Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Which cartridge

Ttying to distract myself as I am sitting by my wife as she is sleeping in the hospital. I want to add a bolt action rifle that will be used for deer hunting in Georgia. I am looking at the Tikka T3X. I don’t plan on handloading. I want ammo to be easy to find. I don’t like a lot of recoil or muzzle blast. I am thinking.308 or 6.5 Creedmoor. What would you choose and why?

Peas in a pod for deer. Find the rifle you like in either one. Great choices for factory ammo.

Those 2 are going to win the ammo availability game if you're just shopping in Wal-Mart, Academy, etc. Recoil in 6.5 is negligible to me and 308 isn't bad either, but definitely a little more. If you're willing to buy ammo online, Norma has some outstanding deals on 308 ammo right now. Hope all's well with your wife!

Creedmoor


Less recoil

EZ button.

What I would choose.

Exactly. They will both shoot very well and ammo will be easy to find for either one. Recoil is slightly less with the Creedmoor. OP says he doesn't like recoil, so that may be the best choice.

Hi kandpand,

If you go with a .308, I recommend Winchester Super-X .308, 180 Grain Power Point, lethal on game and very cost effective.

Best of luck Sir!

KB

I’d go Creed based on lower recoil.

Buy whichever one you want or split the difference with a 7mm-08. 7mm-08 ammo may not be as available but isn’t crazy hard to find and how much do you really need for a deer gun. All are can’t miss choices.

Best wishes for you and your wife.

Recoil and muzzle blast bad... look for the 6.5 in a heavier rifle with 24” barrel.

I would say .308. While there is a lot of Creedmoor ammo out there, most of it around me is Match ammo. I see a lot more hunting ammo in .308. For GA deer, all you need is a 150 grain bullet. There won't be a ton of difference in recoil between that and a 140 grain 6.5 bullet out of a Creedmoor.

Tikka is the easy choice.
6.5 over 308 is also easy choice when it comes to recoil.
I imagine you don’t shoot long distance in Georgia. But I really like 76239 out of bolt action. Cheap ammo, 3030 ballistics and can be moa shooter. I think howa still makes some rifles.

I like the .308 Win myself but 6.5 CM is not a bad choice either especially if you wear your hair in a manbun 😁.....Hb

Yep. My 6.5 CM has much less felt recoil then either my 3-08 or 7-08. Kills deer and hogs just as well too.

Flip a coin. Either one is the Easy Button.

Crudmoor, you will like it. I load 120 Barnes for my two Savages

Split the difference and go with a 7mm-08. I sure like mine.

If barrel length is important for the way you hunt, then consider that the T3X has a 22" in 308, and 24" in 6.5CM

Also, while both are very affordable, 308 ammo is usually cheaper.

I'll fourth this, Creedmoor would be the easy button for sure. Lots of factory ammo options, and in a decent rifle (like Tikkas) most ammo is going to shoot pretty well without any fuss. Creedmoor provides more than enough killin' for Georgia deer, but does have noticeably lower recoil than .308 in similar rifles. The only strike against the CM in Tikkas is that you're stuck with a 24" barrel versus the 22" of the .308. Not a huge factor but I prefer 22" for unsuppressed hunting rifles.