243 vs 260 vs 270 for longrange small/medium game hunting in south africa

[fireroad]

To the original question: I have owned all 3 calibers you mention (still own the 243 and 260) and hunt similiar (thin skinned) beasts in similiar (long range, windy) conditions in the desert southwest of the US. I would hands down recomend the 260 remington. It has plenty of velocity and knockdown power with the 130-140 gr bullets, and super high BC bullets to buck the wind.

A close cousin to the 260 remington is the 6.5x55 Swede. I only mention it as it is the most popular hunting in Europe (like the 30-06 or 270 in the US) and may be easier for you to find rifles and ammo. Either 6.5 mm would be great, but alot of folks around here won't recomend them as 1. we where all raised with either a 243 or 270 as our first hunting rifle and 2. the 6.5 mm are just catching on here for hunting (although very popular among benchrest shooters).

Since it sounds like you are leaning towards the 260, I wouuld suggest the 130gr Nosler Accubond. Very high BC with enough weight to take proghorn and deer long range. Good luck!

[pietskiet]

it seams there are some confusion as to what is popular in my country. He have british,american and europhian influences as to calibers. The most widely used in my experience are:1 30-06 2 303 3 308 4 243 5 270 and 6 7 by57. Our millatry calibers where the 303, 308 and currently it is the 223. The 9.3 by 62 is also popular but not as much as the 375h&h. No one uses the 280 but the 7 by 64 is popular. The 300 win and 300h&h are popular, as are the 223,222,22-250 and 25-06. Our two 6.5's are the 6.5 by 55 and 6.5 by 57. The 7 by 57 sees alot of use in my country. As does the 303(which btw is a exelent penetrator whith 215gr bullets) thanx too cheap mill surp rifles. The 30-06 is the most pupolar by far,243 is the most popular small bore but the 6mm rem and 6mm mussgrave also sees some use. I am going whith the 260 as i want more bullet weigght than the 243 and less wind drift but still have minimal recoil for varminting and woman and childrin should be able to use the rifle. Back to my question: i was thinking of useing the 123gr sierra matchkings on small and medium game and the 95gr vmax for varminting. Any opinions?

[tube_ee]

but in .308, the Matchking is not recommended as a hunting bullet.

Yes, it's a hollowpoint, but it's a hollowpoint that is not designed to expand. Terminal performance on game is reported to be disappointing.

The Gameking is the Sierra bullet you want. They're usually cheaper, too, at least here in the US.

--Shannon

[pietskiet]

they dont have a 120gr in the gameking. Only prohunters. I want a boat tail. Wat weights are availible for the 6.5 in the nosler balistic tips? I want a afordabile bullet for allround small/medium game hunting. Dont like hornady alot,too soft. But it must stil be a standard bullet...

[LanceOregon]

Wat weights are availible for the 6.5 in the nosler balistic tips? I want a afordabile bullet for allround small/medium game hunting. Dont like hornady alot,too soft. But it must stil be a standard bullet...

Have you experimented with the Hornady SST bullets at all? I have heard good things from local hunters who hand load about it. One fellow that I know swore off Nosler Ballistic Tips, saying that they were way too soft and did not penetrate well even our small Blacktail deer here in Western Oregon.

The SST is available in a 6.5mm 129 gr boattail. The Hornady Interbond version of this same bullet has a thicker jacket, but is also far more expensive.

Speer's Hot-Cor hunting bullets are very tough bonded core bullets that are quite affordable. And they have a 120 gr 6.5mm bullet. It is a plain Spitzer design, though, and lacks a boattail.


--

[RichM]

I like the .243. I had a Rem 700 from Wlmart that shot less than an inch at 200 yards with federal blue box ammo. Then the bullet goes thru the deer and he bleeds all over. Good shell. I still have a BLR in .243.

Did anyone cover the action length of the gun?

That's one thing I hear about all the time for some reason.

You have to go and shoot the guns you are interested in.

I have had a .243 and a 25-06. The 06 had a whicked crack to the report - I loved it but only shot 1 deer with it - 50 yards, the bullet never enetered the chest cavity but blod clotted the lungs like no tomorrow (the bullet entered and exited the shoulder on a 1/4ing shot) - deer ran over to me and fell down.

Enjoy your hunt.

[pietskiet]

how much heavyer wil the 260 ackly be on a barrel and how much more recoil wil it have?

[Dannyl]

Hi Piet,
First, I think that the 270 is not too much rifle for Springbuks. you will find that it is less affected by winds.

I am in the same situation as you are and if you want 3 rifles, My choices would be :
1. 25-06 for a flat-shooting rifle (medium game)
2. 30-06 for any game, from 50M up to 400M, including Eland (took a very large one this season, with a 180Gr hornady to the lungs)
3.your choice of gun for dangerous game, 416 Rem Magnum, 375 etc ( I do not go after dangerous game, so I have no need for one)

Cheers,

Danny

BTW, if you get your "dedicated hunter" or "dedicated sportsman" you can have more licences ( I have 8)

[Pilot]

My next rifle will be either a .260 or 6.5x55. I reload so can get max performance and think the 6.5MM is one of the more versatile rounds out there.

[taylorce1]

I own two of the three rifles mentioned and a 6.5X55, I don't think with a .243 you would be handicapped at all with the wind. Sure the slight edge in BC goes to the 6.5 bullets however there are several very high BC bullets out there for the 6mm as well. You will need to however build a custom .243 to handle the high BC bullets like the Berger 115 grain VLD with a BC of .545 since the recomended twist rate is 1:7.

I wouldn't worry too much about velocity either because if you spend the time knowing how your cartridge shoots it is pretty much a non issue. Just learn the ranges, wind doping and scope adjustments and you will be able to reach out there and touch things without the need of a hyper velocity round. Velocity can be compensated for however good shooting cannot.

[rog45us]

What about a Remington .280?

[mpd61]

What about a Remington .280?
For the same reasons we're saying no to the .270 Bro!

[pietskiet]

i realy love the 243 but want a littel more weight but simmular recoil. I have decided on a howa 1500 .243 whith laminated thumb hole stock. When its barrel is shot out i wil rebarrel it to a 260. I like the 270(dislike a 30-06,shotgun and 9mm pistols. Probabily more to do whith there owners but stil...). Wont go for the 270 or 25-06 for 2 reasons. Nr1 its case is bigger than my 303.(i know im weird but i dont whant my "small" rifle to have a bigger case than my medium rifle). Nr2 is recoil. I want minimal recoil,for culling,varmintin and begginers. My 303 is a short and light rifle and i load it reasonably hot,so its recoil is 2 much 4 a begginer. Btw i have no problem taking a eland whith my 215gr handload! The 270 is 2 much as i dont want 2 use it 4 big game at long range.. I would rather use a flat shooting 250gr load in a 375 for gemsbuck,eland,kudu and bluewildebeest at long range. The rifle wil be used for springbuk,blesbuk and simular size game. Wat do you guys think about the 90gr ballistic tips in the 243 for all round use?

[moosemike]

The .260 sounds perfect for what you're trying to accomplish. I personally would want a 257 Roberts but it just comes down to do you want to buy 6.5 bullets or .257 bullets for loading.

[ConradJoyce]

For the purposes stated it seems a no-brainer to me that the .243 is the superior caliber. Little deer and varmints. Perfect. Barrel life? Well, that's a function of how hot you load it, how fast you shoot it and the quality of the steel it's made of.

I load 100 grain Hornady atop 40 grains of H4350. Smokin' hot but simple. Tune it down a little for the vermin. Yep, the .243 is the no-brainer choice in my view.

I like to keep it simple.

Conrad

[fisherman66]

Have you considered the 7x57 or 7-08?

[kimbajmann]

I would say that , based upon your needs, the 260 is by far the best choice - I get 2900 fps using 140 grn bullets and lapua brass. you can load 85 grn hp bullets for varm at silly speeds and not eat up the barrel. The section density of the 6.5 almost yields overpenetration - you need a bullet that will dump on that game. 243 is next as good as gold on antelope and also best for varm. 270 is a distant thired - and I mean distant! much more recoil, not as good bullets, too much case capacity.

The 260 will be hands down the best lr cal - not even close. another great one is the 6.5-06 not mentioned in op. The 6.5 can take anything less than dangerous game class, and do it with less powder, higher bc, best sectional density and readily available componnents. Oh, did I mention it is great on barrels? Get one with a 1-8 twist .

Anyone saying a 270 trumps a 260 has not shot a 260 and not at game. Sure all thing equal, but all things are not. The efficiency of the 260 allows powder loads for 140 bullets sim to 100 bullets in 243. Forget about the 270- just throwing powder down that barrel. The only thing the 270 allows is heavier bullets, but this op does not need them.
257 rob, 260, 260 ai, 260 creed all good choices and good on barrels.

[Unlicensed Dremel]

.243 win cannot be beat for the purposes you describe, with modern bullets. Flat as a laser, enough penetration to easily do the job on the "medium" game you describe.

But agree that 6.5x55, .25-'06, or .260 rem would be just as good - not really a lick of difference in the real world, once you learn your drop and drift.

[Art Eatman]

Er, uh, the decision was made almost four years ago.

[Unlicensed Dremel]

Oopsie-daisies.

[Picher]

Funny that no-one picked up on that Art! I wonder what choice he made and how it worked for him.

[jimbob86]

Properly handloaded, a .270WIN with a 1:10" twist barrel will suffice for everything from the size of a prairie dog to a bull elk. 90 grain hollowpoints to 150gr Partitions ..... mine shoots them all better than I can hold to in field positions .....

[JD0x0]

the 25-06 would be much better suited for the purpose that you are looking for.

.270 is a 25-06 on steroids. Yes we all know they use the same parent case.

A .270 with a stout load can push a 130 grainer to 3200fps
.25-06 will shoot 100 grainers at about 3200fps.


On top of the .270 shooting a heavier bullet at the same speed. That bullet tends to have a higher sectional density and ballistic coefficient compared to .25 cal.

100 grain .257 SD= .216
130 grain .277 SD= .242


The .270 is so underrated for what it is. Load 83-90 grain bullets, and it's essentially a .243 win, .22-250, .204 ruger on steroids. Similar velocity, similar BC and SD bullets, but the .277 bullets have roughly twice the mass of those other cartridges.

a 180 grain .277 cal bullet has a SD of .335
That's superior to a 250 grain .338 caliber bullet. You'd need a .338 cal bullet at 270 grains to have a comparable sectional density to a 180 grain .277 cal bullet.

IMO .270 Winchester is by far one of the most versatile, handy cartridges ever made. It's arguably more versatile than the .30-06 even though .308 has the widest range of projectiles. The 6.8mm seems to have better light weight spitzers for varminting than compared to .308

[Art Eatman]

Sheesh! (Shakes head.)