deer rifle cartridge suggstions please

[boltman223]

I need some suggestions. I have a remington 700 short action with a .473 bolt face and I am trying to decide on what chambering I should go with. It is going to be used for Minnesota white tail. My main criteria is keeping recoil lower than a 308 and being capable of 300 yard shots. Also, feeding reliably is important.

 

[ShootDots]

For what you are describing, there is hardly a better caliber than the 7-08! I have taken truckloads of animals with them>>>some quite large too!

 

[6xcshooter]

6.5x47 lapua or 260 rem or 243 ai are all great. doesn't take much for deer if put in the correct location!

 

[Desert Fox]

260 or 6.5-47 Lapua will be the ticket.

 

[Savage99]

Sell it as it is.

Look at other actions in complete rifles at gunshops and select a better design.

Some better designs are the CRF M70's, Ruger M77's.

 

[Glenn Powell]

My deer rifle is a 6.5×284, but its in a long action. I doubt any deer would know the difference between any of the 6.5's inside 300. I always thought the 257 Roberts would be a fun deer round to have.

I can't see any reason why anyone would feel the "need" for CRF for deer, unless they were rabid : Push feeds have served me well. Nothing wrong with the 700.

 

[fredhorace77]

I know I will probably not get many to agree with me on this one but the .250 savage would be a really nice deer round

 

[boltman223]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have considered all if the cartridges mentioned. The 7-08 would be a good choice for sure and would maybe be a better choice just incase I decided to use it for something bigger but, I have been leaning toward a a 6.5, I am also thinking it might have less recoil yet.

I also think the 257 would be a nice deer rifle and have almost forgot about this one. with recoil being a concern the 257 Roberts is getting my interest more and more. The 257 Roberts would probably have even less recoil than the fore mentioned right? But how does this cartridge fair at 300 yards?

 

[Drop Port]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have considered all if the cartridges mentioned. The 7-08 would be a good choice for sure and would maybe be a better choice just incase I decided to use it for something bigger but, I have been leaning toward a a 6.5, I am also thinking it might have less recoil yet.

I also think the 257 would be a nice deer rifle and have almost forgot about this one. with recoil being a concern the 257 Roberts is getting my interest more and more. The 257 Roberts would probably have even less recoil than the fore mentioned right? But how does this cartridge fair at 300 yards?

300 is no problem at all. With a 100 NBT I've taken many deer past 300 out to 500. With the powders today and +p loading it is a whole new cartridge. Years ago it was loaded way below where it should have been. Today running at standard pressure numbers it is a great cartridge.

 

[Kermit in Va.]

+1 for the 257 Bob...


Donnie

 

[dryhumor]

Depending on what I have scoped when the season comes around, I use either a .260 or .257 most of the time. I like both calibers pretty much equally. Both are easy to load for.

This year it's the .260

If you ever think about going to a long action, I'd recommend looking at the .280

 

[Milo 2.0]

The 257 Roberts would be a fun little round for deer. But as far as bullets go, one would think in 6.5 you'll have a way better selection.

 

[2506]

The 257 Roberts AI would be the way to go if you want a .257. It is not that much behind a 25-06. You can do 3200 fps with 100 gr bullets and 2900 with 115/117 gr bullets easy. Very little recoil and after killing many hundreds of white tail deer as a control hunter on a huge farm for 15 years I can tell you that there is just something about a .257 caliber rifle that just plain kills deer dead in their tracks. Out to 300 yards would be a chip shot. Sight in 3" high at 100 yards and you will not be more than 2" low at 300 yards. Just hold center of front shoulder squeeze the trigger and have a sharp knife. ;D

If you want a .264 the 260 Remington or the 6.5X55 which you can load a bit hotter than most load data states because it is for under 46000 CUP for the small ring Mausers. If you want to shoot at longer ranges than 300 for deer the 6.5 makes a better choice. Better ballistics for their bullets. 120 Nosler ballistic tips and 130 Accubonds starting out around 3000 fps shoot flat and hit hard waaaaaaaaaaaaaay out there.

 

[areaone]

6 mm Rem with a 85 gr Sierra HPBT, or a 257 Roberts, the 257 AI Could possibly give you a feeding problem withits steep shoulder, at least it can for me in acustom Sako. The 6mm Rem has been a deadly round with limited recoil, go from a 60 gr to a 105 gr with no problem. A 85 gr bullet will haul the mail and have seen it kill Antelope at 600+ yds. Any of these will be great for 300 yds, a 257 is over 3000 fps with 100 gr, with a 6mm Rem over 3200 with a 100gr. What more could you want. Speed, choice of bullets and low recoil, with flexiblity for varmints.

 

[wapiti25]

The 257 Roberts is a good choice but the mag length is short for that case. I would go with the 7-08 with 140's or the 260 Rem using 120gr bullet. If 25 cal is important to you you could use the 25 Souper (25-308) as it would fit the 2.800" mag length. I feel the short actions should have 3.000" mags.

 

[bheadboy]

you started by saying short action, i will tell you any case longer than the 308/7-08/260/243, will encounter some seating problems for heavier bullets, as the length is limited and you wind up seating down into the case.

The 7-08 is in my thoughts a better case, factory ammo, hand load 100's to 160's and you get all the variations you want. moderate recoil 120s-129s -140';on deer easy 300+ and very accurate, easy to load a lot of powders, no fire forming.

Bob

 

[LHSmith]

I know I will probably not get many to agree with me on this one but the .250 savage would be a really nice deer round

Well, I think the 250 would be just dandy for average size whitetails.... in fact, I am building one for this season. Make it a 250 Savage for me.....or 250 Ackley. Make it low recoil for me, a 3 year stint with a 300 RUM convinced me that's where I want to be.

 

[GSPV]

260 Remington, 260 AI, 260 30 deg improved.

I had the 243 that my father gave me for my first CF rifle rebarreled in 260 Remington throated for the 130 gr Berger. It's a hammer.

 

[boltman223]

Thanks for the input everyone. I think I wood do a 257 Roberts if it wasn't for the mag length. So I guess it's down to the 250 savage, 260, and the 7-08. The 7-08 gives me more versatility but, I am not worried about using it for anything bigger than deer and would like less recoil.

Is the 260 going to produce a noticeable difference in recoil? And how do you all feel about the 250 savage out to 300 yards for taking deer?

I'm trying to do the most with the least if you haven't figured that out already.

 

[LHSmith]

If you keep the barrel length at least 22", a 100 gr. spitzer should still retain more than the magic 1000 Ft.lbs at 300 yds. Sighted in at 200 the bullet drop should be < 8". Low recoil, excellent feeding....and will get the job done if you do your part. I decided on the 250 Ackley.... I still got that touch of magnumitus....but I can always opt for the standard 250 or reduced loads of 4895 in the AI for the grandkids.