243 vs. 270 opinions for general purpose rifle

[coachcw]

I just like the 140's and 150's over the 100's for deer that's the main reason i'd go with the 270. plenty of animals killed with a 243 but I've also seen the little bullet go in and rattle around taking it's sweet time to put the critter down. for a kid I like shoot and flop shots .

[arees]

My 9 year old son shoots a left handed 270.  We were lucky enough to be given an extra stock for the rifle so we cut the original down to his size.  He hand loads for the rifle using gas checked lead bullets and Trailboss powder.  This lets us load it to as little recoil as we want and he can not fit an unsafe amount of powder in the shell.

He can shoot lots of plinking loads, shoot managed recoil loads on game and he will have the same rifle with a full size stock when he grows up.  For us it is a perfect solution.

Now we just need a deer that will stand around for a couple minutes longer.

[lhrbull]

started my 12 year old daughter  out with a 257 roberts now at 5' 4'' she shoots a Rem 280 with a muzzle brake. if i would could have found one at the time i would have started her on a 257 weatherby

[splitshot]

  7 mm-08, go for it if you are small.  if you are big go for a 338 all the way.   mike w

[GEARHEAD]

7mm-08........recoil like a 243, yet can throw a 140 gr bullet at 3000 fps, will take deer and elk....i've taken many deer, all the way out to 458 with mine, many deer.

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

I bought my boy a 270 when he was 10. He shot the managed recoil rounds for 3 years, and he shot his first elk with 130 grain normal recoil rounds. I like shooting the 270, feels like a 22 compared to my 300. I can't tell you what to buy but I really like the 270 due to the availability of rounds and it is fun to shoot

[huntnphool]

7mm-08.

+1

[huntnphool]

7mm-08........recoil like a 243, yet can throw a 140 gr bullet at 3000 fps, will take deer and elk....i've taken many deer, all the way out to 458 with mine, many deer.

Just FYI for the OP, the .243, 7mm-08 and .308 all use the same .308 case. The 7mm-08 is necked down to the 7mm (.284) bullet and the .243 is necked down to the .243 or 6mm bullet.

[OLYTAX]

I am a died in the wool 30 caliber fan and user........but I have taken the 243 to Africa (plains game), shot Caribou in Canada and taken multiple deer with the caliber........absolutely love it and its accurate

[BOWHUNTER45]

Both very good cals .... I started out with a .243 and moved up to a .270 ...would never ever get rid of either ....I now also own a 7mm-08 and being as hard headed as I am about the .243 and .270 I thought I would never brake down and buy another rifle ..Since then I have bought a 25-06 and then a 7mm-08 In my opinion if you own any of the 4 for doing good ....IF I was buying my kid a new rifle and was planning on him hunting deer elk and bear I would go with the 7mm-08 ...A lot of different bullets to load for it and for what you will be hunting ...  

[C-Money]

7mm-08 all the way!!

[mossback91]

7mm-08 gets my vote

[bobcat]

Funny that the question was "243 or 270" yet people are "voting" for the 7/08. It's not one of the options!   

[Curly]

I probably would have voted 7/08 if the question was:   "243 vs. 7/08 vs. 270"   

[Jingles]

I will jump in here and bring up a little more to consider IMO. If you are considering the 270 you might as well look at the 30-06 because they both use the same basic brass. Break out a reloading manual and look at the 2 side by side. Personally if purchasing for deer (mule, WT, BT), coyotes, Lions,I'd go with the 243 especially for a younger smaller framed hunter, Don't ruin their experience with to much gun. Emphasize accuracy rather than bigger is better.  I killed my 375 pound black bear with a 243 and would not hesitate to use the same gun for elk with good shot placement.  Those that need 475 H&H magnums for black bear and similar sized game are probably lousy shots to begin with or at least the ones you see at the range that figure 4 shots on a 6 inch pie plate at 100 yards is good enough because they are shooting their 300RM or RUM instead of concentrating on Accuracy