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  1. #11
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    Default Re: Buying your first rifle – Deciding on a calibre

    Hi Tetelestai

    Great article.

    I think that something worth mentioning is the following:

    30-06 parent case is used for 25-06, .270 Winchester and the 9,3x62 Mauser.

    .308 Winchester parent case is used for .243 Winchester and then the .260 Remington (which is a 6.5mm-08 and similar to the 6.5x55).

    I have started on a .308 Winchester for a couple of reasons:

    1. It is the rifle that I started shooting with
    2. The general purpose nature of it - I use 150gr bullets for Springbuck and can go up to 180gr for bigger game. I prefer the 168grainers mostly
    3. It is cost effective to shoot
    4. Barrel life is longer than other calibres. A calibre with a large case an small bullet (.300 Win Mag, 25-06 etc) are know to have shorter barrel lives.

    As a second rifle, I would consider something in the line of 8x68 Mauser for larger game such as Eland.

  2. #12
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    Default Re: Buying your first rifle – Deciding on a calibre

    Nice informative post T.

    Glad to see you included some of the tried and tested European (metric) calibres in there. As the owner of a 6.5x55, 7x57 and 9,3X62 I could not agree more with your conclusions. Gives the novice more info on other choices besides the normal 243, 308 and 30 - 06 debate.

  3. #13
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    Default Re: Buying your first rifle – Deciding on a calibre

    Great read! Hope it helps the inexperienced and young buyers - it definitely caused me to take a serious look at my budget! (So many guns, so little time...)

    My little 2c: Practice, practice and practice a little more to make sure your shot goes where intended. Even a .416 bullet through the tail hairs of a rabbit wouldn't bring it down. Then rather a good shot with Oupa's old .303 through the vitals.

  4. #14
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    Default Re: Buying your first rifle – Deciding on a calibre

    Hi Guys,

    I just got my D.S.S status, and I wasted no time in Purchasing my first semi Auto .223.

    I had a choice of 3

    1. NEA
    2. Dashpro
    3. LM5

    I picked the LM @ R20.000. Was this a Bad choice?

  5. #15
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    Where is my mind..?
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    Default Re: Buying your first rifle – Deciding on a calibre

    Quote Originally Posted by Cypress View Post
    Hi Guys,

    I just got my D.S.S status, and I wasted no time in Purchasing my first semi Auto .223.

    I had a choice of 3

    1. NEA
    2. Dashpro
    3. LM5

    I picked the LM @ R20.000. Was this a Bad choice?
    Seeing as this is the hunting section of the forum would say it was an extremely bad choice.

    I'll buy it off of you for two grand.
    [b]Be ready for anything, and if his head is not at least two meters away from the body, do not 'assume' he is dead and out of the fight.[/b] [I]- Ikor[/I]

  6. #16
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    Default Re: Buying your first rifle – Deciding on a calibre

    Quote Originally Posted by Cypress View Post
    Hi Guys,

    I just got my D.S.S status, and I wasted no time in Purchasing my first semi Auto .223.

    I had a choice of 3

    1. NEA
    2. Dashpro
    3. LM5

    I picked the LM @ R20.000. Was this a Bad choice?
    Wrong section to post under, but yeah, you got stung quite bad

  7. #17
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    May 2012
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    Queensburgh ,Kzn.
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    Default Re: Buying your first rifle – Deciding on a calibre

    Thanks for the excellent post! I'm currently stuck between 2 calibers ,namely .270 and .308 ,I'm in KZN so the bush might stuff me around a bit with the .270 but then again I won't take a shot that I'm not 100 percent comfortable with and I like the fact that the .270 shoots very flat ,taking a lot of the 'guessing work' out of the aiming ,but then again I have shot .308 (paper only) and really enjoyed it (I,m one of those short bantam 65 kilo okes ha ha) . But I have heard that some farmers apparently don't like hunters using anything under a .300 caliber size round in KZN because of the bush (probably another myth,I'm not too sure) , will the .308 have such a big advantage in KZN hunting over the .270 that I should rather stick to it?

  8. #18

    Default

    Great post!

    Eugene I am no expert but traversed these same waters a year ago, and came to the conclusion if you don't want to shoot eland that in practice these two guns will be pretty similar. Saying this a lot of guys will post that they have taken eland with a 270, and others that a 308 isn't ideal for eland either.
    That is why I ended up buying 2 rifles, and am sure it will not end there.
    So I think the message from the OP is there is no ultimate single all-rounder, but if you compromise a bit any of said calibers can do the job.

  9. #19
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bonesgun View Post
    Great post!

    Eugene I am no expert but traversed these same waters a year ago, and came to the conclusion if you don't want to shoot eland that in practice these two guns will be pretty similar. Saying this a lot of guys will post that they have taken eland with a 270, and others that a 308 isn't ideal for eland either.
    That is why I ended up buying 2 rifles, and am sure it will not end there.
    So I think the message from the OP is there is no ultimate single all-rounder, but if you compromise a bit any of said calibers can do the job.
    Thanks ,yeah I'm getting the picture now, so looks like.270 it will be, and later on a bigger caliber.

  10. #20
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    Default Re: Buying your first rifle – Deciding on a calibre

    I'd say that up to 200 meters, you're not really going to see much difference in the trajectory ofa .308 or a .270, like 0.1 to 0.2 inch.

    Where I like the .270 better, is sectional density and ballistic coifficient, because of the smaller diameter. If you are scared of meat damage, load a 150gr bullet.

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