Choosing a deer rifle calibre with recent ammo availabilty
- Thread starter Jahnj0584
- Start date
Everyone should have a 30-30. So common it’s boring but it just works well. Ammunition is readily available.
.308Win, 270Win or 30-06Spr in whatever flavour of make/model you prefer would be your best bets. A good Win 94 in 30-30 if your under the 200 yrd range consistently deserves consideration also.
Factory ammo is readily avail at even the most remote corner stores in hunting country. These are common calibers that are avail in the standard grain ranges which would make it easy to re-sight in if you ran out of ammo on a trip and all three have accounted for most if not all species of NA game animals at some point.
Factory ammo is readily avail at even the most remote corner stores in hunting country. These are common calibers that are avail in the standard grain ranges which would make it easy to re-sight in if you ran out of ammo on a trip and all three have accounted for most if not all species of NA game animals at some point.
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
No shortage of 300WM (way too much power) or 303 either. For deer, you can use anything in the 6 to 8mm range... and it's an exhaustive list.
turbo_bird
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Kamloops, BC
When my kids were born I figured I should have a good hunting rifle just in case, even though I don't hunt. I figured a 30-06 would do the job on anything I'd ever need to shoot, plus easily available ammunition basically anywhere, so that's what I bought. 10 years later I've only ever shot paper with it, but if the need arises I have it. Turns out I like target shooting a lot more than hunting, but I don't think I'd want to pack a 14lb rifle all over the place. I reload now, and based on that I'd probably pick 6.5x55 for a hunting rifle over the 30-06, but good factory ammo isn't very common, seeing how it's generally loaded fairly weak to be safe in older rifles.
Kristian
Kristian
Johnn Peterson
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Chemainus B.C.
True enough. For me and my 'choices' specifically, a number of hunt aspects come into play. Thereby,
I supply or help 'justify' my addition of another 'member' to the gun safe. For example, what's required here on the wet coast and usual for range conditions for Vancouver Island Blacktail, differs from what's 'appropriate' on Mule Deer hunts in Alberta. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it
.
6.5 Creedmore out here, I was ammo shopping on Saturday and blown away by the selection of 6.5 at Cabela's. There was more 6.5 CM than .25-06 or 7mm-08 by a colossal margin, .243, 7mm RM or .270 by a large margin, .30-06 by a decent margin, .308 and .300 WM by a fair margin. There was alright selection for some of the others, but must have been 20+ choices in significant quantity for the 6.5 Creedmore. Even my secret spot is heavy on it and guns to shoot it with.
CT though seems to have a good mix of all of the above, but each store has some in different quantities.
CT though seems to have a good mix of all of the above, but each store has some in different quantities.
Johnn Peterson
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Chemainus B.C.
My most recent acquisition as I posted a short while back on the thread here, "Help me choose - ruger or savage 6.5cm", post #35 
blasted_saber
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- A blue part of Ontario
The problem with it being not very popular in the US is they're barely making 303Brit anymore. Have you looked at its cost in the last couple years? $40-50/box
blasted_saber
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- A blue part of Ontario
It's likely there's so much more of it because the other stuff sold out first.
No, its not just the quantity available but the actual shelf space set aside for it. There's plenty of ammo available in other cartridges - the shelves are decently stocked, but I had a choice of about a dozen .30-06 loads this weekend. It seemed like the same or more in .308 and .300 WM. There was like 3 loads each of .25-06 and 7mm-08 on the shelf. All in-stock. 10 loads of .270 and probably the same in 7mm RM. There's the usual cheapies (Federal Classic "blue box", Win Power Points, some Core-Lokts, etc) and a mix of premium and super premium loads as well (mostly Federal, Hornady, Winchester, and Nosler ammo), but 6.5CM just dominated the ammo aisle. That, plus .22LR, 9mm, and tons of 12 gauge.
I'm off work today so will probably end up at a gun counter somewhere, might update this post with more findings.
I really can't blame you Johnn, I might go down that route as well just because of the availability of ammo and components and how well 6.5CM would work on deer and black bear. 140's at moderate velocity with little recoil and great accuracy and ballistic performance? Sounds good, it's what I loved most about the "one that got away" (Mod. 70 Featherweight, 6.5x55mm).
Johnn Peterson
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Chemainus B.C.
There's a group of us, mostly site members, that get together Friday mornings for coffee and to
tell tales of firearms, shooting and hunting. These sessions have recently been put on hold with the increase in hazard of the COVID-19 situation. One of our group is who I purchased my 6.5CM rifle and ammo from and from another member, a set of RCBS dies. In addition to the rifle and scope, why I went for the 11 box quantity of Nosler ammo is so I'd have a supply of brass, later on and, just because it was there at a reasonable price. Generally speaking, here on the Vancouver Island 'wet coast', with the thicker tree growth conditions, ranges 'can' be fairly close. There are however some longer range situations offered by power line and some sizeable logging slash areas where the 6.5CM should come into its own
.
billbmcleod
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Back very close to Bruce County
I would go . 308 or 7mm-08
.308, 30/06 or 270
Would not recommend 303 anymore. As a previous poster said, factory ammo is barely being made and when it is available it is limited selection - usually winchester PP or Remington Cor-lokt - generally 180 Gr. It is also expensive with prices at Canadian Tire in the upper 30 low 40 dollar range.
If you're planning to handload - that changes things somewhat.
You can get better performance and availability at cheaper prices with the the above 3 calibers mentioned. The 308 has the added advantage of cheaper surplus ammo available at times for practice.
Would not recommend 303 anymore. As a previous poster said, factory ammo is barely being made and when it is available it is limited selection - usually winchester PP or Remington Cor-lokt - generally 180 Gr. It is also expensive with prices at Canadian Tire in the upper 30 low 40 dollar range.
If you're planning to handload - that changes things somewhat.
You can get better performance and availability at cheaper prices with the the above 3 calibers mentioned. The 308 has the added advantage of cheaper surplus ammo available at times for practice.
john-brennan
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Vancouver Island B.C.
This ^^^^^^^^^^^plus a 270 win and 243
