Looking for a Caribou Cartridge...

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mdbuckle

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I am in the market for a Caribou rifle and by now you all know I am very indecisive... I have it narrowed down to a few calibers I would like. The .243 Win, 7mm-08 Rem, or the 25-06. I have a fair bit of experience with the .243 (got a moose this year with one), but I am unfamiliar with the others. Which one would be best for longer ranges? 300+ yards. Once I decide on the caliber, picking out a rifle would be easier.
 
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The .25-06 is a good choice among those you have mentioned, but my personal choice would be 6.5x55mm Swede.
 
mdbuckle said:
The .243 Win, 7mm-08 Rem, or the 25-06. I have a fair bit of experience with the .243 (got a moose this year with one)...
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Out of curiousity why these rounds?

mdbuckle said:
Which one would be best for longer ranges? 300+ yards.
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None of the above, IMHO, 300yds plus on a critter roughly the size of a horse with rounds like that???:confused:
I must be getting to old, but none of those rounds would have even occured to me for past 300yds on pretty much anything, except the 25-06 on a woodchuck....
 
You Forgot the 260 Remington :cool:
Far Superior to the 243 for Bigger critters and "extended" ranges.
I'd think Nothing of Using mine on Caribou with Good Bullets;)
 
of the cartridges you listed I would pick the 25-06 but I second BCWill's suggestion for the 260.

The caribou I have taken and seen taken all seemed to go down easy and while I have never seen one close to horse size they are a good size critter and the added bullet weight and inherent accuracy of the 6.5mm pill would definately be a plus.

I don't know where you will be hunting either but none of the animals taken on my hunt (Northern Quebec tundra) were beyond 250yds. The constant wind and rolling hills also made for a variety of wind currents that would certaily mess with any bullet at +300.
 
Dosing said:
Out of curiousity why these rounds?


None of the above, IMHO, 300yds plus on a critter roughly the size of a horse with rounds like that???:confused:
I must be getting to old, but none of those rounds would have even occured to me for past 300yds on pretty much anything, except the 25-06 on a woodchuck....
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I agree. 30/06 0r .308 or 7m rem.mag.
 
r_lahaise said:
of the cartridges you listed I would pick the 25-06 but I second BCWill's suggestion for the 260.



I don't know where you will be hunting either but none of the animals taken on my hunt (Northern Quebec tundra) were beyond 250yds. The constant wind and rolling hills also made for a variety of wind currents that would certaily mess with any bullet at +300.
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Wind! 300 yd. shots-115 grain 25/06. Doesn't work for me.
 
25-06, 270, 7-08, 280, all good cartridges to look at. 243 will work too but Id be more confident with the others. Look at the wind drift figures with a 25-06 115 @ 3100 fps vs a 30-06 165 @ 2800 fps and you might be suprised
 
cariboo

Of the ones you mentioned 7mm08 would buck the wind better but is a 300-350 yard gun in my opinion. I have a 25-06 and with 115gr partitions and 60.5gr of retumbo i get 3230fps whith would be a fine long range combo.
 
Wouldn't any modern deer caliber be OK for cariboo?

243, 6mm Rem, 257Roberts, 25/06, 260, 6.5x55, 264mag, 270win, 270WSM, 270 Weatherbee, 7/08, 7x57, 280, 7mmWSM, 7mmMag, 7STW, 308, 30/06, 300H&H, 300WinMag, 300WSM, 308Norma .....etc, etc, etc

My 1st choice would be the 270Win, but then I've never even shot a cariboo. :D




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If you're already confident enough with your .243 to take a moose with it, then you've got your caribou rifle.

Shoots just as flat as the .25-06 and .270, if not flatter, and with good bullets it's got plenty of steam to finish off a caribou, or any other NA deer.

What's not to love?
 
Bishopus said:
If you're already confident enough with your .243 to take a moose with it, then you've got your caribou rifle.

Shoots just as flat as the .25-06 and .270, if not flatter, and with good bullets it's got plenty of steam to finish off a caribou, or any other NA deer.

What's not to love?
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I love the .243...but it was not my rifle...it was a friends. I am very confident in the .243 for any game, even moose, and would like something very similar if not the same. The thing about the .243 is I can get ammo locally. All other cals I would have to order in. Small and fast is what I am looking for...the .25-06 may be my choice.

FYI: We use .223's on our northern Labrador caribou hunts and it does the job very well. .243 is the smallest caliber we can use for hunting on the island though...
 
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