# Next rifle caliber?



## SwedishCowboy (Sep 25, 2017)

I am fairly new to rifle hunting big game. A couple years ago I bought my first rifle and went with a 7mm rem mag to try to cover as many animals as I could. I am now looking to get a lighter caliber rifle specifically for antelope and deer. I am leaning towards a .270, any reason I shouldn't go with this?


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## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

No.

The .270 will do exactly what you want to do. I’d say that this is one of the best choices for the game you’re wanting to hunt.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

25.06 or 257 Wby for speed goats and deer.




-DallanC


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

.243 for deer and antelope is my vote!


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Unless you reload, I wouldn’t go .257 Wby (although that is one sexy round). It’s pretty expensive to shoot factory. 

I don’t think you’d go wrong with a .270 though. Very respectable round imo. 

The only other left field idea I have is a 6.5 Creedmore. They’re really gaining popularity in the hunting world.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Bax* said:


> The only other left field idea I have is a 6.5 Creedmore. They're really gaining popularity in the hunting world.


This is what I was leaning toward also. I know I want one.


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

Nothing wrong with a .270, but I'd want a little more separation between cartridges if you're already shooting a 7mm Rem Mag. I'd be looking more towards a .25/06 or .243, though the 6.5 Creedmore is an intriguing possibility.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

I am a little confused here...I always considered the 7mm mag as a deer cartridge. You would gain absolutely nothing buying a .270 Win. 

Go up for elk...i.e a 338 Win or 300 Win 

or go down for deer/goats...i.e. a .243 Win/6mm Rem or maybe one of the nice 6.5's


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## muleydeermaniac (Jan 17, 2008)

I hunt everything I have drawn a tag for with my .270. Never had a problem from coyote all the way up to bull elk. Never had an issue what so ever. Neither has my dad or my brother. We have other caliber rifles, and use them occasionally for whatever reason, but my go to is my .270. Always will be.


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## Roboz (May 30, 2018)

I love my 257 weatherby but i do reload so its not as expensive to shoot, i do have a savage 16 FCSS weather warrior in 270 WSM that i am looking to sell if you are interested, probably 3 boxes put down the tube, vortex viper scope, dies and brass.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I would look into a light short action caliber rifle - .243, 7mm-08, .260, even a .308.
.


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## silentstalker (Feb 19, 2008)

A number of years ago I sold my 7 mm Remington Mag and bought a 270 Win. It is a pleasure to shoot and cleanly kills mature bull elk out to 600 yards with nosler partitions. It is now my only rifle. 

If you like your 7 mm I would buy a smaller cartridge as mentioned. Look at the 25-06 or 6.5. I really like the 7mm-08 as well. It’s a killer for my daughter. 

No matter what your choice, good luck and enjoy it!


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## blazingsaddle (Mar 11, 2008)

25-06. Google it, you maybe impressed.....


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

blazingsaddle said:


> 25-06. Google it, you maybe impressed.....


And if you want to bump it up a little bit have it re-chambered for the AI version. But then you will need to reload to get that little bump but the nice thing is that you can shoot factory 25-06 ammo through it.


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## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

243.


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## mlob1one (Aug 29, 2014)

I'd suggest the 7mm-08 as well. Great short action with reduced recoil. 

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

I sold my 7mm mag many years ago and switched to a 7mm-08. I love it. However, I still think it's a fairly similar round to a 7mm mag (along with a .270, .308, etc...). So my vote is for a .243 or .25-06. 

I bought a .223 for my small-bore centerfire last year. I really, really enjoy shooting that gun. It's a little small for deer and antelope, but it will do the job with good bullets and reasonable ranges. My friend's son shot a deer with it this year.


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## gdog (Sep 13, 2007)

7mm-08 or 6.5 CM


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

270 is plenty for elk and perfectly fine for deer and speed goats.


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## RemingtonCountry (Feb 17, 2016)

I also think that a .270 and a 7-Mag are close in comparison, either you go up or down! Right now I have a .300 RUM, a 7-Mag, and a 25-06. I feel completely covered in any animal I want to hunt!


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Critter said:


> And if you want to bump it up a little bit have it re-chambered for the AI version. But then you will need to reload to get that little bump but the nice thing is that you can shoot factory 25-06 ammo through it.


Go a step farther. Neck it to 6.5 cal. with the AI. Gives you a 6.5-06. **** near the ballistics as 6.5-284.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

taxidermist said:


> Go a step farther. Neck it to 6.5 cal. with the AI. Gives you a 6.5-06. **** near the ballistics as 6.5-284.


Go one better and just get a 6.5-300 Weatherby.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

SwedishCowboy said:


> I am fairly new to rifle hunting big game. A couple years ago I bought my first rifle and went with a 7mm rem mag to try to cover as many animals as I could. I am now looking to get a lighter caliber rifle specifically for antelope and deer. I am leaning towards a .270, any reason I shouldn't go with this?


Now I'm thinking 256 Newton...which is a 6.5. in a 30-06 case. I know a guy that has 4 or 5 of them for sell. He needs the money to buy batteries for his ION ice auger.

.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Kevin D said:


> Nothing wrong with a .270, but I'd want a little more separation between cartridges if you're already shooting a 7mm Rem Mag. I'd be looking more towards a .25/06 or .243, though the 6.5 Creedmoor is an intriguing possibility.


Pretty much hit my exact thoughts here. I really like the 6.5s and the Creed has by far the best availability. If you reload you would have a few additional 6.5 options.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

wyogoob said:


> Now I'm thinking 256 Newton...which is a 6.5. in a 30-06 case. I know a guy that has 4 or 5 of them for sell. He needs the money to buy batteries for his ION ice auger.
> 
> .


Stop it Goob. Wrong thread.-O,-


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## muddydogs (Oct 7, 2007)

SwedishCowboy said:


> I am fairly new to rifle hunting big game. A couple years ago I bought my first rifle and went with a 7mm rem mag to try to cover as many animals as I could. I am now looking to get a lighter caliber rifle specifically for antelope and deer. I am leaning towards a .270, any reason I shouldn't go with this?


A couple years ago I decided my 7mm was too much for antelope and my old 243 just wasn't enough, Ya well ok I just wanted a new rifle. After some research I decided on the 25-06, it carries a little more energy then the 243, with the right bullets its a close range elk killer and its just generally a good caliber.

Just last year I decided that the 25-06 was a little hard on javelina and a 204 Ruger was the ticket. Went from a one rifle do it all type to a multi rifle guy. Will it ever end?


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

muddydogs said:


> A couple years ago I decided my 7mm was too much for antelope and my old 243 just wasn't enough, Ya well ok I just wanted a new rifle. After some research I decided on the 25-06, it carries a little more energy then the 243, with the right bullets its a close range elk killer and its just generally a good caliber.
> 
> Just last year I decided that the 25-06 was a little hard on javelina and a 204 Ruger was the ticket. Went from a one rifle do it all type to a multi rifle guy. Will it ever end?


No !!!


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## muddydogs (Oct 7, 2007)

One thing I have going for me is 3 grandson's, they will all need a few firearms so I might as well start acquiring some now, at least that's what I tell the wife. Plus I might as well work up a load and have a few boxes of ammo ready to go for them. Might be a few years before the 2 year old is ready but its never to early to start. Of course these will be my firearms and if the kid is truly interested in hunting and shooting then I will purchase a new one for them.


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## massmanute (Apr 23, 2012)

I depends on what you want to accomplish. If it is just to get a more diverse set of capabilities it could be one answer. If you are just itching to buy another gun and using more diverse capabilities as the excuse for buying a new gun then it could be another answer.

First let me say that there hardly a hair's breadth difference between 7mm caliber and .270 caliber rifles in terms of trajectories or terminal bullet performance, given comparable loadings, so as far as caliber is concerned there's not much reason to go from 7mm to .270. 

I am not questioning either motive mentioned above, but let me offer an approach that will do what you want without spending a lot more money to buy another rifle. Buy a reloading set and download some of your 7mm Rem. Mag. brass to milder loads.

The least expensive way to do this would be to find a Classic Lee Loader on ebay for 7mm Rem. Mag. (They don't make new ones in this caliber, though they do make new ones in several other calibers.) Usually they go for about $40, sometimes more, sometimes less. With this set you should be able to load up to 120 cartridges per hour at your kitchen table after a little practice.

Buy yourself some 140 grain 7mm bullets (for example, Nosler SP #16325), some primers (Remington 9-1/2M large rifle magnum type), and some IMR4064 powder. The powder scoop that comes with the Classic Lee Loader for 7mm Rem. Mag. will dispense 50.5 grains of IMR4064 powder. It is an old style scoop/dipper, and its numerical designation is # 230. This will give you a muzzle velocity of 2858 feet per second, give or take a little. This virtually duplicates factory loads for the 7mm-08. which is listed as 2800 feet per second. It would also be about 100 fps less than a .270 of the same bullet weight, though I think Federal loads a 140 grain .270 a bit hotter than this. Anyway, neither a deer nor you are going to notice the difference.

However, if you want loads that are a little hotter you could buy a new scoop. (A whole set of brand new Lee powder dippers sells for about $13.) The new style Lee dippers are based on cc measurements. The 4cc dipper will dispense 53.7g of IMR4064 according to the Lee Dipper Capacity chart. This will give you about 2957 feet per second. You probably don't want to go higher than that if you use the Lee dippers for powder measurement because in going to the next larger dipper you would exceed the maximum recommended charge for this powder type. (According to the 48th edition of the Lyman reloading book the maximum charge of IMR4064 for this bullet type is 54.5 grains.) Why go much higher anyway? If you want it hotter just buy regular 7mm Rem. Mag. factory loads.

If you want to go a little milder you could use a 3.4cc scoop, which will dispense 45.6 grains of IMR4064 and give you a muzzle velocity of about 2635 feet per second.

This all assumes you are using Remington brand brass and Remington 9-1/2M primers and the bullet type mentioned above.

Shooting milder loads is going to be better for practice because they have less recoil, and you could hunt deer with them just fine, unless you want to do some very long range shooting. Plus, if you reload you're going to spend a lot less money on practice ammo.

Now, if you really want to buy a different rifle then there is nothing wrong with a .270. However, it's actually not all that different from a 7mm Remington Magnum, so you are only gaining a little bit in terms of diversity. You might be better off stepping down to something like a .243 Winchester, or maybe a 7mm-08, though as a practical matter a 7mm-08 is actually pretty close to a .270. One advantage of these two calibers is that they are based on the .308 Winchester case, so they can fit into a short action, making them slightly handier to handle in the field than a long-action cartridge, like a .270 or .30-06.

If it were me, I might be inclined to go more of a classic route and choose a lever action .30-30 carbine, or a lever action carbine chambered in .357 magnum. (A .357 magnum is surprisingly potent when fired from a carbine, basically equaling the .30-30 fired from a short-barrel carbine out to about 150 yards if you shoot the very hot .357 magnum loads from Buffalo Bore.) A .357 rifle is also great because you can practice using .38 special ammo, which is cheap and has low recoil. You will however need to sight your rifle in again when you shift from practicing with .38 special to hunting with .357 magnum. In neither case are we talking about long range rifles, with the .30-30 having the edge in terms of range.

As a wild card, consider getting a CZ-527 chambered in 7.52x39mm. It's based on a miniature Mauser action. It is accurate, the fit and finish of the rifle is good, and the action is very smooth. Recoil is mild, practice ammo is cheap, and it's pretty close to a .30-30 in effectiveness at short range and probably slightly better at longer range. It just might become your favorite rifle.

(By the way, after a 2-1/2 year absence, I decided to come back to the utahwildlife forum.)


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## 7mm Reloaded (Aug 25, 2015)

BPturkeys said:


> I am a little confused here...I always considered the 7mm mag as a deer cartridge. You would gain absolutely nothing buying a .270 Win.
> 
> Go up for elk...i.e a 338 Win or 300 Win
> 
> or go down for deer/goats...i.e. a .243 Win/6mm Rem or maybe one of the nice 6.5's


Deer cartridge are you kiddin me? more like everything cartridge.


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

I find myself scratching my head about this... Ive always considered the 7Mag and or the 300 Win Mag as near (one gun guy type) perfect all around cartridges for just about anything on this continent... To me it sounds like you're trying to talk yourself into justifying a new rifle build. Lol 

Pick one and build away... you can never have too many. 8) 


All this talk about 6.5 this and 6.5 that, who here remembers which cartridge beat out the venerable 264 Win Mag for its place in the limelight back in the day? None other than the 7mm Mag.


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## gdog (Sep 13, 2007)

SwedishCowboy said:


> ...... I bought my first rifle and went with a 7mm rem mag to try to cover as many animals as I could. I am now looking to get a lighter caliber rifle specifically for antelope and deer. I am leaning towards a .270, any reason I shouldn't go with this?


He's not looking for a one rifle lineup, as was the original plan when he bought the 7 rem mag.....

He's looking for "*a lighter caliber rifle* specifically for antelope and deer".....

I did the same thing actually. Had a 7mm rem mag and 300 RUM. Sold the 7mm and got a 6.5 CM for deer and antelope and kept the 300 RUM for the heavy lifting with big elk and if I ever pull my moose tag (will try to shoot with bow first).


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

gdog said:


> He's looking for "*a lighter caliber rifle* specifically for antelope and deer".....


To me, it sounded like more antelope than deer hence my recommending a hot '25

243's are a blast for antelope, and fun on deer... but they are sortof limited in range for pronghorn. Its a good 250-275 yard gun, but a hot '25 like the 25-06 is going to push that range out another 100 yards easily.

My wifes killed a truckload of pronghorn with her 243 though... and another truckload or two of deer. She's never taken a shot past 250 yards. A few years ago I posted a picture of her crawling in on bedded pronghorn, got within 40 yards to take the shot.

-DallanC


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

Manufactured ammo cost and availability wise, I think one with desires as the OP would be hard pressed to find anything better than the old school 270


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

massmanute said:


> I depends on what you want to accomplish. If it is just to get a more diverse set of capabilities it could be one answer. If you are just itching to buy another gun and using more diverse capabilities as the excuse for buying a new gun then it could be another answer.
> 
> First let me say that there hardly a hair's breadth difference between 7mm caliber and .270 caliber rifles in terms of trajectories or terminal bullet performance, given comparable loadings, so as far as caliber is concerned there's not much reason to go from 7mm to .270.
> 
> ...


Welcome back.


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## maverick9465 (Nov 21, 2016)

I have .270 as well. It's what my dad shot, so I stuck with it. Now, I wish I could say I had some big game to show for it. 

My dad's rationale behind the .270 was how long the trajectory would stay flat. From what I've read, you have about 300 yards before you need to start worrying about bullet drop. Giving my shooting skills, I don't see myself ever taking a shot beyond 300 yards.


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## massmanute (Apr 23, 2012)

wyogoob said:


> Welcome back.


Thanks.


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## muddydogs (Oct 7, 2007)

maverick9465 said:


> I have .270 as well. It's what my dad shot, so I stuck with it. Now, I wish I could say I had some big game to show for it.
> 
> My dad's rationale behind the .270 was how long the trajectory would stay flat. From what I've read, you have about 300 yards before you need to start worrying about bullet drop. Giving my shooting skills, I don't see myself ever taking a shot beyond 300 yards.


About any big game caliber stays within an 8" circle out to 300 yards. This is kind of an old wives tale that this or that caliber is a flat shooter.


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## moabxjeeper (Dec 18, 2012)

Just like you, I bought my first rifle, a 7mm Rem Mag and hunted very successfully with it for a few years. I will never get rid of that gun. But I also got the itch a couple years ago. I decided it is better suited for elk and larger sized game and I could probably get away with something lighter carrying for a deer (and like sized game) rifle. I researched different things for a long, long time and finally settled on a 7mm-08. I wanted a short action, lighter and handier rifle, and that fill the bill well. My dad followed suit this year and bought a Savage 11 Lightweight Hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor. Both calibers are about equal in ballistics and would be excellent choices. Nothing at all wrong with a 270 but I agree with previous sentiments that it’s probably too close to your current setup.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I found that the best ideas of what rifle to get is to start with three of them. One for what you are hunting now, be it deer, elk, bears or whatever. For me it was a30-06 that was given to me. 

Then pick up one for varmints and smaller animals and is fun to shoot. I got a 22-250 for this. 

Then for the third rifle go with one that is large enough for large dangerous game animals that you plan on hunting. For this I picked up a .340 Weatherby and called it my brown bear rifle. 

Now comes the fun part, filling in all the gaps that you now have to fill. Start on the lower side or the larger side, it doesn't matter. Look for rifles that you like and or would like to have to fill the gaps with. I now have a safe full of them after a number of years of picking them up and all the rifles that are in my safe except for 2 have killed a big game animal. 

I feel the same way with shotguns. Your first one should be one that you can use no matter what you are doing. Then start to get the specialty one or the ones that you look at and can't resist the urge to purchase. 

I could say that I have a slight problem but it sure is a fun one.


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## hardman11 (Apr 14, 2012)

30/06 I use it for everything.


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## SwedishCowboy (Sep 25, 2017)

Thanks for all of the input everybody! Ended up going with the 6.5 creedmoor. Excited to get out and shoot it!


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## 7mm Reloaded (Aug 25, 2015)

Eventually you will find you'll NeedMoor.


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