, that works better on yotes and small critters, keep the 25-06 for deer sized animals.

Then why do I need the 7mmRM do everything rifle. I need a moose gun, 300WM fit that slot. :D

Now I have a few other rifles, a bubba enfield for a truck gun, and a 30-30 Win 94 for a nice little packing rifle when scouting.

I think that you need to decide what your going to hunt then pick a rifle that is suitable for your hunting. I like to have the ability to take longer shots if the conditions are right so good muzzle velocity is importatn for my go to rifles.

the 7mm still comes out to the hunting camp as the back up rifle.
 
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