Looking for a versatile cartridge

[Savage 12BVSS]

7mm-08, For shots inside of 300 yards, they kill surprisingly well. I've heard many people who owned both the 270 Winchester and a 7mm-08 make the statement that the 7mm-08 kills just as well as the 270, only with less perceived recoil.

I've been using a 200 yard zero with my 7mm08 and 140gr accubonds. Hold over 6" at 300. Easy as pie and fast.
I use other rifles for anything beyond that.

To answer your question as posted and with rifles you mentioned.........
7mm-08 First choice due to lightest recoil and excellent penetration, and I just plain like em'
308 second choice due to ammo availability and broad bullet weight availability.

 

[Ol' Red]

I knew it could be used in Texas, but I didn't think it was legal in Nebraska.

Crap! I'm waiting on my first cup of coffee, and I find out they moved Yellowstone to Nebraska while I was sleeping. I going to drink a cup of coffee and then look outside.

 

[Prairie]

No 30-06 ammo? By your parameters it should work perfect.

I'd think the .308 Win. would be one of the possible top contendeers seeing as how it was a staple in the military for awhile (7.62 x 51). And, it'll certainly fll the bill of what he is going for! But, each to his own!

 

[RAGGED EDGE]

Well, last Time I went to an armory to buy ammo (about a month ago), i didn't see a single rifle in that Caliber on the shelves. That's the reason I ruled it out at first.

I guess the Creed's just an American fad.

 

[73driver]

I guess the Creed's just an American fad.

I bet a whole bunch of 30-06 & 270 win curmudgeons said the same about the 243 when it came out. Don't hate on Hornady for coming up with a cartridge the 260 should have been from the beginning.

 

[RAGGED EDGE]

I bet a whole bunch of 30-06 & 270 win curmudgeons said the same about the 243 when it came out. Don't hate on Hornady for coming up with a cartridge the 260 should have been from the beginning.

Very little wrong with the .260 just the way it is. Just MY opinion.

 

[73driver]

Very little wrong with the .260 just the way it is. Just MY opinion.

True, mostly they came out with to slow a twist rate 1-9 vs 1-8 for Creed. Same mistake they made with the 244/6mm Remington.

 

[Zorack]

Hello there.
To sum it up, I'm willing to replace my 22-250.
75% of the use or the rifle will be shooting at deer, at distances comprised between 80 and 150 yds. The rest will be shooting deer at 250-300yds, and hogs in the Woods at less than 50yds.
The 22-250 is nice for the first 75% because at those distances i Can confidently go for a neck/headshot. But I'm not good enough a shot to do that at longer distances, and a lung/heart shot won't do it with that cartridge. Also, close range shots at hogs are no good : bullet fragmentation leadind to no exit hole (and hard tracking of the animal) and lots of meat damage.
So what I'm looking for is a cartridge with good enough ballistics to shoot at up to 300 yards without too much thinking, and whose bullets won't fragment and will expand properly on a 30yards shot.

Criterias are :
- versatility
- light recoil
- moderate velocity (i think ?)
- ammo availability ( i don't reload cuz no Time)
- barrel lifespan.

The most serious contenders are probably 7mm08, .308, .270.., but I might be missing something.

Thanks in avance for tour advice.

Best regards

Édit : I live in New Caledonia, a small french Island in SW Pacific

Don't look pass the 260rem, light recoil, good factory available ammo, 2700+fps and great barrel life as well.

 

[hseII]

I'll throw a fast twist 260 Rem in the mix.

thats my Pick.

 

[Turtle566]

Seems like Australia is in the Indian Ocean, and New Caledonia is East of it..... .What are YOU smoking?

To the OP, As other said, ammo availability is #1 and 7-08 or 308 would fit your needs well!


View attachment 219976View attachment 219976

Hi all, l live in Australia, and it is what divides the Indian Ocean (to the west) and the Pacific Ocean (of the east coast) New Caladonia IS in the Pacific Ocean, East of Northen Australia (Queensland), a lot of its supplies come from Australia and as the op said, a lot of calibers common to the USA don't exist there, even in Australia, 30-06 is not common(308 is) 260 is rare as is 25-06; personally I recommend the 308 for ammo availablility,
Regards
Turtle566

 

[Tripodmvr7]

I can report the same from South Africa.

223, 22-250, 243, 270, 308, 30-06, 6.5 Creed, 6.5 Swede and 375 HH ammo has been reasonably easy to source. Our only local ammo manufacturer PMP, has ceased to produce commercial hunting ammo and imports from USA are few and far between. European ammo is also a hit and miss affair. Covid has not helped. Components such as bullets, cases and primers were available for re-loaders. You USA citizens can mail order and have large shops in most cities. You are spoilt for choice most of the time - I can see that from the comments.

Due to weak Rand/Dollar exchange rate our ammo and component costs have escalated. Rifles cost about half and more of the average monthly salary and getting it licensed can take up to a year. Fight for retention of the 2nd Amendment

 

[MachV]

6.5 Grendel is just what your lookin for

 

[ReLes]

Hi there.
So today I went to the 5 armories of pour "capital city" to do some research (I mainly looked at 7mm-08because I thought the rest would be easy to find). Here is what I got :
- ammo availability : 7-08 and .308 have pretty much the same (federal classic, fusion and premium, hornady eldx, gmx and american whitetail, remington core-lockt, winchester power point, maybe a couple more). I didn't look for the .270, I know there is plenty. Only one option with 6.5creedmor, nothing in .260, .280, .6,5 grendel
- rifle choice : in 7mm-08 I found the savage axis at 1200usd, ruger american @ 1000usd, Browning xbolt stainless hunter @ 1600, tikka t3x (lite stainless @ 1750, stainless laminated @ 1850, varmint @ 1600, supervarmint stainless @ 2000), remington 700 mountain stainless @ 2800. There were also a couple "tactical/long range" rifle @ 4500+ USD, and a used sako85 with a laminated stock and what looked like a fluted varmint stainless barrel for 2500usd, and a used howa1500 for 1300usd. A lot of .270s, almost nothing in .308 ! Also a couple superexpensive tactical rifle in 6.5crdmor.

Looks like ammo choice/availability won't be a deciding factor after all.
All 3 cartridges fit my needs, so I might as well go for the lighter recoil of the 7-08.
Budgetwise I can't go any further than the x-blot/tikka options, and furthermore our weather makes stainless stuff really valuable, so I Guess I'll have to choose between those 2. Now the question is, considering Both have quite the reputation, is the tikka worth the extra 150/200 bucks ?

Thanks

 

[Tripodmvr7]

Ruger and Tikka both have good reputations locally. I cannot speak on the Browning, but it is stainless.