what caliber
 

i'm thinking about getting a new deer rifle this summer and i don't know what caliber to choose. i hunt in southwest wisconsin in hardwoods and i also go out to wyoming deer hunting so i need a flat shooting bullet. i'm thinking about a .308,30-06,.280,.270. im just curious on what you guys think is the best caliber to choose

I am a Wisc hunter too. But to be honest, any of the calibers you listed will work fine. I would also add the 7mm-08 which has become my favorite for hunting whitetail. But in the end, if i had only one gun it would be the 30.06. Bullet choices, power and the ability to hunt the lower 48 with it makes alot of sense. Thats not to say the others won't but the 30.06 has been around for so long because it deserves to be. Its not a fad, its a workhorse.

in today's day and age i also take ammo into consideration. What can you get when you need it now.. The calibers you mention do that. 270, 30.06 and 308 can be had at walmart if you need it. This is a big deal if you don't reload. and the best part is, it won't break the bank. $20 a box usually compared to other super calibers at over $60 a box.

i have a 30.06 and 7mm-08 for sitting in my stand. I will carry the 30.06 if standing on a drive or if driving, i will carry a 30-30 lever. Its all i ever needed.

To answer that, I'd have to say the .260. It has a very mild recoil and it's accuracy is incredible. You can focus on your shot better. It's flat shooting and if you use 120gr.-140gr. bullets, you'll still have over a 1,000ft. lbs. of energy at 500 yards! It's my favorite deer rifle.

I've killed deer with many calibers. Hard to beat the 30-30 in 100 yards or less. LOL! Love my 336.

As for your choices, the .270 or .308 are very good choices. Mine love deer! There are many calibers that will fit the bill for your needs. Even a 6mm is an interesting and good choice.

iSnipe

Any of of those calibers would work good for what you want to do. I just wanted to say that I have a .270 and it is my favorite gun. Shoots great.

Coincidently, that's my favorite gun this year. As being the Dr., I prescribed some immediate dirt naps to some unsuspecting patients.

iSnipe :D

The .280 is a flat shooting round but only if you reload! factory ammo don't shoot to well,I have owned three differant rifles and none grouped well with factory ammo but I got under 1 inch groups with reloads!

Have you tried Federals Power Shok150gr load?I've only tried Rem 150gr CL's along with the Feds in my Ruger Hawkeye AW in .280 since I just wanted to get some brass for reloading but I'd be very surprised if I can get better accuracy than the Fed load.The Rem load shoots 3 shot groups about 1 3/4" at 100 yds on average but I've gotten several 2 holes overlaping 3 shot groups with the Feds.Wicked accurate!!!
http://www.federalpremium.com/produc...fle.aspx?id=14

Take a hard look at the 7mm-08. It's a short action cartridge, so the rifles are a bit shorter, and, therefore, a little more handy in the woods. And, a 140 gr 7mm-08 is flatter shooting than a 150 gr .30-06 or .308, and, at 300 yards, has more retained energy, so it'll perform quite nicely on the longer shots you might see in Wyoming.

If that response was to me, then you need to check a ballistics table. The .30-06 has more energy at the muzzle, but, the 7mm-08 has more at 300 yards. The 140 gr. 7mm bullet has a much better ballistic coefficient than the 150 gr. .308 bullet, so, it retains speed and energy better.

By not participating?

It's a pretty popular cartridge around here... 7mm-08 Remington is derived by necking down a .308 Win. to .284 cal. (Similar to the way that the .243 and .260 were developed.)

Here's a chart of the ballistics for the three deer rifles I use:

Cartridge Information
Cartridge Type Weight (grs.) Bullet Style Ballistic Coefficient
Remington® Express® 100 PSP CL 0.356
Remington® Express® 140 PSP CL 0.390
Winchester Super-X 150 Power Point 0.270

Velocity (ft/sec)
Cartridge Muzzle 100 200 300 400 500
.243 2960 2697 2449 2215 1993 1786
7mm-08 2860 2625 2402 2189 1988 1798
30-06 2920 2580 2265 1972 1704 1466

Energy (ft-lbs)
Cartridge Muzzle 100 200 300 400 500
.243 1945 1615 1332 1089 882 708
7mm-08 2542 2142 1793 1490 1228 1005
30-06 2839 2217 1708 1295 967 716

Short-Range Trajectory
Cartridge 50 100 150 200 250 300
.243 0.1 0.7 zero -2.0 -5.4 -10.4
7mm-08 0.2 0.7 zero -2.1 -5.7 -11.0
30-06 0.6 1.0 zero -2.4 -6.6 -12.7

Long-Range Trajectory
Cartridge 100 150 200 250 300 400 500
.243 1.6 1.5 zero -2.9 -7.5 -22.1 -45.4
7mm-08 1.8 1.6 zero -3.1 -7.8 -22.9 -46.8
30-06 2.2 1.8 zero -3.5 -9.0 -27.0 -57.1



Edit.... Man, I had those all spaced really nice and neat, and the formatting of the forum apparently ignores spaces. Suffice it to say that the 7mm-08 has 1793 ft lbs of energy at 200 yards and 1490 ft lbs of energy at 300 yards, whereas the .30-06 has 1708 and 1295, respectively. And, sighted in for a 200 yard zero, the 7mm-08 drops 46.8 inches at 500 yards, whereas the .30-06 drops 57.1.