Buying a new deer rifle - caliber?

[2ndtimer]

If you are set on Savage, forget about the .260 Remington or the 6.5x55 (which would be my first choice for a light recoiling effective deer rifle).  Which leaves you with basically 3 choices:
25-06 Remington  light recoil, very flat shooting, also doubles as long range varminter with light bullets  (you really should start reloading to wring the full potential)  Less variety of ammo readily available
.270 Winchester  Classic long range deer caliber, flat shooting, fairly mild recoil, cheap ammo available anywhere, can't go wrong with 130 gr bullet at 3000 fps
7mm-08 Remington  perfectly adequate for deer at any reasonable range, not quite as flat shooting as the other two, but the only short action.  Limited options of ammo available.
All three of these excellent for your purposes.  But both the 25-06 and 7mm-08 suffer from limited ammo options and are much better when handloaded.  The .270 Winchester is probably the best option for you due to the wide availability of ammo in most conceivable loadings.  If you became a handloader, I would probably suggest the 7mm-08 instead.  and if you were going to shoot varmints with it, I would lean to the 25-06.

[High Brass]

If it were me, I'd go 7mm-08.  A close second would be 308 as you'll find ammo easily and I can't see a 150gr. bullet out of it kicking much harder than a 140gr. out of the 7mm-08.

[Gregory]

I forgot to say that I don't handload. That being said, I am still leaning toward the 7-08 so far... I own a Savage in .223 and wouldn't trade it for anything. I don't believe Savage offers a 6.5, which is another one that sounds interesting, but probably tough to find ammo for. I have bounced around the 30 calibers, but I don't really want or need that much gun. The 'ol .257 Roberts sounds great too, but I can't remember the last time I actually saw a rifle chambered for it.

Bill

I'd recommend a 270 Win.  Ammo can be found anywhere and it would even do for an elk hunt.

7mm-08factory ammo is pretty hard to come by in my neck of the woods ( I do own one but reload for it).

[Michiganiac]

After considering many things, including the input here and the fact I don't reload, I've narrowed it down to the .270 or .308, due to ease of finding ammo and proven effectiveness. I am now rethinking my choice in brand of rifle, though. Now's here a whole new can of worms to be opened!

Bill

[poncaguy]

Look into the Stevens 200, a lot of gun for the money...........308 would be my choice.

[35Rem]

Glad to see some guys come to their senses, but it took a long time.  The 308 is a great round.  Recoil is relatively mild.  Wide range of bullet weights in factory ammo.  You won't be undergunned for anything with the right bullet.  This is an extremely accurate round.  Easier to find and cheaper than the 7-08, too.  I think the 7-08 runs into case capacity problems with heavier bullets.  If the 30-06 can do it, the 308 can, too.

I haven't bought a new Remington because they don't seem to to chamber too many 308's.  Anyone know why?

[Gregory]

After considering many things, including the input here and the fact I don't reload, I've narrowed it down to the .270 or .308, due to ease of finding ammo and proven effectiveness. I am now rethinking my choice in brand of rifle, though. Now's here a whole new can of worms to be opened!

Bill

I'll ammend my recommendation for the .270 to say it's a toss up between the .270 and .308.   Either will serve you well.

[kenscot]

While the 308 is a great all around cartridge. the original post stressed open country mulies and antelope to me that equals 270 win

[JJ79]

While the 308 is a great all around cartridge. the original post stressed open country mulies and antelope to me that equals 270 win

My thoughts exactly...keep in mind that deer run much smaller down here; if I were going to hunt mixed cover, THEN I might consider the .308 due to the heavier bullets.

But in the open its .270 all the way!!  Also, I'd look at a Winchester model 70...a classic gun in a classic chambering!!

Good luck!!  Let us know what you decide on

[riddleofsteel]

Neat article in the new "Shooting Times" magazine by Layne Simpson. It compared the .270 Win to the new .270 WSM. I just skimed thru but in short he saw no real advantage to the .270 WSM in comparison to the regular .270 Win for the hunting most of us do. In fact when using 130 grain Hornady Light Magnum ammo, the .270 Win was 60 FPS faster than any factory loading of the .270 WSM!!

The more we advance the more we see that the adage carries;

IF IT WORKS REFRAME FROM FIXING IT!

[35Rem]

I want to preface this with I don't want to get into a heated debate. :money:
I will admit I am a 308 fan, but the 270 is by no means a bad cartridge, it's great, actually.

Let's be honest, and compare apples to apples.  I just used the "compare" feature of Remington's ballistics website.  Comparing factory ammo, which is the only fair thing to do, the 308 has a slight edge over the 270.
Look at the 150 grainers.  They even shoot flatter, slightly.
http://www.remington.com/ammo/ballistics/centerfire/comp_ballistics_results.asp
The 308 is inherently accurate, but the 270 I own will shoot anything I put in it very well, too. :grin:
The 308 has a much better advantage with the 165 grain bullets, which is where the medium 30 cals shine. The heavier bullets carry quite a bit more energy.  I personally don't feel you would be undergunned for even elk with the right bullets and placement.
The 308 doesn't get much credit, for some reason.

EDIT: The larger frontal diameter of the 30 cals will transfer energy faster, resulting in a noticeably quicker kill (ask some medium bore shooter about that)

[Slamfire]

But you have compared Stark's Golden Delicious to crab apples. It takes a 165 grain .308 to equal the sectional density of a 130 .277.  :-D

[Michiganiac]

I want to preface this with I don't want to get into a heated debate. :money:
I will admit I am a 308 fan, but the 270 is by no means a bad cartridge, it's great, actually.

The 308 doesn't get much credit, for some reason.

I have noticed the same thing (not here, but in general). Just read an article in Outdoor Life or some other such magazine that talked about "ideal deer rounds". The author commented that the .308 was a good one, but didn't get much credit for some reason. One of the guys at my local shop went Elk hunting in Colorado a few years back. He said that of the locals he talked to, quite a few of them used .308's. That seems contrary to what I read in all the  magazines.

Bill

[TX Devil Doc]

I have hunted here in TX for over 20 yrs and have never come across a situation (within reason) while hunting whitetail, that a 7mm-08 could not handle. Yes, there are the 400 meter shots, in an arroyo, through the brush, etc., where a bigger gun might be more beneficial. However, IMHO, 7mm-08 is an excellent choice. Reasons? It fits the light-weight, short-action, low-recoil profile that makes shot placement more optimal. The Hornady 139 gr. SST is an excellent cartridge for most whitetail hunting situations here. Also, it is widely available.  
 
Second choice... the .308 Win. I have a .308 (AR-10) I use for hunting hogs and it does quite well with any size hog I come across. It has a huge number of choices in cartridge setups. Especially if you handload. The .308 will adapt easier in that you have more options to change the variables (bullet type, weight, etc) to fit a wider set of situations. Where you live, you may want the versatility to move up or down this "scale". While in TX, you may want to increase the powder and reduce the bullet weight for this particular hunting situation. Its your call. Both are going to be around for a long, long time.

If I were to start with no rifles, I may very well stick with the .308 just on the idea of reloading simplicity. But I do love my Steyr-Mannlicher 7mm-08.

[longwalker]

I moved to the upper midwest and hunt western South dakota for Antelope Mule deer and varmints. I picked the 25-06. Now saying that you would not go wrong with a 270 or a 30-06 . or, or, or. IN my opinion the only thing the light fast bullets do for us is allow up to react faster in a quick shot situation, because of the flat trajectory. Not for nothin, 400 yards is a long ways. I have killed antelope out to 350 yards and killed Prairie dogs at over 500. I would not have tried to kill an antelope that far out. But the point is those shots were not rushed anyway. I had time to set up think about what I needed to do and proceeded to to it with one shot kills.

If I was you I would stick with a standard 25-06, 260 , 270, 280 plenty of ammunition option and you will get the long range edge you are looking for and the light recoil. You almost can't go wrong with any og these.

longwalker