Help me pick a Calibre!

[LightFoot]

Hey everyone, new Rokslider here!

I’m located on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada and getting into hunting. I’d start with blacktail deer, but would hope to eventually (as soon as experience and opportunity presents) move towards larger game such as elk, and in a few years moose.

I’ve talked to 5 or so local hunting/firearm shops all with conflicting calibre opinions. I would love to hear your opinions/experiences on these two calibres and I am all ears to other suggestions.

The first being the .270, which I know is to small for moose, questionable for elk depending who you ask, and great for deer. If I were to go this route I know I would need a larger second calibre rifle later on. Which if possible I would like to avoid for now, but understand it might be my only choice. Would this ethically allow me to hunt elk?

The second being the .300 win mag, will kill everything with proper utilization on the hunters behalf. The problem I’ve read is potential meat loss on smaller deer (which I’ve heard can be negated with the right choice of ammunition). This option is appealing as I can master one rifle, one round. But wonder if this is stupidly overkill for my needs, or risking meat loss?

I’ve shot 30-06 and .308 and had no problem with recoil, I understand the win mag hits a but harder but imagine I would be fine? At least with a limbsavor.

I understand the value of shot placement over calibre, and would never take a shot I wasn’t confident in.

If you’ve made it this far into my ramblings, thanks for reading! Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

-J

The 300 win (or any other .30 mag) is probably the best do-all North American cartridge.

The “meat damage” is a silly arguments to me. One animal loss to inadequate bullet will me more meat loss than the some of any blood-shot ammo from your .300 mag.

That said, the .270 Win is more than adequate for elk and moose and reasonable ranges with heavy constructed bullet.

Good luck.


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[gtriple]

280ai or 7prc IMO. Hard to beat the modern 7's for all around performance.

 

[Brown229]

Hey everyone, new Rokslider here!

I’m located on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada and getting into hunting. I’d start with blacktail deer, but would hope to eventually (as soon as experience and opportunity presents) move towards larger game such as elk, and in a few years moose.

I’ve talked to 5 or so local hunting/firearm shops all with conflicting calibre opinions. I would love to hear your opinions/experiences on these two calibres and I am all ears to other suggestions.

The first being the .270, which I know is to small for moose, questionable for elk depending who you ask, and great for deer. If I were to go this route I know I would need a larger second calibre rifle later on. Which if possible I would like to avoid for now, but understand it might be my only choice. Would this ethically allow me to hunt elk?

The second being the .300 win mag, will kill everything with proper utilization on the hunters behalf. The problem I’ve read is potential meat loss on smaller deer (which I’ve heard can be negated with the right choice of ammunition). This option is appealing as I can master one rifle, one round. But wonder if this is stupidly overkill for my needs, or risking meat loss?

I’ve shot 30-06 and .308 and had no problem with recoil, I understand the win mag hits a but harder but imagine I would be fine? At least with a limbsavor.

I understand the value of shot placement over calibre, and would never take a shot I wasn’t confident in.

If you’ve made it this far into my ramblings, thanks for reading! Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

-J

Not to confuse things. I’d look at the 300 Winchester short mag. This is a much better round than the 300 Winchester mag. If you compare the ballistics of the 300 mag versus the 300 short mag, the 300 short mag crushes it. It also comes in a shorter action so you can get it with shorter barrels compared to the 300 mag. I use that rifle to hunt Whitetail deer all the time. It doesn’t destroy the meat. It’s actually a caliber that can take any North American game from moose to Whitetail. The 6.5 Creedmoor is a great round as well. It has one of the best ballistics out there. It will eventually replace the 300 win mag for long range military shooting. If you’re looking for one rifle, that’ll take any North American game, I’d look at the 300 Winchester short mag or the 6.5 Creedmoor. The 270 Winchester is a classic deer rifle. I agree with the right ammunition it will take larger North American game, but I think the other two calibers are better overall. The 7mm-08 is a less powerful version of the 270 win. It’s a great Whitetail round, but not the best for bigger game.

 

[S-3 ranch]

280 - 35whelen and call it done
30-06 is the parent cartridge for both so go figure

 

[stan5677]

@Jbrown250 Skeena valley here. I would feel good with any of the ones I mentioned. The 270 Win and 308 Win are excellent for anyone but especially a newer hunter. If you ever want to hunt Bison you'll need a 175 gr or heavier to be legal which would eliminate the 270 Win unless you have a custom barrel and handload.

Could go 6.8 Western