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Cartridge for deer


hgmeyer

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If you hand load or don't care about ammo availability/cost I love the 7mm-08. I shot half a dozen deer with a .243 when I lived in PA. Both cartridges work just fine in whitetails.

 

 

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Currently load.

257 R 117 grain Accubonds. Rifle is a sporterized 93 Mouser put together in 1970 or so. Looking for something lighter. I like the performance of the Roberts.. But I am inclined toward the 260

A very good friend of mine has the Savage Lightweight Hunter in .260. It shoots tiny little cloverleaf groups, and is hands down his favorite whitetail rig with a 3x-9x Leupold ultralight scope.

 

http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/11LH

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Don't know if you're talking about hunting in Illinois, but if you are:

 

From

IllinoisDigest of Hunting andTrapping
REGULATIONS 2017–2018 https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/Pages/HuntingTrappingDigests.aspx

 

 

Sidearms and Rifle Regulations

It is unlawful to:
• have in possession any other firearm when
hunting deer with a shotgun, handgun or
muzzleloader. However, more than one
firearm may be possessed by a firearm
deer hunter provided it is a lawful gun for
that particular season.

 

Possess any rifle in the field during firearm
deer season (see page 2 for season dates)
except muzzleloading rifles used by deer
hunters only. NOTE: The lawful possession
of rifles to take furbearing mammals and
game mammals other than deer shall not be
prohibited during the youth deer hunting season,
muzzleloading rifle-only deer season
and CWD and late-winter antlerless only
deer season (see page 2 for season dates).

 

 

Legal Hunting Equipment
• Shotguns, loaded with slugs only, of not
larger than 10 nor smaller than 20 gauge,
not capable of firing more than three
consecutive slugs; or
• Single or double barreled muzzleloading
rifles of at least .45 caliber shooting a
single projectile through a barrel of at least
16 inches in length; or
• Centerfire revolvers or centerfire single-shot
handguns of .30 caliber or larger with a
minimum barrel length of 4 inches.
• Archery equipment use is legal on private
land ONLY during Firearm Deer Season,
provided the hunter has a valid county
firearm deer permit. Archery hunting is not
allowed using an Archery Deer Permit during
the Firearm Deer Season in counties
open to firearm deer hunting.

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No. Not Illinois. Kentucky. .Missouri and Wisconsin. I know they all work. My 257R has never failed. But I also know that in 40÷ years it is possible that other choices may be better. The 257R is a long action cartridge so I could save weight going to others. I am sure that reach out and touch me distances the 7/08 might be better. Just input from others to see if I can do better.
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What part of the country, and the size of the deer in that part of the country as well as the typical engagement ranges would be helpful to making a judgement on suitable cartridges.

 

A Florida deer that's not much bigger than a dog is a different animal than a Shawnee Illinois deer that's nearly as big as an Elk.

 

I'm not a fan of the 243 for any reasonable size deer.

 

Either the 260 (which is effectively a 6.5mm-08) or 7mm-08 would be pretty good options for all but the largest deer, and in a shorter action length than the 257.

 

If you wanted to really modernize, you could go with a short action rifle in 6.8SPC, or 6.5 Grendel, either of which would be fine midrange deer cartridges. The 6.8 in particular has very good terminal ballistics and is a favorite of wild hog hunters. If the 6.8SPC had been named "270 Short Magnum" or something like that it would have had a lot more success in the hunting world.

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No. Not Illinois. Kentucky. .Missouri and Wisconsin. I know they all work. My 257R has never failed. But I also know that in 40÷ years it is possible that other choices may be better. The 257R is a long action cartridge so I could save weight going to others. I am sure that reach out and touch me distances the 7/08 might be better. Just input from others to see if I can do better.

If it's not broke don't fix it I would stick with Bob

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I used .270, 30-06, and .243 before I settled on .308 Winchester. All killed deer just fine.

 

Heart/lung area in a deer is an 8-10" target. Any of these caliber (or the ones you asked about) will cleanly take a deer of any size if you can hit an 8" target at your intended range.

 

 

 

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Don't know if you're talking about hunting in Illinois, but if you are:

 

From

IllinoisDigest of Hunting andTrapping

REGULATIONS 2017–2018 https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/Pages/HuntingTrappingDigests.aspx

 

 

Sidearms and Rifle Regulations

It is unlawful to:

• have in possession any other firearm when

hunting deer with a shotgun, handgun or

muzzleloader. However, more than one

firearm may be possessed by a firearm

deer hunter provided it is a lawful gun for

that particular season.

 

Possess any rifle in the field during firearm

deer season (see page 2 for season dates)

except muzzleloading rifles used by deer

hunters only. NOTE: The lawful possession

of rifles to take furbearing mammals and

game mammals other than deer shall not be

prohibited during the youth deer hunting season,

muzzleloading rifle-only deer season

and CWD and late-winter antlerless only

deer season (see page 2 for season dates).

 

 

Legal Hunting Equipment

• Shotguns, loaded with slugs only, of not

larger than 10 nor smaller than 20 gauge,

not capable of firing more than three

consecutive slugs; or

• Single or double barreled muzzleloading

rifles of at least .45 caliber shooting a

single projectile through a barrel of at least

16 inches in length; or

• Centerfire revolvers or centerfire single-shot

handguns of .30 caliber or larger with a

minimum barrel length of 4 inches.

• Archery equipment use is legal on private

land ONLY during Firearm Deer Season,

provided the hunter has a valid county

firearm deer permit. Archery hunting is not

allowed using an Archery Deer Permit during

the Firearm Deer Season in counties

open to firearm deer hunting.

Note the ammo restrictions from the same publication, especially the 500 ft lb minimum for revolvers and no FMJ allowed:

 

Legal Ammunition

• For shotguns and muzzleloading firearms,

the minimum size of the projectile shall be

.44 caliber. A wad or sleeve is not considered

a projectile or a part of the projectile.

• For handguns, a bottleneck centerfire

cartridge of .30 caliber or larger with

a case length not exceeding 1.4 inches,

or a straight-walled centerfire cartridge

of .30 caliber or larger, both of which

must be available as a factory load with

the published ballistic tables of the

manufacturer showing a capability of at

least 500 foot pounds of energy at the

muzzle. There is no case length limit for

straight-walled cartridges.

• Non-expanding, military-style full metal

jacket bullets cannot be used to harvest

white-tailed deer; only soft point or

expanding bullets (including copper/

copper-alloy rounds designed for hunting)

are legal ammunition.

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I have 243 and 7'08. Same base cartridge. 243 is flatter in general 'cuz it's a lighter round, but not enough to matter at most deer hunting ranges. Factory '08 loads are generally only 140g bullets, which is silly. I reload the '08 from 110 gr hp to 170 gr spitzers. So if you believe that downrange energy counts, the '08 is able to use bigger bullets at reasonable velocities. I like 120 g spitzers for deer...but a 243 with 100g is going to have faster velocity...

 

I really like the looks of the 260 / 6.5 ballistics, but haven't shot one.

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