whitetail guns

[rjackh]

i want to do a tactical bolt build based on a savage 10fp action in .308. i just feel like this might be a little too much bullet for whitetail though. everyone i know uses .270 or 22-250 or even .243. should i do a build based on a smaller round? i still want something i can shoot paper at long distances though, like out to 700 yds if i feel like it? thanks for the help

[fj40mojo]

.260 or 7mm-08 are both good medicine for whitetails.

[rjackh]

are those easy to get and relatively inexpensive?

i saw a box of 20 .308 for $39 the other day...thats too much for me right now since i dont reload yet

[fj40mojo]

If cheap and common is what you're looking for you can't go wrong with the .308, I doubt there is anywhere in the country that you won't find at least 1 box of .308 ammo. Best advice I can give you is bite the bullet, put the money out to purchase a good single stage reloading press and associated tooling and start reloading. Factory ammo isn't gonna get any cheaper and there are lots of benefits to reloading that you'll never realize until you give it a try. The .260 Rem and 7mm-08 are both based on the .308 cartridge but you get IMHO a better selection of bullet weights as well as better ballistic coefficients and sectional densities from those calibers vs the .308 which equates to better long range performance on game. If your plan is to stick with factory ammo I'd say stick with he .308 as well due to the availability issue.

[rjackh]

ok then i think thats what ill do. i was just hoping to find something i can use on whitetail but also on things like coyotes. a .308 is just plain overkill for coyotes, you can get away with a .22 on yotes. would a .243 be a better choice for both worlds? does savage make any actions in .243?

[fj40mojo]

Well, if I were in search of a jack of all trades I'd go with the .260, but then we are back to the issue of availability. It's not that I think you'd have a hard time finding .260 ammo, but .308 is certainly gonna be the easier of the two to find. Price is gonna probably be about the same for factory ammo. the .243 is gonna be a good choice too, definitely up to the task as far as deer if you choose your bullets carefully and more than enough for varmints like coyotes.

[rjackh]

i think .243 would be a better choice for me, seems like a more versatile round than .308 imo. i mean you CAN shoot a coyote with a .308, but who wants to pick up the pieces? lol