Which caliber rifle should I buy?

[Guest magicfishing]

Hi All,

I'm going to be buying a tikka rifle, but am unsure about what caliber to buy. I was thinking 30-06, but was told the ballistics aren't as good as a .270. I am only going for moose and deer at this point, and it is unlikely I will be hunting bears. Any ideas? I'm a relatively amateur hunter, so I think I'd like a little more stopping power than a .270. I also know the 30-06 ammo is cheaper, although if I'm firing premium rounds it might not be that big a price difference.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[gsambray 172]

i shoot and always will shoot a 7mm mag. lots of stopping power nice and flat shooting. and its relatively cheap for ammo aswell. it will drop deer and moose easily (with a proper vital shot) and is good for any large game found around here.

[Hurketthunter 65]

I'd say go with the 30-06. Can't go wrong with it and you won't notice a big difference in bullet drop unless you start taking long shots, which I don't recommend since your a new shooter. Shoot a well built 180gr bullet and your covered for anything you'll encounter in ontario. Good luck.

[moose_hunters 1]

3006 is always a good choice because it's easy to find ammunition, and the bullets come in varying grains any where from 110 To 220

[filletandrelease 17]

30-06 or 7mm depending if you want a magnum or not. The tikkas are pretty nice but they have very sharp rifling and foul quickly so clean it religiuosly and don't forget to follow manufacturers specs and break it in properly.

[crisop 65]

30-06 is probably the best all around rifle and like everone else has said the ammo is readily available pretty much everywhere in every grain size you will need.

I own a 270, 30-06 and a 7mm. I actually take my 30-06 out more with me when i go hunting than the other 2

[AB 98]

What ever calibre you chose, both are well suited to the hunting opportunities in NWO.

I owned both a 270, and a 7mm Rem Mag. I liked the 270 better for the lighter weight of the gun. Something to think about before you are humping thru the woods.

I sold both those custome rifles and bought a 270 WSM. Nice gun, but was a sledge hammer to shoot and finding factory bullets that grouped to my satisfaction was a pain. It got sold.

I have a Tikka in 270, love it.....but every hunter in NWO should have a 30 cal of some kind....so I think you can't go wrong with either of your choices.

Just remember not to scrimp on the optics or the ammunition! No matter which gun you chose!

aim small, miss small

iceman

[Pro fisherman-Stud Muffin 420]

i own a tikka 338 federal. which is a .308 necked up to 338. it shoots 180's as flat as 30-06 with less powder so less recoil than 30-06 but makes a bigger hole. in a tikka you dont get a shorter action with shorter cartridges so no weight savings they just use a different bolt stop. 338fed also brags that it has more power than 7mm when using heavier bullets 210gr bullets. and has identical performance to 300 win mag when both use 200gr bullets.

cool eh??

[moose_hunters 1]

Yah I've done a lot of ballistics comparisons between the 338 federal and the 3006 and surprisingly enough it's a flatter flying bullet when at the same grain bullet as the 300. Also the ammunition is relatively cheap so it's a great choice just less popular then the 3006. I've considered buying one myself.