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

"Tikka T3 Lite Stainless 25-06 Rem *3 ONLY* $629.00 " at Bashawsports is a pretty good deal.

Otherwise a Remington sps in a 243 or 7mm-08
 
I take a 25-06 or a 243 wssm. After owning 4 Tikka T3's I can say they are very nice little guns but very boring and are a dime a dozen. I sold all of mine and got a Sako which is very nice.
 
boney said:
Yes. in most townships in Southern Ontario it is over the .275 cal restriction,as is anything in .284,which eliminates the 7mm08.

So now you have
243,6mmRem,25/06Rem,260 Rem,6.5x55,264Winmag,270,270WSM and I'm sure I've missed several others under the .275 bore size.(25wssm and all those newer ones)

I would go with a good ole 270Win myself in any of the rifles mentioned.
You may decide to go moose shooting in the future!:)
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I don't mean to thread jack and apologize if this has already been talked about, but isn't the .270 technically a .277?? I wouldn't want to talk to a C.O. about that, who knows what kind of hornets nest that may or may not stir up.

I hate to be the one to bring up a technicality that could place more restrictions on us, but would hate it even more to be the guy that gets the book thrown at him because a Law enforcement officer had their panties in a bunch.
 
Bishopus said:
First rifle, you're almost guaranteed to get rid of it--no matter what it is. Spend as little as possible, and beg/borrow range time with other makes, models, and calibers. It's the only way you'll find out what really fits you, what you prefer for stock design and material, and so on.

If you have $700 to spend? Stevens 200 in .243, with Leupold rings and mount, and a Bushnell 3200 3-9x40.

Stevens: $350
Rings and mount and pro mounting: $100
Bushnell: $250
=$700, plus tax

You'll be able to shoot ground hogs to coyotes to deer, no problem. And the crappy tupperware stock won't be an issue, since the .243 has very little recoil.
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X2!!

I bought one last year in .308 for deer hunting, loved it so much I went and got another one in .243 Win. :bigHug: Accuracy is superb, the gun is light and handles well, and you WILL NOT get a better gun for the price. :D
 
B-N

A 270 winchester uses a bullet that is .277".The bore before the rifling is cut is in fact .270"
In the regs its states "bore size no larger than .275" " and in the 270's case,the BORE size is smaller than .275.

This has been gone over afew times and I understand where you are coming from.I used to wonder about the same thing myself afew years ago.
 
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boney said:
Yes. in most townships in Southern Ontario it is over the .275 cal restriction,as is anything in .284,which eliminates the 7mm08.QUOTE]


Can you explain this too me?.Rationality?
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boney said:
B-N

A 270 winchester uses a bullet that is .277".The bore before the rifling is cut is in fact .270"
In the regs its states "bore size no larger than .275" " and in the 270's case,the BORE size is smaller than .275.

This has been gone over afew times and I understand where you are coming from.I used to wonder about the same thing myself afew years ago.
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If that's the case, then the bore diameter of the 7mm is .275". The old British name for the 7x57 Mauser was the .275 Rigby. If this is a literal quote from the regs......"In the regs its states "bore size no larger than .275" "then 7mm isn't OVER, it's on the line. According to the most careful measurements I can take my Gaillard barrel is very slightly under. I could get that law changed with 15 minutes in court and a ball mic.;)
 
What I was trying to convey was that,the 7.62x39 is over the .275 restriction.
As far as the reference to the .284,...early on someone had mentioned the 7mm08 as an option and I just reminded them that it,ASWELL as the 7.62x39 is too large a bore diameter(actually it I believe the 7mm is .277bore dia)
Sorry for any confusion.

Here is a link bore/rifling chart:
http://www.bitsofpieces.com/montanabarrels.html
 
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25-06 will reach out with enough at range to take a large mule.I have used one for deer bear & one moose.My 243 is my coyote gun,not my long range deer rifle imo only.the real trick with any cal.is,as has been said over &over, is range time & ammo shot.PRACTICE
 
Unless you're set up... or planning to set up to reload your own ammo soon, the 243 Winchester may be your best bet, at least in terms of availability of ammunition.

And don't let anyone tell you a 243 won't kill deer dead. Especially if you spent all summer whacking woodchucks or other such small varmints!
 
.243 and .270 are the most popular of the lot mentionned. It's very easy to find ammo anywhere for them. Forget the rest. Personnally between these two, I'd go with the more versatile and more potent .270. Woodchucks to moose in a very flat shooting caliber with recoil that is more than managable.
 
243 or 260 rem or 257 roberts. All will do what you want. If you are not looking to spend a lot of money have you considered the NEF Handi rifle types? Save money on the rifle spend more on the glass. Good luck
 
Thanks everyone for your input. I have never herd of the NEF Handi line of rifles before. I'm really more interested in bolt action. I think with all the input I'm leaning to the .243 Win in a Savage with a Bushnell Elite 3X10X40 or i could get a Stevens and get more Scope..lol....so many choices...
 
I really like the Quarter Bores for the type of hunting you are living surfer... My favorite all around rifle is the 270WSM as any Gunnut here can attest. But my .25WSSM A-bolt Varmint Stalker is the one I use the most and is the most useful in the area you describe.
Any of the Quarter bores will outperform their paper stats on big game... and the bullet types and wieghts are more than adequate for large and small game alike.
Unfortunately the Tikka T-3 Platform does not accept the WSSM's so that leaves you with the 25-06 as your one choice in this excellent value/quality rifle and caliber.
Or you could opt for the Browning in the 25WSSM for about 200 bucks more. This caliber has really taken off in my area, there are none left on the shelves here and there are more than a few on order.
 
BIGREDD said:
But my .25WSSM A-bolt Varmint Stalker is the one I use the most and is the most useful in the area you describe.
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Very true ....... esp when the 25WSSM pretty much duplicates the centuries older 257 Roberts. :D



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Silverado said:
Unless you're set up... or planning to set up to reload your own ammo soon, the 243 Winchester may be your best bet, at least in terms of availability of ammunition.

And don't let anyone tell you a 243 won't kill deer dead. Especially if you spent all summer whacking woodchucks or other such small varmints!
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You know how I just LOVVVVE the .243!!:puke:
.6.5X55 for me.....

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



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Here we go agin...:D

This is so far from true that it is laughable... the .25WSSM is 10% faster on the low end and 20% faster on the high end of the scale with any bullet or load you compare. Using 100 grain bullets and average max loads the Roberts is averaging 2900-3000 fps.... the WSSM version will hit 3200-3300 fps. 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.
I won't even go into the accuracy aspects of the shorter case ... it is over Supers head.:p
Sorry Super... but you need to actually shoot both before you can make blanket statements like that.:popCorn:
 
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