Caliber Choice
 

I am looking for a great caliber choice for whitetail hunting, and also black bear hunting.....i have been thinking of the 30-06, and maybe the 300 win mag, but i also need advice on recoil....i am 15...5'11 and 175 pounds..i have shot a 270wsm with ease...can i handle these calibers



Thanks, mike

RE: Caliber Choice
 

I think that for what you're going to hunt with it, the 30-06 should be fine. It's a great old catridge that isn't going anywhere. It's easy to find ammo for, and you can get everything from accellerator rounds to 220gr. I might give some consideration towards a 300 win, but the recoil is quite a step up.

RE: Caliber Choice
 

Thanks Swampman..a 30-06 is what i was leaning toward but the 300 Win mag got throw into play bc it is enough to hunt all of north america with...and recoil isnt that big of a deal for me bc i shot the 270wsm when i was twelve and a great deal smaller and according to chuck hawks site its about i think the 300 is 8 ft pounds more and that shouldt be that much different .....especially since i was a little squirt when i was twelve and i am muuuch bigger now

RE: Caliber Choice
 

i use the 270 for all my hunting for the last 20 yearsdeer elk and black bear

RE: Caliber Choice
 

The 300 winmag isn't going to do anything the 06 can't. It'll just do it a little faster. Bullet selection for both is identical, for deer and black bear 150-165 gr will be all you need. For anything larger 180-200 depending on your preference and bullet used. I shoot 165 gr interloks and sst's out of my 06 for deer and black bear. If the opportunity arose for elk, moose or the larger bears I think my 35 Whelen would be the first choice but I would not be undergunned with the 06 and a 180 gr partition or accubond. I would even consider a 165 gr failsafe or triple shock

RE: Caliber Choice
 

whitetailhunter,
I'm glad to see that you're leaning toward the venerable 30-06. The "06" will do most evertything you'll ever need. the 300WM, IMHO,is not big enough for anything in North America. You'd need to go at least 338WM for that. Just my opinion. I think that You'd probably be as well off with a nice 270 depending on how large your black bears are and at what range. But you couldn't go wrong with either.:D

RE: Caliber Choice
 

thanks for ur opinion guys....everyones comments are welcome and it helps alot

RE: Caliber Choice
 

308 or 30-06 although I also love the 280.

RE: Caliber Choice
 

For deer & bear (excluding Alaskan Browns), the 270Win., 280Rem., 308Win. or 30-06 will do just fine. Magnums not really needed, but if you must have a belt on your case then look to the 7mmRem.Mag. If you feel you want bigger than that, then skip the in-between stuff, and go for a 338Win.Mag. - with it you would have something suitable even for Alaska.

RE: Caliber Choice
 

I say go for the .30-06. If the recoil of the standard loads is too much, then try some of the new Federal or Remington reduced recoil loads. Recoil is about 1/2 of the regular loads and my 12-year-old daughter has no problem shooting my .30-06 with these loads. Then as you get older you can shoot the heftier loads for whatever situation you encounter.