Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .308 the cheapest deer caliber to buy ?

I've been looking for to buy a new hunting rifle with an all around caliber. I know how expensive shooting can get when you don't reload. Is .308 caliber the cheapest round for deer you can buy from factory? I have a .243 but I was looking for something with more power.

Up here 30/30 is the least expensive ammunition you can buy though the rifles cost a little more than the lowest cost bolt rifles.

If buying the cheapest bolt gun, then anything in 308, 30/06, and 270 would have the cheapest ammo. These three plus the 243 all have the same price tag for comparable ammunition.

308 is probably the cheapest, easy to find factory load option if you're looking to buy cheap ammo. There isn't a huge difference in cost between any of them once you start looking at the better loads, but 308 is still a little less. And 6.5 CM is usually $1-$2 cheaper for the good stuff than 308. And is just as available.

7-08 is a great choice as a cartridge, but ammo is a lot harder to find and more expensive around here. That may be different in other places.

What JMR40 said.....

what wood master said

.30-30 is always a couple bucks a box cheaper than .243, .308. .30-06. and 270 around here. Right now Remington core-lokt .30-30's are 9.97 a box at Wal-Mart.

308, 270win, 30-06 all about the same price at Walmart. Read the other day Walmart is the largest seller of ammunition in the u.s.. bought 10 boxes of federal blue box 308 from Walmart when they were selling existing inventory. After 5.00 rebate cost was 7.50 per box. Life is good.

30-30 is the cheapest

Do a quick price comparison for yourself at your local stores.

If you are going to load for it later, get a 6.5 CM (or if you must a .308). Easier to get accuracy.

Don't know your plans, but a .243 with good bullets should take anything short of moose and big bears. You can buy a lot of premium ammo for the price of a new rifle and scope, or a handloading setup.

Just a thought. Not trying to kill your new-rifle buzz.

In all the GS and stores that carry ammo, I`ve never not seen 06 or 308 ammo..various brands too. Either would be my choice.

Well, actually, 22lr...

What ever the local Walmart sells. I took a perfectly fine .308 and turned it into an equally fine 7mm-08 and probably doubled my factory ammo cost and no deer would ever tell the difference.

"All Around" in Florida for deer or "All Around" in the United States?

What a person would suggest for shorter range hunting, and for smaller deer for east coast conditions, is not the same as what one would recommend for Mule Deer in Wyoming.

For guys suggesting 30-30, this makes sense in the short range conditions of the east coast. Out in the west, the conditions can be substantially different. A 30-30 can be a real handicap here:






For "all around" for the entire US for strictly deer (Mule Deer and Whitetail), I would suggest, a 6.5 CM, or .308.

The .30-06 and .270 are excellent and factory ammo can be had at similar prices, but for east coast ranges, they are not really needed, except in niche circumstances such as bean fields, etc. Plus factory 30-06 is more often than not loaded at very similar velocities to .308. It is only until you get into 200-220 grain 30-06 ammo (ammo oriented towards larger game) that you see a difference, or premium ammo.

The traditional .270 is never really a bad answer, and thousands of deer and elk have been cleanly taken with the Campfire's favorite whipping boy.

Many many years back, on the first hunt, after working on an outfitter and guide ranch in the Frank Church, I saved up enough to buy my first "new to me" rifle. A Browning .270. Since all I had ever hunted with growing up was a .270, it made sense. Opening morning, I found the buck I was looking for right at 400 yards. The first shot out of that new Browning resulted in this runt.





So, the .270 will indeed get the job done.

In summary,

For a non reloader who is only going to hunt deer, with consideration that "all around" may mean anywhere, I would do the following:


I would pick the rifle I like first.
Then choose the cartridge.
6.5 CM or .308, with .270 as a possible mention for inexpensive ammo options.


Cheers!

If you time your buying, midway can really discount factory ammo. I have found that the 270 ammo selection is very good and cheap.

They usually are within a few dollars of each other. 6.5 has been surprisingly cheaper than 243, 308, 270, 3006 here.

Buy a 308, you will like it.

Thanks, you guys are awesome.

I chose a 7mm-08 for my son last year. For him as a new hunter, the lessened recoil outweighed the cost of factory ammo, particularly with the limited amount we shoot. We shoot in the late summer to practice and sight in our rifles, then hunt. Unless I were doing a ton of shooting, the cost of ammo is not a factor for me. I would instead focus on rifle and caliber.

Just from a quick survey of Midway USA, Scheels and Sportsman's Warehouse. For cheap deer loads, .243, 6.5 CM, and .308 all run about the same price. Sometimes 7mm-08 is also that same price, sometimes it's a bit more. .270 and .30-06 are usually a few bucks more, everything else and anything with the word "Magnum" in the name is pricier.