Caliber choice advice

[Shrek]

I wouldn't argue that a 243 isn't capable but the 7-08 adds a lot of margin and flexibility without a lot of extra recoil and weight. Hawaii has a bunch of hogs and a big boar will tote off a lot of bullets from a 6mm. I know because that is why I started shooting a 7-08. I was shooting a 6mm rem ( what a 243 win wishes it was ) until hogs showed up on our club. I had , if I remember correctly , six hogs tote my bullet off with my 6mm rem in one season. I didn't want a whole lot more of a rifle but one that would flatten big hogs and not be a cannon at the same time. I talked to some really knowledgeable guys and they put me onto the 7-08. That was twenty years ago. I've tried others in between but only for a hunt or two and then back to my 7-08. I tried a 243 win , 7mm rem mag , 7mm wsm , 30-30 , 308 win , 30-06 , 25wssm and others. Most never made it into the field before I quit them. I took a few with the 243 and the 7mm wsm . Hunted close to half a season with the 25 wssm. None had the balance of performance of the 7-08. Never felt over or under gunned with the 7-08.

 

[Jager]

Shrek- I understand the points of your argument, but I feel the "math" behind any ballistic conversations is completely out weighed by 1 equation.......dead=dead.

Spot on Triple.

Check out the ballistics of a 30/30, on paper they are useless, but we all know how many critters have fallen to the calibre.

I am neither fond of Savage or Howa, Tikka's though are a whole lot more rifle for not a lot more money. In a salty environment like Hawaii it is not a good idea to skimp on quality. Imo a 30/06 would be very handy to you, if that doesn't suit, have you considered a 6.5x55?

 

[DeepMauka]

With your situation I would without a doubt choose a .243. I believe they are the most underrated killers in the woods. I've seen more trophy elk, deer, and bears fall to that caliber than most will ever shoot. They are easy to find ammo for (usually, I can't speak for your circumstance), easy to shoot and you'll rarely find one that doesn't want to shoot MOA. IMO accuracy, confidence, and good shooting decisions triumphs energy and egos any day.

Thanks triple. You pretty much confirmed the way I was leaning. I agree with your philosophy, accuracy, confidence, and good shooting decisions is key

I wouldn't argue that a 243 isn't capable but the 7-08 adds a lot of margin and flexibility without a lot of extra recoil and weight. Hawaii has a bunch of hogs and a big boar will tote off a lot of bullets from a 6mm. I know because that is why I started shooting a 7-08. I was shooting a 6mm rem ( what a 243 win wishes it was ) until hogs showed up on our club. I had , if I remember correctly , six hogs tote my bullet off with my 6mm rem in one season. I didn't want a whole lot more of a rifle but one that would flatten big hogs and not be a cannon at the same time. I talked to some really knowledgeable guys and they put me onto the 7-08. That was twenty years ago. I've tried others in between but only for a hunt or two and then back to my 7-08. I tried a 243 win , 7mm rem mag , 7mm wsm , 30-30 , 308 win , 30-06 , 25wssm and others. Most never made it into the field before I quit them. I took a few with the 243 and the 7mm wsm . Hunted close to half a season with the 25 wssm. None had the balance of performance of the 7-08. Never felt over or under gunned with the 7-08.

In appreciate all the advice youve given so far Shrek. I grew up in Florida, and yes hogs are tough suckers. Ive double lounged them and shot thru the heart with bow and arrow and seen them run another 100 yards. With having said that, I've also dropped countless hogs with a 22lr. Placement>power with rifles. In my experience, no matter the caliber, the bullet goes where it's supposed to and you have a dead animal.

 

[tstowater]

I don't see anything that you want to hunt as being hard to kill within the distances you expect. Obviously you need to shoot them where it counts. If you want a fairly easy to get ammo, the 270 may be a better choice. This group is generally fond of the 7-08 (right Shrek?), but I'm not sure that ammo may be as easy to get. The 270 will generally get you into a longer action than the 7-08, but unless you are counting ounces, I wouldn't get too excited. IMO.

 

[Shrek]

I'm a 7-08 fan obviously and a few other members here are as well , for good reasons.

 

[NaturalJon]

For only one rifle, my opinion is it must be a .30 caliber of some sort. It has the most variety of loads that will allow you to hunt about anything. Probably a 30-06 or .308 would be your best bet for a variety of ammo.

 

[thru-hunter]

I can't imagine not having any .30's in my inventory but they sure are hard to feed during ammo shortages! I have a bunch of .284 cal rifles all purchased during the shortages simply because I can find components to feed them. Of all my rifles my 280AI and 7mm Rem mag were the easiest to keep fed with factory fodder. The 7-08 was easy to find though not necessarily with my preferred ammo.

 

[slvrslngr]

30-30. Short, handy, ammo's available and it's capable of killing at the ranges you'll encounter there. Find a Leupold 1-4 or 1.5-5 and you'll be set. Otherwise a 243, 7-08 or even a 338 Federal (if there's ammo around).

 

[DeepMauka]

30-30. Short, handy, ammo's available and it's capable of killing at the ranges you'll encounter there. Find a Leupold 1-4 or 1.5-5 and you'll be set. Otherwise a 243, 7-08 or even a 338 Federal (if there's ammo around).

Yeah, after all the post, suggestions and thinking, I think I will be better off with two rifles. Buy a lever action 30-30 now (cheaper) and save the money that is leftover for a higher end rifle and scope I can buy next year (or if my winter season at work is better than expected, maybe sooner! ). I would rather save a while and buy the best than get impatient and buy something sub standard I will regret down the line.

 

[Shrek]

There is nothing substandard about a model 10 Savage. It may look plain and feel cheap but they shoot with the best . You can often find one in a pawn shop for a song. Next year buy a custom barrel and stock and finish it in cerakote . Then you have a top quality rifle for a bargain. Old lever guns are cool but generally shoot like crap and are on the heavy side with a scope. A model 10 Savage in 243 , 7-08 , or 308 is a way better hunting rifle than any lever action rifle imo.

 

[unm1136]

Shrek's rationale is why I got my daughter a .260 Rem...I can get almost all the same bullet weights, but with the availability of ammo last winter, could not find 7-08 to save my life. Also I got the 260 for a steal. I know 243 is used for Elk, but I like the slightly heavier bullet, and ballistic tables for the 260 are within a few percentage points of 7-08. The 260 is an odd enough round here that I was able to buy all I could afford off the shelf at the local big box sporting goods stores, in two different bullet weights/quality levels, when the store did not have a single box available in 7-08 for months on end. Also the Rem green box corelockt were the exact same price as the Federal Premiums with the Nosler partitions. In a couple of years my next daughter is going to be old enough to start hunting, and I have the 7-08 in mind for her, but would not hesitate to grab a .260 Rem if one presented itself at a cheaper price point. Same case, almost the same weight bullets available, better BCs, slightly less down range energy, but with less recoil for a small framed, potentially recoil sensitive female shooter. Loaded right the European equivelent of the 260 (the 6.5x55) is the moose killingest round in Europe.

pat

 

[Shrek]

Pat , the 260 rem may be an even better round than the 7-08. My next rifle will be a 6.5 something. The war in my mind is between a 260 ai and a 6.5x284. The 6.5x284 is winning right now but it's going to be another year before I buy another rifle. For a straight deer / antelope rifle I don't think a 260 rem can be beat in a short action.

 

[pyroducksx3]

I was just getting ready to built a savage 260 but I made the mistake of calling Travis at rbros and it looks like I might end up with a 6.5x47 lapua. The 7mag he built for shoots so darn good I think it ruined me on factory guns. To the op the 243 will work very well for you as well as a 260 or 7-08. I usually use bullet weight to decide my caliber. So if you are looking for 90 ish grain bullets the 243, 120-140 the 260 and 140 and up the 7-08. The recoils climbs a little with each round although I'm not sure how much you will notice. Maybe between the 243 with 95 gr round compared to the 7-08 with 140+ gr bullets.

 

[unm1136]

Shrek,

In doing my homework I fell in love with the round. Some of the bigger cases are incredibly intersting, and Chuck Hawks has an interesting comparison that calls it a wash: no animal anywhere, and darn few hunters will ever know the difference between a .260 and a 7/08. Scoutin Wyo over on the K-boards loves his for Elk, Patrick Smith and Take-A-Knee both have very nice things to say. 6.5 seems to be in a ballistic sweet spot.

pat

 

[Shrek]

I think the 7mm family is probably the best sweet spot caliber. The high bc bullets at 168gr to 180gr are as large of a projectile as most people can stand to launch at the magic 3000fps in a sporter weight rifle without a brake. The 6.5 140gr leave a little on the table as far as acceptable recoil verses down range energy. Once you get past about 3100 fps the bullet design tradeoffs made to keep the bullet together at launch start to degrade down range performance. I want to launch whatever I'm shooting at 2900 to 3100 fps and adjust the bullet weight up or down by caliber to achieve the needed energy down range. 140gr in a 6.5 at 3000fps muzzel velocity is perfect for deer imo and a 7mm 180gr is perfect at 3000fps for elk , moose , bear. I want to deliver plenty of extra energy to make up for poor angles and edge of vitals hits. The difference in how they kill is mostly in my head but if I can reliably hit with the 7mm magnums then I'll do it. To launch the high bc 30 cals at 3000fps and be able to hit at extreme range most people will need a brale on the end of the barrel. I know that getting prone behind a 300 rum launching 210's is more than I can take without a brake. Since I don't normally wear ear plugs while hunting it means a 7mm 180gr is my limit.

 

[Justin Crossley]

Shrek,
Are you getting 2900-3100 fps out of a 7mm-08?

I thought they were around 2800 with a 22" barrel and 140 grain bullets?

 

[Shrek]

Yes , I have a 24" barrel and I'm shooting 140 bergers over 49.8 gr of h4350. Should be a little over 2900fps but I don't have a chrono at the moment. I expect to get about 3050 out of my 7mm wsm with 168gr berger classics over Retumbo. The 7-08 will most likely become a 6.5x284 next year if funds permit. If that happens I will be without a 7-08 for the first time in many years. If you only had one rifle and mostly only hunted antelope to moose and didn't want to shoot long range the 7-08 is perfect. Load it with 130gr to 160gr bullets and hunt it all .

 

[unm1136]

Col. Cooper loved it...

pat

 

[Snipershirt]

These are two savage axis rifles both in .308. The barrels were cut down to 18", stocks were cut down and rifle basix triggers were installed. Not counting the scopes, we have around $500 in each. Weight without the scope, 5lb 10oz. They've killed a moose and two bou so far this year. Just something to think about for a compact, light, fairly inexpensive, extremely versatile rifle.

 

[Backstrap]

All of the calibers referenced here would do you well however, living in an isolated place such as Hawaii, you should get what you can get ammo for readily. I was stationed there for about two years while in the service some time ago and only remember seeing .30-30 and .30-06 ammo for sale. I left my guns on the mainland due to potential problems with the movers but I don't remember the ranges being too far either. A .30-30 should be more than sufficient and like you said, use the leverevolution ammo if you need a little extra.