Thread: Rifle/ caliber opinions for bush and mountain

I have a 308 and have had a number of 270 rifles.
If i was only to have one rifle it would be the 300wsm.
Never lost an animal up to 645 yards.
Its a pussy to shoot with a suppressor. 150 to 212 grain projectiles and my accubond 180 grain gets a tad over 2920 fps. Lozt a number of animals with the 270 as they didnt fall over straight away.
Never ever had that with the wsm

Originally Posted by Hornady ELDX

I have a 308 and have had a number of 270 rifles.
If i was only to have one rifle it would be the 300wsm.
Never lost an animal up to 645 yards.
Its a pussy to shoot with a suppressor. 150 to 212 grain projectiles and my accubond 180 grain gets a tad over 2920 fps. Lozt a number of animals with the 270 as they didnt fall over straight away.
Never ever had that with the wsm

Yep, it was the fault of the cartridge........

Originally Posted by Hornady ELDX

I have a 308 and have had a number of 270 rifles.
If i was only to have one rifle it would be the 300wsm.
Never lost an animal up to 645 yards.
Its a pussy to shoot with a suppressor. 150 to 212 grain projectiles and my accubond 180 grain gets a tad over 2920 fps. Lozt a number of animals with the 270 as they didnt fall over straight away.
Never ever had that with the wsm

#1 the OP said unsuppressed so makes it more like a feral cat than a kitten

#2 stop taking pop shots and learn how to track

Originally Posted by Hornady ELDX

I have a 308 and have had a number of 270 rifles.
If i was only to have one rifle it would be the 300wsm.
Never lost an animal up to 645 yards.
Its a pussy to shoot with a suppressor. 150 to 212 grain projectiles and my accubond 180 grain gets a tad over 2920 fps. Lozt a number of animals with the 270 as they didnt fall over straight away. ...CAUSE I NEGLECTED TO TAKE OUT FRONT WHEELS AND/OR WAS USING WRONG PROJECTILE TYPE.
Never ever had that with the wsm....YET,WATCH THIS SPACE....

capitals are my input LOL.
the OP wants to go unsuppressed...which is going to make it a tad more loud as soon as powder capacity gets up to or above say 60grains......
your .308 will push the same projectiles out slower..so a hundred yard .308 shot is same as a 3-400 from your magnum......
but horses for courses it would be a boring world if we all did things the same way with the same stuff.

.270Win or .308Win are both great choices when using factory ammo. Many other calibres would also do the job, but factory ammunition to feed the rifle may not be as readily available at your local.

honestly 308 will do it all, massive amount of different ammo available, can buy it at most shops nationwide as its a common calibre. yeah sure the trajectory isnt the flashest but as an all purpose centrefire its hard to beat

Originally Posted by gonetropo

honestly 308 will do it all, massive amount of different ammo available, can buy it at most shops nationwide as its a common calibre. yeah sure the trajectory isnt the flashest but as an all purpose centrefire its hard to beat

What he said if you want one rifle......otherwise the 243 is the ultimate bush rifle, its my go to and shot plenty of animals with it and it just works.
For the open tops etc theres a number of Cals that will do the job but if you using just one for both the 308 will do the job out to a fair range

Its good to see youve started with the scope. Theres no doubt that VX 5 will cover it all and do very well.

It sounds as if you want one rifle to do both “ bush and mountain hunting”.
For south island bush up to 22” is fine if you dont put a suppressor on it. Youll want the length to give enough velocity for the long shots on the tops. With a single all round rifle your max range will be about 300m in NZ South Is conditions.

Regarding choice of rifle, i suggest getting a new one rather than second hand. They are still ffordable if you only buy one and you know someone else hasnt dicked around with it. NZ hunting usually involves getting it wet, often muddy, full of leaves and windblown sand, frozen, knocked about a bit. So your stainless idea is good. A synthetic stock is best, carbon if you can afford it. Get a mainstream brand, not something unique and not the latest never heard if it before or semi custom brand. The standard rifles to compare all others to are the Tikka T3 and the Sako 85 which both have the simple rugged bombproof design features you need in NZ.

I have many calibers and shot in all sorts of places at all sorts of game. My do anything rifle is a 308 I have two loads a 150 gr spbt that shoots zero at 100. great for the bush and out too 200 then another load 125gr that shoots 2 inches high at 100 without changing sights. perfect for long range. as I said a have many rifles but if I was only allowed one the 308 would be it for anything in nz. but you must also have a trusty 22 rimfire

20" 7mmremag with a can best all rounder that hits with authority can be shot with no can but at that short its very loud but recoil is fine even in a light gun just need good technique.
generally heaps of ammo selection around

+1 for a suppressor. Often gives you the chance of a follow up shot...

Do you want 1 rifle as a do all or do you want 2
Me, I think you should get like 6... but

It's too late now but if I was starting over again, for a large game rifle I would buy something like a Finnlight [or other brand to suit] in 30 06 and go shoot anything I wanted to.

Any of the standard cartridges will do, no need to be magnumized, I'm good to 400 with a .243, never failed me, only have a couple of .270's just coz. If I had to have 1 rifle only, my cartridge might be 25/06 Rem. You're gonna get plenty of earfull on this subject!

I guess one aspect of your question to be considered is: are you a hunter or long range live target shooter.........

Ask 10 hunters, get 10 answers.

I agree that a magnum is not necessary for your needs (I have 2, so I’m not against them). .308 is probably the best chambering for a bush pig and will run to 500m if not too short (perhaps 18”). Or 7-08, or 6.5 Creedmoor. I mention these as ammo will be easier to find if you don’t load and components will be easier to find if you do.

To help answer your question, some factors to consider.
Do you reload? Or are you reliant on factory ammo ? If it’s factory this narrows your choices significantly. But 708, 308, 270, 3006 will get the job done. And 7mmRM and 300wsm if you fancy going magnum.
Next is how much of your hunting is bush vs tops ? If you are mostly bush hunting then you’re probably going to want a short barrel suppressed rifle. The short action cartridges tolerate this better than long action. If you’re mostly tops hunting and you want to reach out further then long action or magnum.
Brings us to the 3rd question - how far do you intend shooting ? If it’s 500 yds or less then any will work. If 600-800 then you need more powder behind the pill than a 708 or 308. And very likely you’d need to reload with the appropriate projectiles, not always available in factory. Or don’t suit your rifle.
What you are asking for is compromise. The end result maybe something that does not do either job well.
Get a short bbl 708 or 308 for bush and a 2nd tops rifle (270, 3006, 280ai, 7mmRM or 300wsm) and plenty of other options if you reload.