Best caliber for deer hunting - pt.3: The overall winner(s)

In this video, you'll get the results of my review. Which caliber is best for deer hunting.

We'll look at the different calibers, their pros and cons, and which one is the overall winner (or winners) for deer hunting.

If you're wondering which caliber is the best for you, this video is for you! We'll help you make the decision based on your individual hunting needs and preferences.

And by the way, the best cartridge in the world is useless if you don't know how to put it to use.
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[shamm]

Well I am 62 years old and I am a Reloader and my Rifles for Antelope Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer and Caribou is the 6mm Rem and the .264 Win Mag. The 6mm Rem was my first Big Game Rifle when I was 14 years old and when I think the range will be longer I use my .264 Win Mag with a Nosler 130gr AB at 3208 FPS. I started carrying the .264 Win Mag in the middle 1980’s after my .270 Win Rifle jammed. To this Day there has never been a deer sized animal I could not have taken with the 6mm Rem and even the Antelope I took a 500.+ yard Antelope I had shot with my .264 Win Mag. I have hunted Iowa South Dakota Wyoming Colorado Montana Idaho and Alaska just FYI. In the factory calibers you listed a .270 Win would be my pick as it is and always been a very well balanced Deer and Antelope cartridge.
For larger Game and Bears I just use a 300 H&H Mag with a Nosler 180gr AB.
For what it’s worth If I had to have one rifle it would be the .280 Rem with a rifle with a 24-26 inch barrel and reloaded to it’s full potential. In 40 years of Big Game hunting my average shot on a deer has been just over 200 yards and Antelope right around 300 yards.

[spencerbookman]

When I chose a deer cartridge, I narrowed it down to 308 or 7mm-08 - though my selection process wasn't as thorough as this. I chose 308 mainly because practice ammo was cheap and I could shoot a lot without too much wear and tear. (I selected a pre-Hawkeye Ruger M77 Mk 2 for the same reasons, even though that rifle has other well-known deficiencies.) This video seems to validate my choice for the type of hunting I do, which is gratifying.

[kevinflaherty]

Personally my favorite caliber now is the.243 100 grain.low recoil and spot on placement for fast humane kill

[Loot]

The 7mm-08, 6.8 western and 6.5 PRC are all similar to the 270 win. The only difference is that those calibers tend to be less available in the US. I'd go with 270 win over all of those b/c the recoil is negligible, availability and you can't argue against the performance (on CXP2 & CXP3) and versatility (close, long range, woods, etc.). Excellent video. thanks

[the_watcher_abc]

In the Woods the good old 30/30 will put meat on the table every time. In the fields any of the here mentioned cartages will do just fine. In the back country a 7mm rm or 300wm are ideal.
Picking a caliber and platform to shoot it out of has everything to do with where one is hunting, what one is hunting, what one can shoot well and one’s personal preference.
But if one has to pick an all round do it all. Go bigger. Remember that “a big knife can do a small job, but a small knife can’t do a big job.” That is as true with guns as it is with knives.
Good luck, have fun and be safe.

[JamesM-lg]

Great video. Great articulation. Move right along at just right speed with great information.

=subscribed!

[stevemccall]

Very interesting how both your lines for 7-08 and 270 overlap. I have extensive personal experience with both and agree the 7-08 has the same terminal performance as the 270 and is the ultimate whitetail cartridge

[TAWier]

I actually own all of these cartridges except the 280 Rem and 6.5cm... I do have a 6.5 Grendel and 6.5 PRC. In the end I love all of them for various reasons but my two favorite rifles in my collection of dozens of rifles are both 7mm-08 Remington. Great and very insightful video... thanks!!

[notsofast]

Great logical analysis. 7-08 is my favorite as well. The only thing “wrong” with 30-06 is some shooters flinch and muff their shots. Lighter recoiling guns are highly recommended for new shooters

[johnkendall]

Ho-Hum. I'll just pick up my 30-06 and go hunting. It'll work on any game animal in north America at any distant anyone has any business shooting at uninjured game.

[dennisowen]

Nice video. But my friend I've been a Ballistician for over 50+ years. Hunting, Load developing, re-loading. and Long Range Competition shooting mixed with a lot of silhouette shooting in both small and large bore Hand gun and Rifle. In all those years the three cartridges that gave the greatest results in knock down power, accuracy and Long range capabilities were the 243 Winchester, the 30-06 and the 270 Winchester. By far the one that gave the most surprising results was in fact the 270 Winchester. It can and does beat the 6.5 Creedmore hands down. I have loaded my 270 with 145grn Hornady ELDX bullets to just under 3200fps with a .315 Sub MOA grouping with a 24 inch barrel. It really shines with a 26 inch barrel. I recently shot a nice 4 point Mule deer at 510 yards with it, loaded with the Nosler 130grn BT bullets at 3200 fps. One shot and it hit it like a Freight Train. Normally I would never take a shot like that at that distance. I'm a beleiver in no more than 300 yards on any Big game animal. But in this case i had some unforseen circumstances and I knew my Rifle and the ballistics on the load and took the shot. The .243 is another that really does surprise you. But the old War Horse 30-06 is what I prefer on Larger game like Elk. But regardless of the recoil I love it for deer hunting with a 150grn bullet. They go 3100fps and knock em down real hard. Lastly there is the issue of ammo availability. I can go to any Walmart or Gun shop, Ace hardware ETC, and get ammo far cheaper than the 6.5 Creedmore or PRC or these other new fangled fad cartridges. All said and done, it's the real world Hunting I compare cartridges with. And for over 100 years the 30-06 and the 270 Winchester have been dealing out phenomenol killing capabilities on many Large game. Same with the 243. But it shines on Varmints too.

[johnnyha]

Fascinating analysis but comes with some pros and cons. All of the calibres discussion are widely known and understood. At a high level, the calibres are unquestionably appropriate for the quarry. But then come a series of issues
1. Practice - in an ideal scenario, the shooter will spend a good deal of time on the range getting to understand their rifle and calibre. Availability of practice ammunition is therefore a consideration - 243win, 308win, 6.5cm, even 30-06 are available in <£1 a round loads at the NSC. A minor consideration but a worthy one.
2. There is then the question of the loads. Hornady have loads from 125g (at 200y / 2121fps / 1248ftlbs) to 178g (at 200y / 2281fps / 2056ftlbs). Not only are is there a significant variation within the same calibre, but come this to the 150g 7mm-08 loading (at 200y / 2461fps / 2018 ftlbs). The trajectory differences out to 400y with a 200y are within 1". With a 15mph full value wind (with 200y zero), the 150g 7m08 loading has a drift of 3.5" at 200y. For the 178g 308 load, the drift is 4". For a 130g 270win load (at 200y / 2779fps / 2229ftlb) the drift is 3.7". So you're talking a difference of .5" at 200y with a reasonably strong wind - it's clear that, even with factory loads, the relative differences between the calibres can be mitigated.
3. The dreaded subject of lead vs non-lead. This has a significant viability impact on all calibres under consideration.
4. Recoil - the impact of the rifle on this is significant. The weight of the rifle, moderator or not, muzzle brake or not, length of barrel. Recoil can be heavily mitigated with an appropriate build. In many cases this will enhance ballistic performance.
5. The range of animal weights, and toughness of skin varies considerably, even in the UK. A calibre suitable for CWD and Muntjac won't necessarily suit a tough skinned Sika stag. Similarly the relative sizes of the different species, and the environments they're found in will have a bearing on shot placement. Contrast a CWD in open fields with a Sika stag in heavy country with thick cover. Whilst every calibre you'd want to shoot the latter with would give you confidence in the former, could the same be said of the reverse?

Thanks for your always interesting analysis.

[dennydavis]

I'm in love with the 7mm-08, great performance and light recoil.

[humansustainability]

My situational demands are primarily in dense wooded marsh at very short range [<100y]. There are white tail deer for hunting but also I have a requirement to protect myself against black bear and the rare agitated moose that might come to near. I wanted bang at short range [~100-150y] with rare medium range [~150-300y] needs and even rarer long range needs.

In my mind, my choices were between the 308 and the 30-06 due to the larger animals I might not be able to scare off. I decided to go with the 308 [168gr] in an AR10 platform [REPR MKII] which allows me to put a lot of rounds on target very quickly. I thought I made the right choice [I haven't had to use it for unwelcome guests yet] but your break down showed me that I made the right choice. Even if you didn't chose the 308 as any of your winners, your charts explained that I have the right caliber at close range that will suit my needs.

Thank you.

[billflythe]

Excellent ammo availability is a concern the 308Win, 30-06, 270Win and 6.5CM have a significant advantage in price and availability. Try buying a box of the Excellent 7mm08 or 280Rem or AI in a small town in the rural Southern US.

[warrenlathrop]

When you consider that the 7-08 is just a shortened 7x57 Mauser loaded to higher pressures I have to give it to the 7-08 based on the wide availability of 7-08 ammo which is no longer true of the 7x57. But I'll keep my Ruger m77 in 7x57 as I can hand load a 120gr bullet to 3000fps for plains game, a 140 gr at 2750 for deer in hill country and 175gr at 2575fps for bear and moose. No elephants here so I don't have to worry about Bell's fmj load for those.

[glockasauruswrex]

Love the 6.5 Swede caliber for the smallish deer we have in Socal...308 WIN tears them up. Short range...hard to beat a 45/70 tho. Drops everything like a stone

[mine]

I was looking at calibers for my wife a couple years ago for hunting out here in Montana. I was looking for an efficient cartridge that wouldn’t be overkill for things as small as pronghorn, but would be sufficient for elk and moose within a specific hunting distance (500 yards and in for deer, 300 and in for elk). My analysis was based on using the Hornady Superformance line with the GMX projectile, and I came to an identical conclusion. The 7mm-08 Remington, 7 mm Rem Mag, and 270 Win ended up being the most balanced of the three cartridges when wind drift, drop, kinetic energy, and recoil were all considered. Ended up going with the 7mm-08 and the Superformance GMX loading, and it has not disappointed. We’ve tagged deer from 80-just past 300 yards with it, all have been one shot kills and all have practically dropped where they stood. The exception was an older doe that winded me and my dog before the shot was broke. Even then, she went a total of 20 yards before kicking over dead.

[frankmccarthy]

I long ago came to basically the same conclusions. I use the 7mm-08 for most of my deer hunting. Out in the open valleys it’s the 280 Remington. I bought a Kimber 280 ackley last year and it is a laser beam. But really it’s only about 3% more capable than the Remington. Usually I only get 60-70 FPS more with the ackley so the difference is fairly small if you already have and like a Remington 280. If I didn’t reload these would be replaced by a .270 Winchester just because it’s so common. I hunted with .30-06 for several years but once I developed shoulder arthritis that extra recoil because annoying - but if you’re young, have at it.