Best rifle and caliber for large varmits to medium sized game?

Pick between the .243 or .270 as they are the most common. Leave the various magnums and other less common rounds alone.

Although I own a .270 Winchester if I were only to have one rifle in Southern Ontario it would be a .243. The lighter varmint type-bullets are easier to find than varmint bullets for the .270. The heavier .243 bullets are adequate for deer but if you have moose or bear in your distant plans the .270 would get the nod.
 
Best Round for Varmints and Medium Game

I would go with the 243, 6mm, 6.5X55, or 270.

Too bad about the 7-08. I like the 243 and 270 if you don't reload go with them. If you reload go with anything you like. If the gun fits your needs and the cal is easy to get ammo for go with it.

I like the Remington line, and Tikka for the price.

The Remington would be my choice; if you want to change it to another caliber or stock selection, it is probably the Harley of the gun world. Meaning you can buy a stock Remington and change it to anything you like. There are more after market items available than any other firearm. I traded for a Rem 700 BDL in 6mm and I had it rebarreled to 7-08.
 
BIGREDD said:
Using 100 grain bullets and average max loads the Roberts is averaging 2900-3000 fps.... the WSSM version will hit 3200-3300 fps.
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Well .... I've chronied my 257 w/100gr bullets at between 3200 and 3300fps in a 22" bbl. No pressure signs or sticky cases. I backed it off to 3100fps, only because I choose to. Even 3100 don't leave no flies on the poopy pile. :p
BIGREDD said:
Not only is the velocity higher the recoil is substantially less than the Roberts because the WSSM uses about 5 grains of powder less to achieve this performance.
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You're right about the MASSIVE recoil the 257Roberts offers up. I had to put a 2" Decelerator on it and buy a LeadSled just to be able to shoot it without the dreaded flinch at the bench. :D


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Why would someone rule out one of the finest all-round big-game hunting cartridges???? As per your request, I won't suggest it, but it can't be beat. A bolt action .30-06 with 150 - 180 grain bullets will do anything you want in Ontario, and in North America for that matter.
CLINT
 
You Know, one of the few legitimate reasons that most fellows with a family can justify another rifle is the one he has just won't do the job. Be careful going there. Other than that, I find I'm useing the 6.5x55 for almost everthing from gophers and marmots to coyotes, deer and bears. I've shot moose and elk with an M38 Swede and they didn't notice it was a lesser diameter bullet. Back in those days, we didn't have partitions so core lokts were about the norm bearhunter
 
You Know, one of the few legitimate reasons that most fellows with a family can justify another rifle is the one he has just won't do the job. Be careful going there.
Great advice bearhunter! Serious brain fart on my part,I reckon. I might have gotten carried away there, assuming that my wife, and fellow CGNners wives would never see these posts. :) To those fellow CGNners, I'm deeply sorry for possibly compromising our "excuses and reasons" bucket!
CLINT
 
Whisky Creek said:
Why would someone rule out one of the finest all-round big-game hunting cartridges????
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Here's why. From the Summary of Ontario Hunting Regulations.

You may not use a rifle of greater calibre than .275, except a flintlock or percussion cap muzzle-loading gun, for hunting small game in the counties of: Brant, Elgin, Essex, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex, Northumberland, Oxford, Perth and Wellington and the regional municipalities of Chatham/Kent, Durham, Haldimand-Norfolk, Halton, Hamilton-Wentworth, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo and York and the City of Toronto.
 
Claybuster. Guess you missed the part where I said finest all-round BIG GAME hunting cartridges, or the part where you wrote "for hunting small game in the counties of". Should we muddle it up further by discussing the "shot gun only" areas south of Hwy 7????
CLINT
 
Whisky Creek said:
Claybuster. Guess you missed the part where I said finest all-round BIG GAME hunting cartridges, or the part where you wrote "for hunting small game in the counties of". Should we muddle it up further by discussing the "shot gun only" areas south of Hwy 7????
CLINT
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Guess you missed the point to the entire thread which was best rifle and caliber for large varmints to medium sized game from a poster in Essex county. :rolleyes:
 
Clay Buster; Guess I did.... (miss the portion of the title reading "large varmint", that is) My apology. Had big-game on the mind when I read "deer" in the content of the post....
Can I change my suggestion then? If so, I'd like to submit .257 Wby Mag.
Sorry Clay,
CLINT
 
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SuperCub said:
Well .... I've chronied my 257 w/100gr bullets at between 3200 and 3300fps in a 22" bbl. No pressure signs or sticky cases. I backed it off to 3100fps, only because I choose to. Even 3100 don't leave no flies on the poopy pile. :p

You're right about the MASSIVE recoil the 257Roberts offers up. I had to put a 2" Decelerator on it and buy a LeadSled just to be able to shoot it without the dreaded flinch at the bench. :D




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Lets hijack this thread further...:bangHead:

Not gonna call :bsFlag: on ya Super but 3300 fps safely out of a Bob with a 100 grain bullet and a 22" barrel... the air must be really thin where you are shooting.;) :rockOn:
 
You can "call" whatever you want, but here are my notes scribbled on the back of a target. All loads were 100gr. :)

Scan0001.jpg
 
Whisky Creek said:
Clay Buster; Guess I did.... (miss the portion of the title reading "large varmint", that is) My apology. Had big-game on the mind when I read "deer" in the content of the post....
Can I change my suggestion then? If so, I'd like to submit .257 Wby Mag.
Sorry Clay,
CLINT
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No need to apologize. The only reason I like the .270 so much is that I live in the part of Ontario with the caliber restrictions. Otherwise I'd use a .30-06.
 
257 Roberts is the answer

SuperCub said:
Very true ....... esp when the 25WSSM pretty much duplicates the centuries older 257 Roberts. :D



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I read the following in The Rifle Book by Jack O’Connor.

“The 257 got some bad breaks. For one thing, the original bullet was round-nosed and the cartridge was given a short overall length. … Standard factory ballistics give the 100-grain bullet at 2900 feet per second… . These figures can be considerably improved with judicious handloading. … With 49 grains of No 4831 it can be given about 3200 with permissible pressures.”

I think these words first appeared in the 1964 edition of the book. Barrel length is not mentioned, but even if it was 24 inches, as opposed to 22, does this mean the 25WSSM is something we should get all hot and bothered about?

On the other hand, Supercub is clearly wrong, in that the 25 WSSM does NOT “duplicates the centuries older 257 Roberts.” The Roberts is an elegant and timesless cartridge that meets the requirements of the discriminating hunter. It also feeds flawlessly.

In my view the 25WSSM is a disgusting monument to hype and ignorance. It is a cartridge a later day Elvis Presley might like, to be chambered in a chrome-platted, custom job, with a synthetic stock studded in rhinestones. The sort of thing a New York pimp might like to have. It would match the white jump suit Elvis used for his Vegas Shows. The “King” could use it to shoot out street lamps in Memphis, while swallowing down cheeseburgers, whole, and emptying bottle after bottle of amphetamines.

That is what the 25WSSM is all about.

Big
 
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Bigbill said:
I read the following in The Rifle Book by Jack O’Connor.

“The 257 got some bad breaks. For one thing, the original bullet was round-nosed and the cartridge was given a short overall length. … Standard factory ballistics give the 100-grain bullet at 2900 feet per second… . These figures can be considerably improved with judicious handloading. … With 49 grains of No 4831 it can be given about 3200 with permissible pressures .”
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..... which is excactly the powder, load, and results I got. :)


Bigbill said:
In my view the 25WSSM is a disgusting monument to hype and ignorance. It a cartridge a later day Elvis Presley might like, to be chambered in a chrome-platted, custom job, with a synthetic stock studded in rhinestones. The sort of thing a New York pimp might like to have. It would match the white jump suit Elvis used for his Vegas Shows. The “King” could use it to shoot out street lamps in Memphis, while swallowing down cheeseburger, whole, and emptying bottle after bottle of amphetamines.

That is what the 25WSSM is all about.
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That's hilarious!!
24_G.gif
 
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