Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Which choice for deer?

If you were looking for a lightweight (cartridge-wise) rifle to be used strictly for deer (and maybe antelope), what would you choose and why? Here are your choices: 243 Win, 257 Roberts, or 260 Rem. Please, nothing larger than the 260 class in this case. And, no longer action calibers like 25-06. Thanks...

250AI, cuzz I can stick a bunch of them in my pocket, it don't kick, and has a very small appetite for powder.

To coin Bob Milek, it's a very efficient cartridge.

Plus the AI part keeps me from having to trim cases.

For me it is the .243. I bought one from a gunsmith in GA a few years back & fell in love with it. Everybody who has used it for their first animal (deer/antelope) has gotten it. It will kill deer & antelope deader than yesterday's puppy love with a single shot. Recoil is light and very manageable.

I would vote 260. Own a rifle and an Encore pistol in that round and love it. If you are a reloader, then the merits of the 257 and 260 are about equal. Dropped a bunch of deer and an antelope with a 260. I always wanted a 257 Roberts, but will probably never buy one as long as I have a 260.

Easy, if you reload the 257 and if you don't the 243. The 243 is available at just about any store that carries ammunition. The 257 is a cool cartridge with some history and flair.It's just not found in every store that handles ammo. I'd put the 250-3000 Savage in the same category. That 250AI is strictly a handloaders gig and a really neat cartridge. The 260 from a handloader's viewpoint is probably the most versatile with the widest selection of bullet weights.

257Bob or 250AI, both lite recoiling very effective cartridges

Of the three choices given, it would be 260, 243, 257, in that order.

I have shot a 243 a bunch, and used to use it a lot for deer. Then I got a 7mm-08, and it basically replaced the 243. I just feel a little better with the slightly heavier bullets (140 vs 100). Since you said nothing bigger than your choices, the 7mm-08 is out, but the 260 Rem is so close you'd never know the difference. Matter of fact, if I didn't have my 7mm-08, I *would* have a 260. They are just enough ahead of the 243 to really notice. However, like I said, I've shot the 243 a bunch, and still really like it. Lastly is the 257 Roberts. I know it has a big following on this site, but it has never done a thing for me. (Actually, there is only one 25 bore that I'd ever even consider, and it's the 250 Savage. Why? Who knows?)

So there it is, trying to stay within your guidelines and choices, while using a few other cartridges as comparisons for why I chose as I did.

For me it would be the 250 savage kills deer like lightning and leaves me not wanting .But all the above are good deer rounds when properly placed also.Always wanted a 260 in a winchester or a little remmy 600 action.

The 260 is my choice if you roll your own. I have a 7-08 (my 3rd acually) and after playing with my 1st 260 I bought a 2nd and the 7-08 has set out deer season ever since.

You really should check out the .250 Savage, it would be 'perfect'. Of the choices given, for me it would come down the the .257 vs. the .260. Although .243 is 'adequate' for the job, I believe there is simply better bullet selection in .25 cal and 6.5mm above the 'varmint' category.

I'll take .260 Remington.

The Roberts is a very good one. Even if you do not reload, Federal, Conley Precision Cartridge (offering 16 excellent loadings) and Hornady have loads that will take chucks to elk. The 257 Roberts, in my opinion, is the best of the bunch.

Well you killed the idea of your best round!

.257 Roberts or .260 Rem. If not a reloader, the .260 Rem.

I load my Roberts to +P data specs with 110-120g bullets. Consider it a .243 Win on steroids. It doesn't give up much to a .25-06 but has a shorter barrel. Th Robets has become my favorite rifle and the Roberts and -06 are perhaps the best dual-purpose (varmint and deer) cartridges around. IMO.

Forgot one more attribute of the 250AI, chicks dig it....

If you don't reload the .243 for shots under 250 yards and the 25-06 for longer ranges. I have a .243 and have no complaints but all of my shots have been under 100 yards. You can usually find ammo on the shelf for the .243 or 25-06. Depending on where you have to buy ammo the .260 or 257 Roberts may or not be scarce.

No long actions rule out the 257 Roberts for me. I have a 243, 25-06 and 6.5x55, pretty much the class your looking at. I'd think it would be the 260 Rem. The 243 gets left at 100gr bullets, the 257's at 120grs and the 260 goes right on up to 140ge bullets while starting where the 25's left off. While I'm not a heavy bullet fan, I like mid range weight bullets in standard cartridges. With the 260 you could use 120 gr bullets for antelope and deer, 129gr for large deer and 140gr for something larger. I'd compromise, 129gr for everything I would hunt with it.

Seeing as how none of them recoil enough worth mentioning, and the 260 is the biggest, with the highest BC's, I'd go 260 Rem.....

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the .257 Roberts a mid length cartridge? That would remove it from your requirement of short action length.

I do like the .257 Roberts. It's a very well balanced cartridge and the daughter of the grand lady of cartridges the 7x57. Sometimes the history of the cartridge development trumps the whiz bang of the newer kids on the block, esp when the difference is so small. But of course YMMV.

With a modern recoil pad and a modern stock cartridges like the 7-08 and 308 hardly kick at all. If recoil is what you mean by 'light' you might was well get one of those and do it right. Besides that the 308 is made with managed recoil factory loads.