Help me pick a caliber.

Beer Belly

I am considering buying a new pistol & rifle for deer hunting. I am torn between 7mm-08 and .308. Which caliber is best for deer in both guns?

What is the recoil difference between the 2 calibers (308 - 150gr / 7mm-08 - 140gr)
Why isn't the .308 available in 140gr, or a wider selection of masses? I have never figured this out.

I have never owned a pistol for hunting so if you have any comments throw them my way.

dcloco

Question about your pistol hunting...are you thinking Contender or revolver pistol? If so...there are SEVERAL calibers. My preference - 44 mag.

Rifle - where are you hunting? I prefer my 6.5x55 - shoots straight, flat, and will knock down anything - even large deer. The 308/7mm-08 might be a little overkill.

The 6.5x55 is lethal in anybody's hands at a minimum of 500 yards...with NO recoil...

bpost

IMHO Either caliber is fine for deer. Putting the bullet in the kill zone is way more important than the caliber or the bullet used. Any REASONABLE caliber using REASONABLE bullets placing the shot through the heart/lung area will assure the demise of the animal. With all that said, purchase the rifle you like in a caliber that you can afford to shoot a LOT. Get good with the rifle, build confidence in your abilities and hunt hard. I would lean towards the .308 because it is a military round, brass is available, bullets and surplus ammo are cheap. This lends itself to LOTS of shooting practice, this is a good thing.

bpost

I have hunted deer with a .44 mag. ONCE, I'll never do it again. The reason is that the muzzle blast and noise is painful and causes hearing damage for sure. I shot 3 rounds, killed the deer and my ears rung for a week. I would hunt with it again IF AND ONLY IF I could protect my ears. Just my 2 cents worth (HUH, say again please)

ern98

Between 7mm and 30cal there will be many weighing in for both. My take on it would be on where you are hunting. If you will be seeing open country the 7mm will shoot faster flatter then the compareable 30cal. If you are hunting closer in and the game is larger then the heavier slugs that you can get into your .308 may have better effect on larger game. Still the cross section density of a 140g 7mm is the equivilent of a 165g .308 bullet. A normally constructed bullet in 140g .308 would be ok for small bodied deer and larger varmints, but not for humanely dispaching normal or larger sized deer. Maybe something like a X bullet in 140g would be ok, but I'd probably stick to the 150g and heavier. The recoil of the .308 will be heavier then the 7mm-08, but not much. If you want to understand more about the relationship between bullet weight and diameters verses performance get a general guide to reloading ammo, some of these do a good job of explaining this.

Beer Belly

ern - I was wondering about the density of the 140 in a 30 cal. I always use 140s in my .280. They will do the job. I hunting in the SE, so the biggest deer I may encounter is ~200lbs, and the longest shot will be ~250yrds. Most of my shots are <100yrds.

1KYDSTR

BB...Are you reloading or shooting factory amoo? If you reload, I would go with the 30 cal for the above mentioned reasons, particularly the lack of a need for real flat shots out to 250 yds.

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farmplinker

I use a 7mm-08 rifle and a .44 magnum revolver for deer hunting. I haven't shot a deer yet with the handgun, but everything I've read points to the .44 mag as the best choice for deer if you are talking about revolvers. The less powerful .357 mag is considered the bare minimum for deer hunting, and the .41 mag has its fans. But the .44 mag is most widely used. You could go up from that to the newer hand cannons like the .454 or .480 or even the .500, but those would all have way too much recoil for me to enjoy practicing.

Like a previous poster, I shot two shots with my .44 mag while hunting (I missed ). Unlike him, I hardly noticed the noise or recoil, just like I never notice the blast or recoil from rifles or shotguns while hunting. I would never practice without hearing protection, but a few shots while hunting doesn't sway me from handgun hunting.

Regarding choosing 7mm-08 or .308, the 7mm-08 will have slightly less recoil, which is good for target practicing. It will also shoot a little flatter. There is a lot more ammo choice for the .308, but the pricing for similar factory ammo is not much different between the two calibers. Either one would work just fine for deer.

Beer Belly

I am not looking for a revolver, but more of a Thompson's or a Savage pistol.

JustC

you really need to experience the recoil from both of those calibers in a pistol before choosing. Neither of which are all that pleasant to shoot. As far as deer hunting,..they are very similar and either choice is a good one.

why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
Got Balistics?

mrbruce

Beer Belly-- The Savage will handle both of the cartridges your asking about, as will the Encore. The TC Contender will not !!
I have been hunting in the NE with a handgun since they opened it in 1980. I use my XP100 chambered in a 284 Winchester most of the time, but I also use a TC contender in a 257JDJ, and also a 375JDJ. My thoughts are that a 7MM bullet will down just about anything you stick one into. You don't need a heavy bullet to do either. I use the 140gr in the 284 because it works extremely well. But I also use a 85Gr Ballistic Tip in my 257JDJ and it drops them with in sight of the shot, and always has. My 375 JDJ don't drop them any quicker using a 220 grain bullet.
The 7/08 has the least amount of recoil between the ones your asking about.
Ammo for both are usually available at most shops, I never saw a disadvantage of the so called limited availability of 7mm bullets. When shooting deer sized critters I have never seen a need for anything over 140gr anyway. The 308 is a good one but a bit more recoil is involved.
Buy what you like, shoot it a lot "with your ears on" and you'll be a happy camper.


Gun control is hitting what your aiming at.