Dub
Senior Member
He sated in his opening post the rifle he was going to buy and the chamberings.
The .308, .270 and 6.5CM were priced right. Other's like the .243 were $100 more.
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308 vs 270 vs 6.5
- Thread starter ucfireman
- Start date
He sated in his opening post the rifle he was going to buy and the chamberings.
The .308, .270 and 6.5CM were priced right. Other's like the .243 were $100 more.
Dub
Senior Member
Ammo availibility….
An aside on ammo availability here:
With recent history as a guide it would be a good move for anyone to be able to hand load hunting ammo. The makings, though not as easyily as in the past, can be found with primers being the biggest problem right now. You can use your own fired cases. If you can roll your own, you will be in better shape to not worry so much about it for a while should ammo "dissapear" again.
A Lee Hand Loader for your chosen cartridge is very reasonably priced and with just a little practice will allow you to make a box of cartridges in an afternoon. The neck sizing only done by this loader will allow you to use caseings many times before you begin to see signs of overuse.
I was won over many years ago at an old DNR range that is no more. I went down one day with my black powder guns and encountered an older gentleman who would toss a 45-70 brick down range and then, reloading the empty casing, do it again. Part of the fun of black powder shooting for me evolved the slower pace required by the loading of powder, ball, and cap. I owned my own Lee Loader within a week of watching that.
With recent history as a guide it would be a good move for anyone to be able to hand load hunting ammo. The makings, though not as easyily as in the past, can be found with primers being the biggest problem right now. You can use your own fired cases. If you can roll your own, you will be in better shape to not worry so much about it for a while should ammo "dissapear" again.
A Lee Hand Loader for your chosen cartridge is very reasonably priced and with just a little practice will allow you to make a box of cartridges in an afternoon. The neck sizing only done by this loader will allow you to use caseings many times before you begin to see signs of overuse.
I was won over many years ago at an old DNR range that is no more. I went down one day with my black powder guns and encountered an older gentleman who would toss a 45-70 brick down range and then, reloading the empty casing, do it again. Part of the fun of black powder shooting for me evolved the slower pace required by the loading of powder, ball, and cap. I owned my own Lee Loader within a week of watching that.
Tight Lines
Senior Member
Quite possibly the best all around round in North America...
baddave
Senior Member
yep- right up there with .308
Lil factoid, my in-laws are lifelong western hunters. They don’t own a single magnum. .270, 7MM-08, .308 and 30-06, antelope to elk.
Tight Lines
Senior Member
7MM-08 and the 30-06 are great all around NA rounds...
.270 and .308 are as well...
About the only animal I'd be concerned with is a grizzly...
Kwaksmoka
Senior Member
I recently went through this, my findings were the same as above 308 is the route to go. I have a 270 but would have gotten another. As for the 6.5 had numerous people tell me the pass through is so fast the deer end up running off. Don’t get me wrong they die, but you very well might have to find them! I have no experience with a 65 just from asking around! I ended up with the Begara B-14 Hunter in 308.
Tight Lines
Senior Member
I've heard the same thing, and just laugh every time. The difference in muzzle velocity of the 6.5 CM and the .308 are +/- 100 FPS depending on the round. It's not material.
And if this were a real concern, then the magnums would be a REAL concern...
It's like the guy that argues the faster he goes in a school zone, the less chance he will hit a kid because he spends less time in the school zone than if he went slower.
I realize you are not saying this is gospel...it just amuses me...
transfixer
Senior Member
I'm the same way when people say " such and such caliber is no good, you hit one with it and they always run, and no blood trail much cause they didn't expand", some people can't seem to get the idea that there is NO magic caliber, its all about bullet placement,, I don't care what you shoot ! if you don't hit them in the correct spot to drop them, they will run ! some not far, some a long ways .
No blood trail to speak of is also about bullet placement, and bullet construction, not the caliber , but you can't convince some people
Kwaksmoka
Senior Member
Some of the ones telling me this are guides in Texas, they’ve told me based on their experience. I certainly don’t know for sure, but I trust in what they’ve seen. Whether or not the cause their experience with clients shooting 6.5 is they have to look for the deer more often than any other rifle used. They can’t stand them
transfixer
Senior Member
and out of those choices I'd probably choose the 7mm.08, mainly because I reload anyway, if I didn't then I'd choose the .308
I couldn’t argue that. I sold all my center fires and invested in ammo and reloading for my .308 and .223/5.56.
transfixer
Senior Member
but if you nailed them down to a cause, they'd probably admit their clients were not the best shots they've seen , the majority of deer hunters aim for heart shots or center of shoulder/lung area, the majority of deer will run when hit there , if you don't want to track deer, or have the meat influenced by an adrenaline rush, then shoot high shoulder/spine area, they won't take a step, you will have to field dress them and hang them awhile, cause there will be no blood loss from the shot, but there also won't be any ruined meat , or destroyed internal organs to deal with when dressing them out !
furtaker
Senior Member
The little CM is poking along at 2700 and passes through so fast the deer run off. Lord have mercy.
Better hope the Scandinavians who have been killing moose across the pond for a hundred years with the 6.5x55 never hear of this!
Better hope the Scandinavians who have been killing moose across the pond for a hundred years with the 6.5x55 never hear of this!
Dub
Senior Member
I believe the 6.5CM got a bad reputation amongst those guides for a pile of reasons.
It was a target cartridge with a fast enough twist rate to stabilize 140gr bullets at speeds slower than what we typically use for hunting.
Its claim to fame was lobbing those 140gr high bc target loads long distances with repeated consistency.
Nothing really fast.
Not sizzling out there…..just lobbing a long-for-caliber bullet with stability.
Those same bullets are less than ideal on making wound channels on a healthy deer, muley, elk. Made for hitting paper or ringing steel.
Took a while for factory hunting ammo to show up in the 6.5CM. Even when it did there was no magic death ray. Bullet weights were dropped in order to get velocities up.
It is not a sizzling deer thumper….but a handloader could make it into a serviceable hunting cartridge…..but will it be “better“ than other classic hunting cartridges…..most likely not.
I bet those guides grew tired of greenhorns using target bullets and getting less than stellar results.
It was a target cartridge with a fast enough twist rate to stabilize 140gr bullets at speeds slower than what we typically use for hunting.
Its claim to fame was lobbing those 140gr high bc target loads long distances with repeated consistency.
Nothing really fast.
Not sizzling out there…..just lobbing a long-for-caliber bullet with stability.
Those same bullets are less than ideal on making wound channels on a healthy deer, muley, elk. Made for hitting paper or ringing steel.
Took a while for factory hunting ammo to show up in the 6.5CM. Even when it did there was no magic death ray. Bullet weights were dropped in order to get velocities up.
It is not a sizzling deer thumper….but a handloader could make it into a serviceable hunting cartridge…..but will it be “better“ than other classic hunting cartridges…..most likely not.
I bet those guides grew tired of greenhorns using target bullets and getting less than stellar results.
Tight Lines
Senior Member
Hard to say...some of it is just the fact that some people don't like new, or change...who knows?
My son has hunted with a 5.56 62 grain round that is a solid spun bullet - tumble upon impact - since he started hunting. So far, from yearlings to bucks, no deer has gone more than 50 yards and the average is probably 30...not sure how many that is...but last day of the season last year on a meat hunt he whacked 3 does in about 30 seconds and we had them all in the plot in about 5 minutes...
I've heard the same thing from old time hunters...
Honestly I think they like you to use a devastating round so the deer doesn't go very far...
Tight Lines
Senior Member
Probably true on the target loads...I've killed a pile with mine and the Hornady hunting loads...no issue...
David Hill
Member
I’d vote for the .270. Classic caliber that will do anything the other two choices will and recoil should be a non issue.
Ive owned a lot of different calibers some wildcat calibers some not easy to find calibers. If this current state of ammo prices and availability teaches us anything it’s go with the easy to get calibers. You could walk into any place in NA, Canada and probably Africa that sells ammo and get some .270 bullets. Not to mention the prices. I have maybe 25 boxes of .270 that I bought when they were 12$ a box. There up in price now but not nearly as much as the metrics and fad calibers that will not do anything different let alone better than a 30/06 or .270.
Ive owned a lot of different calibers some wildcat calibers some not easy to find calibers. If this current state of ammo prices and availability teaches us anything it’s go with the easy to get calibers. You could walk into any place in NA, Canada and probably Africa that sells ammo and get some .270 bullets. Not to mention the prices. I have maybe 25 boxes of .270 that I bought when they were 12$ a box. There up in price now but not nearly as much as the metrics and fad calibers that will not do anything different let alone better than a 30/06 or .270.
