Need help with a new hunting caliber ?

[BEEMAN]

For low recoil and deer my vote is the 6.5x47. I know you said maybe the odd elk. But sounds like you could take a different gun for elk. The 130 Berger hunting and 130 gr Accubond both perform awesome on deer. My 130 Berger load holds 1820 fps out to 750 yards. For a low recoil, good barrel life you can't go wrong with the 6.5x47. Its a impressive little case in my opinion.

 

[Joefrazell]

I'd go with a 6.5 something probably x284 just because you've already got a 30 cal and a 7 cal is only a step down in size. A 6.5x284 would be perfect for what your wanting it to do.

 

[dougduey]

My dad's first centerfire was a Remington 740 06 in about 1952-54. It is deadlier today than it was the day he got it due to the advancements in powder and bullet tech.

Out to 600yards with a good 180gr bullet it's pretty well unstoppable on any N. American game.

Totally agree with you WildRose on the 30-06 and 180 gr bullet, although the 166 gr Hammer Hunter bullet is a pretty devastating round and it shoots teeny tiny groups!!

 

[WildRose]

Totally agree with you WildRose on the 30-06 and 180 gr bullet, although the 166 gr Hammer Hunter bullet is a pretty devastating round and it shoots teeny tiny groups!!

That gun wouldn't even know how to chamber anything but cheap Remington factory ammo. HA!

 

[Hatrick]

That gun wouldn't even know how to chamber anything but cheap Remington factory ammo. HA!

I bought a used 700 BDL 243 for my wife when we got married. It came with 4 blue boxes of Federal 100gr. She used it and all my friends kids used it to kill their first and many deer and coyotes. I still have a box of the shells left. Sometimes we forget to keep it simple.

 

[Gregger]

My old 30-06 loves the fed blue box, you dont need a premium bullet to kill deer.

 

[dougduey]

My old 30-06 loves the fed blue box, you dont need a premium bullet to kill deer.

My 30-06 loves the blue box too. Heck, it likes everything I feed it and got even better once I started hand loading for it