Thread: Calibre for goats and occasional deer?

Neither. Both are good but there are so many out there. By the sound of it, you have not done a lot of shooting yet, would that be correct?




If this is the case, there are a few things I would suggest you consider. Price and availability of ammo. More common and cheaper to shoot calibres mean more affordable to spend time at the range getting familiar and accurate with whatever calibre you get. I would suggest 308 would be one of the most common but there are others.

Secondly get something that wont beat your shoulder up to start with. If you start out with 270 or 30/06 or a magnum (7mmRem etc) then the likelihood of you developing a flinch is higher and this will have a negative impact on your accuracy.

308 would be my first choice if I was in your situation. Easy to source a wide selection of ammo, capable of more than you re asking.
6.5x55 would be a close second. It has very similar performance to a 308 but recoil seems lighter making it easier to shoot accurately.
243 is still capable but is perhaps not a suitable than the above. shot placement is more critical, but with lighter recoil accuracy is usually easier.
7mm08 is so similar to 308 that it may as well be the same except the ammo tends to be dearer as the selection of cheaper brands like Barnaul etc are not available in that calibre though there is nothing wrong with the 7mm08 and with its increased popularity, there is quite a range out there for it.

Finally there is a mosin nagant listed on this forum for $500 that would well be worth a look at. A bit heavier to carry, but capable of handling anything from 130gr to 220gr projectiles. Barnaul make a 203gr Soft point that works well in these.

To all the haters out there that will say 270 is brilliant, I am not saying that any calibre is not capable of what he is asking it to do, but pointing out there are different points to consider when looking for a first rifle.