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Desert Rat

Best rifle cartridge for open terrain - Unit 21 Whitetail hunt

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Sounds like you just want a new toy :). I know how that feels. I have a .270 and plan on using it on my hunt cause it's what I have. Have fun with your search. I'm sure you'll enjoy shooting whichever you go with.

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I've used my 300wm successfully on that hunt repeatedly.

 

I'd stick with what you have. but get very familiar with it. And scout a lot I can be a very tuff and frustrating hunt

It can be a frustrating hunt . My avatar is one I got from 21 two years ago . I scouted for a few weeks prior to the hunt and found a few mulies but not a single wt until I found him the day before the hunt . Found him about 500 yards from the day before and the hunt was over before noon.

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Whatever is the most accurate is the correct one to take :) That being said, you should get a new rifle, you NEED it.

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Cartridges have little to do anymore with someone's ability to shoot distances in open country. Make sure your impact velocity window is high enough for the billet to perform.

 

A rifle you know well, are comfortable shooting, with a good turret system, and a good bullet trumps how much powder the case will hold.

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If you want flat, probably flatter to 700 than the .257 Roy (guessing as I haven't run numbers) load some 155 scenars in your WSM and practice....

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270 is a fine round for WT or Mulies. I have shot many of both with it . I now have a 270 wsm and love it more than the 270 standard. jmo

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If I were in the market for a new light recoiling Coues rifle for an open country hunt, my considerations would be as follows. A lot will depend on certain factors though, like if you reload or not. If you don't reload, go for a SAAMI standard chambering. If you want to shoot it a lot for year round long range practice on paper/steel, I have placed an asterisk beside what those choices would be.

 

.243 Win. (or the Ackley Imp. version)

6mm Rem. (or the Ackley Imp. version)

*6mm Dasher

*6mm Creedmoor

*6x47 Lapua

*6 SLR

.250 Savage (or the Ackley Imp. version)

.257 Roberts (or the Ackley Imp version)

.25-06 Rem (or the Ackley Imp. version which I have)

.257 Weatherby

*6.5x47 Lapua

*6.5 Creedmoor

*6.5 SLR (of course I have to throw this cartridge in!)

*.260 Rem (or the Ackley Imp. version)

6.5x55 Swede (or the Ackely Imp. version)

6.5 4S

6.5-06 (or the Ackley Imp. version)

6.5x.284 Norma (or Win)

6.5 WSM

6.5 RSAUM

6.5 Sherman

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257 wby or Roberts is what I'm thinking for my daughter and my GF.

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I really like my 243, I don't reload but it really likes hornady ammo. I shoot 95 gr SST superfoance and it usually is a one and done deal. It's pretty consistent shooting milk jugs at 500 yards.

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If it's no fun to shoot because of recoil, why not just have a muzzlebreak installed. I am a firm believer in using one rifle for all big game hunting. It is fun to have options, but i like having a good "go to" for all big game. .243's are fine, but a not so good hit on an animal with a 300wsm as compared to a .243, will make it a more fatal shot.

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If it's no fun to shoot because of recoil, why not just have a muzzlebreak installed. I am a firm believer in using one rifle for all big game hunting. It is fun to have options, but i like having a good "go to" for all big game. .243's are fine, but a not so good hit on an animal with a 300wsm as compared to a .243, will make it a more fatal shot.

Not sure I agree with this statement. Poor shot placement is poor shot placement regardless of the caliber used. There is more that comes into play than just cartridge size when a poor shot is made. Bullet construction and performance has just as much to do with it than anything. The .300WSM may deliver more energy at point of impact but depending on shot location and the bullet used it may deliver most of that energy into the dirt behind the animal rather than into it. Take for example gut shooting a deer with a 300wm at 400 yards with a solid bullet that pokes straight through and making that same shot with a .243 using a bullet like the Berger vld that fragments and dumps energy and shrapnel into the guts and surrounding organs and tissue. Chances are the deer will die either way but how quickly and humanely may very considerably. Im not saying one bullet or cartridge is better than the other I am just simply saying there is more to consider than .065" of bullet diameter.

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