Quote:
Originally Posted by cabmando
What's the longest shot you anticipate taking in your hunting area? .308 is a good long range rifle. 30-06 is a good rifle but at longer distances can be problematic according to a good friend that has one.
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That is an interesting assessment of the .308 and the .30-'06. You are absolutely correct in that the .308 does well at long range (long hunting range, anyway). The same holds true for the old '06, though. I'm kind of curious to hear what "problems" it might have at long range.
They are essentially the same cartridge, ballistically speaking, in their original military loads. The .308 is just a shorter case, taking advantage of developments in propellents in the years between when the '06 was developed and when it was developed in the early '50's. The .308 is just a more efficient round, in its military guise. Plus it feeds better in autoloaders, due to its shorter length.
Taking advantage of those same modern developments in propellents in the .30-'06, we can dramatically increase its performance. It will shoot the same bullets about 200 fps faster than the .308 can shoot them. As such, it has a bit of an edge over the .308 in downrange performance, especially as range increases.
Here they are for comparison:
Quote:
Originally Posted by cabmando
.270 is a good all around shooter. I bought a 450 last year because Ohio has a straight wall cartridge law for rifles during deer season. Solid rifle with good range. Dead nuts at 150 yards with enough "oomf" to do the job at that distance. I was told it has enough knockdown power to go beyond 200 but most of my shots are 50 yards or less.
The other plus for me with the 450 is that my friend has the dies to load .45 so we can build some custom loads to really dial the rifle in. I bought two boxes of Hornady Black to burn through just for the brass but they shoot pretty well. At 100 yards I have really nice 3 shot groups.
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Yes, the .270 is a wonderful all around hunting caliber. Utilizing the .30-'06 case simply necked down to hold .277" diameter bullets, it's one of our all-time classics. Can't go wrong with one of those. If there were ever a classic mule deer round, this would be it.
Your .450 Marlin is likewise a fantastic round. It was Marlin's answer to guys like me hot-rodding our .45-70 loads for use in their 1895 rifle. They liked the ballistics we were achieving, but it scared the hell out of them to offer those hot .45-70 loads - they were afraid one would wind up in an old Trapdoor Springfield, or Ballard single shot, or similarly weak action. One of those loads would blow such a rifle to pieces, likely killing the poor nut behind the butt.
Myself, I have some tricks to ensure my "Marlin loads" only fit in my Marlin, since I do have weak vintage rifles in .45-70 that would be destroyed by one of them. Marlin didn't really have that option, though, so they made sure by putting the belt on it. Good move on their part. It made our monster loads finally available to folks who don't hand load, and it did it safely.
Talk about the perfect rifle and load for these "straight case" zones. Shoots flat enough to not have to worry about trajectory at any range you can realistically see anything at in that kind of cover, and it hits like a ton of bricks. There is a little problem with recoil, though...
