Thread: Selection of caliber for new shooter(s)

As for a center fire the 243 seems to be making a come back. You dont actually need a different rifle for each different large animal you will hunt. If it were me Id look at 243 or 6.5x55 if you want an all rounder. Me personally I started with a 6.5x55 40 years ago and still use one. Just pick one and become proficient with it and youll be fine. Dont worry about trying to win a fashion parade or pissing contest they all kill animals, simple as that

Originally Posted by blip

As for a center fire the 243 seems to be making a come back. You dont actually need a different rifle for each different large animal you will hunt. If it were me Id look at 243 or 6.5x55 if you want an all rounder. Me personally I started with a 6.5x55 40 years ago and still use one. Just pick one and become proficient with it and youll be fine. Dont worry about trying to win a fashion parade or pissing contest they all kill animals, simple as that

With all the talk of 243 I was also going to suggest the 6.5x55. They seem more comfortable for slight/ smaller shooters than the likes of 308 etc.

One point I do agree with is the 22LR. but for newer shooters wanting to practise with centrefire I would also throw 7.62x39 and 308 into the mix. Cheaper ammo / bigger selection of factory ammo means practice with something bigger than a 22 can be useful. If it is expensive to shoot (I call $3 shot expensive....) then you tend to become conservative on how many rounds you want to use for practise and sighting in.

Some of the pistol calibres can be good for practise but the likes of 7.62x39 and the pistol calbres are not much good out past 100m.

If you put a suppressor on your centrefire it can tame a lot of the recoil..(or at least feel like it is tamer...) so is well worth spending the money on.

Originally Posted by timattalon

If you put a suppressor on your centrefire it can tame a lot of the recoil..(or at least feel like it is tamer...) so is well worth spending the money on.

This comment - I just flicked through the thread looking for this and wasn't able to find it. In my view, a suppressor is a must do for anything centerfire with new shooters. Most shooters can handle the recoil of .308 ammo in the standard factory loads (150gr standard recoil loads) including some fairly slightly built women I've worked with on the range and hunting. A lot of kids in the 11+ age range and sizes also handle the recoil fine with appropriate coaching (a lot of girls are actually physically bigger than the same age boy at this stage as they seem to grow to 'size' earlier then go through their move to adult status which is usually when they stop being able to handle being given instructions etc etc but I digress).

Suppressors tame the worst factor of the experience, the shear noise and the slap in the face from the muzzle blast which induces a lot of the physical reaction in the average inexperienced shooter. One other point to make, losing an animal is one thing as it's disappointing to take a shot and not get the reward but worse is shooting and severely wounding an animal and then having to track and complete the kill. That's something that a lot of people new to hunting struggle with, and it is the main reason why I don't recommend anything smaller than the 7-08 or 308 size cartridges. Things like .270's have more muzzle blast everything being equal, and the newer cartridges like the 6.5's and short fat things just don't have the amount of ammo available off the shelf reliably which can mean having to re-zero all the time.