Thread: Calibre for goats and occasional deer?

600 Nitro Express ??
243, 25-06 or 6.5x55 or 260 would be my pick

Originally Posted by stretch

Just buy my 6.5 and get the ball rolling. Will chuck in a box of 139gn to get you started. Plenty of reloading options if you wish to get into that side of things down the line, from 95gn to 160gn.

FS: Carl Gustaf M38 6.5x55

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That actually is a better idea than it sounds. That's a very good price for a 6.5x55, its a great calibre, and would be ideal for most game in NZ. And if the original poster wants to trade up there wont be a lot of $$$ lost as at that price, its worth keeping as a spare.


Bloody good idea.

I'll chuck a vote for 308 as your first center fire with a 20" barrel plenty of great rifles new or secondhand.
If you have a look around you can pickup 308 ammo for same price as 223. Get some Winchester 147 fmj and Barnaul SP for around a buck a pop for plenty of fun practice and goats. Splash out on some hornady super-performance for the deer.
Have this as your hack rifle, get a 223, 243, 270, 6.5 or whatever you fancy later on....the list is endless.

Although there is some validity to learning with a lighter shooting calibre it can also teach you bad habits in not holding firearm correctly due to lack of recoil, of course know one will admit to this.

If it's mainly goats go for 223. Quality ammo is dirt cheap. If you actually want to start shooting deer (ie more than a couple a year) then I'd get a 308 - you can get dirt cheap ammo for the goats and you can get some higher quality ammo for when you go deer stalking. Like they said above... Opinions are like arseholes...


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Jw 103 has been a good, reliable killer of both goats & deer where we hunt & I've only used Norinco FMJ so far. My hunting companion uses the Barnaul sp which helps in the tissue damage dept. The JW does need a bedding job though to get the best out of its accuracy. I found the 223 a bit light on the deer unless you place the shot well, & the 308 is over gunned for goats IMO. Most shots done in NZ bush are out to 200yds anyway.
Good luck in your search.
Phil.

What? 200 yards in bush? Try more like 30 yards.

We often see deer @200yds+ across gullies etc while bush stalking goats. Too far "FOR ME" to kill reliably with my 223 so use the JW 103 Bisley 7.62x39 or Sako260 instead. Too expensive to shoot goats solely with the 260 though, even with reloading.

Originally Posted by Tararua Phil

We often see deer @200yds+ across gullies etc while bush stalking goats. Too far "FOR ME" to kill reliably with my 223 so use the JW 103 Bisley 7.62x39 or Sako260 instead. Too expensive to shoot goats solely with the 260 though, even with reloading.

you need to try different bullets for your .223 - my experience is 200yds is a comfortable range with an accurate .222/.223 - bullet placement is everything.

Originally Posted by rossi.45

you need to try different bullets for your .223 - my experience is 200yds is a comfortable range with an accurate .222/.223 - bullet placement is everything.

Like he said," For Me" 200yards is too far to kill reliably with his 223 and I doubt different bullets is the answer for him. A 223 can kill a deer at that range ok, but its certainly pushing it for the genral joe blog as bullet placement has to be spot on and a 223 just loses to much energy at that range. Far better to go up in Cal if you going to shoot at that sort of range and even longer so hes on the right path. A 223 has under the recommened energy required to kill mediuem size game at 200 yards so its wise to move up in Cal to make sure of certain kills.

7.62x39

Need to have a range day so he can try all the recommendations made so far, that'll sort the wheat from the chalf.

The only sensible answer to this question is buy a AR-15 with all the bells and whistles. Then buy extra uppers in 7.62x39 and 300 blackout and you should be set for any occasion. Anything else is old school.

Originally Posted by MassiveAttack

The only sensible answer to this question is buy a AR-15 with all the bells and whistles. Then buy extra uppers in 7.62x39 and 300 blackout and you should be set for any occasion. Anything else is old school.

Just about the most sensible suggestion yet!

.223 all day for the goats. If you only occasionally want a deer hunt. Borrow something off ya mate until you decide you want to, or can afford to buy a second rifle.


Sent from the swamp

Originally Posted by Mauser308

If I was starting out, off the shelf cheap and cheerful would be the go so a .270 would be out and so would the .243. Used both, the .270win kicked harder than one of them silly Aussie hopping animals and the muzzle flash could be seen from the International Space Station. The .243 lead to a lost deer and two lost pigs, that was with reasonable quality ammo and all were solid heart/lung/boiler room placed shots - at around 125m range standing animals.

I was spotting all three shots and saw impact points with video for two, after that the thing was retired to a rabbit gun. Found one pig the next day, about 200m away in a gully dead. Did it's job, don't get me wrong - but if I'm going to shoot something I want to recover the thing. (stands back and waits for the herd to start bellowing)

Being all serious, I would not be concerned what the actual caliber was as long as it was a short action rifle - and the gun fits well (I mean actually fits the shooter well we know nothing yet about his frame size, LH or RH). A good quality scope, and a decent suppressor would be my next two recommendations. Anything in .308, 7mm-08 basically. No to the -06-length cases just due to cost of ammo and the lesser selection available (or at least around my area). The types of ammo that are most easily available in quality ammo are .223, .308, 7mm-08, 7mmRM and maybe .300WM with a lesser selection of .270 and .30-06 with some steel case 7.62x39. And a .22LR rifle.

Well clearly the ammo was shit or the shots weren't placed where you thought they actually hit as with the 243 ive shot nearly all my animals with one. 100gr powershoks and havnt lost one animal yet with the 243. Missed a couple here and there, but never hit one and had any issue with it not dropping, that includes darn good size stags (shoulder /chest shots, biggest over 126kg totally dressed out, no head, ) plus a couple of good size boars. Right ammo and around that shoulder area it works amazing out to a pratical range (0-250m).

PS some of that top ammo isn't always the answer either and doesn't perform, I started out using norma 100gr 243 ammo and it was crap. Struggled at times to knock over goats, often requiring a second shot. Soon as I changed never had anything not go down, includes dozens of goats, too many deer to remember, stags, pigs.

Lets face it, theres lost animals with most Cals, always hearing some story of the one that got hit that got away. Its all about shot placement and the right projectile for the range and game. Ive lost one deer this year, hit with the 308, thought shot was good but the fact is it cant of been as good as I thought or it would have not escaped . Too many have a bad experience with something, then rubbish it, its nonsence