Name your favorite White-tail Deer cartridge/s

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nate45

New member
This is not a 'which is best, or mines better than yours thread.'

I thought that instead of flaming each other and making ridiculous unfounded claims; that it would be nice to name and discuss our favorite deer cartridge/s.
Feel free to name more than one and perhaps relate a few personal experiences.


Its hard for me to decide on, or pick just one particular cartridge, or even class of cartridges. I've used a lot of different ones and pretty much liked them all.

However after some reflection, I finally decided on the .30-06 parent case class of cartridges, but still it is really close to a toss up between them and the .308 parent case class.

The .25-06, 6.5-06, .270, .280, .30-06, .338-06 and .35 Whelen are all great. They all also strike a nice balance between their magnum and less powerful same caliber counterparts.

However for white-tail deer I don't believe that, I personally, need over .30 caliber and would rather have flatter trajectory. Also the .25-06 is good, but has a relatively light high end bullet weight. It was hard to eliminate those great cartridges, but I have to narrow it down somehow.

So 6.5-06, .270, .280, and .30-06, wow its getting really hard now.

I really can't narrow it down further, I would be happy with any of those. They all scream @3000+ fps with great bullets. Shoot flat enough and accurate enough for a 400 yard shot if you wanted to. All with medium recoil.

120 grain 6.5, 130 grain .277, 140 grain .284, 150 grain .308 @ 3000 fps if you can tell the difference by the wound those make on a deer let me know, because I sure can't.

So if someone held a gun to my head right now to make me pick just one, I'd scream .308 Winchester and run out the door. Dang this is hard, glad I've got a selection of rifles. :)
 
2

.284

New member
I have a 280 Rem. and love it. However, I suspect the 30-30 Win has killed more deer in my state than all the other calibers combined.

Why do I love my 280 you ask? I reload and like the wide range of bullet offerings. I have one particular load that gets up to 3200 ft/sec. Also, I know this is a whitetail question but, the 280 would be quite capable for mulies, pronghorns, elk, bear, and caribou.
 
O

Old Time Hunter

New member
These are the ones I use most often:

.444 - 240 Gr JSP 47.5 grains of H4198 (six Whitetail so far)
.44 - 240 Gr JSP 24.5 grains of H110 (thirteen Whitetail, one Bull Elk, and one Black Bear)
.30-30 - 170 gr JFN 31.0 grains of H4895 (seven Whitetail, one Moose, two Pronghorn)

But I have had some success with the following also:

.45-70- 405 Gr LFN w/29.5 grains of H4198 (one Whitetail), 420 Gr HBRN 62.5 grains of Pyrodex RS FFg (one Whitetail, one Muley, and one Bull Elk)
.375 Win- 220 gr JFN w/36.0 grains of AA1680 (two Whitetail )
7.62 X 54R - 180 gr SIE SP w/41.0 grains of H4895 (one Whitetail)
.32 Win Spec- Remington 170 FN Cor-Lokt (one Whitetail)
.303 British- 180 gr SIE SP w/37.5 grains of H4895 (one Whitetail)
7.92 X 57 - 150 grain SP w/43.7 grains of H4895 (one Whitetail)
6.5 X 55- 120 grain BTSP w/35 grains of H4895 (one Whitetail)
almost forgot!
.300 WinMag- factory 180 grain SP's (one Whitetail), almost embarrassed by this one as this was way over kill.

And last, but not least....from 44 years ago this coming November 21st

.44-40 whatever my Grandpa gave me for a bullet, but I think it was a 200 grains FN as he cast his own and it definitely was loaded with Black Powder. Cause it was cheaper. Got my first Spike Whitetail with that one chambered in a 1892 Model Winchester that was made in 1896 (bought new by my Great Grandpa, I still have it but it isn't shootable anymore as the receiver is cracked by the locking lug)
 
C

crghss

Moderator
7mm-08?

Hard to say. Short action 257 bob, 7mm-08, 308. Long action .270, 280, '06.

Lever action 30-30 or 32 spc.

Auto or pump 308

Compact or lite model rifle 7mm-08.

I think the platform I'm shooting would have more of an impact on the caliber then what I think of a certain caliber.
 
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H

Hog Buster

New member
Over the years I've killed more than a few with .243, .270, 30/06 and that with age comes some deer hunting wisdom.

"It's not the size of the hammer, but how it's applied."
 
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mikejonestkd

New member
my two favorites are the .243 winchester and the .308 winchester.
IMO the ideal cartridges would be any of the many .308 win based rounds or any of the -06 based cartridges, depending on the firearm type and intended hunting conditions.
 
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Buzzcook

New member
As far as commercial cartridges I've used Core-Lokt in both 150gr and 180gr.

iirc I used bargain basement Federal and Remington in the .30-30, but it's been a long time.

.30-06 with Hornady 150gr SP H4895 powder and whatever large rifle primer I can get cheap, is what I've used since I started reloading.
I can't say that that's my favorite load. It's just what has worked for a long time.
 
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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
Combine high-energy, low recoil, flat trajectory and the lethality I've seen with my own eyes... 7mm-08. It has GOT to be one of the most over looked cartridges in the world.

In fact, I just did make that choice.... I should have a shiny new, Encore Pro Hunter handgun in 7mm-08 (barring any more problems) within a couple weeks.:) Although I must say, being in a handgun pretty well eliminates the "low recoil" part of the equation....
 
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youp

New member
My favorite cartridge is the 308 Win out of a Model 99 Savage. Second favorite is anything else out of a Model 99.
 
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nate45

New member
plainsman456 said:
7x57,35whelen,257AI,and the 270win
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I've never had a rifle chambered for one of the Ackley Improved cartridges. I've read a lot of old P.O.'s articles though. What kind of action is your rifle based on and what load do you use?

.284 said:
Why do I love my 280 you ask? I reload and like the wide range of bullet offerings. I have one particular load that gets up to 3200 ft/sec. Also, I know this is a whitetail question but, the 280 would be quite capable for mulies, pronghorns, elk, bear, and caribou.
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Yes, the 7 mm projectile selection is very good. I have always liked the .284 caliber. I've had the 7x57, 7mm-08, 7mm Rem and Weatherby Magnums, they were all great. The only 7 mm I have now is a Sako 75 Stainless Synthetic. I haven't killed anything with it yet, but I'm using the Speer 160 grain flat base at about 2900, so it should work. :)

Old Time Hunter said:
.300 WinMag- factory 180 grain SP's (one Whitetail), almost embarrassed by this one as this was way over kill.
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I see you like a lot of variety like I do. Those Wisconsin deer are pretty big, I would not say that the .300 Win Mag/ 180 grain combo was to much, I'm sure it did a fine job. :)

crghss said:
I think the platform I'm shooting would have more of an impact on the caliber then what I think of a certain caliber.
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Platform definitely plays a big role, I started to say bolt gun cartridge, but did not want to limit people, after all they're your favorites. Speaking of platforms, the new, well relatively new, short magnums are neat. I've only tried the .270 WSM so far, but I really liked it.

bgdv1 said:
270 w/130gr balistic silvertips or 30-338 winmag w/168gr bst.
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Thats interesting, I remember my Dad had a custom 30-338 once, but I can't remember much about it. Too much water under the bridge.:) Having myself hand loaded the .300 Win Mag, I know that when people complain about the short neck it is true. Its too bad Winchester did not just neck the .338 down to .30. What sort of action is your gun built on and what load do you use?

Hog Buster said:
"It's not the size of the hammer, but how it's applied."
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Yes, marksmanship is paramount to success.

fisherman66 said:
7mm Express
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Is that what the barrel of your .280 Remington rifle is stamped? I can't remember when they changed to .280 and did'nt they change back one time.:confused: I can't remember.

No one has named a cartridge I don't like so far.:)
 
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Paul in ND

New member
I like the .243 in 100 grain.
After many years of shooting, I like the medium cartridges to prevent more ringing in my ears.
 
F

fisherman66

New member
Originally Posted by fisherman66
7mm Express
Click to expand...

Is that what the barrel of your .280 Remington rifle is stamped? I can't remember when they changed to .280 and did'nt they change back one time. I can't remember.
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Yes, it's stamped 7mm express. I don't remember when the phrasing shift happened. Before that when it was still in the wildcat stage it was known as the 7-06. The rifle in question is a tang safety Ruger 77 with a target profile barrel. When I got my 7x57, I wanted one of the very limited edition ones marked 275 Rigby that the Dallas Safari Club special ordered, but I wasn't willing to pay the premium for that vanity.
 
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