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Is .270 just your fathers caliber?

wpagewpage Member Posts: 10,201 ✭✭✭
edited October 2010 in Ask the Experts
Many of the new guys in my deer camp are moving toward the newvo rounds like .223 for big game. Years ago it was all .270, 308, or 30-06. This was in NY and Pa for white tail deer.
Are these new .223 better or just a fad?

Comments

  • wpagewpage Member Posts: 10,201 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Sorry to hijack this heading, but before I could post, the moderators locked the thread. Nononsense, maybe you've answered it before, but could you run down the 4 SPLENDID rifles you have in your signature? Thanks
  • Pistollero1050Pistollero1050 Member Posts: 1,197 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I hunt in Pa. and I believe I read that you have to use a cartridge bigger than .223. That means .223 is not legal in Pa.. I also believe .223 is to small for reliable harvesting of deer. There won't be any in our camp.
  • godalejrgodalejr Member Posts: 2,038 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    i really think using a 223 is a moral issue. i dont believe and would not. we have to use slug guns in ohio. as with the earlier post i think a 223 for deer in pa is illeagal.
  • Sig220_Ruger77Sig220_Ruger77 Member Posts: 12,754 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Nothin wrong at all with the .270's of the world. Great caliber.

    However, with todays bullets, the little recoil, and confidence in smaller rounds...the smaller calibers are great for smaller big game like deer. I dropped a 325+ lb. hog with my .22-250 and 45 grain Barnes TSX's. One shot and down he went. Excellent performance and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

    This is coming from a fella who has deer hunted with 45-70's, .338's, etc. [;)]

    Jon
  • PA ShootistPA Shootist Member Posts: 691 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    A .223 is legal for use in Pennsylvania, in fact any centerfire, and I actually know of guys who use .22 Hornet, .218 Bee and other small calibers. Whether they are adequate is the real question here in PA, and I myself don't believe in using them, unless the shooter is a consummate marksman, and passes on any shot that won't reliably slip that small bullet through the ribs to a heart shot. Any shot less than optimum could risk grievously wounding an animal the size of a deer, and wasting it, as it escapes to die a lingering slow death.
  • MrGunz22MrGunz22 Member Posts: 2,086 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    223 is illegal here in NY. Has to be .24 caliber bullet or larger.
  • MichibayMichibay Member Posts: 816 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Years ago, Jack O'Conner wrote about his hunting friend who decided to shoot a Grisley with a 22-250. The first shot hit a rib and the bullet shattered wounding the bear. The 2nd shot went into the chest cavity and killed the bear...interesting! There appears to be a large interest currently in guns in the M-16 Class...most of these are 223's.Good solid deer rifles of the 40's-60's do not seem popular with the younger generation any more. In Michigan, a deer rifle must be a center fire...so any 22 center fire is legal...Will they kill deer? Yes!!! However, I would argue that a 25 Caliber and up would be best...In the Michigan woods, one could argue that a 30-06 is too big...The classics seem to be fading...like the 257 Roberts, 250 Savage, 300 Savage,30-30, 32 spl, 35 Rem etc etc...Personally, I favor the classics...and now shoot a 6mm Rem...that I think is a great deer round. A Military gun in 223 does not appeal to me...but I am 68. I did know a guy that has killed plenty of deer with an older 22 WRF...similar to a 22 Mag. I even know someone who killed a 180lb buck with a 22 pistol about at 10 yds...hit it in the neck...and it went down like it was hit by a 375 Mag!
  • guntech59guntech59 Member Posts: 23,188 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by MrGunz22
    223 is illegal here in NY. Has to be .24 caliber bullet or larger.


    Try again! Read your game book!

    Any centerfire rifle.
  • beantownshootahbeantownshootah Member Posts: 12,776 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    First of all, there's deer and there's deer.

    An 80lb Florida key deer isn't the same as a 250 lb Maine buck.

    To answer the question, just because the pendulum has swung all the other way, and there seems to be lots of interest in .223s right now, that doesn't invalidate tried and true calibers like .270 (30/30, etc).

    .223 *could* be OK for deer, given the constraints of the right LOAD (heavier bullet is better), local law (in some areas .223s are legal for hunting deer), size of the deer in question, and skill and judgment of the hunter.

    Southern deer are smaller, and you really don't need a cannon to kill a 100 lb animal.

    Also, lets face it, people successfully poach deers with .22LR and .22magnum rounds. People successfully hunt deer with bows and arrows, let alone primitive weapons like atlatls! People successfully hunt deer with .357 magnum revolvers.

    So I don't see why a .223, which ought to be more powerful than any of those other weapons, should be considered "crazy".
  • RCrosbyRCrosby Member Posts: 3,808 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    .22 Rimfire Magnum is legal for deer up here. A sin, IMHO.
    .223, with the right bullet, is fine, again IMHO, as an experts cartridge, but NOT for the inexperienced and undisciplined.
    Come to think of it, I'm not sure what I'd recommend for someone inexperienced and undisciplined; except maybe lots and lots of practice with their gun of choise.
    As for the .270, it's one of the best. Selling my own only because I've moved "down" to the .257 Roberts. The older I get, the quieter my guns seem to get. Just don't enjoy the noise and recoil like I once did.[:D][:D]
  • rsnyder55rsnyder55 Member Posts: 2,526 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If smaller is desired, there is always the .243.
  • nononsensenononsense Member Posts: 10,928 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    wpage,

    "Are these new .223 better or just a fad?"

    I think it's just a matter of being different and there is a small degree of convenience attached to the smaller caliber cartridges. There is also the aspect of using an AR-type rifle as opposed to a standard bolt action hunting rifle.

    Better? No, not really but it will kill a deer no matter how much it weighs. Weight has nothing to do with this at all. It's bullet construction, velocity and shot placement. A properly designed bullet placed in the brain, neck or heart is instantly devastating to the deer.

    I think the word you're looking for is 'nouveau'. The .223 Remington has been around since 1957 so it's hardly considered to be new. Sure those other cartridges named are older but so are the .22 LR and the .45-70 cartridges. As to popularity, any cartridge could be considered popular if virtually every standard bolt action rifle ever manufactured was chambered in these cartridges. This encompasses millions of rifles chambered for just two cartridges. Such a waste when you consider how many other cartridges are available and just as good.

    Best.
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