.243 vs .308 vs .270 for deer

D90

D90

New member
Hi all,looking to purchase one for deer over here in the north of Ireland, will be shooting mostly fallow and sika with a few reds for good measure, what do you guys recommend as the best all rounder shots will be made inside 150 yds and closer any advice would be great oh! and i will be hand loading as well thanks /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Any of the three will do fine at those ranges. You may want to look into any
UN treaties coming your way to ban any and all military calibers. The 308
would be my choice if that isn't a problem.
 
Hello fellow Irish man... of course I've been watered down a little bit( Scottish too )! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif If you are going to use it for varmints too then I would take the .243. If you love short actions, you can't beat the .308 unless you go to a short magnum. The .270 is a great cartridge... it has plenty of power and is flat shooting. I have several friends who use a .270 for elk and moose. This should come down to personal preference ( short vs. long action ), but I can say that the .270 bullets have a great ballistic coefficient.

Good Luck with your choice. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

Joel
 
I'd doubt any animal you mentioned could tell a bit of difference in any of the cartridges you mentioned. The 243 will give you less recoil, but all three will do the job.
 
Quote:
If your gonna shoot any preds/varmints with the rifle get the .243. But if its just for deer then get .308



Exactly my sentiment. I do have a .308 and love it for deer. But my next large cal rifle will be a 270 and it will also be used for deer on occasion. But you can load the .308 down to a 110 grain soft point.

The .243 that my brother shoots for dogs he uses 100 grain soft points and it does real well as far as saving fur goes. So in that aspect a .308 would get you near what a .243 will give you even for dogs.

Any of them for deer though are great choices.
 
Did a little research.

A red deer stags weight is in the following range 160–240 kg (350–530 lbs). So they are between a mule deer and a US Elk in size. That might lead you towards the larger calibers. The 243 could be considered marginal for Red Deer. You might want to consider the 6.5x55 as well. I am assuming this caliber is popular in Ireland. If not then 308 or 270.
 
Thanks guys for the replys its always good to ask advice from people who have the experience, ok the gun will not be for predators primaliry, I have a 17 rem for that real sweet and i love it, thats not to say if old charlie (fox) shows up while out on a stalk that he wont get a taste of one of the above mentioned cals /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif, that would be 2 hard for me resist, not sure about any UN moves to get rid of military cals like the 308 that would be bad news as far as a lot of shooters over here are concerned as its real popular and the 7.62 ammo is pretty cheap for practising with even by 2days standards,the 6.5x55 swedish as mentioned another option, was looking at a few rifles 2nite at my local gun dealer a lakelander? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif never heard of one till i saw it maybe 20 years old like new really nice looking rifle, also looked at a Howa made in japan i think anyone have any experience of any of these ?
 
Can't go wrong with a Howa; good action, accurate, and not super expensive (at least over here). I'd prefer not to have a .243 around here for the bigger mulies/long shoots we often get. The other two are good choices given that you don't have long shots and the larger sika will be a cleaner kill with these two. I have a .270 and I love it for it's flat shooting, and good punch.
 
Howa's are great and general very accurate.

As far as calibers the 243 is marginal for the larger deer. You mentioned shots would be inside of 150 yards so while the 270 would work well, you don't need it's flat shooting capabilities. I would go with the 308 and good 150 to 165 grain bullet.

The 7-08 was mentioned in this thread and it is a great deer cartridge but your choices are limited by the number of manufactures who chamber for it.

Good Luck
 
The Red Deer you mentioned are the same animal as what used to be called woods elk in the US the were found east of the missisippi in the appalarticia region and along the east coast prior to 1850. They are not as large as our western Elk the Sitka as i recall are about the size of our whitetail and Fallow are like the western Couse Deer. Any of the chamberings you mentioned will do the job at the ranges you stated, but my preferance would be the .70 or the .308. NATO was mentioned, also the UN may be a problem. The .308 is the 7.62 NATO round that is used in the M-14 and several other military rifles. from before they went smaller and lighter with the 5.56 NATO/.223 Remington but I guess that is between you and your Government. On this side of the big pond we have our own problems with Government and what we can hunt with.
 
If you elect to go with a 6.5x55mm, the CZ550 is a nice choice: great accuracy, great trigger and a good-looking rifle. Also, you can get a full-stock (wood to the muzzle) carbine, too.

Karl in Phoenix
 
Id go with the .270. Flat shooting, and packs a pretty good wallop.

I dont know anything about red deer but I would think that if they are close to elk, then a .243 would be on the light side
 
The best thing about a 308 is you can neck the brass down and make 243. Take the 270 as it is proven for many many years on the size of game you are shooting.
 
hi d90, im using a 243 on Donegal red deer, ive shot 9 deer this year using 100 grain interlocks and each of then was down very quickly,,none of them made it ten yards and the ranges were out to 150 yards...hope this helps.
 
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