spurrs and racks
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3006 is a fine caliber, and will kill everything on the North American soil and Canada
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.243 or .270, what say YOU?
- Thread starter MissouriBoy
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spurrs and racks
Banned
and maybe the best hog caliber ever
BriarPatch99
Senior Member
This is my opinions on the .243 Winchester and the .270 Winchester.....
IF you will be diligent with your shot choices ... the .243 Winchester is a fine deer killer. It's lower recoil will also make shooting it especially during practice a much pleasurable experience. Shooting more will make you a better shot. A well placed shot from a .243 Winchester will killed a deer just as well as most any other cartridge. There are many good bullets available suitable for deer. Bullets range from 80 grains to 100 grains. The Barnes 80 grain TTSX being my go-to bullet right now.
The .270 Winchester is a fine deer killer, recoil will be somewhat more than the .243 Winchester. Practice shooting will not be punishment, but not as pleasurable as the .243 Winchester. There are many suitable deer type bullets available for it. They range from 130 grains to 150 grains. When I owned a .270 Winchester, I shot a lot of Sierra 130 GMK. If I were shooting a .270 Winchester now it would be the Barnes 95grain TTSX. Put the bullet where it needs be and it will be a dead deer.
So now your choice comes down to... Which You shoot best? That would be the one to chose.....
Just remember that it does matter how much "horse power" you have ... If you can't place it.. it does not matter.
IF you will be diligent with your shot choices ... the .243 Winchester is a fine deer killer. It's lower recoil will also make shooting it especially during practice a much pleasurable experience. Shooting more will make you a better shot. A well placed shot from a .243 Winchester will killed a deer just as well as most any other cartridge. There are many good bullets available suitable for deer. Bullets range from 80 grains to 100 grains. The Barnes 80 grain TTSX being my go-to bullet right now.
The .270 Winchester is a fine deer killer, recoil will be somewhat more than the .243 Winchester. Practice shooting will not be punishment, but not as pleasurable as the .243 Winchester. There are many suitable deer type bullets available for it. They range from 130 grains to 150 grains. When I owned a .270 Winchester, I shot a lot of Sierra 130 GMK. If I were shooting a .270 Winchester now it would be the Barnes 95grain TTSX. Put the bullet where it needs be and it will be a dead deer.
So now your choice comes down to... Which You shoot best? That would be the one to chose.....
Just remember that it does matter how much "horse power" you have ... If you can't place it.. it does not matter.
transfixer
Senior Member
Being a reloader I'm sure you already know this ,, but a lot of it depends on barrel length, and powder used, the best accuracy seems to come from cases being mostly full of powder, a charge that doesn't fill up the majority of the case won't burn as consistent as one that does, and a lot of times a charge that takes up most of the case won't completely burn up in the barrel of the rifle ( depending on barrel length) , and unburned powder goes out the end of the barrel, which doesn't bode well for consistent accuracy, its a lot more complicated than that of course, but basically short action type cartridges are usually more efficient, better efficiency translates into more consistent accuracy, Your 7mag probably has a longer barrel than a lot of short action cartridge rifles.
Bigbendgyrene
Senior Member
Own quite a few different larger calibers so to lighten things up a bit this past year I picked up a Browing BAR in .243. Love the light recoil. Killed a nice 10 point with it this past season at over 100 yards that didn't run more than 30 yards or so. Both lungs were soup when I opened it up.
Older I get, the more I'm enjoying shooting lighter calibers for a multitude of reasons such as recoil, weight, and most important of all tighter focused shots taken with little hesitation or thought given about trying to minimize any anticipatory flinching.
Really like 6.5 for the same reason and if you don't have it would throw it in the mix to consider.
Older I get, the more I'm enjoying shooting lighter calibers for a multitude of reasons such as recoil, weight, and most important of all tighter focused shots taken with little hesitation or thought given about trying to minimize any anticipatory flinching.
Really like 6.5 for the same reason and if you don't have it would throw it in the mix to consider.
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transfixer
Senior Member
Looking at the poll I'm kinda surprised, I thought the numbers would be closer together, I guess a lot of people still look at the .243 as a kid or ladies gun ? its really a .308 necked down to .243 so you get higher velocities and a slightly flatter shooting round. I look at it as a precision tool, kinda like using a scalpel instead of a machete ,,,,,,,
across the river
Senior Member
That was the shooter no doubt and not the gun. The bullet velocity on a .243 will on average be greater than that of a .270 from the muzzle out to about 300 yards or so, and it carries good velocity well past that. From a killing deer standpoint, there is absolutely no reason someone who can hit where they are aiming can't kill a deer up to, and well past, 150 yards with a .243. I'm not saying their is anything wrong with a .270, and in your case it, or even a .300 mag would probably be a better choice. However, to say a .243 doesn't perform well up to or past 150 yards simply isn't true at all.
transfixer
Senior Member
Virtually every caliber that gets dogged out, or is reputed to be bad cause deer run off or are lost, is not the caliber , but yet the result of the hunter not having good shot placement, I have killed multiple deer over 150yds , as the reason I bought the .243 in the first place many years ago was to hunt over clearcut, with my furthest shot being 275yds and it was a large 6pt that dropped in its tracks without taking a step.
rosewood
Senior Member
My 7 mag is a 24 inch. I cannot get my 26" .308 with like heavy barrel to touch the 7mag on accuracy. As someone already said, it varies from gun to gun also.
I do change my powder depending on barrel length. Shorter barrels, I will use a faster powder to reduce muzzle blast, longer barrels, use a slower powder to boost velocity.
Rosewood
rosewood
Senior Member
I too like anything in 6.5: Swede, Creedmoor and .260. Easy on the shoulder and effective on the deer.
Rosewood
across the river
Senior Member
And virtually every deer that get lost after being shot "through the heart" or "through both lungs" according to the shooter, really wasn't. The ones that eventually get found via a dog or the buzzards prove that point.
rosewood
Senior Member
No doubt.
In my experience a double lung rarely runs more than 50 yards. Have seen blown out hearts run over 100 yards though.
Rosewood
Buckman18
Senior Member
I can see your point. My daughter hunts with a 243, and has killed a few deer and a hog with it. What I dont like is little bullet=little hole. The critters she has shot have barely bled. Luckily all short runs and easy recovering, but if we ever have to go blood trailing I dread it.
transfixer
Senior Member
but that comes down to bullet selection and bullet placement, I do believe bullet selection is more critical in the smaller calibers like .243, I use a bullet that really isn't designed for hunting , 87gr bthp, but yet it will peel back and sometimes splinter the front pieces off, and yet the rear stays together for complete pass throughs. and as I've said, I do high shoulder shots, I don't shoot for heart or lungs, and I like the faster moving smaller projectiles for the hydrostatic shock value when shooting for up around the spine area.
rosewood
Senior Member
Hmm, guess semantics. What I consider a high shoulder shot is a double lung shot. I aim a little high behind the shoulder to reduce meat damage and get both lungs in the process.
Rosewood
Hillbilly stalker
Senior Member
If you have a 4 year old coming up, they will be able to handle the .243 in a couple years. It's always great to shoot " dads gun". And when that happens
you can hand it off.....giving you an excuse to buy another
. I've killed plenty of deer with a .243 and prefer it because of less meat damage. But a .270 will do the job fine too. A 30-06 has a much larger selection of ammo than probably any round out there. It's not really a question of efficiency but preference .
you can hand it off.....giving you an excuse to buy another
. I've killed plenty of deer with a .243 and prefer it because of less meat damage. But a .270 will do the job fine too. A 30-06 has a much larger selection of ammo than probably any round out there. It's not really a question of efficiency but preference .
Tom W.
Senior Member
I had a single shot .270 once. It was amazing. After I got it sighted in, which took 9 rounds total, the next 11 accounted for 11 deer. Just a cheap NEF with a 3x9 Bushnell scope on it. I don't know what happened to that rifle, but it somehow disappeared.....after a few years and a lot of deer.
I can't comment on the .234 except to say that the only one I fired was at the range,and didn't belong to me. But I put three shots touching @ 100 yards, as far as that range is. The only thing I remember was that it was a bolt action rifle.
A .308 wouldn't be a bad choice, either........ although I traded mine. Now I shoot the single shots, a 30/30 NEF and a Ruger#1B, both A.I.'s.....
I can't comment on the .234 except to say that the only one I fired was at the range,and didn't belong to me. But I put three shots touching @ 100 yards, as far as that range is. The only thing I remember was that it was a bolt action rifle.
A .308 wouldn't be a bad choice, either........ although I traded mine. Now I shoot the single shots, a 30/30 NEF and a Ruger#1B, both A.I.'s.....
pacecars
Senior Member
Nothing wrong with either caliber but as others have said, I ain’t so sure about the rifle. I have or have had bolt rifles by Ruger, Remington, Winchester, Weatherby, Sako, Howa, Beretta, Mannlicher, Steyr, S&W, T/C and Mauser. I am not saying that to brag but just to tell you that the two most accurate rifles were on totally different ends of the price spectrum. The most accurate rifles I have owned is the Steyr Mannlicher Professional in .270 that would shoot under a 1/4 inch at 100 yards with cheap green box Remington Corelok Ammo day in and day out. The same rifle in .30-06 would shoot Win white box ammo under 1/2” every time. I bought a T/C Compass in 6.5 Creedmoor to try out the cartridge and rifle without a big investment. I looked at all the budget rifles and the Compass felt the best and had a threaded barrel for my suppressor. It is still a cheap plastic stock but it handles better to me than the others. I stuck one of the Leupold Freedom line 3x9 scopes on it and bore sighted it the old fashion way of looking down the bore to a spot 25 yards away and dialing the crosshairs to it. The first group I fired was just over 1/4” for five shots with the suppressor on it. I let it cool and it repeated that group 3 more times. It is a keeper. The rifle was under $259 and has an MOA guarantee and I have friends that have them and they are all under MOA. You can get a package deal at a good price that comes with I believe a Vortex scope that would certainly be serviceable. I would not hesitate to get one in .270 or .243 and be content
MissouriBoy
Senior Member
Picked up a Ruger M77 mk2 .270 with a Nikon Monarch 3 scope on it today!
