Anchoring caliber
 

Guys, I know this is the right forum for this but I know people hear generally know there stuff and I won't get as much media-tainted jargon.

I'm looking at getting a deer-dual/purpose rifle this summer. I cannot decide on a caliber. Coyotes, and deer are the game and shots may go as long as 300. I've looked at 30-06, 243, 308, 7mm-08, 25-06 and maybe a few others. I can't decide. I will handload. I'm beginning to be a fan of the small-fast crowd but come from the big-slow camp. This year I'm at school and all I have is a 22-250 since I come from a shotgun-only state. Took a doe yesterday at 40yards with it and some 64gr powerpoint. Dropped her in her tracks on a front chest shot. Needless to say I was pleased, and honestly, surprised. What calibers do you guys have experience with, in a commercially available gun, that finds that sweet spot between flat-recoil-and humane, quick kills?

RE: Anchoring caliber
 

I like the 25-06. Should fit your bill nicely for varmits upto deer, 300 yards is no problem with this sucker and being you'll handload you have options to find the right bullet for various game.

If the 700 BDL I had chambered in a 2506 was left handedno doubt it would still be in my cabinet. A good buddy of mine has used his to anchor even moose, though a bit light. It is one of the most underrated deer cartridges IMHO and works JFL on yotes but the 22-250 you have is also a good one for this purpose as well.

RE: Anchoring caliber
 

.270 WSM. Good luck.

RE: Anchoring caliber
 

Hey Skeeter, forgot to mention I'm left handed too so it narrows things down. Winchester makes a few, and Browning too...but they have gone heavily on the new WSM and WSSm lines. BLRs are also an option. But I'm pretty much looking at the standards from Savage, Ruger (which does make a LH 25-06) and the standards from Remington.

I'm starting to feel like saying "heck with it, they've all killed thousands of deer" and just finding the best deal I can...take the money I save and get better glass and more reloading "stuff".

RE: Anchoring caliber
 

.300 Winchester Magnum. About as humane as you can get.

RE: Anchoring caliber
 

Also, using that 22-250 wasn't a very wise decision, do you know what couldv'e happened if you had taken a longer shot? Please for the sake of hunters don't do it again. I know it dropped her in her tracks, but I doubt it would past 50 yards. Anyway. good luck. And before I get a bunch of .22 cal. fanatics telling me how you dropped such and such at xx yards, i don't care.

RE: Anchoring caliber
 

Excellent choice andi couldn't agree more! For the game your going after the 25.06 will fit the bill nicely.If you handload there's lots of good choices in bullets and in my experience withthe 25.06 it will shoot just about anything you feed it. I've settled in on the 110gr accubond for deer,itsvery accurate in my rem 700 classic and it's performance on game has been excellent for me.For coyotes i would probably go with a different bullet and lighten up in grains a little. Good luck in your choice.

RE: Anchoring caliber
 

270 WSM. It's got incredible ballistics.

RE: Anchoring caliber
 

Being a southpaw complicates it some. If you like in features and feeleither the ruger or savage thenthe 2506 will work great. If not then buy a standard offered in the others. With the 22-250 available for yotes you really can buy whatever you wish for deer and anything else down the road.

Can't fault your logic about spending more on glass and other stuff but don't settle on fit and feel either. One reason I don't own a 2506 is I can't find an off the shelf in LH and at this point don't want to pay to build one. My 7mm rem mag works fine for all the big game I hunt, fits me to a T and is extremely accurate. My confidence is very high with this rifle in my hands even though I have others I could use, it is the one I reach for.

Good luck

RE: Anchoring caliber
 

Ridge runner, I agree with you while also seeing things from Chanteclars point. Regrettably, I've seen first-hand the difference two bullets of completely different designs can make. With .22s you have to but the bullet where it belongs, bullet construction put aside. I have no intentions of using that load for 200yard shots because my remington's 1-14" twist won't group them past 100. (and even then its 2" inch groups, huge for a .22...no tumbleing yet.) Seeing that a well place 64gr-.224 bullet can do gives me alot of confidence in a .257. I've already asked around my buddies at school. They give the general retoric of "25s awefully small" but none of them have any actual experience with it.