I have a "spare" Savage short action and either a 7mm-08 or .243 barrel to cut down.So what's the base rifle you're building on? Inquiring minds would like to know ...
My wife's first deer rifle was a Remington 660. It had an 18 or 18.5 inch barrel. It was pretty loud, and I suspect she was only getting around 2600fps with 100gr bullets out of it. But she put a lot of venison on the table with that little rifle.
My wife's first deer rifle was a Remington 660. It had an 18 or 18.5 inch barrel. It was pretty loud, and I suspect she was only getting around 2600fps with 100gr bullets out of it. But she put a lot of venison on the table with that little rifle.
On the other hand, you asked, "is there a better caliber for this in the .308 family?" In MY opinion it's the .308 Winchester itself. It just seems to me that when you're talking about a "light, short deer rifle" you're not talking about a 400 yard hunting rifle, you're talking about a handy, easy to carry, quick pointing rifle for use in the timber (sometimes called a "brush gun"). For those purposes, I'd prefer a rifle that throws a heavier, larger bullet than what you can throw from a .243.
But that's just MY opinion. You have to understand I have a real affinity for 30 caliber cartridges. My first big game rifle was a .308 Winchester (model 100 Winchester with a 20" barrel by the way) and my retirement rifle is a .308 Norma Magnum with a 25" barrel. I've had a few smaller, and larger caliber big game rifles over the years, but I always come back to the 30.
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You put your finger right on it.
That's my other option is to just cut down a spare 7mm-08 barrel that I already have. It shoots 120's pretty well too.
Vern, I have a constant ringing in my ears (tinnitus) and have for 30 years. However, I'm usually able to put in earplugs before I shoot a deer with a rifle. Usually. About 4 out of 5 times this past year.
Too late for me. I screwed up my hearing as a kid shooting without ever wearing hearing protection, then running a chainsaw when I owned a tree service for years, again, without hearing protection. I have about 20% loss in my left ear. First hearing test I ever took I was 21 and when I finished, the woman administering the test asked me two questions. 1) do you shoot guns, and 2) are you right handed. She knew.
The 660 rifles had 20' barrels. The 600's had 18.5.My wife's first deer rifle was a Remington 660. It had an 18 or 18.5 inch barrel. It was pretty loud, and I suspect she was only getting around 2600fps with 100gr bullets out of it. But she put a lot of venison on the table with that little rifle.
On the other hand, you asked, "is there a better caliber for this in the .308 family?" In MY opinion it's the .308 Winchester itself. It just seems to me that when you're talking about a "light, short deer rifle" you're not talking about a 400 yard hunting rifle, you're talking about a handy, easy to carry, quick pointing rifle for use in the timber (sometimes called a "brush gun"). For those purposes, I'd prefer a rifle that throws a heavier, larger bullet than what you can throw from a .243.
But that's just MY opinion. You have to understand I have a real affinity for 30 caliber cartridges. My first big game rifle was a .308 Winchester (model 100 Winchester with a 20" barrel by the way) and my retirement rifle is a .308 Norma Magnum with a 25" barrel. I've had a few smaller, and larger caliber big game rifles over the years, but I always come back to the 30.
At this point I'm leaning toward the 7mm-08 since I am already set up to reload for it, or possibly the .308 since I already use .308 bullets in two other rifles and those 160 FTX's are superbly accurate and deadly bullets.
