Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Least Destructive High Power

.270 Win. Is a Great Deer Round and with bullets made for Elk are perfect for your close range Deer with little meat damage. But if you want it to drop like it was struck by lighting just use any 130gr bullet that's not a solid copper.

With a 250 yard limit I would go with .308 and 180 grain bullets. There isn't a need for the flattest or fastest, only *flat enough*, and for your distances this will suffice. The beauty of heavier / slower is it generally wrecks less meat.

Tom

Most use 130 gr bullet in a .270 vs a 150-165 in a .308 . Assuming C&C bullets used in both, the.270 will out shoot the .308 distance/ trajectory wise, but the 130 gr bullet tends to be more destructive meat wise from my past experience.

Too me at least the .308 or 7-08 are optimum deer cartridges. Following those ,a 243 with a better bullets is not far behind.
Then step up to something in a 6. 5caliber

Concentrate more on the type of bullet rather than which caliber. A ballistic tip in a smaller caliber can cause more destruction than a CC or mono in a larger caliber

Have your brother shoot over a chronograph with factory loads. It should be enlightening.

As for me 308.

A .270 with the 150 round nose ( I think Remington's still is) or the 30-06 with the 180 round nose, again I think Remington still loads some.

Magnums have more disadvantages than advantages for deer within your range limit. Go with a .308, but for a hint for even a better choice, see my screen name.

No need to go crazy here. My go to whitetail rifle is a Tikka 595 in 7-08 topped with a Leupold VX2 3-9x40. VERY accurate using Federal Fusion 140 factory ammo. In the 11 years Ive had it and used that combo Ive killed at least 40 deer from 5-275 yards. All either DRT or very short tracks, with very little meat damage.

Let us know what you decide on, this is fun!

Tikka t3 lite in 270 win topped with a Bushnell 6500 2-5x16x42 shooting 140 gr Hornady interlock at 3000fps seems perfect every time I open my safe.

But wait
Maybe
The my savage 260 with 125 np
Or
Rem788 308win with 150gr bullet
Or
Rem 788 6mm with 100gr bullet
Or
6.5 grendel with 120gr Sierra
Or
Tikka t3 3006 with 150gr bullet

Point is the deer won’t know the different if you hit him in the right place

My two cents...
Killed more than a few with 308 and 270.
My pick is the 308, more choices and not a lot of fanfare. Just results.
The 270 kills well too. I just keep going back to the 308.
Pick one that fits you well and go slay venison. Good luck and have fun!

Thanks, Tom

PS...no need for expense and blast of magnum on deer.

My vote goes to the 358 win...

What bullet do you prefer in your 308? I'd imagine it would be a split for folks using either 150 or 165s for deer.

As to the OP, I would run a Barnes mono, solid copper if me to minimize meat loss, or you can just punch the lungs. I do know what a 270 / 130 Ballistic Tip will do on deer..........under 100 yds......the 150 Partition and Ballistic Tip was equally deadly with less meat damage.....

Normally I try avoiding shoulders, but for my research, I punched both shoulders on two bucks both crossed same area on different days, broadside, 100 yds, 243 / 95 Ballistic tip (tough bullet in this line) and also a 260 with 130 Accubond. Both cases, meat loss was not bad....

That said, again in your 270, a 150 SHOULD be better typically, and a solid copper mono, like Barnes might be better yet, and in that bullet I would run 130s as speed helps expansion, especially when not hitting much bone, etc.

Deer die easy.

If you can’t get a 7mm-08, use a .308 and whichever factory load that shoots best.

Then practice.

Done.



P

You can kill deer with about anything. Depending on cover you may want something that leaves a blood trail.

Maine bruisers are seldom seen, and twitchy as heck. You might have one fleeting opportunity per season......or none. Alot of Michigan cover is similar.

Nothing like those stationary Pursuit channel deer shot in large fields, or feeding in senderos. Nothing like the large agricultural fields I used to hunt in NYS. Here, after the shot the animal disappears in thick cover immediately. Maybe while you're recovering from recoil. There is no watching death sprints in this stuff. Whether you use a .243 or a .338.

I've used .300 Wins and Roys for decades and have no complaints. They usually kill fast, and leave a blood trail when they don't kill quick. When I retired had this itch for a .375 R. Seems even more certain insofar as blood trail is concerned. Don't need it, but sure am liking it. Alot!

All that said, a .308 Win would suit me fine for shots to 250 yds or so. It is easily the most popular round now in Maine. The '06 and 7-08 are close. I don't know anyone who uses a .243 here, probably because typical ME cover is so thick. In open areas I'd be perfectly happy with one, tho.

First, magnums are not necessary. As to ammo availability, if it's legal in your state, the net is your friend which means you have unlimited choices. Therefore, I would go with the 7mm08 and maybe a mono bullet. Then again, there is no way to go wrong with either the.308 or the .270.

V-8's are unnecessary too. Yet I like having one under the hood.

Something like a 7-08 or 7x57 with 175 round nose shouldn't be too destructive...other than making a hole through both sides.

.308 with 150 gr bullet@ 3000fps
Done

What rifle are you planning to buy? I think you are on the right track with caliber selection and can’t really go wrong with either. As for recoil that has more to do with how a particular rifle fits you., definitely subtle differences between brands.. only advice I can give that hasn’t already been said is try not to fall for the bargain basement rifles. Not a fan of the savage axis, and the competitors in that class. Build quality is non existent.