Low recoil rifle for whitetails and coyotes. Opinions?

[MudRunner2005]

I haven't had a chance to kill one in a few years, because we don't hunt much in that county anymore, but I killed the first one with a 12ga slug. After that it was all rifles. Most fell from my first A-Bolt II 7Mag with Barnes TSX 160's. Before that it was my Model 7 custom .308 with Hornady TAP (red box LE) 168 HPBT's.

If one drops today it will be most likely my new A-Bolt II 7Mag with my Berger 180 handloads.

I have been curious to see what my .257 Wby Mag will do with my 115 Bergers, just out of curiosity.

 

[Trickymissfit]

a big Russian boar hog is nothing like a feral pig. They'll get close to 400lb. or more, and 300lb. ones are common. They will hurt you in a heart beat. I used a .444 Marlin for years, and other guys I know used everything from a basic 30-06 with 180 grain bullets to a 45-70. You want big cross section bullets that are built kinda tough. It's not so much the power as the diameter of the bullet. Making one mad will earn you a lot of stitches. But of course a 45 caliber magnum would be a gross overkill (even the .450 Marlin is overkill)
gary

 

[MudRunner2005]

a big Russian boar hog is nothing like a feral pig. They'll get close to 400lb. or more, and 300lb. ones are common. They will hurt you in a heart beat. I used a .444 Marlin for years, and other guys I know used everything from a basic 30-06 with 180 grain bullets to a 45-70. You want big cross section bullets that are built kinda tough. It's not so much the power as the diameter of the bullet. Making one mad will earn you a lot of stitches. But of course a 45 caliber magnum would be a gross overkill (even the .450 Marlin is overkill)
gary

My dad's got an old .444 Marlin lever-action that he's had since I was a kid. Big thumpin SOB.

Based on the facts of the large cross-section bullets being successful, which is why the .44 Magnum has always been such a popular & successful hog hunting caliber. I know I've always had my S&W 629 on my side when I'm hog hunting. And it's always loaded with Hornady 300gr JHP's if I'm around hogs. Normally it's got 240 LeverEvolutions in it for any other scenario.

The .444 Marlin is about the best hog gun I can think of.

 

[Trickymissfit]

My dad's got an old .444 Marlin lever-action that he's had since I was a kid. Big thumpin SOB.

Based on the facts of the large cross-section bullets being successful, which is why the .44 Magnum has always been such a popular & successful hog hunting caliber. I know I've always had my S&W 629 on my side when I'm hog hunting. And it's always loaded with Hornady 300gr JHP's if I'm around hogs. Normally it's got 240 LeverEvolutions in it for any other scenario.

The .444 Marlin is about the best hog gun I can think of.

have never used the 240 grain bullet you speak of, but have used the others. They don't do well at the 2300fps velocities the .444 generates. The 265 grain bullets is a much better pick, and will drop a 350 lb. hog in his tracks. The .300 grain bullets are even better, but also generate a lot of recoil when loaded near max. I did have some 330 grain bullets and those things were a beast in that light of a rifle! (Corbon?) It's also not uncommon to see one shoot groups in the 1.20" range or less at 100 yards.

When I bought my .450 they also had a .444 Guide gun with the factory brake setting next to it. I've often wished I'd bought both rifles!
gary

 

[MudRunner2005]

My bad....240's were JHP's.....225 were LeverEvolutions. Long week....

 

[MudRunner2005]

Yeah, dad loves his Marlins like I love my Rem 700's.... He's had the 2 old Marlins for 20+ years, and the .30-30 since way before I was born. It's a 60's model, but in **** fine shape. The .444 is a 70's model. And fairly recently he bought a Marlin 1894SS .44 mag. I haven't shot it yet, and neither has he.

 

[Deleted member 48126]

At the OP you make a decision yet on what you are going to get? I think we have recommended everything from .22 LR to .444 Marlin Its good discussions though. I have personally killed a 100 pound hog with a .223. Probably not the best choice but that's all my buddies and I had when we were varmint hunting.

 

[GOCougs3006]

At the OP you make a decision yet on what you are going to get? I think we have recommended everything from .22 LR to .444 Marlin Its good discussions though. I have personally killed a 100 pound hog with a .223. Probably not the best choice but that's all my buddies and I had when we were varmint hunting.

Haha. Yeah I was just reading over all of the new posts after being gone for awhile and was wondering how the discussion turned to 40 cal and larger rifles and shooting hogs. Haha... but its all good and has been a great discussion. I think I have come to a decision. I was looking at load data yesterday and bullet options and comparing lots of different rounds. I think I am going to go with a basic .243. I would love to go with a 6.5x284, or 6.5 Creedmor but in the end I just don't have the funds right now to build a rifle so I am limited to factory offerings and I really am a huge fan of the Weatherby Vanguards for the value they present. So as of now I'm going to start looking for a Vanguard S2 in .243. After all my research I think this will fit my needs/wants the best. And I have a factory S2 stock laying around at home that I took off of a .300WM last year, so I will be able to get/make her a stock that fits her good and then switch stocks if I want a longer LOP and take it coyote hunting. Thanks again for all of the input it really helped narrow it down for me. And this still leaves a nice gap between the .243 and my .30-06 for a 6.5 caliber in the future.

 

[aramarine6]

Good choice with the 243. I was going to recommend the 260 remington but the 243 has a much larger factory ammo selection.

 

[cruizer]

257 Roberts or the improved version. Preferably on a long action

 

[lancetkenyon]

my first choice would be the .250 Savage improved, and the second would be the .257 Roberts.
gary

Could not agree more. Even though they are not off the shelf factory rounds, the .250 Ackley Improved is top notch. .25-06 performance with less recoil and lower grain weight in powder charges, and did I mention much less recoil? And you can load .250 Savage rounds to practice with while fire forming brass, and they are still no joke on game.

Both of my daughter's (at 10 years of age and very petite) have shot my .250 AI with no issues. Pushes a 100 gr. Barnes TSX @ 3300FPS with a 23" barrel. Fast, flat shooting and deadly accurate.

Loaded up some 85 gr. Nosler Varmint BTs, and the thing smokes coyotes at long range. About 3400 fps. You can load 75 gr. Sierra HPs for even more velocity if you wanted.

Here are 10 shots at 100 yds. with it shooting the 100 gr. Barnes TSX.

 

[Trickymissfit]

Could not agree more. Even though they are not off the shelf factory rounds, the .250 Ackley Improved is top notch. .25-06 performance with less recoil and lower grain weight in powder charges, and did I mention much less recoil? And you can load .250 Savage rounds to practice with while fire forming brass, and they are still no joke on game.

Both of my daughter's (at 10 years of age and very petite) have shot my .250 AI with no issues. Pushes a 100 gr. Barnes TSX @ 3300FPS with a 23" barrel. Fast, flat shooting and deadly accurate.

Loaded up some 85 gr. Nosler Varmint BTs, and the thing smokes coyotes at long range. About 3400 fps. You can load 75 gr. Sierra HPs for even more velocity if you wanted.

Here are 10 shots at 100 yds. with it shooting the 100 gr. Barnes TSX.

assuming that the barrel is head spaced correctly, the 250 Savage shoots the standard 250 round just fine in it. And like you said fire forms a case every time. Ackley shows 3200+fps in his manual, and with some of the newer powders I could see this. (H1000 sounds like a good place to start). Why Savage doesn't chamber the standard .250 Savage round kind of amazes me.
The .257 Roberts will have a little more recoil, but not a tremendous amount more. The .257 Roberts case necked up to 6.5 is also a great round, and the improved version is that much better. Yet you also see more recoil.
gary

 

[GOCougs3006]

I have been really going back and forth between .243 and .257 calibers. It seems like there are a lot more bullet options in the .243/6mm caliber over the .257. And it just dawned on me that a .243 will be a short action... so there goes my idea of using my extra stock. Maybe .25-06 or .257 Wby are still in the running. I think its going to come down to finding the right rifle and the right price at the right time.

 

[lancetkenyon]

I know of quite a few short action calibers built on long actions. This allows for longer bullets to be seated out closer to the lands on certain chambers for increased accuracy. I know the .284 Win is supposed to be a short action cartridge, but most custom barrels in this caliber (or 6.5-284_ are built on long actions to capitalize on this. 6mm Rem is the same way. In a short action, it limits your seating depth to COAL meeting SAAMI specs when heavier bullets have to be pushed into the case further to match the magazine length. Running them out increases case capacity for powder to fill rather than bullet bases.

As for the .257 caliber, I love that diameter. You can shoot anywhere from 60 gr. varmint bullets up to 120 gr. hunting bullets. .243 goes 55 gr. to 105 gr. Seems like .257 bullets are easier to find right now too with the rush to buy everything off the shelf as soon as it hits the store.

Everything from the .25 Hornet to the .257 Weatherby Magnum with a lot of wildcats thrown in the mix, some even hotter than the Weatherby.

My personal recipe for the .250 Ack. Imp. is Remington brass, CCI 200 LR primer, 44.0 gr. Hodgdon H414, 100 gr. Barnes TSX @ 3300fps. This is safe in my gun. Not even sure what max is for this round, so start lower and work up. I have tried hotter with no signs of pressure, but this is the most accurate load. Brass is trimmed to .005 under max, flash hole de-burred, primer pockets uniformed. No neck turning. COAL is over SAAMI for the round, but still fits in my short action Rem 700, barely, I will have to get the COAL if requested, but it is .0060 off the lands in my rifle.

I usually buy used pawn shop guns just for the action, then build from there. Saves a lot of initial investment when you don't care how the stock looks, the caliber (as long as you have the right bolt face diameter), or how well it shoots at the time you buy it. My .25-06 Ack. Imp. I built was a *** Rem 700 BDL .30-06 with a 22" barrel that looked like someone had it rattling around in their trunk for a while. Got it for $150. Action was in good shape, no rust on the action but the barrel was rusted quite a bit, the stock was hammered. Used the bolt and action and bottom metal after cleaning it up, replaced the rest. Trigger, barrel, stock and bedding, had it Ceracoated, action trued, and put new optics on it.

Something to think about....check the pawn shops...lots of guns out there right now to build on.