HarvDog Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Last week, I posted a question about which 30-06 options to consider. That was before I asked any questions or did any research on what cartridge I should go with. I don't own a rifle right now and would use this for deer hunting. What are the differences and pros/cons between 30-30, 30-06, .243, .270, and .308? These seem to be the common ones. Are there others to consider as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_218 Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? The cartridges, you mention, are all excellent rounds for Deer. I've taken several Deer with all the cartridges you list here. Myself, I prefer the .270 & .308. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaCoyote Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? 30-30 = short range .243 = on the light side. 30-06, .270, .308 are great cartridges. .270 being the fastest and flattest. Some writers say it is the ideal deer cartridge. You really can'y find a "con" about the latter three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowhntr Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? Hard to beat the 270 for deer. Fast, flat, and will knock them down at 400 yards if you can hold it still enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? [ QUOTE ] What are the differences and pros/cons between 30-30, 30-06, .243, .270, and .308? These seem to be the common ones. Are there others to consider as well? [/ QUOTE ] Here is my input.... * 30-30 ~ Classic Cartridge. Very limited on range and Energy. It would be an effective deer round inside of 100 yards but thats it (for me). Not a good varmint round but ammo is cheap and readably available. Not at all my first Choice..... * .243 ~ Fast and Flat. Great Bullet Choice and price. If you'll never hunt anything bigger then a deer this is the perfect round for both deer and or varmint. Very limited recoil yet more then adequate energy. Very flat. I have mine sighted in at 100yds yet I can smoke 20-oz soda bottles at 200yds. Great round and a re-loaders dream. Even if you dont reload they are deadly accurate and can easily out shoot most people behind the trigger. * .260, .270, .280, .308, .30-06.... Tomato, Tomato. They will all get it done with great ease. The only decision here for me would be bullet weight and availability. You can easily pick up .270, .308, and .30-06 at any Walmart or outdoor store CHEAP. All listed are great rounds and have been around a day or two. My personal choice would be the .30-06 out of this group. They have a wider selection of cartridges then any other chambered round. Bullet type and weight is very vast. Because its such a popular choice rifles can be had pretty cheap at most gun shows. In fact if you look most major cartridges were developed from the .30-06 case. Because its a .30 cal you can hunt much larger animals if you ever get the occasion (such as Elk, Moose, Black Bear, Etc). Granted a lot of the above have taken those animals but as far as versatility the .30-06 goes unmatched. Balistically all are very close. You hit a deer at 200yds with any from this group and it wont know the difference. Im sure quite a few will chime in and say go with the .30-06. You can never lose with that. A few others will chime in and say, "Id go with the .270, thats what I have." But I'm giving you a wider opinion here. I have a .30-30, .243, .270, and a .30-06. If I had to start over from scratch and was looking for the best deer cartridge (to all around Cartridge) it would be the .30-06.... Thats my $.02... Take it for what its worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GATORBAIT Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? 30-06 165 GR. REM. CORE-LOKT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? [ QUOTE ] Are there others to consider as well? [/ QUOTE ] 7mm Rem Mag: In the same boat as the 270, 280 & 30-06. 300 Win Mag: Will do what the others will and more, plus farther.........with not much difference in recoil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvDog Posted January 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? Here is part of an article I found on Wild Goose.com: There are a number of fine cartridges available for deer hunting. Here are some of my favorites: .243 Winchester: Over the years, I have killed a lot of deer with the .243 Winchester. I have a 1968 model Sako chambered in .243 caliber, and with handloading, it will shoot a five round group under 1/2" (when I can hold it still enough). To me, the .243 is quite adequate to kill whitetail deer, up to 300 yards. Beyond that point, you are stretching the capabilty of the fine cartridge (and in most instances the shooter). The recoil is minimal, and most rifles are very accurate with the round. You should use around a 100 grain bullet for hunting whitetail deer. .270 Winchester: One of my close friends hunts with a .270 Winchester in a model 700 Remington. He has been hunting (and killing) big (horns) deer with the same rifle for over twenty-five years. I have never known him to miss a deer with it, and the deer he has shot, very seldom run over a few steps before falling. As a result of what I have seen him do for the last quarter century, I would have to rate the .270 as one of the best rifle cartridges available for whitetail deer. If I remember right, this was also the cartridge that Jack O'Connor used in his model 70 Winchester. As I remember, he used his .270 Winchester to take a number of plains animals in Africa and around the world. 6 MM Remington: The 6MM Remington is a souped up .243. Both the .243 Winchester, and the 6MM Remington are actually .243 Caliber. The 6 MM Remington, is loaded in a slightly larger case, so that the bullet can gain a little advantage by having a slightly larger powder charge than the .243 Winchester. Personally, I don't know if there is really any practical difference in the two rounds, so whichever you prefer, you should have an adequate cartridge for whitetail deer. 30-06. No discussion of deer cartridges would be complete without including the '06. Originally a military round, ("ball cartridge, caliber 30, Model of 1906") the 30-06 has probably killed as many, or maybe more deer than any other cartridge. The .30-06 is a .308 caliber bullet. Probably because of the availability of both the surplus military rifles and the availability of surplus ammunition, plus being manufactured in every type and brand of rifle, the 30-06 has a reputation, and rightfully so, as an excellent deer cartridge. The rifle is available in a large number of bullet weights, from around 110 grains up to around 200 grains. It has been my experience that about 150 to 165 grain bullets perform better in most rifles. The smaller bullets are not as accurate, probably because of the diameter of the bullets being so large, the lighter bullets are not long enough to be as stable as the middle weight bullets. .308 Winchester: Another military round, the .308 Winchester is the same bullet used by the 30-06, but in a shorter, smaller case. Quite accurate, the .308 Winchester is a very good deer cartridge. A lot of people prefer the .308 to the 30-06, because of the shorter case. You can use a rifle with a shorter bolt throw, than you have to have for say a .270 or the 7MM magnum. By the way, the .243 Winchester is a .308 necked down to .243 caliber. I have taken once fired .308 cases, and necked them down and trimmed them to reload in my .243. .30-30 Winchester: Supposedly, the 30-30 Winchester is a "leg breaker cartridge". This probably comes from the fact that the 30-30 does not have as flat a trajectory as some of the other cartridges, so that the bullet drops more, and deer out at 150 to 200 yards are often hit in the legs, rather than in the vital parts of the body. If you use the rifle under 100 yards, the 30-30 rifle is quite adequate to kill deer. A couple of years ago, we were hunting in Alabama, and one of my hunting companions killed two deer with one shot each at about 150 yards. One of the deer weighed (field dressed) 195 pounds, and the other weighed 214 pounds. These are the two largest (body weight) deer that I have ever seen killed with the 30-30. But, this just goes to prove that the 30-30 is an adequate deer rifle at reasonable ranges. .338 Winchester Magnum: This cartridge is probably on the maximum end of the range to be considered a whitetail deer rifle (it is a .458 Winchester necked down to a .338 caliber bullet). I have killed several deer with the .338 and it is definitely a one-shot cartridge. None of the deer that I shot ran at all. Part of the reason, was not necessarily the cartridge, but where I shot the deer that made the difference. Shot placement will be covered in another article, and you may be surprised at the best place to shoot a deer to anchor him. Where you have always been taught to shoot deer is not necessarily the best place. Be sure to catch our next article on shot placement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnf Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? If I remember right your a pretty big guy (compared to me) I would probibly go with the 270 because of its down range ability, slightly less recoil than the 30-06, and ammo availiblity and price. If you want something with very little recoil I would go with the 243. I've to one and love it. My two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvDog Posted January 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? [ QUOTE ] If I remember right your a pretty big guy (compared to me) [/ QUOTE ] Okay...granted I am kind of a big guy (5' 10" @ 230lbs) but what does that have to do with what cartridge I should chose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? He is probably referring to your ability to handle the recoil. Another thing to consider is if you are looking at bolt actions, you have a choice of long or short action. The .308 and .243 are short action whereas the .06, .270 and some other choices are long action. This means to chamber another round the action must move farther on the long action calibres. Maybe not a big deal to most folks, but something else to consider. I prefer the short action because I can cycle it faster. The .308 and 7mm.-08 are my preferred choices for bolt action rifles. JMHO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowana Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? If you are just using the rifle for Deer, than 30-06, 270 Win, and 308 Win are all fine hunting rounds. I like the ol' 06 the best (its a little more versitile). But I own and shoot all three. Alot of guys out west still use the 270Win, even on Elk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ronin Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? I would not hesitate to use a .243 on any deer inside 300 yards with the right bullet. The .243's advantages are light weight, low reocoil, and tremeandous performance for such a small bullet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tped Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? I think you have to ask yourself what the goal actually is. Are you likely to have more than this gun or is this likely to be your one and only everything rifle. If it is a one and only - I'd look seriously at the 300 Win mag or the 300WSM. Yes the 30-06 is a historic proven cartridge but the 300 mags will do it a little better and a little further. For Virginia deer hunting - I'd look hard at the 7-08 or 308. Both great rounds and perfect for deer. Very accurate and pleasant to shoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnf Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] If I remember right your a pretty big guy (compared to me) [/ QUOTE ] Okay...granted I am kind of a big guy (5' 10" @ 230lbs) but what does that have to do with what cartridge I should chose? [/ QUOTE ] The ammout of felt recoil would be less on your larger frame than it would on a guy my size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? Actually, the smaller guys will feel less pain. They will be moved more by the recoil so the energy is disipated by the entire body moving backwards. The bigger guys absorb all of the punch as its harder to move them. That's like the phrase "roll with the punches" so you don't get hurt as bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnf Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? In that case, go with the 243. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PA_RIDGE_RUNNER Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Re: What cartridge should I go with? Now being a member of the OTP Gang consider the 270 or 30-06 and just magnumize it. Hey if it doesn't go through the deer and take out a chunk of mountain behind it it is too light. Just Kidding, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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