What Caliber to get??? - Need Suggestions

[AverageJoe]

Tikka t3 hunter fluted, savage hunter 11 bth, both sub moa guarantee out of the box with factory ammo

[AverageJoe]

Or get an older remington 700 sendero 25-06

[ready2hunt]

30-06 any brand. The versatility of the bullet grains is great. Ammo is not hard to find you and with a good scope you can reach out and touch accurately pretty far. Not a whole lot of recoil and you can use it for a javelina or elk. Everyone has their preference.

 

I prefer the Remington but any brand will do. Even a mossberg is good. Its the shooter....not the gun. Good luck to you.

[cbryant11]

Is there ever a possibilty to shoot elk with it?

[Scooter]

Savage is really putting out a decent factory rifle these days. If it were me I'd pick up a model 11-111 XP hunter package that comes with the Nikon BDC scope in 7mm Rem Mag...

[sherman]

I like Remington 700 I have a standard barrel and my dad has the Sendero to both of us there is not any different in the way it shoots to offset the extra weight. I would get the sps $450 or so

[Hornhunter247]

Of the choices posted I'd definitely go 7mag. Better to have too much and not need it than to need it and not have it!!! It's fast and flat shooting with some very impressive bullet choices out there. 25-06 is a great caliber if you don't ever draw anything but deer, antelope and javi tags congrats on getting the green light on a new rifle!

[bojangles]

the 30.06 has cheaper ammo, i've found, and that counts for something if you're buying your ammo. plus, if you ever venture into northern territories it would do for an elk rifle.

[rclouse79]

270

[KYLES96]

The 270 is a great caliber, flat shooting and accurate with the right reloads. I recently purchased a 7mm 08 for my 14 year old son. I think it's my new favorite. I've loaded up some 120 grain Nosler BT and its ballistics are the same as a 270 shooting 130's

The recoil is half of the 270 and its good out to 500 yards. I can load up 150's or better for bigger game.

 

I own all the calibers your inquiring about, if your planning on shooting long range, the 7mm would be best but man the recoil kicks your @ss.

The 270 is great and 7mm 08 would be almost the same. I consider wind with the lighter bullets, if you've got a cross canyon wind >10-15mph your bullets are going to drift quite a bit.

 

The 30-06 is a great round and it seemed that everyone in knew in as a kid had one. I just don't believe it's as flat as the 7mm, 270 or 7mm08.

 

+1 on the 25-06, don't have one but it looks to be pretty sweet, you're kind of limited on loading a heavier bullet. If you've got an Elk gun, I wouldn't matter.

 

My 7mm Mag and 270 are Winchester Model 70, 270 being per 64. No complaints and super accurate. Kimber makes a sweet rifle too.

 

[PelaPapas]

Is there ever a possibilty to shoot elk with it?

 

Possibly? For the most part it will be for WT, Javi and some yotes.

[PelaPapas]

A lot of great info & suggestions in here. Thanks to all for the help!

[SunDevil]

for WT and javis I would probably go with the 25-06. remington 700's can not be beat. Scout'm has a sweet Rem 700 chambered in 25-06 that is extremely accurate. here is a video of a friend of our taking a WT last year at 456 yards with it. I think he shoots 115 ballistic tips.

 

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/36824-danos-leftovers/?hl=dano

[SunDevil]

personally I shoot a 7mm rem mag. IMO it is a little big for WT but it is what I have and it shoots good. It is my experience and observation that going with lighter bullets in big calibers reduces accuracy. a 130 grain 270 is probably going to be more accurate than a 140 grain 7mm mag. bump the 7mm mag up to 150 or 165 grains and accuracy improves. same with 300's. 180 - 200 grains in 300's shoot great. drop down to 150 grains and all bets are off.

 

if you are going to also possibly use it for elk than a 25-06 is little small. lots of guys use 270s for elk but then lots of guys use 300's for WT. a 7mm mag is right between them.

 

a 257 weatherby mag would also be a nice gun to have. ammo is limited and even more expensive than other calibers.

 

if you are going to get into reloading than might as well go with the 6.5 x 284.

 

good luck and let us know what you end up with.

[firstcoueswas80]

I would look at something in the 6.5 or 7mm genre. Both calibers have bullets with exceptional BC's. Something like a 6.5 wsm (a member here has one), 7wsm, 7 Rem mag etc would be awesome.

 

Also, the generalization above about light vs heavy bullets being more or less accurate is absolutely untrue. Match the twist incorrectly, or shoot factory ammo your rifle does not like then yes, it MAY be true but it is definitely not a rule. Heavier bullets need a faster twist, lighter bullets need a slower twist. You have to find a happy medium, or get the right barrel for the job. I am a middle of the road type of guy (140's in the 270, 160s in 7mm, 100 in 257, 50-55 in .224) so I have not ran into many twist problems. I did have a factory 7 Rem Mag that shot 120 TSX's into less then an inch, and did the same with 150's.

 

I remember in a Coues hunting video Vapor Trails and Whitetails, there was an in the field interview with a gentleman on the show and he said the 7 Rem Mag was about perfect for the Coues and I agree to that. Plenty of down range energy down range, high bc bullets, lots of factory ammo etc. I have seen Coues fall to 7 Rem Mags as well as 7RUM's, out past 500 and they do a damnn nice job of putting the animal down, quick fast and in a hurry. Plus, you can load a 160 and have plenty of rifle for elk.