Author Topic: Best cartridge for 18" barreled deer rifle. (Read 2865 times)

jneilson · « **on:** January 12, 2008, 07:29:42 AM »

I'm looking at building a short barreled bolt action rifle for still hunting for deer in swamps and other nice thick places. I was thinking of something along the lines for a 308 but I've heard (no pun) that a 308 sounds like a howitzer out of an 18" barrel. Right now I have an SKS with an 18" barrel and it's report is pretty quiet. Should I just go with a little bolt action in 7.62x39? This rifle would also double has my yard gun for plinking in the backyard plus I don't want to disturb the nice church going folks on Sunday should a coyote come into the yard again. Most of my shooting will be well under 100 yards, but I'd really like something that could do up to a 300 yard shot if needed. Thanks.

Big Blue · « **Reply #1 on:** January 12, 2008, 10:44:04 AM »

jneilson,
I had a 16.5" barreled Ruger Compact in .308 and I didn't notice much of a difference in noise or flash levels between this short barrel and the standard 22" length.
Don

deltecs · « **Reply #2 on:** January 12, 2008, 10:57:42 AM »

I think I'd look at the 7mm-08 or 260 Rem. Either would do for those 300 yard shots and be excellent for close ranges too. There is nothing wrong with the .308 either yet I think one of the others would fit your requirements better.

*ROCK-MAN* · « **Reply #3 on:** January 12, 2008, 11:44:50 AM »

IMO your talking about two different guns.One to carry through the woods with short barrel for stalking deer.For my last four whitetails taken in this manner I used my daughter's Rem Mohawk in 243.None of these deer were over 70yds.None went over 20yds after the shot and two dropped in their tracks using standard rem coreloct 100gr loads.If I were going to buy a rifle for myself for this kind of hunting I'd be looking for the same gun in 308.For my longer range hunting I use my rem700 in 30.06
Good luck either way
Rock

Graybeard · « **Reply #4 on:** January 12, 2008, 12:01:08 PM »

I think the .35 Remington is about ideal for the uses you mention and it comes in nice compact lever action rifles with 20" barrels for the most part as issued. Putting it in an 18" barreled rifle it would be right at home and lose basically nothing due to the 2" reduction.

Other excellent choices due to the expansion ratios they have would be the .358 Winchester and .338 Federal. Yes any of the rounds based on the basic .308 case would do fine if you want to go smaller but I think that the smaller that hole and the worse the expansion ratio the louder it will be.

victorcharlie · « **Reply #5 on:** January 12, 2008, 12:17:47 PM »

This is scary Graybeard......a .35 Remington was just exactly what I was thinking......

Don Fischer · « **Reply #6 on:** January 12, 2008, 01:19:34 PM »

I was thinking the 338 Fed or the 358 win.

jneilson · « **Reply #7 on:** January 12, 2008, 01:20:47 PM »

Thanks for the replies. I too have thought you could do lot with a 35 Remington bolt action rifle. There's a shop near me that has/had a Remington 600 in 350 mag. That could be loaded down for whitetails, plus the area my new house is in has 300+ pound black bears and lots of really big pigs.

Badnews Bob · « **Reply #8 on:** January 12, 2008, 01:53:40 PM »

Give a look at the 7x57 mauser, I have one with a 16.5" barrel on it, factory mil. step barrel not cut down, Its a pleasure to shoot not to loud and ammo is easy to get. It shoots inside of 2" at a hundred yards and if inside of 4" at 200 with the cheap 1.5 power pistol scope I have on it right now. I bought the barrel from sportsmans guide for 49 bucks and the muser from the local gun shop for 70 bucks got the stock from Boyds for 80 I thinkand a reamer from 4d rental did all the work at home. Still gotta learn how to install a bent bolt thou.

R.W.Dale · « **Reply #9 on:** January 12, 2008, 02:06:50 PM »

A bolt action 7.62s39 could fit the bill rather nicely. I have a CZ carbine in this caliber it's been more than up to the task of taking deer out to 200yds and hitting targets and yotes out to 300. Recoil and blast are non existent and with handloads accuracy is outstanding.

jneilson · « **Reply #10 on:** January 12, 2008, 02:14:41 PM »

I'm rather fond of the 7.62x39, I used to shoot my SKS about has much has a lot of people would shoot a 22. I thought about using the SKS but it's a little heavy to carry around all day.

Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #11 on:** January 13, 2008, 03:47:16 AM »

18" barrel? I'll take a .44 Mag carbiine.

SuperstitionCoues · « **Reply #12 on:** January 13, 2008, 07:59:52 AM »

7mm-08.

Cement Man · « **Reply #13 on:** January 13, 2008, 10:44:33 AM »

7mm-08 or .308 My Ruger 77 RSI in .308 doesn't seem to be inordinately loud to me.

coyotejoe · « **Reply #14 on:** January 14, 2008, 04:05:18 AM »

Have you considered a singleshot? An H&R Handi-rifle with 22" barrel has about the same overall length as an 18" bolt action, is readily available in a variety of calibers, can be fitted with extra rifle and shotgun barrels and is inexpensive as well. You just can't beat a singleshot for shortness, and if you change your mind, they seem to sell used for about as much as new.

nomosendero · « **Reply #15 on:** January 14, 2008, 04:55:08 PM »

Are you a reloader?

jneilson · « **Reply #16 on:** January 15, 2008, 01:41:07 PM »

Quote from: nomosendero on January 14, 2008, 04:55:08 PM

Are you a reloader?

No, but I'm willing to learn.

Doesniper · « **Reply #17 on:** January 15, 2008, 04:19:41 PM »

How about the 300 Savage?

huntswithdogs · « **Reply #18 on:** January 16, 2008, 06:19:58 AM »

308 or 7mm-08.

HWD

Cheesehead · « **Reply #19 on:** January 16, 2008, 06:26:16 AM »

Your first thought, the 308 Winchester is the best, a flat shooter to 300 yards and its commonality are just two of many good reasons.

Cheese

PartsMan · « **Reply #20 on:** January 16, 2008, 06:57:45 AM »

30-30

jedman · « **Reply #21 on:** January 16, 2008, 01:43:14 PM »

If you really need to shoot 300 yards, 7-08 would be ideal. Jedman

okie john · « **Reply #22 on:** January 16, 2008, 04:40:21 PM »

I hunt in thick stuff, and I use a pre-64 M-70 FWT in 308 with a 4x scope whenever I can. The barrel is 22”, but barrel length is less important than how the rifle balances. One of the fastest-handling guns I’ve ever owned was a very old Mauser 30-06 with a light 25” barrel. I keep my 308 zeroed +3” at 100 yards with a 165-gr. bullet. 180’s are dead on at 100, so I use 180’s in the thick stuff and 165’s in the open. I’m using handloads, but this should work with factory ammo, too. Either load will be loud, but you can't have everything.

Okie John

Don Fischer · « **Reply #23 on:** January 17, 2008, 04:39:10 AM »

As the water clouds up I thought I'd throw in a couple more. How about the 250 Savage and the 6.8 Win(?). The 6.5x54 in a nice Mannlicker carbine would be wonderful!

we've pretty much come full circle and it appears that the choices are many.

tawin · « **Reply #24 on:** January 17, 2008, 03:38:35 PM »

Quote from: jneilson on January 12, 2008, 01:20:47 PM

Thanks for the replies. I too have thought you could do lot with a 35 Remington bolt action rifle. There's a shop near me that has/had a Remington 600 in 350 mag. That could be loaded down for whitetails, plus the area my new house is in has 300+ pound black bears and lots of really big pigs.

The Remington 600 in 350 mag would be a good choice. I bought one about 6 years ago and it has become my favorite rifle. You won't feel under gunned if you come across a 300+ pound black bear anything else in North America.

nomosendero · « **Reply #25 on:** January 17, 2008, 04:33:48 PM »

Quote from: jneilson on January 15, 2008, 01:41:07 PM

Quote from: nomosendero on January 14, 2008, 04:55:08 PM
Are you a reloader?

No, but I'm willing to learn.

Well, that narrows things quite a bit. I will answer based on the fact that you don't reload & if you reload later, you will also buy more rifles, trust me on that one & at that point this question won't matter anyway.
1. Based on this, forget the oddball stuff with hard to find & expensive ammo.
2. Deer is the biggest animal, so no need for rounds of over 30 cal, they won't give you anything for ANY application stated over a 308.
3. You mentioned the desire for a round that could handle a 300 yard shot & I would rule out the 30-30, 35 Rem & such.
4. The 308 family rounds, especially 260, 7-08 & 308 will fill your needs. As far as noise is concerned, you would not tell the difference with any of these. The 260 & 7-08 have great long range performance, but the edge over a 308 comes into play after 500 yards, so for your use that would have no relevance.

Several rounds could be pressed into service, but the clear choice for me is the 308 for your needs. Out to your maximum distance of 300 yards it is extremely accurate. Many, as Barness states over & over, the 308 is about as accurate as it gets for a hunting round. The recoil is decent. The ammo is very common & economical (relative to the others), you can even plink with Mil. stuff since you don't reload. If you decide to hunt Elk, it will do that at 300 yards too.

It would be an easy choice for me.

7magfan · « **Reply #26 on:** January 19, 2008, 03:29:01 PM »

Remington Model 7 .308

saltydog · « **Reply #27 on:** January 28, 2008, 11:52:06 AM »

Quote from: PartsMan on January 16, 2008, 06:57:45 AM

30-30

PARTSMAN you rock - a lever action Marlin 30-30 is a great choice, relatively quiet to shoot and reasonably priced. A Browning BLR 257 Roberts would also be a consideration if you want a detachable magazine fed rifle. Hornady has a wide choice of special purpose ammo for lever rifles. You could also move to the NEF area here as the Handirifle design allows a long barrel in short OAL length rifle with a wide variety of calibers available.

woodchukhntr · « **Reply #28 on:** January 28, 2008, 02:13:26 PM »

I have a CZ527 Carbine in 7.62x39 that is perfect for me. It is accurate, light recoiling and has adequate power for deer up to 200 yd.

The .35 Remington would even be better, but a .30-30 works well too!

As far as noise, look at all of the Contenders and Encores out there with shorter barrels. By handloading you can load with faster powders to get the most out of the barrel length.

Sourdough · « **Reply #29 on:** January 29, 2008, 07:08:41 PM »

.35 Whelen, a little more versatile than the .35 Remington. Same bullet.

I wanted a short gun for hunting in heavy brush. Thought about it for a while and decided on the .35 Whelen. It is a very versatile cartridge, with bullets ranging from 180gr pistol bullets to 250gr bullets for big stuff. I took a Mauser action and had ER Shaw put an 18" barrel on it. I dropped it into a Bell and Carlson stock, and put Lyman receiver sights on it.

Turned out to be very accurate, low recoil, (actually depends on which bullet you are shooting, and how hot the load) light and very handy in the woods. Have taken it to Tennessee and Maryland and taken several whitetail with it. Have taken Moose, and one Grizzly with it. It is devastating with heavy bullets on Black Bears. Used it for training kids to shoot big game guns for several years. With 180gr pistol bullets the kids liked it too. If reloading for it for hunting, especially with heavy bullets I use a fast burning powder to get all the performance out of the short barrel.

One day I noticed it missing from the vault, I asked the wife where it went. She informed me it was at the gunsmiths getting a youth stock fitted. Her reply, "I shot it, I liked it, I want it, I took it, get over it". "It's the cost of having me as your hunting partner".

I sure miss that gun, but it was worth it.