ORIGINAL: Canman1
Tring to figure out a good starting point. I hunt whitetails that range form 100lbs to around 250lbs. 80% of shots inside 100 yards. Rare for anything over 250 yards. Thanks in advance.
I started using a 7mm Rem. Mag. for all hunting in 1970, and in that same year, shot a nice mulie buck with it. I decided the 7 Mag was too destructive for deer, and got a 7X57mm as soon as I could. For deer, I use a 140-grain Nosler Partition bullet and 53.5 grains on WW 760 or H414 in Remington cases with Federal 210 primers loaded to an overall length of 3" exactly. This load produces 3000 FPS MV in my two long-throated Rugers, a No. 1A, and a Model 77.
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Careful!! This load may prove excessive in guns with short throats, or ones with tight chambers! It must be approached from at least 10% below!!
Whatever the 7X57mm will do, the .280 will do better. But I like the little 7X57, and don't want any more power than that for deer. For bigger stuff, I have the 7mm Rem. Mag., and use 175-grain Nosler Partitions in it.