308 win for sure the 270 would be at the bottom of my list of deer guns.

Balistics matter when you are comparing calibers on paper. Bullets matter when you are comparing performance in the field. In the field for me on deer size game, the 25-06 has been much more effective. In the field the 250 Savage has performed much better on deer than my 243's and 6MM Rems. On paper though the 250 Savage does not stack up well. I have had four 243 rifles and two 6MM Remington rifles and have put them all through their paces. Just reporting what I have seen. I have reloaded many hundreds of rounds for all of them.

James B,

I've found the same thing, the 25's really do a lot better than the 6mm's, and i have a 240 Wby. in the mix too....

I see it all the time on here, many think what they see on paper is gospel!!!! I've found it much more usefull to go by my "experence"!!

Drilling Man

I really like my 8x57 for deer also!!

Now I've heard it all. You obviously have an issue with the .243 thats apparent. Now even less gun is better. You make no sense. Rambling about TKO numbers, then say balistics are not to be believed, and then do a U turn and claim less gun is better. whatever
(sigh.....)

Welp Im convinced...Im burning all my other calibers!! Nothing but the 243 for me from now on...hope the Elk and Bear are feeling lucky cause this will surely put them on their can with a mere glimpse!!


Ladies and Gents...we have a SUPERGUN on our hands!






The whole bigger bullet=more killing power thing really didnt sink in at all I guess. As with this argument its obvious the 243 would be more effective on polar bears than the 45-70. []

DM. I have noticed that for years. I don't care what the paper says, In my expierence the 25 calibers are more effective on deer size game. The 243 with Nosler partitions works but not like the 25's. The 250 factory loads that I last used were 100 grain Super X silver tips. The only chronograph at 2605 FPS but are deadly as hell on deer. Much more so than my 100 grain 6MM's, At least past 100 yards on big mule deer.

Doe Dumper. I used the heck out of the 243 for several years. It was a caliber that I tried hard to like. I just saw it fail to many times until I started loading Partition bullets in it. I still don't use it any more on deer though because the 25's and up are just a much better tool. The 243 it great for Varmits and a better coyote gun was probably never made except for pelt damage. They may also work fine for the smaller whitetails. But from what I have seen they don't work like the 25-06 or even the 250 that my wife shoots. I will keep my 45-70 for the big stuff.

I own a 30-06, 308 and 25-06. Out of the three, the 25-06 is my favorite deer round. It doesn't kick at all that I can notice, it is not as loud as the others (26 inch ultra barrel, handirifle) and it is not too long because no receiver (same length as my .308 with 22 inch barrel. Part of it is the set up of the gun, long barrel, barrel heavy, but 25-06 with 117s is sweet for whitetails. Interestingly enough, I double checked the regs and ANY centerfire rifle is legal in WV. Even .223 and even .22 hornet. I guess even .17 centerfire is legal, rimfire has to be at least .25 cal according to the regs.

When i was a kid, i sounded just like zrexpilot, now 30 something years later, and putting a couple hundred animials in the freezer later, it has changed the way i look at things. Especially since i've had the chance to hunt "all sizes" of animials in Alaska, Canada and some of the lower 48 states.

I still have the origional 700 Rem. in .243 Win. cal. i bought in "about" 1970, but i don't hunt deer with it any longer.. It's pretty much shot out now, although it is still accurate enough to hunt deer with. (i still have other .243 Win.'s too)

Once i started useing something a bit better, it didn't take long to see that i probable wouldn't be going back to a .243 Win. for a deer rifle, even though i did build a 240 Wby. years later and give that a try too.. (that i also still have)

Keep in mind i "never" say 6mm's won't kill a deer, but i do say most everything bigger works a "lot" better, and like James said, it's because of the "bullet" not the velocity...

Sometimes sh1t happens, and haveing the edge of that "better" bullet (in this case, a larger diameter bullet) will save you a lot of grief!!

Like i said in an above post, i go by what my "experence" has shown me over the years, not by what a piece of paper says it's "supose to" work like..

Drilling Man

finally...someone who doesn't want a dang .270, all you hear...270 270 270

i would say a .280 Remington would do the job wonderfully, another option for a real deer thumper would be the 6.5x55 that you mentioned, I own one of these delicate mausers and have wonderful results with it and virtually non-existant recoil. Good Luck