Especially when it can also be used for moose, black bear, elk, and the list goes on.
Opinions wanted, looking for my first whitetail deer gun, 25-06 or 243, 270 Win
- Thread starter huntershooter
- Start date
Especially when it can also be used for moose, black bear, elk, and the list goes on.
I would vote for the .243 win.
Hand load 100 grain bullets for deer, then have fun with those 55 grain nosler ballistic tips.
The 55 grainers are excellent varmint blower uppers, from gophers to coyotes aim pretty much dead on all the way out to 300 yds.
If you already have a varmint rig, and this is solely for bigger creatures I would go all the way up to the 300 win mag. I have it in a tikka t3 lite synthetic and the recoil is quite manageable, yes it does kick harder than a 270 would but in my opinion it's not that much more.
My $0.02 worth.
Hand load 100 grain bullets for deer, then have fun with those 55 grain nosler ballistic tips.
The 55 grainers are excellent varmint blower uppers, from gophers to coyotes aim pretty much dead on all the way out to 300 yds.
If you already have a varmint rig, and this is solely for bigger creatures I would go all the way up to the 300 win mag. I have it in a tikka t3 lite synthetic and the recoil is quite manageable, yes it does kick harder than a 270 would but in my opinion it's not that much more.
My $0.02 worth.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Sure, the .270 can be used to take medium size game at long range; big deal, so can any rifle cartridge that combines a high BC bullet with 3000+ fps muzzle velocity. There's no magic there unless nostalgia and your emotional connection with the cartridge creates the magic for you. Long range shooting is primarily a marksmanship problem, but it also requires that close attention be paid to the choice and assembly of components, with consideration not only to trajectory but also to accuracy, and terminal performance at extended ranges. It demands a precision rifle, and it requires extraordinary optics; so its not a problem that can be simply solved by choosing one cartridge over another. Or perhaps you'd prefer to reconsider your reference of long range to medium range, that is ranges within a half mile.
Dead on Boomer.
Most hunters I know have no knowledge of what you just stated. When one is into long range marksmanship you know damn well most hunters couldn't hit a deer at say 900 meters with their Axis package and Canadian tire ammo. It's far from just trajectory.
Well, the OP asked about the 270. There is no magic to any cartridge. So the 270 would be a great choice. It is a great choice. As for long range, the longest shot I have ever seen on a big bull Elk was with a 270. The 130 gr TSX took the top of the poor bull's heart off at 560 yards and I think he took one wobbly step before falling flat on his face. Over and done just like that. There was a cow hunting idiot above the clearing that watched this whole thing unfold. He came down to chat while we addressed taking care of the bull. He was a magnum shooter and was sure that kill had to have been accomplished with a belted laser beam. When I told him it was the humble 270 he got down right annoyed and defensive. He had seen it with his own eyes and was offended by it. He reminds me a lot of many of the posters here. Although he did have the damning evidence laid out before him.
I didn't realize the OP was wanting to make that kind of shot. By the way I read the question I was assuming he does like I do and what you described. Take a savage axis, WalMart scope and WalMart ammo then sight in with half a box of ammo and go hunting. If that were the case i would tell him .270 because I have seen on multiple occasions my hunting buddy having to go find a deer he shot with his .243 and it ran hundreds of yards in the woods. The .270 would be more forgiving for bad placed shots given the options the op mentioned. I have no experience with .25-06 because I don't know anyone with one and don't see that caliber of ammo in the stores too often. For a new hunter wanting a rifle to hunt with... That very reason alone I would not suggest that one. That's all. If I knew he was a marksman and had a fancy setup and was also rolling his own ammo, I wouldn't have weighed in. I assumed the op was a new hunter and just wanted to get hunting and have a good experience right off the start line.
Well CN.........I do not doubt what you have just posted at all.............I can say from similar experience that it was very good luck that the heart was hit, otherwise given cartridge and bullet choice, I suspect you'd have been in for a long day of tracking. But this is more a criticism of the bullet used than the cartridge.
The next example is a 370 class bull my hunting partner took with his 280 and the 140 TSX. The distance was further, but that bull went in the salt as well. Amazing what actual field experience with a cartridge and bullet will garner.
Mumbles Marble Mouth
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Lower Mainland
What the heck you going off about? Everyone knows a .270 winchester can take a gnats balls off from 1000 meters away. All you need to do is point and shoot. The .270 will do the rest.
Northern Amateur
CGN frequent flyer
Wow! See what you started? Like asking what type of beer should I buy.
OP, are you stuck on a bolt gun (I'm making an assumption)? What type of area will you be hunting in? Open fields? Bush? As mentioned, deer are not at all hard to knock down. Have you considered any of the lever guns? 30-30 has taken a whole mess of deer and other critters along with the 35 Remington. Rifles are light and easy to carry. If you were local I take you out to try a few out.
cheers,
OP, are you stuck on a bolt gun (I'm making an assumption)? What type of area will you be hunting in? Open fields? Bush? As mentioned, deer are not at all hard to knock down. Have you considered any of the lever guns? 30-30 has taken a whole mess of deer and other critters along with the 35 Remington. Rifles are light and easy to carry. If you were local I take you out to try a few out.
cheers,
pete dobinson
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Courtenay BC.
So what non magnum cartridge would you say is better than lets say, 270 win, 280 rem, 284 win or 30-06 for long range deer hunting.
Mumbles Marble Mouth
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Lower Mainland
The .270 Winchester is the best cartridge in the entire world. Even if lasers were real, the .270 would put them to shame because they just go pew pew which is kind of lame to be honest. Which is why I never pick energy weapons on fallout. Plus they're all bulky and stupid looking. Well that's kind of like WSM's and M305's. Plasma guns are in their own class of retarded. I mean why the heck would you pick a gun that you can actually see what is being fired at you from a distance and can simply step to one side and it clearly misses. Kind of like a 45/70.
Mumbles Marble Mouth
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Lower Mainland
The .270 Winchester is the best cartridge in the entire world. Even if lasers were real, the .270 would put them to shame because they just go pew pew which is kind of lame to be honest. Which is why I never pick energy weapons on fallout. Plus they're all bulky and stupid looking. Well that's kind of like WSM's and M305's. Plasma guns are in their own class of retarded. I mean why the heck would you pick a gun that you can actually see what is being fired at you from a distance and can simply step to one side and it clearly misses. Kind of like a 45/70.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
I wasn't responding to the OP, I was responding to your contention that by simply choosing a .270, long range game shooting could be reasonably contemplated by anyone. I only pointed out there is more to it than that. The best thing I can say about the .270 is that its an alternate source of brass for .25/06 shooters.
