Thread: Looking for a New Hunting rifle

Funny how every one of these "which rifle" posts always ends up being turned into a calibre contest by the old boys club as soon as someone suggests any calibre created in the 21st century.

Projectile type, speed, and where you put it are all far more important than which calibre rifle its being fired from. Plenty of guys having huge success shooting deer with .223 (boiler room shots/bangflops), yet somehow we think a 6.5mm isnt enough?

7mm08 .308 .30-06 .270 .260 6.5 Creed .303 .243, The list goes on pick a number. All of them are going to do much the same job on an animal at modest distances provided they are using the same projectile type in the same place.

For someone thats a new hunter, far more importance should be put on projectile choice + teaching them to be accurate with chosen rifle & exactly where to put the projectile on the animal, rather than a pissing contest on which calibre to use. All good and well telling them to get a .308 but if the wrong ammo is used & shot placement is bad it doesnt matter which calibre you have its going to be a shit time.

yeah - but its all good fun - the 6.5 boys bite like proverbial sharks - I dont care really what caliber all have good and bad points - I have shot a lot of deer with a .222 would I recommend it no - my .270 absolutely my .308 absolutely - but the rifle- well character- soul even and some semblance of craftsmanship - rather than a computer milled blah - look at an early Sako and one thinks of a room full of craftsmen well people since women did it to all hand checkering Sako stocks - the fit and finish achieved by skilled people rather than a computerized milling machine - steel floor plates not plastic (well some kind of synthetic ) I simply cant stand it when on the forum a new hunter asks for advice and one puts up rifles like the early Tikkas LA 55s and later 695 early Rem 700.s 788 Rem even BRNO,s Winchesters early Rugers all good and then some bugger just cant help himself and yup a Tikka T3 in 6.5 crudmore is the only rifle for NZ wrong and right but not me