HEAD0001

I would go with the 30-06. The cartridge's are very similar. IMO the 30-06 has a slight edge. There are more bullet's available for 30 caliber if you reload. There is more factory rounds chambered for the 30-06. And if you would like to shoot the rifle more, the 30-06 ammo would be slightly cheaper, which would save you some money. If you decide to sell the rifle later on, the 30-06 would hold a slightly better resale value.

As far as recoil is concerned, the real difference is in rifle design and bullet size. If you shoot bullet's of the same size then the recoil will basically be the same. If you shoot the heavier bullets in the 30-06 then the recoil will be higher, but not much higher. Anyone who says they can tell the difference in recoil for hunting loads in these two caliber's is just fooling themselves.

Buy the 30-06 with a 150 grain factory load, and go deer hunting. You will not be sorry.

There will probably be some guy's who pull out a bunch of charts and graphs. I do not care too much about charts and graphs. The 30 caliber will give you a slight edge in killing power over the .277. Notice I said slight. I have seen a lot of deer killed with these two cartridges. And as I said, I would give the slight edge to the 30-06. Tom.