What rifle caliber from .270 to anything lower than a .308?

Question

I want a rifle lower than $1000 with a caliber ranging from .270 to anything lower than .308. I will probably be only hunting deer, and maybe some coyotes. I was looking at the Remington 700 BDL, for $700, chambered in .270. I was wondering if this would be good. Also, what sort of kick does the .270 have?

Answer 1

You have had some good advice so far. I hope I can add to it.

The .270 is an extremely versatile caliber and will work well for you. The recoil is not what I would call punishing. But like another person said, after 5-6 rounds during a sighting in session, it is not insignificant.

The Remington 700 is a good rifle. I have two. A .270 and .22-250. I would not trade either of them.

I also like the mauser 7 X 57. GREAT round. It is a little difficult to find rounds these days. Do you handload?? If not then the 7 mm-08 is very capable. If you are recoil sensitive, consider these very good choices.

.308 is a venerable round and probably works great for the game you mentioned. Plentiful ammo from many reputable companies. And EVERY rifle company chambers that round in several rifles. May very well be the best blend of what you are looking for. I have this one in a Stainless Browning lever action. Nice brush gun. I recommend the gun and the caliber.

the .243 is all that the .308 is in terms of ammo and rifle choices. It probable doesn't have the knockdown at longer ranges like the .308 WIN or the .270 WIN. I have the .243 in a scoped Thompson Encore G2. Very nice performance from a small package. great for coyotes and smallish deer.

I will propose another round here for you. It is fairly new but offers an exciting blend of trajectory, power, and speed. the .280 remington. I have not shot one of these yet. Perhaps some one else might comment on the recoil. I can't imagine it would be any worse than the .270 Win. I get excited about new calibers that I don't own yet. That is why I offer this one.

Good luck wuth your search. Shoot safely and responsibly. Best regards.

Answer 2

The .270 Winchester is actually a great choice. With anything heavier than the 130 grain bullet the .270 will have a noticeable kick, but its not that bad something like 8 or 9 pounds of felt recoil with the lighter-weight rifles.

For deer and coyote you might consider the .25-06 Remington which recoils less even with the heaviest factory load of 120 grains. It is a stellar deer rifle and exceedingly accurate.

Or... if you're not ever hunting anything bigger than Whitetail deer, the .243 Winchester with 100 grain hunting bullets will serve you well. I can't emphasize using the heaviest bullet available (100 grain) for deer enough. The 80 grain bullets, though faster, can be deflected by heavy bone or do a surface blow-out which will mean that the deer will run off to die a slow, lingering death and the hunter will have no venison.

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Answer 3

I am guessing, but it sounds to me that you are relatively new to hunting and shooting. With that assumed (yes, I know what they say) I would stay with a mainstream caliber. The .270, the .308, and the .30-06 will fit your bill. You have chosen a good rifle; make sure you get a good scope too. Check the price of factory ammo for each caliber listed above. That may be of influence. All above caliber listed ammo is available most places you would hunt.

My personal preference is the .30-06. Ammo is plentiful and reasonably priced. If you get into reloading, you will have a wide variety of bullets to choose from. This caliber is very versital (use .308 bullets) and will do well on coyote and deer.

If you get into hunting other animals, the .30-06 will handel all North American animals except bear. I DO NOT recommend this caliber for bear. It will work, but I prefer a larger caliber when it comes to the big guys!

The recoil is not that bad. If you reload, you can tame the recoil to your specific hunt, loading a light load for varmits to a heavy load for elk.

I think everyone should have a .30-06 at the center of their firearm collection. But that's just me. I'm a .30 caliber guy :)

Answer 4

the rifle is a good choice, Remington 700 is a great line of guns. A .270 is also a great shoice for deer and coyotes is you dont keep the hide. It will make a good hole in the hide, so if you plan on keeping it, i would try to get little loads or possibly another rifle, there is no such thing as an all-game rifle. It does kick, but it isnt horrible. Its not near as bad as shotgun slugs.

Answer 5

All answers above are good, except the guy who says the .270 kicks hard. Anyway, I bought a great rifle about 2 years ago, new to the market. The .25 wssm ( winchester super short magnum.) I was sceptical at first, but long story short, in the two years I've had the rifle my wife has taken 5 whitetail and my son has taken 3. So actually It's not my rifle anymore. That's ok because I bought me another one! We have lost no deer with this rifle. It is very fast, flat shooting gun, in My opinion perfect for whitetail deer. That is unless you are going to be hunting the gigantic northern variety. The ones we've taken were from south Texas. I know this is not in the range you specified, but if you will only be shooting deer and coyotes this is a very dependable gun.
Follow link below and choose .25 wssm from the centerfire balistics drop down.


http://www.gunsandammomag.com/ballistics/?url=%2Fballistics%2F25_wssm.html&x=9&y=6

Answer 6

I suggest you find a group of shooters/hunters and get some additional insight and knowledge. 270 is a 30/06 case necked down to the 7mm range and it kicks like a politician with his hand in the cooky jar. If you want to go shooting and have some fun and enjoyment go with the 308; neglibile recoil and with all the surplus ammo available you can shoot it a heck of a lot cheaper than a 270. That caliber is in military use around the world to this day; it is tried and proven; and, it is chambered in a great number of offerings by the various manufacturers. If you want a lot of fun without cleaning out your checkbook pick up an SKS, which is chambered in 7.62x39, a 30 caliber short cartridge. It is the same round used in the AK47; and is very accurate with negligible recoil; not to mention that the ammo is quite inexpensive. Good for antelope and deer and a heck of a varminter round. Sorry about always bringing up what costs least but here in Montana we are enslaved to northwestern energy; they rape the people to pay their bigwigs multi-million dollar bonuses because they do such a wonderful job. That means the working stiff works two jobs to put food on the table and pay the utility bill. The price of gas exacerbates the situation. Happy shooting.

Answer 7

I have used about every cal. for Deer that you can think of, and the 270 is by far my favorite cal. for deer sized game!
I also use it on Elk, with a well placed shot, it gets the job done just fine.
The 270 cal. has a little more kick than a 243 win. and less than either the 308, or the 30-06. you cant go wrong useing a 270 !!

Answer 8

I'm a huge fan of the 7x57 Mauser, but nobody seems to chamber it any more, so the closest thing practically is the 7mm08. I've stayed with my 57mm cartridges myself, for the most part, but I've bought 3 rifles for family members in 7mm08, all good shooters, and two of the three real tack-drivers. The 7mm08 is a little disappointing to me in 175 grain bullet loads but from 139 to 160ish it's a wonderful deer round, and if it matters to you (it doesn't to me) it outperforms the parent 308 at long range. I greatly prefer it to either the 270 Win or the newer 270 WSM.

Answer 9

I'd actually go with a 7mm-08.

Its a 7mm bullet necked down to a .308 casing.

It definitely has the range and accuracy. I've made accurate shots at over 300 yards and through brush at times.

Also its not very expensive, and has quite the knockdown.

Excellent rifle round.

Answer 10

A better choice is 30-06 Caliber because it is more versatile, with a greater choice of bullet weights to choose from... Recoil is minimal... You will be getting more for your money$ when you choose the 30-06...... I buy all my firearms, Rifle, Pistol, Revolver, Shotguns used with no regrets... Let the other guy pay the new price... You can save a lot of $$$ when you buy used.....