Help with Rifle purchase / .270 or .308 or .30/06

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RIDE

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OK... I'm a noob to the rifle seen... The only rifle I currently own is the new Sig 556... I love it, and apparently (according to my wife) I am addicted. :D

I want to start hunting/target shooting on some land (260 acres).

As far as the Hunting goes, I will be hunting Whitetail deer and coyotes.

I would also like to get better at long range target shooting.
I would love to get to a point where I can hit targets at + 1000 yds. (I know it's going to take practice).

I think I'm set on getting a Tikka T3 (either Hunter or Lite).
What I can't decide on is:

What caliber is going to be best in your opinion for the jobs I listed above?
If you are able to to tell me why, that would be greatly appreciated as well.

.270???

.308???

.30-06???


Please help... Thank you!!!!
 
You don't say where you live or whether you are caliber restricted for whitetail hunting.

Since those two game animals seem to be your primary hunting quarry i am going to make another suggestion for caliber choice.

.243 Winchester

This is a necked down .308 case based high velocity flat shooting versatile cartridge with bullets choices ranging from 60 to 100 grains.

It is more than capable of clean killing coyote to 500 meters and is just as effective on even heavy whitetail to 300 meters using 100 grain bullets.

The muzzle report is not excessive and recoil is quite mild, even with heavier bullet loadings.

I am not going to suggest a rifle, there are a whole slew of good ones out there in this caliber, choose the one that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.
 
I'm in Kansas... The legal Min. for deer here is .243.

I considered the .243, but then started thinking about "SHFT" when reading Boston T. Party's "Boston's Gun Bible", and thought having a larger caliber might be a better ALL purpose Rifle.
 
I believe the Tikka T3 action does not change regardless of the .308 or .30/06..

Does that matter???


Should I get a semi-auto .308... any suggestions on guns???


Thanks for the help.
 
the 308 is a good choice

I purchased a .308 DPMS with a bull barrell- extremely accurate- a little heavy for hunting and a special mag would be needed also - most states I beleive are 5 round for hunting - probably be better with a bolt action- I would go to the local store and check out what feels good, and check all local hunting laws. good luck
 
In the Tikka T3, any of the three calibers will work very well. If you don't reload, or plan on reloading, check out the ammo prices at the shops near you. You'll shoot more often if the ammo is not too expensive. Just pick what calibers' price seems reasonable to you.
 
Thanks for all the help.... this forum is awesome!!!

Ok... so I think I'll pass on the .270 due to grain selection (I won't reload), and short comings in SHTF use.

Is the recoil even noticeable between the .308 and .30-06?

Looking on Ammoman.com it looks like .308 and .30/06 are around $0.70 to $1.50 per round ???!!!:eek: Is that what this stuff is going for these days???

I'm going to stop by Gander Mountain and The Sportsman's Warehouse to see if they even carry the Tikka T3 in .308 or .30-06. Hopefully the do.

Will both rounds be useful out to +1000 yds for targets???
 
All 3 will kill deer and yotes.

The 308 is a bit more accurate and is a well established caliber for long range target shooting. There is some good commercial match ammo available for the .308. You'd have to load your own for the '06. Your average hunting ammo isn't really designed for long range target shooting. They are 2 very different kinds of bullets.

As for practice ammo, buying commercial ammo for any of the 3 wil drive you broke in no time. There is some .308 surplus on the market now that is cheaper than the $12-$14/box of 20 that you'll spend for Remmy or Federal at Wally World. Or you could go the 30-06 route, join the CMP and buy surplus 30-06 ammo from them for even cheaper yet.

Also, if you're looking to do long range target shooting, buying the heaviest gun that you can would be in your best interest.
 
RIDE said:
Looking on Ammoman.com it looks like .308 and .30/06 are around $0.70 to $1.50 per round ???!!! Is that what this stuff is going for these days???
Click to expand...

It ain't cheap, that's for sure.

Those prices are about right.

I am reloading for $.45-.$48 per shot right now for my 175gr Sierra matchking loads.

Much more economical, and the accuracy is better then the factory fodder I used previously.
 
All three are excellent choices(as far as whitetail go).

Here's what in our deer camp (Northern Wis.) in fall:

myself - .30/06 w/scope
my brother - .270 w/scope
my father - .308 w/peep sights

I've been whitetail hunting with my .30/06 for over 15 years and I really like it. My older brother hunts with a .270 and from my experience it seems that mine and my fathers deer don't go to far after thier shot. My brother typically has to track a couple of yards (less than 50yds) to recover his, even with a good heart/lung shot (he uses some sort of jacked up .270 though, light projectile, lots of powder...built for speed). Granted there are a ton of factors that go into this, it's just my experience. So I like the .30's (I have been accused of hunting with a "pumpkin thrower" many times). In any case they all put meat on the table. I've never predator hunted so I can't speak on that.
 
Ok... I'm think the .308 will be perfect for my situation. Thank you all!!!!


A local shop has the Tikka t3 hunter (wood) .308 for $579
This same shop also has the Tikka t3 lite with Stainless Steel barrel/action for $549.

Last bit of help needed... Wood with Blue Barrel ... OR ... Synthetic w/ Stainless Steel???

Will blue vs. synthetic make any difference on accuracy?
 
I think the 30-06 is a better choice for hunting than the .308 for a few reasons. If you look at the ballistics of the two in comparison, the '06 retains higher velocities and energy at said distance. Good for hunting applications. The trajectory on the '06 is also flatter which tends to be another desired trait. You won't go wrong with any of the three for hunting purposes, unless you start talking +400yrds. Then I would seriously look at the .30's Heavier bullets retaining more energy and less wind drift at such distances.
You might find it conflicting trying to find a good 'hunting' rifle and using it as a tack driver at 1000yrds. If you are going to use it for both then I would suggest deciding on a target rifle and using it for hunting, not the other way around...Good luck on the decision...Oh, if you for some reason decide you like .243 win, I have a nice remmy 700 I would sell ya. Less than 20 rds through it. Absolute beautiful rifle. :D
 
Wood is more susceptible to changes in temp and humidity. The wood will swell and contract some and this cna change your zero. A synthetic stock is more environmentally stable.

As for a '06 vs 308 for hunting, you'll gain about 80-100fps at the muzzle with an '06. You still have over 1000 fp or energy at 500 yd with either. You probably won't be shooting any deer out past that.

Sounds like you've decided on the .308. I think that's a good choice. Its a shorter cartridge and uses a shorter action, so the bolt throw is shorter. Recoil is about the same. Maybe a little less numerically witht eh 308m, but you probably wouldn't notice it
 
I agree with whited, any or all of the calibers listed.

You will need a 1,000 yard range to practice on if you want to be able to shoot 1,000 yards.
 
Cost may help with the choice

Since CMP, and some others, are selling 30.06 surplus ammo at ~ $100.00 for 480 rounds, even with shipping the cost is around 25¢ a piece, or $5.00 for a twenty round box.

This makes a 30.06 a good choice if being able to afford ammo is a consideration. I won't even begin to tell you what rifle to choose, but I assure you that 30.06 is an accurate reliable round. It was good enough for our grandfathers in WWII, and it's been carried hunting deer for generations.
 
bowfin said:
You will need a 1,000 yard range to practice on if you want to be able to shoot 1,000 yards.
Click to expand...

The land is 260 acres.... so believe me, finding 1,000 yds will NOT be a problem. In fact, finding 10,000 yds wouldn't be a problem. :D:D

I am in Kansas... lots of open country here :D
_________

Arghhh... no I'm second guessing the the .308:uhoh:

I had thought the .308 was the better choice due to the abundance of Grain/load options, since I do not ever see my self reloading (it scares me just to think about it :D)

With the $5 per box of .30-06... I begin to lean back toward the .30-06...
 
Is "CMP" Civilian Marksmanship Program???

Does their "Stock" change on a regular basis?

I went to the sight and it seems the only thing they have available is .30-06... Then the other ammo that is blocked out (out of stock) is all 5.56NATO...

Is this the right place:

http://www.odcmp.com/Clubs/fed-bhammo.pdf
 
My first centerfire rifle is a 308 (Savage with stainless heavy barrel and laminate stock for what it's worth). I'm not a hunter, but wanted something that I could take for whitetail deer if the opportunity arose. That brought me to choices of 243, 270, 308 or 30-06. This was back somewhere around March or April, 2001.

I wanted a short action (this is strictly personal preference on my end) - now I was down to 243 or 308. I don't know if I knew then that reloading was even an option, so I went with 308 for a greater possible supply of commercial ammunition.

At this point, I have only been shooting regularly for two years and only just now are some of the fundamentals starting to come together. I have a long way to go before even thinking about finding a range with a more than 100 yard target line, much less actually shooting that far. I'd like to think that when I get good enough to shoot at long ranges (more than 300 yards) I'll be able to afford a new rifle if I want to try to get better performance.

As far as reloading goes, I think I save money by reloading, but the real reason to reload is to make the ammunition that you want to shoot and to tailor the load to your own rifle (still working on that here). I learned to reload under the watchful eyes of one of the more experienced gentlemen of my rifle club. For reloading, I believe that 30 caliber (30-06 or 308) gives the widest possible bullet selection of any caliber out there.

As an example of the differences between 308 and 30-06 I cite from the 2006 Hodgdon magazine style Annual Reloading Manual. The 308 is listed with 200 grain as the largest bullet; the 30-06 with a 250 grain bullet. For both cartridges, 190 grain is the heaviest boat-tail bullet available - for long distances I would want a boat-tail for better ballistic coefficient. Both cartridges give velocities from a 24" barrel (so the velocities should be directly comparable), the 308 a 1 - 12" twist; the 30-06 a 1 - 10" twist. Comparing the maximum loads using BL-C(2) powder (the powder I'm using now) for the Sierra 168 grain HPBT (one of their match grade choices) the 308 uses 47.0 grains powder to yield 2754 fps at 50,200 CUP; the 30-06 uses 51.0 grains of powder to yield 2767 fps at 49,200 CUP. A whole 13 fps by using an additional 4 grains powder. This is about a 0.5% difference.

Pick the caliber you want. All of the ones you mentioned will do what you want them to do. Pick the gun that you want - you can always buy a different one later. :)

I hope this helped!
 
I have a wood/blue 30-06 T3. It's my favorite gun bar none. Couldn't recommend it more.

My Father-in-law bought a stainless/synthetic T3 in .300WSM. It doesnt look nearly as nice, and you really miss the checkering.

Mine looks heirloom quality, his looks workmanlike.
 
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