Short range rifle choice

GMC403

GMC403

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Curious what people's thoughts / experience might be with this.

You have 2 rifles,
- A 20" barreled CRF 30-06 bolt action
- A 18.5" Barreled 45-70 lever action

Both use a 1-4 scope

The ammo would,
- Factory 220gr Remingon in the 06'
- Factory 300gr Federal Fusion or Winchester in the 45-70

The Conditions are,
Short range timber hunting, (Deer, Bear, Elk) max range is 150y but likely 100y and under.

Which would you choose and why?


I think I would likely go with the 06' (big SD on the bullet). People swear by the 45-70 but I have no experience taking game with one.
 
I'd go with the 30-06, though maybe not the 220s.

The main reason is that everytime I hunt in areas that are supposed to be close range I keep finding mid to long range opportunities that would be apparent to anyone who bothered to look for them or could recognize and take advantage of the potential.
 
I'm going with .45/70 in that scenario... with or without experience the game will drop to a 300-405 grain round. For deer I like the 325 FTX.
 
dogleg said:
i'd go with the 30-06, though maybe not the 220s.

The main reason is that everytime i hunt in areas that are supposed to be close range i keep finding mid to long range opportunities that would be apparent to anyone who bothered to look for them or could recognize and take advantage of the potential.
Click to expand...

x2!
 
Personally I would pick the .30/06. Not with a 220 grainer though. A good stout 180 grain .308 bullet will dump any of the game mentioned. If I were using a .45/70 I would pick a heavier bullet than 300 grain for the game mentioned. The old standby 405 grain at around 1300 at the muzzle had a great reputation for flattening heavy game at close range.
 
Dogleg said:
I'd go with the 30-06, though maybe not the 220s.

The main reason is that everytime I hunt in areas that are supposed to be close range I keep finding mid to long range opportunities that would be apparent to anyone who bothered to look for them or could recognize and take advantage of the potential.
Click to expand...

x2

If I wanted more power than 30-06, I would bypass the 45/70 altogether and go 375 Ruger
 
I've always preferred the 45-70 for hunting inside 150 yds. (Usually much tighter.), but have had good results with the '06 with 180 gr. handloads at the same ranges. Never had a failure with 405 gr. hardcast boolits on deer, bear or moose with the .45-70 as I load 'em to around 1500 fps.

My 30-06 loads using jacketed slugs were pushed out at a leisurely 2400 fps. and worked just fine on deer &
black bear.
 
Personally, I would always choose the .45-70...I enjoy using the cartridge, and also the rifles that shoot it. It's not the end of the world if I need to occasionally pass on a shot that would be easily done with an '06 or something similar...it's happened before, it'll happen again. It's getting more and more difficult for me to justify to myself using the bestest/fastest/flattest/most efficient/newest/whateverest gun and cartridge when I have little interest in them.

But I will admit that if you absolutely, positively need to kill something to make your day complete, the bottleneck round will allow you to do so in more circumstances than the old bruiser will.
 
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