270 Winchester, 6.5-06, or 25-06 Fast Twist Deer Rifle

[Rocketeer77]

The OP's, LAST Post said that, he WAS finding, quite a few, 6.5 Bullets, BUT NO, "Heavy", .270's .
In Canada, you can't be,. "picky" ! The 6.5-06 Ai, would be, a FINE, next best,. "Choice" !
And would Kill Deer, as Far as, a guy could hit one, with those, GREAT 6.5,.. BC's

Here in faraway New Zealand I have no issues buying my reloading components, well apart from patience at times? Why would Canada be an issue, surely you can mail order everything from there and from the USA. I have a neighbour who shoots a few deer every single week, usually between 100-200 metres away and all done with his .223 with neck shots. I do find expert hunters aren't too obsessed with calibre and cartridge selections. Just saying

 

[Idaho Lefty]

The OP's in Alberta, Canada, possibly Rural and can't seem to find,.. WHAT he really, .. "wants",..
I don't know, the answer to your, Question. Seem's like, he's going to,.. "Make Do" with, a 6.5-06 !
YES, Expert "Hunters", aren't gonna be, "to Fancy" but, the Deer are, quite Big up there and, a .223 AIN'T,.. gettin IT for, him !
Personally, I'm NOT, to Fussy on, a Deer Rifle, Cartridges and the 6.5-06, .270, .280 ( Ai or Regular ) are, ALL,. "Good",.. IMO !
Heck, I'll be Huntin' them, with,.. a 6.5 Creed !

 

[Rocketeer77]

Can you not read ? The 6.8 is not on his list of 3 options and good luck finding any thing for 6.8 western in Canada except dies.

My 9.3 x 62 with 286gr partitions doing 2430 Fps out of the Husqvarna stops them in their tracks
This guys asking us rhetorical questions here, he already has the answers he wants. His suggestions that Canada is a reloaders wasteland seems odd?

 

[lancetkenyon]

If you are pretty set on 6.5-06, as it is a wildcat, there is no reason to NOT go 6.5-06AI. You won't find headstamped brass for either case, and will need to neck up .25-06 Rem or down .270 Win, .280Rem, .30-06 Spr anyway.
Might as well go ahead and blow those shoudlers out, and really limit brass trimming needs, plus get the extra 100+fps you would be leaving on the table.
They feed just fine from either a BDL or magazine, depending on your preference.

A 140 @ 3100+ is deer night-night medicine.

 

[Wild Monkey]

Superior Higher BC Bullets Selection in .264, 270 replaces 7RM and offers box ammo. If you don't need the heavies go .264.

 

[Rocketeer77]

The OP's in Alberta, Canada, possibly Rural and can't seem to find,.. WHAT he really, .. "wants",..
I don't know, the answer to your, Question. Seem's like, he's going to,.. "Make Do" with, a 6.5-06 !
YES, Expert "Hunters", aren't gonna be, "to Fancy" but, the Deer are, quite Big up there and, a .223 AIN'T,.. gettin IT for, him !
Personally, I'm NOT, to Fussy on, a Deer Rifle, Cartridges and the 6.5-06, .270, .280 ( Ai or Regular ) are, ALL,. "Good",.. IMO !
Heck, I'll be Huntin' them, with,.. a 6.5 Creed !

I have seen a 270 take down big deer without too much effort. The comments regards a .223 were more about the semantics of larger calibre rifles where they're all going to achieve the exact same end results and we're assuming shot placement and projectile construction are acceptable. I am aways very suspicious of people telling me that recoil isn't a factor for them. Having hunted with literally hundreds of genuine experts and with them felt recoil is a factor they have all discussed.

 

[epoletna]

Rocketeer

Since you're a Kiwi, you might not be familiar with Jack O'Connor. Outdoor writer in the US for many years, and believed the .270 Winchester was the best caliber ever. I just bought my first .270 about 2 years ago, and agree it is a good cartridge.

I also agree with your comment about recoil. Having nearly reached my 80th birthday, and having an artificial shoulder, I find recoil is more and more a consideration for me. That's a far cry from the days when I used to shoot double rifles and a .375 H&H magnum cheerfully.

 

[Muddyboots]

Just think if it was called .270 CM? Dinosaurs went extinct from it!

 

[niteowl1]

Hands down 270. I've been using it for over 40 years. If I do my part, nothing survives it. Jack Conley killed almost every big game on the planet including elephants.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

6.5/06 is a great cartridge none of these youngster rookies ever heard of...you can't go wrong with it..best part is, using the ho-hum /06 case, you can basically neck it to any caliber and beat most of these so called new ideas..

 

[wyrshunter1]

Yes. And that is true it is common with high velocity rounds. But the worst I've personally seen was with the 270.

Yes, that's what I have shot most of my deer with. Drops them on the spot everytime with the old 130 spitzers cupped spitzers, boatails, and ballistic tips. Also blood shots half a shoulder with a lung shot and bullet fragments can be anywhere. I think though if you used an all copper or maybe a partition it probably wouldn't do that and the 150s are probably better for that too. The .270 just for some reason has that combination in that load. That is where I will give the advantage to the 30-06 150s. The .270 130s are better in every respect except for that. Count on losing 3-4 lbs of shoulder meat at least with the .270. But they never take a step when hit. Thats also been my experience on all but 1 elk but mileage and opinions vary a lot on that one.

The 25-06 with 100s loaded hot is kind of similar.

 

[wyrshunter1]

Pick one; it is not going to be your last. The closest I have from your list is a .270 AI with a 30" 1:8" propelling the 175 Matrix VLDs at 2993 FPS with H4831SC. A fast twist .270 Win with a 26" barrel is no slouch.
I am slowly getting into faster twist barrels, i.e., .257 WBY (1:7"), .264 WM (1:7") .270 AI (1:8"), .30 LARA (1:9"), and .338 NMI (1:8").

Good luck with your build, and have fun with it,

Now you've got me going in another rabbit hole. I have the 25-06 AI ordered already in a 1:7 and now you put out the almost 3000 in a .270 ai with a powder I have 5 lbs of with 175s. I will have another barrel ordered by the end of the week...lol I have a Mauser action handy in a shot out 25-06 too. ****.

 

[wyrshunter1]

6.5/06 is a great cartridge none of these youngster rookies ever heard of...you can't go wrong with it..best part is, using the ho-hum /06 case, you can basically neck it to any caliber and beat most of these so called new ideas..

Wonder if anyone has an AI in that? So true. There really are not any new ideas in these new cartridges. How is a creedmore anything more than a poor mans 6.5-.308 neck down. I guess for the long range target experts it has its merits but for anything else? Nothing new.

 

[BEEMAN]

If you want to go with a Wildcat there's the 6.5 Sherman. It's based off the 270 Winchester. Mine with a 28" Hart, 140 Berger and N570 gets me 3339 FPS.