What caliber rifle for various use?

[reconranger]

The .243 (6mm) and 7mm-08 are necked down .308's. I like this platform, because it allows a short action (vs longer cartrudges like the 30-06.)

I have owned a couple .243's in the past, and they kind of split the difference between a varmit and deer caliber. No personal experience with the 7mm, but I would go with the .308 in serious bear country.

 

[AR fan]

The recommendations so far all look good to me, I have rifles chambered in just about every one mentioned.
Something that those of you suggesting the .223 cals should consider, is the fact that alotta states won't allow it for deer hunting.
Also the OP asked about a choice between only 2 chamberings, 22-250 and .243.
The .243 can use 70 gr. bullets at 3400+ fps for varmints and such and 95 and 100 gr. bullets for deer.

 

[AR fan]

Double post, sorry. I only hit submit once, I swear.

 

[koyote]

I'd suggest .243.

 

[m. wohlwend]

This is interesting. I went to Hornady's web page and they are selling a loaded a .243 loaded with their 58 grn moly bullet. The published fps is 3750. I don't have any experience shooting bullets under 80 grains out of a .243 but this 58grn load looks very interesting. Wonder if it is accurate?

 

[AR fan]

That's news to me. It is interesting.
As far being accurate, the only thing I can think of that would make it inaccurate, is if the bullet isn't long enough to take advantage of the faster rate of twist in the .243.
But being familiar with Hornady, I'm sure they have taken this into account.

 

[Oregon Knife Guy]

Thank you all for your posts! I approciate all of your input. Certainly some other calibers to concider now. One thing I know is the caliber is go with is limited by what tikka offers. I currently have a tikka 300wsm that I have dropped 3 elk and two deer with. IMO that's the best elk gun combo for me. It is a little large for deer even with a 150 grain. Especially a blacktail- I don't want to have to track the deer to the next county! That gun would lift them about that far. I have used it on two mulies.
Fyi my wife and I were out the other day and I passed on a boon and crocket blacktail because he was 300 yards out and moving. We will see if I can find him again.

 

[Toucan Oasis]

Why not get a single stage loader and tone it down with about a 170 soft point at 2200 or 2300 fps and see if it's still accurate ?

 

[komondor]

CPL punishment,

Your comments confuse me. Simply stated, the 7mm-08 launches a lighter yet slightly better proportioned bullet (sectional density) with slightly greater trajectory than the .308; which means it performs a great range of jobs within a short action cartridge. It is, at the risk of sounding simplistic and redundant, the rebirth of the .284 Winchester.

I think it will perform better than a .308 to take out medium sized large game, like an antelope, at 300+ yards, and will kill much smaller game with less meat loss than the parent cartridge.

It's a newer round that hasn't gained enough popularity over the parent .308 to supplant it, but it is probably a superior round for all around utilitarianism. Considering that it has become as popular as it has, that is impressive. Shooters and gun enthusiasts are not the most progressive bunch of people around; and anything that challenges their "classic" old standby cartridges is generally viewed with a suspicious eye.

 

[Fiddleback]

M1 Carbine that shoots .30 cal. The rifle is compact, very carryable, and the round is so damn versatile.

 

[Cpl Punishment]

CPL punishment,

Your comments confuse me.

I don't know why.
Seriously, how is a one inch difference at 500 yards any significant advantage or disadvantage? Your aim will probably be further off than the ballistics of the cartridge will put you.

The .308 is 20-40 fps faster with a 10 grain heavier bullet, but the 7mm-08 will do less meat damage? The velocity difference is close to the margin of error in loading, and 10 grains is, well, nothing.

Do you know why the 7mm08 exists? It's not any ballistics advantage at all. It's because in a lot of countries it's illegal for a civilian to own a weapon in a military (past or present) chambering. The 7mm-08 gives them nearly identical ballistics (external and terminal) as the .308.

Like I said, I have nothing against the .308 or the 7mm-08, they both do exactly the same job, equally well, I just don't see where either camp can claim a performance advantage.

 

[TOM1960]

If you were limited to one caliber rifle for hiking, camping, hunting deer and shooting varmits what would you choose- 22-250 or a 243? This is not really the go to gun for my long backpacking trips, but something that I can carry for coyotes while out for a hike and also use as a deer rifle.
Currently I have a 22-250 wood stock but and thinking of upgrading (kinda) from this custom rifle to a synthetic tikka. I have shot 4 bucks with this 250 all but one dropped in one shot, the one took two steps so I plugged him again, but probably didn't need to.

Get a .308 caliber rifle. I use the Ruger KM77MKII, stainless, synthetic stock, bolt-action .308 w/4X scope. Something like that will handle varmints (use 110 grain Hornady V-Max or 125 grain loads), deer (130-165 grain loads) and black bear (150-165 grain loads). Elk and moose have also been taken with the .308 (180 grain loads). The 180 grain load is also excellent for large wild boar. Excellent penetration and stopping power. Another advantage of the .308 is that you can use milsurp 7.62X51mm Nato ammo (military FMJ version of .308) for inexpensive practice. Ruger stands behind their products 100%.

 

[bkduckworth]

I'll throw a vote out for the 243. It should do a nice job of rounding out your rifle battery.

 

[J_Curd]

I've wanted a 7.62x39 CZ bolt gun for all around general use for a while...I've always found other places to spend the money.

 

[stevomiller]

Out of your two choices, I would pick the .243 if deer were to be shot out to 300 yards. However, since you mentioned the Tikka rifles (they are all long actions, even the ones that are chambered for short action calibers), I would go for the 25-06 and make use of that extra action length. YMMV. Trajectory is the same as the .243 when they are both using their heaviest bullets, but there is from 20-30% more remaining energy at 300 yards.