Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Just one?....7-08, 6.5, 270, or 308

What the local Walmart sells. I took a perfectly serviceable .308 and made it into a 7mm-08 and while I like it a lot, my factory ammunition cost about doubled and no deer is going to tell any difference.

There is that. Seems 7-08 used to be more common around here, but the selection is low these days. IF I go with another Tikka, short action or long, Rifle and action are same length/weight, AFAIK. Might as well go 270 as 708 or 308?

Purchased a M7 stainless the same year Remington chambered the 'new' .260 rem. Figgered it to be the perfect mountain rifle. Just couldn't warm to it. My son used it a while before I sold it. Bought a Tikka T3 8 twist 260 and then a 700 260 when Remington got smart and twisted the 260 right. Love them both, with a bit of a preference to the 700. Just feels good and shoots great. These have become my favorite deer rifles.

308 gets my vote

No discernible difference in performance on game between the four.

Pick the one that tickles your fancy based on a criterion important to you. Fastest? Go .270 Win. Least recoil? Go 6.5 Creedmoor. Most available factory ammo? Go .308 Win. Like .284 cal bullets? Go 7mm-08.

Any reason is fine, as these four check almost all the same boxes.

On paper the 7-08 is the best all around cartridge maybe ever...

But I’m partial to it’s bigger brothers .308 or .338 federal

I’m generally gonna have 356/358 rifles around, as that’s my weakness. Having said that, the 338 is too much of a little brother, and 308 could be.

I guess I’m more trying to talk myself into or out of the 270 or 708 vs recoil and blast, over the 6.5CM. I’d love a 6.5 Swede, but I’d have to load that, for sure. Not a problem until I’m lazy or procrastinate and am out of time. Of course I could just load 300-500 of whatever, and go for a while. Just never know when I’ll get to.

What’s the intended game for the rifle?

Mostly deer and hogs. I hope to throw in different and bigger stuff, and plan on some visits to more rangy places, where I might stretch past 300, if needed. At the moment, leaning more 270 or 708 vs 6.5

I find it hard to believe there’s any performance reason to choose one, certainly not for deer. Whichever floats your boat and comes in a rifle that suits your intended use.
One performance thought; I had dinner with a couple S. African PHs this weekend and asked about the 6.5 Creedmoor. They have had clients use it, and do so effectively, but indicated it would not be their rifle of choice on larger plains critters. They still prefer heavier, stout bullets from cartridges such as 308 or 7x57. Listening to them and their experiences has me reconsidering a build I’m planning.

Any of them sound great, but I'd choose a .308.

308
280

The heavier bullet options are what has me looking hard at 708 and 270...but I also have 225gr 358 loads that are enough medicine for most any critter I’m liable to hunt. This is more specific to deer/antelope sized stuff.

..........................................Out to 400 yards 90% of the time that you mention, they are all gonna work. If it were me in your position, then the question imo should be. Okay, which one is going to work the best down range in terms of better ballistics; offering better trajectories, less wind drift, better bullet BCs, and has relatively low recoil etc and etc.

Here is a link to an article talking about all the cartridges you mention above and one excellent alternative to all of them. Next on my acquisition list, will be my very first 6.5mm, and it will be this particular 6.5mm. Note the first few sentences.

https://ronspomeroutdoors.com/blog/6-5-284-norma-best-short-action-cartridge/

That’s great, but we get into the loading conundrum again, and I might as well just get a 6.5-06.... to simplify things.

The problem with math and cartridges is it never takes into account when is really enough. Out to 400 yds as you’ve stated there are countless ways to have ‘enough’ and I’d suggest more is not always really better. For the requirement as you’ve stated, I’d focus on the rifle more than the cartridge. You’ve stated you like 7s. Go 7-08 and pick an action, barrel length and weight and a stock that fits.

.................What loading conundrum does the 6.5/284 have? I have yet to read of any. And I know several who own the round without issues.

Yep! Ballistically, the 6.5/06 is equal to the 6.5/284. But imo, the 6.5/284 might be "inherently" a little more accurate.

Many semi custom and custom rifle manufacturers report that the 6.5/284 is one of their favorite 6.5s.

HH,

I'm actually a big fan of the 270, the Baby Magnum. Less recoil than it's sister, the 30-06. I've owned a few... pump, bolt, and semiautomatic... but certainly am not an authority on the 270.

I think it really boils down to how far you plan to shoot, and how much practice you are willing to endure to be proficient at that distance. Or how much practice you'd like to do from field positions, especially prone. I know dudes that shoot one round to check zero and then go hunt (but at very limited distances), but others who like to practice with 40 or more rounds from prone in one session.

I can tell you that I am far from recoil shy, but notice that something like a T3 in 270 gets obnoxious after 10 rounds from prone. And have seen some buddies throw in the towel well shy of two boxes of ammo with similar T3 and RAR rifles. Now, this is from field positions and we are doing other drills such as reading wind, etc. These dudes just gave up. They quit and refused to shoot another round. And that was just day one. Forget about shooting the next day. These relatively young, and fit dudes are done shooting, and we haven't even completed the learning activity.

I also think that catching the impact, or miss, is also important. Seems that this is less likely to occur with a light 270 than a similar 6.5mm Creedmoor or 7mm-08, but of course this depends on total rifle weight, load, etc. Just my observation.

That said, I think the 6.5 Creed in something like the RAR doesn't recoil too differently than a 7mm-08. The .308 seems to recoil noticeably more. Not in terms of pain. None are all that painful for one round while sighting in or actual hunting. Rather, it is the skill that it takes to mitigate recoil and hopefully catch the impact for longer shots. Also consider offhand shots at 100, seated at 200 to 300, etc.

I wouldn't rule out the .243 or 6mm Creedmoor. Just my thoughts. Good luck on finding the Grail!

Jason

It’s MY particular loading druthers, mentioned earlier in the thread. I can and do load. Sometimes I’d rather spend my time grabbing some off the shelf and shooting, when I don’t have time for both.

Actually good points, and what I suspected. If I want to go put 50-100 or more through it, the 6.5 is probably the lighter kicker. Imnotinto 6mm stuff as much due to my 243s which seem ‘blastier’ under 22” than even my bigger stuff. Yes, they kick less, and maybe it’s something others don’t notice, but it seems to add up as fast as recoil in other guns...to me.