Another vote for the 45/70 Thor's Hammer

Plus one vote for the 45/70, 44 mag, 45 colt, 30-30, and 35 whelen.
Flying out of a lever gun from marlin, henry, or winchester.

Damaged Meat?
 

There seems to be lots of concern about damaged meat from larger bullets.

Most of my deer have been taken with a copper, hollow point slug. They are about 325 grains traveling at 1450 FPS with 2040 lbs of energy. Not too different from some of the big bore center fire "brush" calibers. They go right through creating nice holes which make a nice trail. I have never had any significant meat loss.

If you put the shot where it is supposed to go, you are good. If you pull a shot and blast bone all over, that is your fault and, most any bullet will have the same effect.

Check with your butcher. He has seen them all.

Big,

I always love it, when someone makes it simple !

"If you put the shot where it is supposed to go, you are good. If you pull a shot and blast bone all over, that is your fault and, most any bullet will have the same effect. " BB

Cartridges I'd suggest are all on the 308 case or smaller. 243win 85gr to 100gr bullets, 260Rem 120gr to 140gr bullets, 7-08 Rem 139/140gr bullets, 308 Win 165gr to 180gr bullets. There is also the 300 Savage, probably pretty hard to find ammo for.

I have avoided anything on other than the 308 case. Go to those on the 30-06 case and they are fine but with the ranges your talking about, add nothing to the search except more velocity and you sure don't need that.

Actually, I've never used one, but a 12ga with buckshot or slugs would work well for you. There are 12ga shotguns made with rifled barrels for using slugs. If you decide to try birds, you can swap out the barrel for a smooth bore.

There are a whole lot of other choices not only on the 30-06 case but also belted cases and new short magnum cases. They are all overkill for what you want.

I have to ask, why don't you want a 30-30? A Marlin 336 in 30-30 with a 2-7 scope would be perfect for your situation. Of course if what you want is the 30-06, then that's what you should buy. Just about any centerfire rifle will kill a deer and all of them will ruin some meat. Try and shoot behind the shoulder and you only lose some rib meat.

You don't mention if you have other firearms or not and wether or not you might want to do some small game hunting.

But if you were, for the range you'll be shooting, I'd go with a 20 guage shotgun. Remington 870 has a combo out for a reasonable price. With good sabots the deer won't have a chance.

Just a thought. Then you would have a dual purpose firearm.

HA

The advice about bigger bullets and slower speed is sound if you wish to damage less meat. The 35 Remington is an excellent modest range deer killer. My first deer rifle was a 336 Marlin in 35 rem. I have used a 270 for decades and it kills deer rapidly but has a long history of meat damage. I recently bought a 338 Federal and guess it will kill deer very effectively, but has more power than needed for close range deer shooting.

I bought my son a 7mm08 with a Leupold VX-II 3-9 x 40. Sweet. He's shot at 5 deer and all five dropped right in their tracks.