RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

I was just about to post the ballistics tables I had found when GTBuzz did it for me. I don' t think anybody would say anything bad about a 7-08, but it' s just not as much gun as the .270.

That being said, I wouldn' t mind having one... it might actually get some use, if my .270 didn' t get jealous. :D

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Oh, btw, not that you' ll be able to find a similar deal, but my Dad lives in pawn/gun shops, it seems, and he found my brother' s gun...

Blued/synthetic Remington Model 7
Muzzle break
Remington Custom Gun Shop product
Leupold Vari-XIII 3-9x 40mm

in a 7mm-08 for... (drum roll)

$600.

Good luck on finding your deal. :)

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Try downrange energy retention. Besides, your numbers are high for the 270 and low for the 7mm-08. If your theory holds true then all the short mag craze must be all hype huh?

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Nope, my numbers are pulled straight off the IMR sight and the Alliant sight for the highest velocity each catridge produced with any powder. You can check them yourself if you want.

http://www.imrpowder.com/rifle/7mm08r_index.html
http://www.imrpowder.com/rifle/270w_index.html

http://www.alliantpowder.com/
(It wont let me mark a URL for the indiviual page)

I have also listed the ballistic coefficents for appropriate bullets. If you start 200 fps higher and have the same or higher BC, anyway you look at it - the .270 is going to have more energy at any range. Remington hyped up the .260 Rem vs. the .270 when they first introduced it. Problem was they compared a 140g Spitzer in the .260 to a 150g RN in the .270 Win.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Just looked in some ballistics tables and the downrange energy of the 270 is superior to the 7mm-08 with equal weight and style bullets and barrel lengths everytime.The 7mm-08 happens to be my favorite cartridge and I like it a lot, but it doesn' t equal or exceed the 270 in ballistics, be they velocity,trajectory,or retained energy at the muzzle or downrange,you just can' t make up for the larger powder capacity of the 270.That said,they are both excellant deer calibers and would make great choices in either a long or short action gun.


woods

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Very well, I concede that my math was off. At any rate I still prefer the 7mm-08 Rem to the 270 Win but won' t hesitate to grab either one for a hunting trip. The differences are minimal at best.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

*thumbs up* and that' s the moral of the story...

You can' t pick the wrong side in this argument!

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Sorry, just wanted to show how cool my dad is....

http://www.remington.com/firearms/custom/7KS.htm

This is my brother' s gun, in a 7mm-08. He got it, barely used, with a Vari-XIII, for $600. That' s just beyond words amazing.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

I haven' t owned a Savage for almost seven years.....so my comments are in error for the last time....

They had the worst triggers and horrible safetys and didn' t feed or eject.....accuracy .....great.....but I wouldn' t give you a dime for a truckload of them.....I certainly hope they' ve changed in recent history!!!

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

To date I have three of them and they all function flawlessly. I did adjust the triggers which was no problem at all. Evidently they have changed.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

frizzellr,

No problems with that. The 7mm/08 is a great round that is for sure. The .270 probably adds 75 to 100 more yards range but that comes at a range 99% of all hunters shouldn' t be shooting at anyway. So you are certainly correct that practical differences aren' t very much – dead is dead!

When you start hot rodding the .270 with nearly 60g of powder and 150g bullets, the recoil will be more pronounced than the 7mm/08 if that is a concern. I do recall you saying you' ve torn your rotator cuff, so I would imagine you can certainly tell a difference in the two.

Heck, ballistics aren' t usually why I like cartridges anyway. My favorite cartridge is the 7.92x57 JS, or as it is more commonly referred to - the 8mm Mauser. Using European loading data I get about 2650 fps from 180g BT. That is nothing special but for some reason it' s my favorite. Even loading the 185g Remington Core-Loct to a modest velocity of 2400 fps just flat out hammers deer.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Either you had really bad luck or I have had good luck. I will agree with you the triggers aren' t so good; however, what American made rifle doesn' t have a lawyer' s trigger these days? At least the Savage is adjustable. As far as the safety goes, well you either like a tang safety or you do not. I personally like the tang safety.

I currently own 4 left handed Savage rifles that I have bought used and all feed and eject flawlessly. I have replaced the trigger on 3 of the 4. Even with the trigger swap I still have under $35 0 in all but one.

As a matter of fact the only 2 bolt actions I have had that didn' t feed well were older model Ruger M77s.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

GTBuzz - A handloaded 8mm Mauser is just about perfect for hunting all North American big game. Try 170-180gr bullets for deer and 200gr bullets for elk. Under 300 yards...perfect!

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Guess I buy my Savages at a different place lol.I have had over a dozen at one time or another and have NEVER had one fail to chamber or eject a cartridge so feeding has never failed for me even once.The tang safety is an excellant three way with a middle setting that locks the trigger but allows working the bolt to unload.It is adjustable for tension and can be made as easy or stiff to work as you desire,I have hit a couple times when someone was bad mouthing a savage safety or trigger and I popped it out of the stock and adjusted it in about 2-3 minutes and they were all smiles when they felt it adjusted properly.The safeties have to be adjusted WHEN the trigger adjustment is changed and a lot of people don' t do this.From my years of shotgun hunting I prefer a top tang safety to all other designs.The triggers are adjustable for weight and creep and easily set to good crisp hunting let-off(3-4#).Since the new accu-triggers are being phased in they will all soon have the best trigger in the industry over the counter(adjustable from 1 1/2# up).Accuracy is truly the best out of the box of any factory rifle as their floated button rifled barrels and actions are capable of very tight groups with no expensive aftermarket gunsmith work required.Their stocks if synthetic are flimsy and need the cheap viagra treatment to stiffen forends(epoxy or bedding jell with small tubes or rods) or should be had in laminate,wood,or one of the Sharp Shooter Supply versions($225) with the aluminum bedding skeleton.The bluing is thin and unless its kept well oiled can rust so I opt for the stainless versions that are still cheaper than most competitiors blued offerings.They are a bargin to buy and a joy to see what accuracy they are capable of out of the box with a trigger tweak.As Buzz said all the newer guns except maybe Sako and Tikka can use a trigger adjustment right out of the box as the lawyer weight trigger pulls are not unique to Savage only.To be able to buy a stainless weather warrior for $450-465 new and a laminate stainless fluted heavy barreled varmint gun with 1 1/2# accu-trigger for $550-575 is truly a bargin in todays gun market.

woods

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Man, I can' t believe that nobody mentioned the time proven .308 winchester! Nice, short action, and can handle any critter that walks in Michigan! And if you get to reloading, there' s a selection of .30 cal. bullets out there that will make your head spin! Can you tell that I' m a .30 cal. fan?:D

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[Deleted by Admins]

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

No offense intended but how do you figure? Factory loads for the 270 you can find 130 and 150 if you look hard. 120 and 140 for the 7mm but really what else would you need? Now handloading is a whole new ball of wax. 110-175 for the 7mm, 100,130 and 150 for the 270. Personally I do everything I need to do with a 130 out of a 270 and a 140 out of a 7mm-08. BTW, I have a 300 Win Mag and after I got the 7mm-08 and 270 all it does is gather dust.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

There are also 160g and 180g bullets available for the .277 bore as well.:D

Truth be known I think both cartridges are at their best between 130 and 150g bullets.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Several very good points have been made!

Don' t rule out the 308 Winchester. I' ve got the same delima as you right now (except it won' t be my first rifle), and I' m taking a serious look a the 308.

Also, the 30-06 would serve you well too.

The greatest advice was to get the best deal. Inside of 250-300 yds., all of these perform almost identically on deer with proper bullet construction, giving you very quick kills.

Furthermore, you can step up in calliber to the heavy 30-06, 7 Mag, 300 Win class of rifle for an all-around North American big game rifle. Recoil does bother some people, like myself, but you can get a recoil pad for around $30 that seems to cut felt fecoil in half. Pachmayer is a good brand.

I think bullet construction is just as important as calliber, and you may want to start a thread on that if you have any questions. All of these choices that have been mentioned are GREAT for your intended purposes, but with the wrong bullet choice, may be highly uneffective. Just look at the 270 and 243 topics which are going right now.

Good luck hunting whatever you decide.

RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
 

Both are excellent cartridges. Flip a coin! [:-]