AusVarmint

Hey all,

So I'm looking to purchase a new rifle for shooting pigs, deer. The 270 puts out some nice fps and has good ballistics but I'm not sure it has the projectile to put down a decent size pig especially caked with mud. The 308 has the bigger projectile but I'm not sure if the fps is fast enough and so the ballistics are similar to the 270. I'm thinking these are good calibres for the game I want to shoot. Opinions, suggestions, alternatives??

Thanks

Hi there newest member, sounds like you need to get yourself something in the 7mm range, do something different and get some weird wildcat that none of us have heard of, the old ones are starting to loose their appeal a bit. 7mm or 8mm would be the go.

Whats your story ?

The .270 would be up to big muddy pigs with a good 150gr pill. Or you could get a .30/06 and lob 200gr at them. Most pigs are not tanks - they are 50kg poddy buggers or less. Not every boar is an armoured trophy boar. I shoot all mine with a .44 magnum lever action...

The .270 will handle any pig with any of the standard 130 grain projectiles.

Heck a 223 will do all of that provided you put the bullet in the right spot.

Bit more info needed- what species of deer? What sort of range?

Theres probably anything from 243 to 30-06 will fit the bill. Maybe something like a 7-08 would be good. Great selection of bullets and factory ammo fairly easy to come by.

dont know about the legality of knocking roos over where your at but for the others....
any cal thats been suggested will fit the bill.

Thanks for the replies. I'd probably be looking to shoot red deer 150kg+ and some bigger pigs 120k+. The range will be 100m up to 500m occasionally further but not all that often. I will most likely be hand loading the new caliber. Also I have a 223 but it is a little light for these guys even with good shot placement. I'm not sure I want to go up to a 30-06 but I'll look into it and the 7mm-08 doesn't have that great ballistics from what I have read but again, will look into it more.

Thanks

Why not try a 6.5 mm (.264) 6.5x47L,260 Rem,6.5x55,6.5/284,264 Win mag and 6.5/06 amongst many.There is a very good range of projies and as you are a reloader brass should not be a problem.

Hey seeing as your a bit green,don't make the mistake of getting to wrapped up in the velocity,trajectory thingy ie the comment about the 7/08.

I went looking for a cal just recently to go the next step up from my 223 to be use on the odd pig, goat and hopefully fallow as well as making a right mess of small fury critters . I ended up deciding on a 7mm08. I will be hand loading for it but you can still get factories at most gun shops. Less recoil than a 308 and longer shots in general the 7mm projectiles will have better ballistics, however that shouldn't really effect me as a long shot for my is 200m and should be more than adequate on any of the target game.

Cheers
James

Is there any reason you would suggest going the 6.5 mm (.264) 6.5x47L, 260 Rem, 6.5x55,6.5/284, 264 Win mag and 6.5/06 over a 308 other than for something different?

I am using this site http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase.html for my research into what would be a good calibre for game between 50-250kg keeping in mind I will be making long shots up to 500m and will be hand loading different grain projectiles for different situations.

Gidday---- if you are looking to shoot 120+ kilo pigs -- why not invite me along and I'll bring my rifles for you to try. I have a 6.5 x 55-- 2 different 6.5 x 284's-- 6.5 /06--- 7mm/08, 308's, 30/06's, 338 /06 a 35 Whelan. If you promise me really big pigs I'll even drag out my new unfired double in 9.3x74.
Seriously-------- any 6.5/ 7mm/ 30 caliber will do what you have asked-------- and try and bust a few at closer ranges than 500 meters.
Cheers Malcolm

Just go 308. Bullets easy to get and in any gun shop. It will drop any pig

crackers17 wrote:Just go 308. Bullets easy to get and in any gun shop. It will drop any pig

Agreed. When selecting my first centerfire I spent a lot of time researching what's available versus my use/budget.

I'd suggest a 308Win as a great all rounder and reasonably priced. There's also a very competitive market full of rifles to suit all budgets/needs.

Shot placement is important, I think 308 will do the job. Also make sure I'm there when you go on first Red Deer shoot.
Regards Dad.