Ok guys, heres another newbie question for you all.

Like I said before, I am new to the whole gun/deer game. I have never been deer hunting, and am probaly gonna be goin deer hunting soon. I have the choice to carry a .270 or a .308.

Like I said, this will be my first deer hunt, and on top of that, I have only shot each one of these guns only a couple times.

What gun should I carry for my first hunt? I know the .308 will be a lil more overall to shoot, but so far, I am liking the .308 best. But which one would be more practable for someone new to the game like me to carry?

I live in Dallas,Texas, and any game hunting I will do will be in Texas.

You double-posted, probably by accident. I'll reply to this one.

There is absolutely no difference between the two, despite what "paper" ballistics may say. They both shoot to the same point closer than you can hold them and they both are 100% effective on deer.

I'd choose the .308 myself. In fact, I have: it's my only big game rifle. I have never needed more than one shot except for one occasion, and that was on a moving deer I hit a bit far back. I took an immediate (and actually unneeded) second shot. All the rest have been one-shot, and mostly bang-flops.

I agree with Rocky, especially since you already stated that you prefer the 308. Both calibers do pretty much the same thing except the 270 is a long action (longer bolt throw for the longer cart.) Those 2 calibers along with the 30-06 are the 3 most popular for American big game.

Yea it didnt want to go through the first time I posted it, so I reposted it......didnt notice that it double posted.

And thanks for the help guys, not having much experience shooting deer rifles, I wasnt sure if I should lean towards one or the other. But considering you two say there isnt much diffrence betweent he two, I do like the .308 best, so I will take that for the long haul.

i've owned both, and i would say to go with the gun that feels the best, and the one you shoot the best. both are deadly on deer.

Either will work fine. Just use the one one you shoot the best and have no fear!

Afraid I agree, not much difference so go with what you like/feel comfortable with. I use a .270 mostly because of sentimental reasons but I have owned .308's and done well with them but the rifle failed me, not the caliber.

I have used .30-06s for many years with great success and swear by them. But I find that I get the tightest groups with 150 to 165 grain bullets if I load down to hot .308 velocities. Makes me wonder if my next gun shouldn't be a .308. Probably would be cept I really want a .338 Federal. Anyway, a .308 is just plain hard to beat for accuracy, efficiency, and versatility.

Im just glad you're not wrapped up in the short mag nonsense. Those are both great deer cartridges. If you look at the ballistics (like it really matters anyway) they are pretty close depending on what weight bullet you shoot. So close that its insignificant to worry about one over the other. I use a 270, but only because it given to me. If it had been in 308, I'd be using it. About the only difference in guns is typically you can get a lighter rifle in the 308 because of the shorter action and usual shorter barrel length. And that doesnt add up to much anyway. A Kimber Montana in 308 weights 5.5lbs, same gun in 270 weighs 6.9 lbs. So 1.4 lbs is the "savings" in weight. Big whoop. If weight was the concern, spend the money on a better pair of hunting boots, that's where it would really pay of. Just use the one that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, you can't go wrong.

If you like the 308 better, use that one.

This is a win/win choice between two of the all time great deer cartridges. So, if you like the feel of one rifle over the other, choose that one.
Either cartridge will do the job for you.

the nice thing about the 308 is that it's velocity is just about right for "common" bullets. it's fast enough to be flat shooting and effective but it allows the use of pretty much any namebrand bullet as long it is of adequate weight and design. the only real negative i've heard on the 270 has been bloodshot meat but i feel that is more the fault of the bullet used than the cartridge.

270, 280, 308, 30-06... I doubt that any animal would be able to tell the difference. This basically is a non-question. All fall within the energy/ballistic envelope that works well on any big game in North America. Any one of these would serve you well for game out to your ability to place shots.

The longest game shot I ever made was on a Dahl Sheep in the Chugach mountains up off Eklutna Lake in 1979 at 650 yards with a Ruger 77 30-06 with a 22 inch bbl and 165 grain Sierra bullets. Keep in mind I'm a magnum fan and could have taken my 8mm Rem mag.

I built a 264 Win mag just for this hunt, then was offered so much money for it that it went down the road and the Ruger was a shop rifle I let folks use when I was working on their guns.

I have to agree with vabyrd about the short magnum nonsense. I've got a couple of friends whom bought into both the 300 WSM and the 270 WSM and I sighted and chrono'd both and wasn't impressed. Both of these with factory ammo didn't live up to published velocities and were so close to the standard cartridges that I couldn't see spending the bucks for one.

The moral of this story is marksmanship is more important than the particular weapon you take to the woods. Add good marksmanship from field positions to good sportsmanship and hunting is truly a great passion.

I live in Dallas,Texas, and any game hunting I will do will be in Texas.[/QUOTE]



Either the 308 or the 270 is a good choice for hunting here in Texas. I have hunted in both south and central Texas for the last 20 plus years. I have killed a lot of deer and hogs with a .270 and more than one or two of both with a .308.

Since you apparently have the oppertunity to use a rifle that you have access to rather than the question being which one should you buy for a first deer rifle, my answer would be to take the one that you shoot best from field positions. By field positions, I mean rested on a fence post or on a tree, off a bipod or shooting from the sitting position. I think you will find that rifle fit is going to be more of a factor than cartridge choice. Whichever rifle has a better trigger pull will also be a deciding factor. Shoot both at paper from an equal distance on a couple of occasions and then sit down and look at your targets objectively. Which rifle are you shooting better?

If you were about to buy your first deer rifle my answer would be a bit different since you wouldn't have access to the rifles to test shoot them first. Also, if you are looking at a bolt action, if you can get it in .270, you can get it in .308 from the same manufacturer. While the rifle OAL and weight may be different between the two, the stock fit is going to be similar if not identical in a Whichever Manufacturer Model X in either chambering. Different models may be available though as indicated below.

1. A .270 has less recoil than a .308 in most instances. For a new shooter less recoil is always a good thing. It isn't a tough guy thing either. Less recoil makes a rifle easier to deal with for everyone no matter what your level of experience may be or your ability to chew nails.

2, A .270 shoots a bit flatter when you maximize your zero. A slightly flatter trajectory can also be a good thing depending upon the conditions you are hunting in. If you are hunting south Texas in the brush country where you might be on a long sendero, that can make a difference. If you are hunting woods country in central or east Texas, a flatter trajectory is a so what since you aren't going to be faced with a whole lot of longer range oppertunities.

3. A .308 is more versatile than a .270 as a general rule. You have a larger frontal diameter bullet and a wide range of bullet choices. Factory .270 ammo goes from 110 grain varmit bullets to 150 grain hunting bullets. Heavier bullets are available but you aren't going to find them in factory loads without a lot of looking. .308 factory ammo goes from 55 grain saboted bullets for varmit hunting to 220grain hunting bullets.

For anything you are going to hunt in Texas, either will do just fine. There isn't an animal in the state that is going to survive a well placed bullet from either. If Alaska is in your plans, you are undergunned for a big bear in a thicket with either but less undergunned with the .308.

Even better however is the 30-06. Anything you can do with a .308 in a bolt gun, you can do with a 30-06 and the 30-06 handles the heavier 30 caliber bullets better. (Angels are dancing on pin heads)

4. With a .308 you have a chance to pick up surplus military ammo. While not suited for hunting, it makes for cheap practice ammo. When you pracice get away from the bench and shoot from field positions as described above. The fact that the mil spec ammo probably isn't going to shoot as accurately as good factory hunting ammo is irrelevant for practice from field positions unless you are a much better shot than I am. Do the same thing with a good .22 as well. It is cheaper and you do not have to deal with muzzle blast or recoil. That is where you really learn to work a trigger.

5. Depending upon what type hunting you will be doing (ie shooting from a tower blind in south Texas as opposed to walking thickets in east Texas and a whole lot of in between available here) there are some different models available from manufacturers that could be a deciding factor for you. If you want a short, handy carbine, you have a whole lot more choices if you are looking for a .308 than if you want it in a .270. If I shot right handed so that I could choose anything that I wanted, I would be hard pressed not to have a Remington M7 or a Ruger Frontier in a .308 Winchester. Since they aren't available left handed, my answer to that type rifle is a cut down Rem. 700 in 30-06 just cause I bought it cheap and if I didn't like a short rifle, I wouldn't lose anything in either reselling it or rebarreling it to something that I couldn't get from the factory.

6. Ammo availability is about the same for the two although there is a lot more variety with the .308. (Availability means you can buy a box of cartridges where you are at when you realize you are out, not how many choices you have.) If you are in podunk whereever and you realize you are short of ammo (or you forgot to put that bag in the truck in the excitement of opening day of hunting season, not that I ever made such a fool mistake myself) if the crossroads store sells ammo and you are in Texas, it is probably going to have at least a box of each. My choice on this one however is the .270 because with less variety of .270 ammo out there, you have a better chance of that box of ammo from the crossroads store being at least close to what you left at home. (Angels are again dancing on pin heads, especially since you shouldn't screw up and leave your ammo at home).

7. As to the old argument about bloodshot meat from a .270, on Texas deer there isn't enough meat on a shoulder or on the ribs to make a difference. When I dress out a deer, I trim what I can from the shoulders and put it in a hamburger/sausage grinder just because I feel guilty if I don't. Usually there isn't enough meat on the shoulders on the size deer that we have here to make a difference. If you don't shoot the backstraps and you don't shoot the hams, some blood shot meat on a Texas whitetail doesn't mean much of anything. On a pig, shoot them at the base of the ear and don't worry about blood shot meat at all.

There is my $.02 worth on the subject. One could get really technically boring about differences in the two cartridges but why? Either cartridge is a great one for any type deer or antelope, hogs or other game animals here in Texas. Neither is too much or too little. Both cartridges are readily available at reasonable cost. There are a lot of rifles available in either chambering so what flavor of rifle you want may be more of a deciding factor than the actual chambering.

Enjoy your hunt and good luck.

JWK