#1 270 Win, #2 308, ? 7mm-08

[fire4hunter]

I recently posted a thread the 270 Win. Vs. 7mm Rem mag. the 270 won for me. Now that I have made up my mind it starts it wonder about other things. So I throwing a new one out now. I think the 270 is for me but wondering what people think about the 308 win and the 7mm-08. So again here is the situation I hunt mostly deer and black bear. Shots 90% of the time inside 250 but am starting to hunt some more open areas i.e Eastern Washington Vs. western. Most shots are the traditional 50-150 yards but want to be able to reach out there for that 1 or 2 shots you get in your life out to maybe 500 yards. I know these shots are hard and you need lots of practice and the best possible situation but I also know that these shots are poassible so lets not get on the people cant shoot that far because that is a whole other issue. I just care about can the gun do it. This is part of the reason I am looking at these calibers I want to shot a lot and practice with the gun I will use hunting. I have a 300 wsm in the tikka t3 lite, weighs 6.5 lbs shoots good and kicks hard as he#%. I shhot it well but lose enjoyment from all the recoil. I'm looking for a gun that has pleasent recoil and can take deer, black bear, possibly elk out to 500 yards. Calibers looking at are #1 choice 270 Win, #2 choice 308 win, and considering but not ranking the 7mm-08. Thanks again for your opinions and have fun.

 

[jim147]

The .308 might get a slight edge with the heavier bullets but with your range and game list I think bullet choice and placement will make a much bigger difference than you can find between these three calibers.

 

[ants]

In all honesty, fire4hunter, the long range capability would make me go back to 7mm Rem Magnum. Recoil isn't soft, but at 500 yards you don't have to worry about how fast a wounded bear can chase you. [By the way, that's why I always hunt bear with a fat guy. I don't have to outrun the bear, but I only have to outrun the fat guy.] No, seriously, I would consider the 7mm Mag at 500 yards because the bullet drop is much less than 270 or 308. If your optic is sighted at 100 or 200 yards, the hold-over compensation at 500 is much less with a flatter trajectory.

Have you checked out 7mm-08 ammo? There are limited factory loads available and they are expensive. 270 and 308 ammo is plentiful. If you reload, you can make any of them do what you want at no extra cost.

 

[Shawnee]

The 7mm/08 and .270 can do anything you can do. I would rank the 7mm/08 first because you can put it in a rifle (or carbine) that is actually portable without getting into a lot of recoil or sacrificing accuracy. It is also a "short-action" caliber which usually gives more lattitude in scope choice (ease of mounting with correct eye relief).

The .270 is a "long action" caliber but will do anything for you the 7mm/08 will do (that actually needs to be done).

The .308 is (imho) a non-contender because there are at least three other calibers that would be better (7x57, 6.5x55 Swede, and .260 Remington.)

My preference for the 7mm/08 is soley because it is a short-action caliber thus fascilitates proper scope mounting .

 

[degoodman]

I love 7-08. Definitely a favorite in the rifle caliber world. You do have to handload for it to get draw the most out of it, but in my opinion, that's true of ANY rifle cartridge. None of my hunting centerfires have seen a round of factory ammo. Ever.

Now call me a neysayer, but if you're seriously considering a shot at 500 yards, I don't think that any of these rounds are what you want. At 500 yards, no hunting appropriate bullets are going to be bringing much more than 1000 Ft-Lbs, and that's kinda light for an expanding rifle bullet against black bears (non-expanding handgun bullets with double the weight or more and a wide meplat are different). Not that you'll see a blackie at 500, because few blackies will venture out into the open such that you can see them at that kind of range. And no matter what you're shooting, at 500 yards, you better be measuring distance, not guessing it, and you better be putting dope on your scope based on known ballistics that you've charted based on shooting your load in your rifles, or you can forget about making a hit. From a 200 - 250 yard zero, they are going to be 4+ FEET low at 500 yards, and dropping by a foot every 25 yards in that neighborhood. Range estimates are VERY unforgiving, as are "hold over" mistakes.

For legitimate shots at over 400 yards, the list of calibers that work well gets really short. You're basically looking at a 7mm magnum, Remmy, Weatherby, STW, RUM, maybe a WSM if you can find one, a .300 Magnum, Win, Weatherby, WSM, RUM, and the likes, or something heavier like a .338 Winny, with a pretty strong lean towards the 7mm and .300 magnums for the type of game you're talking about. They're "flatter" only being down 3 feet instead of 4 at 500 yards with a 250 yard zero, but still out where you need a SOLID range determination, and a good drop-dope table for your rifle.

If you're serious about hunting at 400+ yards, I'd probably get a 7mm Rem Mag. Recoil is stout, but still palletable enough that you can shoot the number of rounds you need to shoot to be ready to play at those ranges. Unless you handload, you won't be able to afford the practice you need, but that's a story for a different thread...

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I think that round you will ultimately be happiest with is the:

.280 Remington

It's a scrunthair from your first choice of .270 Win (.277 vs. .284 but same case) and smack dab half way in between 2 other front-runners, the 7mm-08 and 7mm rem mag, in powder capacity, with same bullet diameter. It's the best of all worlds in that predicament, at least if you reload, due to the high efficiency and high number of great bullet choices available. If you do not reload, stick with .270 Win or 7mm rem mag (preferably .270 win).

But I agree with Shawnee that better than any of them is the 6.5x55 swede!

They'll all work fine however - there's not 2 hills of beans difference in them in reality, when it comes down to it.

 

[MCgunner]

They're all fine choices for up to elk. I like the .308, but it's no better than a 7-08 or a .270. Any of 'em will take the same game out to about the same distance. Flip a coin. I like my .308 mainly because I really like the little stainless M7 that shoots it. But, I have bought cheap milsurp brass in the past. That's a plus. Of course, you could neck it down to 7-08, but the .308 solves that pain.

It's just which ever GUN you like, really, IMHO. Buy what you like, I've got what I like already.


BTW, 7 mag is better.

 

[dakotasin]

i have 'em all. my favoritest is the 7 rem mag, followed by a tie between the 7-08 and 308, and i even like the 270 a little.

there's not going to be enough difference to really fret over between all of them. every one of those cartridges is easily capable of clean, 500 yard kills on deer.

like i said, i have them all and shoot them all, but my favorite is the 7 rem mag.

 

[skinewmexico]

I think you just need to change you parameters some, and not think about a shot at 500. If you're faced with a 500 yard shot, it's time to turn into a hunter.

 

[BENELLIMONTE]

I have hunted & shot elk (cow) , moose (cow), deer (doe & buck) and black bear with the 270 Winchester. It is a very flat shooting, hard hitting cartridge. But for larger animals i.e bull elk, bull moose, and for longer shots 400yds + I always carry my 300 Win Mag or more preferable is the 300Weatherby with 200 grain Nosler Partitions at around 2950 feet per second. These are definitely "big bam bam" for the bigger North American game animals.

BTW I own a 7mm-08 but haven't taken it out for big game hunting yet.

 

[cliffy]

A True 500 Yard Rifle

A .264" 140 grain premium (aka: Nosler Partition) bullet recoils fairly hard coming out of a handloaded .264 Winchester Magnum. Ruger decided to re-introduce this caliber in the Hawkeye. This caliber will decidedly plant a black bear or anything else in the lower forty-eight, and it's a REAL 500 yard load. Just a thought. Cliffy

 

[trigger45]

.270win

 

[Shawnee]

+1 for what "ski..." said about the 500-yd. gig.

Count the number of 500-yd. shots on Elk you've had to do up until now - multiply that number by 4, and that's roughly how many you'll have to do for the rest of your life.