Caliber Selection

[syh]

It's about time I invest in a rifle of my own, and, as a caster and deer hunter, I'm looking for some suggestions on the favorite pick of caliber. I haven't found a ton of info on this subject with the boolit caster in mind. I'll also be buying ammo to start with, so price is a bit of a consideration.

30-06 seems like a powerful enough, common enough selection. Are there any issues / drawbacks that I should know about?

.308 also seems like a popular choice. What's your pick, and why?

Thanks.

[felix]

What do you have now in terms of any kind of gun? ... felix

[Pepe Ray]

syh,
I'd start by selecting the type of firearm that suited me first. From the chamberings available in that venue, you should be able to find something suitable.
If you've handled enough firearms to have a favorite, that would be a good place to begin.
I'm assuming you don't have deep pockets.
When that is established, tell us what it is and we can go from there.
Pepe Ray

[Pepe Ray]

Great minds think alike, e h? Felix

[syh]

I took my most recent (and first with a rifle) whitetail with a Remington 700BDL chambered in .222. I've also shot a Remington .308.

In terms of firearms I have now. . . a Walther p99 in .40, a 12 ga shotgun, 20 ga shotgun, and a 22 pistol, but no rifles. I found the .222 to be a bit underpowered (despite good shot placement!), and besides, I think it would be good to have a rifle of my own.

[syh]

Some other things that I just thought of. . . As far as casting and reloading, will both of these work with a Lee 1000 progressive? I vaguely remember some problem with some rifle sizes, but can't seem to find it.

(I use the Pro 1000 for loading .40 now)

[Pepe Ray]

Sorry but I must assume some things and read between the lines here so forgive me for trying to be brief.
The Lee turret press (either 3 or 4 sta.) will handle all normal ctgs. (.50 BMG and some African ctg are NOT normal. Beyond that I don't know what handicaps occur when the progressive apparatus is added to that press to make the #1000.
I don't reccommend a progressive as a first press IAC.
Bolt actions allow you a great variety of choices, and any 30 cal as a minimum should be easy to find, even on the "pre owned rack". There are no specifics beyond these. Just choices and opinions.
Pepe Ray
P.S. The more vague and undetailed your question, the longer and more detailed the answer must be to give you what you want. Be patient and several of the clan will jump in with suggestions.

[Moose]

IMHO The 30-06 will do it all - plus there are about 10 zillion handloads already documented, tested, evaluated etc and ready to go. Easy to handle, easy to load, a nice long neck that allows lots of bullet variations in length, handles cast items well. A lot going for it. You mention the .308 but that one is too short in the neck/shoulder area to suit me.. Further, it is no improvement for any practical domestic purpose. Around here the gun trio is .22lr, 12-ga 2 3/4" and -06. Got everything pretty well covered with those three. PIstol? Well, a pistol is something you use when you get run up a tree by a ligerbar. You don't mention your A/O but best check with your state F&G regarding weapon requirements.

[syh]

You don't mention your A/O but best check with your state F&G regarding weapon requirements.

Sorry, A/O?

[MT Gianni]

I like the '06 for an adult and the 308 for recoil concious. In cast only the 30-06 has the neck advantage but in hunting whitetail or on the range they can be more than adequate. I assume that you are in the US and that would mean ammo, loading supplies, brass and powders should be available in quanties. I would go with the one that fits you and your needs and be happy. I shot amoose with a 308 and Barnes X bullets and never felt under-gunned though I had several choices. Gianni.

[trickyasafox]

a/o i would guess is age and occupation. but that is just a guess.

[Pepe Ray]

A/O= area of operation=residence

[syh]

Ahhh. . . . New Jersey, but hunt in PA usually.

[georgewxxx]

SYH, Being as your in a area where it's usually heavily wooded, a tirdy-tirdy is sufficient for deer. You don't need a big wizz-bang caliber. Most any 30 caliber if it's got any neck length to it should be just fine. Like the guys say buy what gun pleases you then go from there. I've taken probably over 30 deer with cast boolits in a 308 and 30-40 Krag.

My brother-in-law lives and hunts in Jersey and I got him started making his own 12ga sabot slugs. Now he claims he can equal almost any factory slug on the market. It's funny that Jersey offers way more deer seasons than most states. Big problem is the no Sunday hunting rule. What a bummer! ...Geo

[Char-Gar]

The December 1947 issue of The American Rifleman magazine carried an article by Col. Townsend Whelen entitled "The 30-06 Is Never A Mistake" That statement is just as true in 2007 as it was in 1947.

[9.3X62AL]

+1 to Chargar's comments.

If I was to own only one centerfire rifle, it would be the 30-06. It was my third centerfire rifle caliber (223 and 308 preceded it), and it should have been first.

[ktw]

For eastern deer hunting with cast bullets I would get a 30-30.

If it has to be a bolt action I would look into a 308, or something in 7.62x39, like the CZ. Nothing wrong with a 30-06 but it does have unnecessary case capacity and you won't find it in a short action rifle.

-ktw

[Bass Ackward]

Let's see. As a caster and a deer hunter? Hmmm.

There are always pros and cons. As a caster, you want many mold choices. As a hunter you want clean kills. Bear in mind, some suggestions are outright objectionable, so I will stop at this post unless you want more information.

What will work? Anything in a 30 works for 100 yards, but in truth, there is little advantage going over the 30/30 for cast. In fact, with a 30/30, there is no advantage to using jacketed. So, it's just about ideal for that bore. And the 30 bore is king for cast shooters as mold choices exist galore.

Now if you would like to consider a larger bore, I prefer the 35 for cast hunting. The superiority using cast can't be fairly described, only observed. Basically, it gives you another hundred yards out to 200 without a lot more recoil. It has everything except mold availability of rifle weight bullets which is why it is inferior to the 30 for this purpose.

Just so you know.

[Bret4207]

30-30, 32 Special, 35 Remington 44 Mag, 45-70 iin lever guns. 308, '06, 303, 358, 375 in bolt guns. Pick the one that feels best.

[Linstrum]

When someone asks me what center fire rifle to get I tell them to think of things on down the road into the future in case our ammo components get scarce like they have in the past. The .30-06, 7.62 NATO/.308 Win, and 5.56/.223 Rem cartridges have each been made in the billions and once-fired brass is still available by the 55-gallon barrel-full. Because of that, brass for those particular calibers will be around for a long time to come. The same can’t be said for calibers like the .300 or .338 Winmags, .222, any of the STW cartridges that were the hot setup ten years but are no longer heard of now, or any other cartridge that has not been made in the billions. The .30-30 is also a good choice for the reason that it has also been made by the billions over the last 112 years. The .30-06, 7.62 NATO/.308 Win, 5.56/.223 Rem, and .30-30 calibers are also well represented in mold selection, although casting the little 0.224 caliber boolits takes a bit more patience than some of the others but good results with it are not difficult.

Now with that said, I defer to what the others have said here since the topic is “what is good deer medicine for the caster” and everything is in real good supply. Personally, I like to use my Remington 700 ADL .30-06 and Winchester replica pre-1964 model 70 in .458 Winmag. The .30-06 can be loaded down to .30-30 level and the .458 Winmag can be loaded way down from shoulder crusher to mid-level .45-70 (like for the 1895 Marlin). Because we have Roosevelt elk hereabouts in this part of the Rocky Mountains I can load either of them back up to full house if I get an elk tag.

[MGySgt]

+1 for the 30-06 - It can do it all in North America and Plains Game in Africa

Cast - moulds galore
Jaceted - 110's to 220's. varmit or solids.

Short Range - or long range, East coast woods or Western plains.

Factory ammo all over.

My first rifle was an 8X57 Mod 98 - should have been a 30-06 - that was my second one.

Drew

[Glen]

A cast bullet deer gun for Pennsylvania? I would pick either the .30-30 or the .35 Remington.

[6pt-sika]

SYH , I am a deer hunter / Marlin collector .

So every year I try Marlin's that I have never blooded on deer before . Some with cast and some with jacketed bullets . Every year I take 2 or 3 deer with different cartridges using cast bullets .

So far I have used the 30-30 , 32-40 , 32 Special , 35 REM, 38-55 , 38-56 , 40-65 and 45-70 .All of these with cast bullets and some type of metallic sights .

This year I have quite a few rifles set up for use with the Ranch Dog cast bullets .

I have three Marlin 444's set up to use each of the RD 44 cal bullets , I have a pair of Marlin 1895 45-70's set up for the two RD 45 cal bullets , a Marlin 375 set up for the RD 375-210 grain bullet , a Marlin 336ER in 356 WIN set up for the RD 35-180 grainer and a Marlin 336ZG set up for the RD 30-165 .

Of those eight rifles the three 444's will be scoped , as will the 356 and 375 . Looks as if the pair of 45-70's will have tang sights and the 30-30 I am still on the fence as to whether to scope or not .

But that is my game plan for this year .

Now I normally take 12 or more deer every year . So should I get thru all these I have another 8 rifles set up with jacketed bullets . Mostly I want to try the Marlin XLR's with the Hornady Leverevolution bullets . Last season I took a doe with the 30-30XLR and the Hornady rubber tipped ammo . This year I wanna try the rubber tipped stuff in the 35 XLR , 308 XLR , 444XLR , 450XLR and 45-70XLR . Last season I also took deer with handloaded jacketed bullets in the 444 and 45-70 XLR's .

My long shot for the year will be a old Marlin 336SC in 219 ZIpper . I'm loading the Nosler 60 grain Partiton in this one . But it also makes my lever gun a 2 shooter , one in the chamber and one in the mag :???:

And of course the Winchester Model 70 stainless in 25 WSSM loaded with the Nosler 115 grain Partition .And last but not least a Ruger #1B in 243 WIN , I gave my pop for christmas a couple years ago . Have this one loaded with the Nosler 95 grain Ballistic Tip .

So that is my entire season other then ML season and the shotgun hunt in MD for Sika deer .

Sorry if I rambled on and on [smilie=1:


On a side note , I almost forgot . I have a group buy mould for 357 MAX's 150 grain 30 caliber gas check bullet . It is my intention to set up a Marlin 336SC micro groove in 30-30 that I have not hunted with before with this bullet . I also hope to find a period Weaver K2.5 or K3 to go up top on this one .

[TCLouis]

Start with a poll of best BOOLIT and then find/build a rifle and chambering to match the boolit.

If I were a betting man, I would bet that 35 or maybe even 33 may well be the best diameter to have all of the attributes in one boolit and then a chambering to match.

338 federal, 358 Win or their big brothers based on the aught 6 case.

If shooters will quit taking 500 yard shoots on armor plated critters a lot more hunting might happen!

Just my opinion of course.
lb

Then of course the 30-30, 308, 30-06 would do in a pinch. ALWAYs DO

[725]

All these guys give good advise. There are just so many that will fit your criteria. Linstrum has made an outstanding point about supply and demand. The '06's, '08's will have brass around for a long time. (read cheaper than some last years whizz-bang, gotta have, gun writer's current assignment calibre). .30-30 brass has a weakness/failure rate only a little behind those mentioned even though it's my favorite calibre. Another great meat rifle to consider is the NEF .45-70. Rock solid, accruate, down right hard to break, cheap, easy to cast for, and will easily down any critter around. Load it light or juice it up, it's hard to beat.
725

[Wayne Smith]

I'd not be so concerned about caliber. If I were starting now, with what I now know, I'd start with an Encore and be willing to spend $200-250 for a new barrel/caliber now and then. I'd have a much less crowded gun closet and just as much fun! And, for hunting, one shot should be enough, and reloading can be done quickly.

Then again, lever guns are addicting, aren't they? (Win 95 in 405, 2 336 Marlins in 30-30, Uberti Short Rifle in 44-40)

[waksupi]

.30 bores are good. but, in my experience, if you may want to hunt anything larger in the future, go with the .35 bore. Had I known what I know now, over the years I would have been collecting only .35 caliber rifles, and nothing else. However, I do live in an area that large, and dangerous, game is in abundance, and that flavors my choice.