Question about mule deer caliber

[TXbowman]

This fall I'm supposed to go on my 1st mule deer hunt in CO. I deer hunt here with a 270 & I know I could get by with it in CO. This just gives me an excuse to get a new rifle. I first decided on the 7mag over the 300 win mag after reading a Ron Spomer article. Spomer argues you get flatter shooting & less drift with less recoil than a 300. Then I read more info that said instead of a 7mag you might as well get a 30-06 (more bullet options & heavier bullets). Also read articles by Craig Boddington & David Petzel that both said theres so little difference between 270 & 7mag that they're almost the same thing. I dont want to buy a rifle that's the same as what I already have.

I've never shot at a deer over 125 yards and never at anything bigger than a whitetail. Most any caliber's capabilities will exceed my own as far as distance. However I like the idea of having a rifle that has the potential to reach out really far. How sharp is the recoil from a 7mag? I dont want to end up with a rifle I never want to shoot because it's so hard on the shoulder.

Despite my research I still feel very indecisive. After all my ramblings this is what it boils down to. These are my criteria:

1. Enough of power for muleys & maybe one day elk. (No interest in bears, moose, or African game)
2. Is capable of shooting long range if I decide I want to get into that
3. Is not so unpleasant to shoot so that it just stays in the safe collecting dust
4. Is not basically a duplicate of my 270

Thanks for reading!

[Walker]

308

[MASTERS]

I've killed a pile of muleys with my 7mm using 168gr bergers. my wife kills 1-2 every year as well with her 7mm. I regularly shoot it out to 1k and have killed a muley at 659yards with it, and an elk at 731yards last year.

[freerhunter16]

I’m a 7mm junkie, so my vote is for the 7 mag with a fast twist to shoot the heavy for caliber bullets. If you never plan to chase anything larger/tougher than elk. A well constructed, 160+ grain 7mm bullet will be all you ever need and a considerable step up from the .270.

[SabreKiller]

I've got 2 different 7 Mags. A Browning 1885 in 7 Mag and a 700 Ti in 7 RSAUM. I shot the Browning for several years before buying the 700. The 7 Mag is not gonna bite near as bad as that 300 IMO. I've killed a truckload of muleys with a 7 mag and never felt like it wasn't the perfect cartridge for western hunting.

The Browning 7 Mag has taken muleys as far as 603 with 160 grain Speer Grand Slam handload and the Ti loves the 140 Barnes TTSX. I'd take either one after elk without losing sleep over it.

[RR 314]

If you want a 7mm with significant "advantage" over your .270 consider a 7mm STW (if you reload). If not, consider the 7mm RUM. Recoil shouldn't be a substantial issue with any 7mm offering.

[brokeno]

7mm

[Hogmauler]

When the Mag talks nothing walks. 7mm here as well.

[Gummi Bear]

There's no argument that the 7mag is a fantastic round.

The old 30.06, while boring, has a track record that dates back more than 120 years, and has been proven on every North American game animal. It can be loaded down, or loaded hot (same as the 7 mag can). It is a very popular caliber with backcountry hunters.

[KX500]

How much faster is the 7mm Mag that the .270? 100 - 150 fps? Not enough to matter to most.

However, this difference is absolutely enough to matter if you just need a reason to buy another gun.

[diamond10x]

All the Mule deer I have killed have been with my 7mm rem mag shooting 160's and my 30-06 shooting 165's. Longest shot has been with my 7mm at 647yd and the buck folded up and rolled down the mountain. Same round has also killed several elk.

My brother on the other hand uses a .270 shooting 130's and it puts them down just fine even at further ranges. Another point to add, when my dad was a kid he killed a pile of Mulies with his Remington Mohawk 600 in .243. Point is they are not the toughest animal.

I'm surprised nobody has chimed in with 6.5 creedmoor

[sierracharlie338]

I’m a big 30 fan. The 300wm with Berger 215s is one of the most capable rounds IMO. You can take big animals with it, shoot out past 1000 with no problems or anything else you want to do. A good brake will make it a joy to shoot but not be standing next to...

Also a fan of the 30.06 and loading it to your desired performance. Lots of bodies stacked over the years because of this cartridge and I’m not just talking animals.

Nothing against the 7mms but if it were me and there was a possibility this might be an elk gun at some point I’d stick with the 30s.

Just deer/antelope then 7mm. Not saying the 7mm can’t be an elk gun, just my preferences.


Sierracharlie out…

[Trapper76]

Piles of muledeer, and elk have been killed with a 270. Bullet placement and bullet construction count way more than the magnums difference in performance. Now if you’d like to have another rifle,,,, then well!!!!

[meltingfeather]

7mm-08 works real great!
You don't need a shoulder cannon to shoot long range and just about any caliber you'd consider will take game at further range than you're probably comfortable shooting.

[RJH1]

you might look into the hornady eldx bullets for your 270. The 7 and 300 do have a step up in energy on target, but with standard hunting ranges and bullets don't have much of an advantage in trajectory. Glance at hornady's ballistic chart and you can get a decent comparison between them with several bullet types. IMO the 7 mag kicks a bit more and the 300 mag kick considerable more than the 270. You could put a brake on it to keep recoil down, but I would just get a gun you can comfortably shoot sans brake, because I don't like them on a hunting rifle.

Good Luck