akjk

i am looking for a gunwhat would be better for whitetaila 270 a 243 a 30.30 or a 300??????????????

RugerM77.270

My opinion is a 270 its packs more punch then the 243, has more range then the 30-30, and less kick then the 300.

That said I have a 30-30, 270, 300, and want a 243 but the 270 is my GOTO. No whitetail can stand-up to a 130 bullet from a 270.

statjunk

In my opinion after killing 5 deer this year I would say a 300 WM is too much gun for a deer. Way too much meat damage.

Tom

thndrchiken

Will it be just for deer? If so then a 243, 25-06 260, 270, 308 are more than enough. If you plan on hunting something bigger then 270, 30-06 and the 300 wm.

Myself, I like to be the oddball out in the woods, 257 Roberts, 6.5x55, 307 and 35 Whelen. I also have two 30-06's and a 270 WSM.

Edcyclopedia

For whitetail it's the .270, consider the .257 Roberts.
For an all around cartridge .30-06

hometheaterman

I have a 30-06 that I really like so that's my choice. However, a couple buddies have .270's that they kill plenty of deer with. I'd wouldn't hesitate to use one of those either. Another buddy has a .243 I've never seen him shoot at a deer with as he just got it out to use this year and never got a good shot with it but I really like it. For some reason it makes me kind of want a .243.

JagMagMan

Anything from .243 to the .30 caliber (non-magnums) will do fine! Magnums are just not needed for Whitetail, and the 30-30 is OK if you don't stretch the range. The .243 will take any Whitetail with the right bullets, out to 250-300 yards. If you want a little more gun, keeping the recoil light, the .260, 25-06or 7MM-08 will be hard to beat! The .270, .280,.308 and 30-06 will do it all.... and more!
Personally, I like the .308 and it's offsprings, (.243 and 7MM-08) the best!

DM

WHAT 300??? 300 Savage??? 300 Wby.??? For that matter, what 270?

DM

Teach Deer

It depends somewhat on your circumstances that you did not specify such as style of hunting (thick woods or open farm land) and type of rifle (single shot, bolt action, lever gun, automatic, etc)...

Having hunted in both thick woods and open farm lands with most of the calibersyou listed with most of the types above, I would recommend a .270 Winchester...works well up close and is hard to beat out to 300 yards, can be found in any type of rifle desired, and ammo can be purchased nearly anywhere.

If you are also planning to hunt larger game (e.g. elk, moose, black bear, etc) then a .30-06 is preferable...works well up close and is good out to 250 yards (or more with high quality loads), can be found in any type of rifle, etc...but offers a larger selection of heavier bullets.

The magnum rifles (I love my 7mm Remington Magnum) does inflict a lot of damage on deer. The 7-pt buck I killed this year had a 6 inch would channel all of the way through...1/2 of the right lung was on the hillside 10 ft behind the deer.

JagMagMan

I had magnumitis for a while! I had to have a 7MM RM, worked well and I still like the 7MM RM!
With double lung shots, I have not seen much meat damage and never a 6" wound channel!
The magnums are just not needed! I've went to a .243 and I haven't had a deer complain yet!
Kills 'em just as dead, just as fast. Also it's cheaper to shootand easier on the recoil too!
Again, I don't have anything against using the magnums! You always hear "you can't kill 'em too dead!"
Well, the flip side is "dead is dead! How much deader can you get?"