A few questions on hunting cartridges.

[JoshT]

I don't know that any of them are really 'friendly' to the shoulder... I had a Browning .270 that was a hell-bitch to shoot.

As far as a recomended first big game caliber goes... my vote goes to none of the above. A .308 seems much easier on the shoulder to me... out to 300 yards it'll do pretty much anything the other "big 3" will do... ammo availability is excellent (and about the cheapest of the big game cals.)... and the rifles are a bit handier. Same could be said for the 7mm-08... except for the ammo availability, but there's still a ton of factory ammo available.

I'd rather have a small gun I could shoot well... than a big gun I was scared of.

[GoldTip]

I don't know that any of them are really 'friendly' to the shoulder... I had a Browning .270 that was a hell-bitch to shoot.

As far as a recomended first big game caliber goes... my vote goes to none of the above. A .308 seems much easier on the shoulder to me... out to 300 yards it'll do pretty much anything the other "big 3" will do... ammo availability is excellent (and about the cheapest of the big game cals.)... and the rifles are a bit handier. Same could be said for the 7mm-08... except for the ammo availability, but there's still a ton of factory ammo available.

I'd rather have a small gun I could shoot well... than a big gun I was scared of.

Very good point, for a first do-all hunting rifle I would probably lean more towards the 308 as well.  Grown man or not, stock design can make a big difference in felt recoil.  To be honest my poor opinion of the 7 mag comes partially from my old man's 7mm rem mag, he got from my Mom, 1964.  Remington 700, sharpest kicking gun I've ever had the displeasure of sighting in.  And I've spent time behind 340 weatherby's and 416 remington magnums, this 7mag just flat abused a guy.

[jackelope]

even my a-bolt in -06 was a thumper. that thing flat kicked like a mule.

my good bud shoots 120 grn nosler ballistic tips out of his 7 mag and puts a hurting on the deer every year. also shoots coyotes with it at stupid ranges and knocks them dead. it's a shooter, he complains about the recoil a bit at the range. no brake on it though either.

your 7 mag is .280 so picking a 7 mag over a .270 for bullet size is not a legitimate reason IMO.

[Thenewguy]

I may be crazy, but i have put cases through my 30.06 without any breaks and unless i go through a box i don't tend to feel it much. I am not a big guys (6.0 175) but it doesn;t tend to bug me much. To answer the impending question, I shoot my grandpa's old springfield federal premium 165 gr. I tend to like it, big enough to get the job done (haven;t killed anything yet but my grandpa broke it in good for me) and ammo is everywhere.

[Redstar]

Thanks for all the input guys!

Tell me more about the .300 win mag, ammo availability pretty good? Price per round comparable to the other three? I see there's also a .300 ultra mag?

Looks like I might get a chance to shoot a .30-06 and a 7mm mag back to back this weekend, we'll see how they face off!

[7mag.]

My user name should sum it up for me, although, I think personal preferance is most important. I shoot a 7mag. because after I killed my first deer at the age of 15 with my old Marlin 30-30, my old man bought me a bolt rifle with a scope. It was the same Model 70 7mm. rem. mag. that I shoot today. I am very comfortable with it, I have been hunting with it for almost 20 years, and it has yet to let me down. For my son, when he gets old enough to have a big game rifle, I am pretty sure that I will get him a .308. Those .308's are hard to beat for versatility, and shooter comfort. You can get a nice short, light .308 that will be a joy to pack and shoot, and it will easily kill anything in the lower 48. You don't need the big magnums or the new short actions, to make a good hunting rifle. You need a good rifle that you like, and that you like shooting. Forget about ballistics and energy transfer, and "knock down power", you can get into all that later. Concentrate on a well made rifle that you like and shoot it a lot. Nothing takes the place of bullet placement.

I think that any of the 3 would be just fine.

[GUHunter]

I have owned both a 30-06 and a 7mm mag. Both are very good cartridges, but they honestly are not not all that different except at very long range. Both have plenty of energy at ranges that most riflemen can make consistent hits at. It's my thinking that at long range, no matter how flat your rifle shoots, you need to know your drop. All cartridges are dropping fairly fast at 400 yards, and a miss is likely unless you know your rifle. My advice is to buy a 30-06. Ammo availability and price are good and any rifle you may want will be chambered in it.

[jackelope]

as was mentioned earlier...i think the strong thing to remember is the rifle that fits you and lasts and you like is a more important choice than which of the 3 calibers you chose.
the 300 win mag recoils harder and is considerably more expensive to buy quality ammo for....around $50.00 for a box of 20 rounds.

[Da stump]

The 300 win mag is a great cartridge. The amount of kick it can deliver depends on the rifle you are using.  I have a Ruger Model 77 with a synthetic stock and a stainless barrel. Love the gun but Teacherman say it kicks worse than his 338 rem ultra mag. If you where to have a rifle vented and ported it would definately drop the kick and they do have differn't recoil system to use.  To me it really is irrelevant because I don't even notice the kick.  I'm usually concentrating on bringing down an animal.  Ammo for the 300 is quite comman and you can find it in various differn't grains.  Hand loading for the 3oo is great because of the wide variety that is available.  If I had to chose one rifle it would be my 300.

[Curly]

My take on the three:
I like the .270, light, low recoil, lots of ammo options and flat shooting. If I only intended to hunt deer this would be the rifle for me. But, it seems a little small for bear and elk. Yes I know lots of people use it with great success on elk, but I'm a new hunter and not totally confident in my shot placement ability yet. I can hit paper targets fine, but have little field experience.
-Maybe I should start with one and work up to a larger caliber if I feel I need it once I get more experienced?

I think you would be best served to start out with the .270.  It will serve you well for all the game you mentioned.  Then someday when you want to put more of a hurt on elk, then go get a .338 Win mag or .338 Ultra Mag................until that time, the .270 will put down deer and elk at any reasonable range without causing you to develop any bad shooting habits like flinching.

[Redstar]

I need to read a bit more on the .300wm and maybe fire one. Right now it looks to be a little more expensive to feed and a little more gun than I want.

I asked about caliber first because it looks like I'm going to end up buying a brand new rifle. So, I'll be able to get the rifle chambered in just about anything - which is why I narrowed it down to what seems to be the 3 most common and effective deer and elk hunting rounds.

I didn’t want info just from books or just from the tool behind the counter trying to make a sale… (see the next  post for the full story). I wanted some additional input on them from people that had actually used them for their intended purposes. And I’m getting some great info from you guys! Thanks!

I'm still trying to get a feel for as many different rifles as I can. I'm liking the new Savage hunter series at the moment. But, there are a few more makes/models I want to check out.

My list of fired hunting rifles includes:
Savage 110 (.270 & .30-06) Looks like these are now the 111 series
Remington 700 (.30-06)
Winchester 70 (.30-06)
Funky custom rifle with a Mauser action (.30-06)

Hopefully taking out to the range soon:
An older Colt rifle I stumbled across (7mm RM)
Remington 700 (7mm RM)

Others I think I should check out:
Sako
Tikka T3
Browning A-bolt

Any other suggestions?

[Redstar]

STORY TIME!
Last month I was told that .223 and 5.56 are identical and I would have no problem shooting 5.56 (it was more expensive). I told him that I was instructed to only shoot .223 through my rifle. He responded, “Well I think I know a thing or two about guns, I am the one who works here, not you. They are the same round, one is just measured in millimeters which is from the metric system. You familiar with the metric system? They use it in Canada.”

I’m now thinking, OK, that’s great, I’m not buying any .223 from you today… So I ask if he has any .45acp. He pulls out a box of .45 colt. I politely tell him I need .45 auto, not .45 colt. He proceeds to give me a lecture on how .45acp, .45gap and .45 colt should work in the same gun. I tried get him to put a .45acp and a .45 colt round next to each other, but he was much too smart to be bothered with my request. He again reminded me that he was the one behind the counter, not me.

We had gathered a bit of attention at this point from other customers. I shrugged, gave the “I tried” look to the other people in line, gave him back everything I had intended to purchase and told him, “The next time I need unsolicited advice on a purchase I’ll ask my mother.”

[jackelope]

the a-bolt is a great rifle. the 60 degree action is really cool and fast to operate, but may take some getting used to.

where are you located and where do you shoot?
i have a 300 wm you can shoot if you are anywhere near local, but it has a brake on it, so may not give the correct impression on what to expect from one.

there is a 7mag a-bolt for sale in the classifieds for a great price.
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,25211.0.html

the savage is a great rifle for the money, so is a howa or weatherby vanguard. a lot of guys on here like the tikka rifles, i have zero experience with them. sako's are fantastic rifles if you don't mind paying for them. maybe you should mention the price range you are looking to pay...your rifles so far are running the spectrum.

[Woodchuck]

ruger m77, mine is heavier cal, but love it

[Redstar]

Thanks for the offer!

I'm in Bellingham, usually shoot out in Sumas/Deming area.

I've been trying to sample the field, see what the more expensive guns really have over the cheaper ones. With that said, I'd like to get the best "bang" for my buck (wow, could be a double pun there...), but I realize quality is usually expensive and this is a gun I will probably own for a long time so... I'd like to spend no more than $1,000 including optics but there's some wiggle room in that number.