Trying to Find/Choose the Right Caliber for Me

Another vote for a 7 rem mag Tikka. I got a great deal on a used one and it shoots lights out. I might drop it in a MDT field stock just for better ergonomics.

RugerHawg413 said:

Good Morning!
I will try and make this short, as I know that their are a lot of threads regarding this and probably some pretty good answers to those questions. But anyway, I shoot left handed so my options are more limited & I am looking at getting a Weatherby Mark V as my kind of "do it all" rifle for out west hunting. I am a huge 7mm Rem Mag guy, so based off of that and that Weatherby does not have any rifles in 7mm Rem Mag in left hand. And after some research, I have narrowed my two choices to 7mm PRC or .270 Weatherby Mag. I haven't ever shot either caliber before. I have a family member who has shot and hunted with a .270 wby mag for years & years and just loves the caliber. I have shot a .300 PRC and 6.5 PRC, so I am somewhat familiar with PRCs. I would prefer to go with the .270 wby mag to be honest, but the only thing holding me back is that how expensive and hard to find the ammo is for that caliber and I don't reload. 7mm prc is less expensive and easier to find. Also, I was somewhat concerned about "barrel life" and how much difference in that is there between the .270 wby mag and 7mm prc. I am probably over thinking it by this point, but I have a hunt in October, and need to make a decision soon and I just want to make the correct one since this is the rifle I will probably be sticking with for years and hunts to come.

All info and wisdom is greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much!!

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The 270 Weatherby is all you will ever need. I bought my first one over forty years ago and she's on her third barrel. Hundreds of deer and more elk than I will mention along with few exotics have stood no chance. Ive ran the gauntlet of bullets over the years and the 117 Hammer Hunters are something to behold from deer to elk.

7 rem mag, easy to find and overlooked, and that's a good thing.

7 Mag Tikka's are very, very accurate rifles. Remember these are lightweight rifles, thus recoil is substantial, consider a muzzle break.

The 257 Weatherby's and 300 Weatherby were very easy to work up loads for. A 270 Weatherby drove me crazy. The 257 Weatherby is a wet dream come true.

RugerHawg413 said:

Good Morning!
I will try and make this short, as I know that their are a lot of threads regarding this and probably some pretty good answers to those questions. But anyway, I shoot left handed so my options are more limited & I am looking at getting a Weatherby Mark V as my kind of "do it all" rifle for out west hunting. I am a huge 7mm Rem Mag guy, so based off of that and that Weatherby does not have any rifles in 7mm Rem Mag in left hand. And after some research, I have narrowed my two choices to 7mm PRC or .270 Weatherby Mag. I haven't ever shot either caliber before. I have a family member who has shot and hunted with a .270 wby mag for years & years and just loves the caliber. I have shot a .300 PRC and 6.5 PRC, so I am somewhat familiar with PRCs. I would prefer to go with the .270 wby mag to be honest, but the only thing holding me back is that how expensive and hard to find the ammo is for that caliber and I don't reload. 7mm prc is less expensive and easier to find. Also, I was somewhat concerned about "barrel life" and how much difference in that is there between the .270 wby mag and 7mm prc. I am probably over thinking it by this point, but I have a hunt in October, and need to make a decision soon and I just want to make the correct one since this is the rifle I will probably be sticking with for years and hunts to come.

All info and wisdom is greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much!!

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You are overthinking it. The difference in barrel life between the 2 is not measureable. The 270 Wea Mag will have much more expensive ammo and similar or less performance. The choice between those is 7 PRC all day every day and twice on Sunday.

That said, I would challenge you to consider 270 Win, 280 AI and 6.5 Wea RPM. All 3 of those will do the job and be way easier to shoot. 280 AI is likely the preferred one.

Good luck and shoot lower recoil guns!

If you want a 270 Weatherby, get it. Please do not let yourself get talked out of what you really want. On the other hand, you can always put a custom barrel on it. If you do that, you can have any cartridges you want. I believe you said you were partial to 7 mm rem mag. If you are going to go to the custom barrel route, you should consider buying a used mark five. Just my 2cents worth.

HRM Johnny said:

If you want a 270 Weatherby, get it. Please do not let yourself get talked out of what you really want. On the other hand, you can always put a custom barrel on it. If you do that, you can have any cartridges you want. I believe you said you were partial to 7 mm rem mag. If you are going to go to the custom barrel route, you should consider buying a used mark five. Just my 2cents worth.

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Yep, that's why I responded as such in #24.

FEENIX said:

This is why I never ask what rifle to buy or build.

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When buying a weatherby rifle the right answer is always a weatherby chambering. I had a 270 weatherby once and it was a laser.
Weatherby factory ammo is expensive but it is one of the best for mass produced ammunition.

unclecroc said:

When buying a weatherby rifle the right answer is always a weatherby chambering. I had a 270 weatherby once and it was a laser.
Weatherby factory ammo is expensive but it is one of the best for mass produced ammunition.

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Easy to load for as well. Here's a three shot group with a 270 Weatherby on Sunday morning before church (the old dreaded belted mag that's hard to load for) that just keeps putting them in there….. Weatherby brass, 4831SC and 117 Hammer Hunters. Brass is on its 11th cycle.

AussieWriter said:

I would encourage handloading by offereing less complexity. There really is no specific case forming steps required with the belted .270 Weathery case, nor the .257 or 7mm Wby for that matter.

Just buy 7mm Remington cases and resize in the .270 Wby sizing die. Exactly the same if he was using full priced Weatherby cases. No complication at all. Brass will be a little short which won't hurt anything and will grow in length with more firings.

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I meant to form it from 7mm Rem Mag cases.

Window said:

Easy to load for as well. Here's a three shot group with a 270 Weatherby on Sunday morning before church (the old dreaded belted mag that's hard to load for) that just keeps putting them in there….. Weatherby brass, 4831SC and 117 Hammer Hunters. Brass is on its 11th cycle.

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Weatherbys are usually pretty easy going for load development.

I've done very well with just a common 270 win. Just get a 26 inch barrel and you can take on anything. My buddy just got another buffalo with his 270 WSM.

I had one Weatherby the 30-378. You have to have one when you are young and dumber. The cases were only good for 2-4 shots and split the neck. It took 120 grains of powder every shot. It was time to install it's third barrel and I just gave up It came with a 28 and I went to 30 inch.

OK, I made a recommendation early on for a Tikka T3x in 7mm mag and have read everything in between. There have been recommendations for old cartridges 218 Bee on up to some pretty heavy magnums, basic rifles to exotic firearms and the list goes on. So lets start from the beginning with the advice I give my students when they come asking. The first step is to take a good hard look at yourself. Can you haul around a heavier rifle or should you look for a lighter one? How much can you physically haul around all day. Are you small and petite or a big boned bruiser? Are your arms short, or are they long? Once those factors have been evaluated the next question is, "What are you going to be mostly hunting?"
I used to ask the question, "What is the toughest game you are going to be hunting?" I attenuated that question down to mostly hunting when I had one student who would be primarily hunting deer go out and buy a 458 Winchester Magnum because he had dreams of hunting Cape Buffalo in the future. Ever see what a 458 mag does to a whitetail? It ain't pretty. Let him try out my 270 and he thought that it would be OK for whitetail. Nobody likes recoil. I for the most part am immune to recoil but still don't like to get pushed around. My magnums all sport muzzle brakes and hefty recoil pads. I had a Browning 300 Win Mag that kicked like not only a mule, but a ****ed off mule. A target style brake and limbsaver recoil pad brought the recoil down to somewhere between a 243 and a 308. I currently have a Remington 700 in 338 Win Mag with a brake and hefty pad on it that doesn't kick much more than my 308's. If you want to hunt Elk or even Moose a 270 or 30-06 has been effectively been killing large game for decades. Would I carry one of these rifles if hunting in Grizzly or Brown bear territory? Yes because they are more than capapble of killing a big bear. But to be honest I would probably take the 338 Win Mag, simply because I have one, and it will work on the deer, elk or moose as well as a Griz without question. Get yourself a rifle that fits you, you will be comfortable carrying and more than adequate for the game being hunted at the time. Also don't forget to take ammunition into consideration. Will I be able to easily find ammo for my rifle out in the boondocks where I will be hunting? Exotic ammo might be impressive but if push comes to shove can I buy it at a hardware store out in Podunk Junction?

Teri Anne said:

Will I be able to easily find ammo for my rifle out in the boondocks where I will be hunting? Exotic ammo might be impressive but if push comes to shove can I buy it at a hardware store out in Podunk Junction?

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Possibly the most important argument "for" using a very popular, older cartridge for that hunt out in the "hinterlands"!

If ya must go a custom cartridge……..the AI formed from one of the "very popular older cartridges"! memtb