Calibre Choice

Glensman

Ok so 3 farmers have 'asked' me to take care of their Goat 'problems'...

So this means I can apply for basically any calibre of rifle I like. This will be used mainly on Fox, Goat and the odd deer. Mainly the foxes bein honest.

I've been thinkin for a long time of .270, it's powerful and shoots flat. What do the experts think. I shoot over mainly mountainous ground if that makes a difference?..

daithi55

well if your looking foe .270 yal need a deer license
a .223 is plenty for the foxes and goats but its illegal to shoot deer then cause ya wont have a permit

id go with a .243 the ammo aint to expensive lots of killing power for the foxes and goat and yal still be able to shoot the odd deer but ya to need a deer permit to get this rifle

Sika_Stalker

it really depend on the species of deer your going after if it were reds i wouldnt use a 243,
personly id go for 25-06 or a 270.
happy hunting and good luck.

bunny shooter

Glensman wrote: »

Ok so 3 farmers have 'asked' me to take care of their Goat 'problems'...

Lucky you if you need a hand let me know

Glensman wrote: »

So this means I can apply for basically any calibre of rifle I like.

Yes. BUT it depends on what you can get your Super to agree to licence.

Glensman wrote: »

This will be used mainly on Fox, Goat and the odd deer. Mainly the foxes bein honest.

To cover those three defo a .243 or a 22.250. Leave out deer ........ go for 220 Swift, .204 Ruger, .222 Rem, .223 Rem.

Glensman wrote: »

I've been thinkin for a long time of .270, it's powerful and shoots flat. What do the experts think. I shoot over mainly mountainous ground if that makes a difference?..

"powerful" is not the be all and end all, accuracy is far more important

bunny shooter

daithi55 wrote: »

well if your looking foe .270 yal need a deer license
a .223 is plenty for the foxes and goats but its illegal to shoot deer then cause ya wont have a permit..........

Plus .223 is not legal for deer either

lucy333springer

Hi glensman,
I'm not up to scratch with these cal, and rifles, I shoot the .22lr and .17 rimfire, but I sure would'nt mind getting my hand's on some on them GOAT'S, one of my favourite meat's, after a good cooking in the presure cooker, then into stew, mmm mmm yum yum.

Glensman

Well I know one fella up here with a goat 'problem' and he has a .243 and 2 fellas with the same issue (breaks your heart) and they have .308's... No Deer licence involved

I'm hopin to have the application sent awaytomorrow , although .243 would be handier for ammo, there's somethin about the idea of a .270- mainly the deer stopping ability and flat trajectory...

daithi55

Glensman wrote: »

Well I know one fella up here with a goat 'problem' and he has a .243 and 2 fellas with the same issue (breaks your heart) and they have .308's... No Deer licence involved

forgot your the other side of the border lucky you
take it ya dont need a deer license to justify having a .308 or similar

jwshooter

Glensman wrote: »

Well I know one fella up here with a goat 'problem' and he has a .243 and 2 fellas with the same issue (breaks your heart) and they have .308's... No Deer licence involved

I'm hopin to have the application sent awaytomorrow , although .243 would be handier for ammo, there's somethin about the idea of a .270- mainly the deer stopping ability and flat trajectory...

split the difference and use a 25,06.

70gr B tips for vermin and 120gr for deer

Glensman

Don't know much about the 25-06. I do know this is my last rifle so I'm only buyin the once!

From what I know of the .270, it packs a punch and shoots flat so shot placement will be easier...

jwshooter

Glensman wrote: »

Don't know much about the 25-06. I do know this is my last rifle so I'm only buyin the once!

From what I know of the .270, it packs a punch and shoots flat so shot placement will be easier...

the 25,06 shoots flat and hits hard like the 270.
personaly i would have the 270 . once the rut is over i use 110gr v max in mine .

now there shooting flat

Glensman

Well lads to be honest I was looking for someone to put a case against a .270- that hasnt happened. So in goes the application tomorrow- then the saving starts!!!!

foxshooter243

Glensman wrote: »

Well lads to be honest I was looking for someone to put a case against a .270- that hasnt happened. So in goes the application tomorrow- then the saving starts!!!!

Never too late!-270 as a primary fox rifle and odd goat and deer!-wouldnt be my choice for several reasons;

Firstly it may cause you to develop flinch problems, a few lads up here have them and they dont particulary like them for that reason. I know folks will answer back and say they dont have a problem with the 270 but there are lads that do, and if you are one of them your shooting will suffer.
Secondly as a primary fox rifle its way overpowered for that job, I know the old adage says too use enough gun and all that jargon, but a 270 winchester for the Irish lamping scene is over the top imo, I havent met a fox yet that couldnt be killed dead enough with a 223, because truth be told most foxes are at a very short range at night,also the ammo price difference over time will be a pain in the pocket, cos no matter how little shooting at foxes you do, you still need to practise with your rifle to get to know your rifles individuality with differing projectiles. Its not the ammo cost on fox, deer or the occasional wild goat that costs me, its the 50 rounds of rifle ammo i fire every saturday for practise, all year round.
Thirdly, as a northern shooter, you will probably move on to start reloading your own ammo, with component costs rising all the time, you will soon find that the 270 winchesters big appetite for powder is a tad expensive for shooting foxes at 150 yards when the 223 can do the same job for less than half the usage, and at 45 pounds sterling for a pound of powder this has to be considered, the cost of heads is also greater, so you will have a fox rifle with a hungry appetite, when the reverse should be the case.
If you would have said that the rifle was to be a Deer rifle primarily with the odd fox I could have gone with your choice of the 270 winchester, but as a fox rifle first with the odd deerI would have opted for a lesser calibre,
to my mind the 243 winchester would have given you a good choice of bullets for the differing jobs, with a 58 grain v max , its a really flat foxing rifle, using 85 grain sierra gamekings on goat or deer its up to the task , and will allow you to get more shots for your cash, allowing you to practise more, with a mild recoil.

I rest my case m,lud:):)

clivej

Good answer to your question from FoxShooter there.

I use the 223 BT or HP for foxes and 308 SP for stalking. Cheap hunting ammo for both calibres.

foxshooter243

clivej wrote: »

Good answer to your question from FoxShooter there.

I use the 223 BT or HP for foxes and 308 SP for stalking. Cheap hunting ammo for both calibres.

ah but you have done your homework clive!:D

Tackleberry.

My taughts after owning one it would have to be a 243cal flat shooting 55 to 100 grain, would be considered min cal for shooting reds top class fox gun that can shoot deer and goats.

Glensman

FoxShooter- that's a great answer. I appreciate the effort!
However, I filled in my application today- even though my dealer tried to persuade me to go 6.5x55... This thing is I have a .22 Mag and the brother is getting a .223 so I'm gonna go with something at the complete other end of the scale. My brother shoots with me most of the time so I should always have a .223 available to me.

As for the recoil, I would imagine it'll take a bit of gettin used to. But the gun is coming screw cut so if I cant hack it i'll likely stick a mod on it. I'm 6 2" and 17 st so I'm hopin I'm up to the recoil without a mod for a while, but I prob will put a mod on at some stage.

You are right of course about all the cost issues- but I drive a sensible car and dont go to the pub- so I think I deserve to spoil myself I priced ammo today and it was 70p per round for 150 grain soft point £1 for ballistic tip'd.... I think that's reasonable- I know a .223 fox shooter on this site who's paying €1.60 per round so the .270 doesn't seem such bad value for the performance benefit!

jwshooter

Glensman wrote: »

FoxShooter- that's a great answer. I appreciate the effort!
However, I filled in my application today- even though my dealer tried to persuade me to go 6.5x55... This thing is I have a .22 Mag and the brother is getting a .223 so I'm gonna go with something at the complete other end of the scale. My brother shoots with me most of the time so I should always have a .223 available to me.

As for the recoil, I would imagine it'll take a bit of gettin used to. But the gun is coming screw cut so if I cant hack it i'll likely stick a mod on it. I'm 6 2" and 17 st so I'm hopin I'm up to the recoil without a mod for a while, but I prob will put a mod on at some stage.

You are right of course about all the cost issues- but I drive a sensible car and dont go to the pub- so I think I deserve to spoil myself I priced ammo today and it was 70p per round for 150 grain soft point £1 for ballistic tip'd.... I think that's reasonable- I know a .223 fox shooter on this site who's paying €1.60 per round so the .270 doesn't seem such bad value for the performance benefit!

recoil will never be a problem using a 270 if your sensible the 6.5x55 using home loads will push as hard and make as much noise, facts.

no one is going out to the range to shoot a box of ammo in a T shirt with out getting a flinch from it.

as far as one full bore being more safer than another ,thats bull s .prices of ammo 243-270 there is only a euro or two in the difference .

i would have a 243 over a 6.5 any day of the week. but you can load for it so it might not be to bad .

foxshooter243

Glensman wrote: »

FoxShooter- that's a great answer. I appreciate the effort!
However, I filled in my application today- even though my dealer tried to persuade me to go 6.5x55... This thing is I have a .22 Mag and the brother is getting a .223 so I'm gonna go with something at the complete other end of the scale. My brother shoots with me most of the time so I should always have a .223 available to me.

As for the recoil, I would imagine it'll take a bit of gettin used to. But the gun is coming screw cut so if I cant hack it i'll likely stick a mod on it. I'm 6 2" and 17 st so I'm hopin I'm up to the recoil without a mod for a while, but I prob will put a mod on at some stage.

You are right of course about all the cost issues- but I drive a sensible car and dont go to the pub- so I think I deserve to spoil myself I priced ammo today and it was 70p per round for 150 grain soft point £1 for ballistic tip'd.... I think that's reasonable- I know a .223 fox shooter on this site who's paying €1.60 per round so the .270 doesn't seem such bad value for the performance benefit!

in the light of that info about your brother getting a 223 then it casts a different shadow over the situation,, with you then having a 270 it will give you an excellent Deer slayer to add to your repertoire:D, ive only ever used the 270 on targets never on deer but by all accounts they are good for the job, so the best of luck with it when you get it glensman.:)

Glensman

Well lets hope the firearms Dept. decide to give me the thing! I've added 550 acres to my licence for the purpose and I'm waiting on another couple of farmers- don't want to take any chances because they're not keen on granting powerful rifles at all!

My gun dealer was tellin me that there are Very few .270's in the 6 he says they're pretty popular in the free state though, hopefully I'll be one of the few lucky ones!

bunny shooter

Glensman wrote: »

Well lets hope the firearms Dept. decide to give me the thing! I've added 550 acres to my licence for the purpose and I'm waiting on another couple of farmers- don't want to take any chances because they're not keen on granting powerful rifles at all!

My gun dealer was tellin me that there are Very few .270's in the 6 he says they're pretty popular in the free state though, hopefully I'll be one of the few lucky ones!

Don't you mean Republic ? Free State ceased to exist in 1937

johngalway

bunny shooter wrote: »

Don't you mean Republic ? Free State ceased to exist in 1937

Someone put on the popcorn please

Glensman

johngalway wrote: »

Someone put on the popcorn please

A debate for another site me thinks! :rolleyes:

Mjollnir

Glensman wrote: »

Ok so 3 farmers have 'asked' me to take care of their Goat 'problems'...

So this means I can apply for basically any calibre of rifle I like. This will be used mainly on Fox, Goat and the odd deer. Mainly the foxes bein honest.

I've been thinkin for a long time of .270, it's powerful and shoots flat. What do the experts think. I shoot over mainly mountainous ground if that makes a difference?..

Depends on the distances involved and the type of terrain you'll be working in (IOW, how mountainous is mountainous?). The .270, while a fantastic all-around, mid-level caliber, approaches overkill/canon levels when dealing with goats, if these are just run of the mills goats. And for foxes? Not worth the ammo price.

I don't know how common they are in Ireland, but over here I'd likely use something like a .30-.30 or 25-06 and, as someone already suggested, possibly a .243.

Glensman

Aye well I wouldn't be killin mad numbers of Goats to be honest, but most of the ones I would be shootin would be at biggish ranges. I have no doubt that a .270 will be overkill for foxes, but I need a deer legal calibre and I feel like something a bit out of the ordinary.

Sure I'll go with the .270 and we'll see how it goes....

Mjollnir

Glensman wrote: »

Aye well I wouldn't be killin mad numbers of Goats to be honest, but most of the ones I would be shootin would be at biggish ranges. I have no doubt that a .270 will be overkill for foxes, but I need a deer legal calibre and I feel like something a bit out of the ordinary.

Sure I'll go with the .270 and we'll see how it goes....

Ah, well over here in the states, the .270 is one of the most common (and by now, traditional) calibers.

And, yes, it'll kill the effing mandirt out of goats.

Glensman

Mjollnir wrote: »

Ah, well over here in the states, the .270 is one of the most common (and by now, traditional) calibers.

And, yes, it'll kill the effing mandirt out of goats.

I've yet to kill an animal too dead! I'm going stateside twice this year so hopefully I can pick up some bits and bobs for re-loading.

happyjack

I had a .270 for a few years, never once had something run off after being hit, great round, never had problem with flinch either, the .270 is 50% more gun than the 243 and the ammo costs the same, so doe's the rifle, where the .270 used to really shine was at very long distances in hilly or mountain areas, it's a super flat round with great dependable reach. I found that all .270 ammo worked well when hunting.

I've a .308 now, have shot it to 800 yards and plan on trying 1000 some day.
Good hunting, and happy Xmas,

HJ:)

jwshooter

happyjack wrote: »

I had a .270 for a few years, never once had something run off after being hit, great round, never had problem with flinch either, the .270 is 50% more gun than the 243 and the ammo costs the same, so doe's the rifle, where the .270 used to really shine was at very long distances in hilly or mountain areas, it's a super flat round with great dependable reach. I found that all .270 ammo worked well when hunting.

I've a .308 now, have shot it to 800 yards and plan on trying 1000 some day.
Good hunting, and happy Xmas,

HJ:)

on targets

happyjack

jwshooter wrote: »

on targets

Election posters work well, that poly ribbed stuff, white side to the front.
I've not killed a deer past 200 yards yet with my 7.62, but I'd have confidence taking a kill at 400 yards if there was a still wind and I'd a good rest. I've killed vermin out to 550 and 570 yards when I had a swift, and believe it or not 400 yards with a point 22 long rifle when I had a 10/22, on smaller vermin. I'd not recommend others shoot out that far on live vermin unless they have shot the same distance on paper regularly first.

To my mind the distance at which you can consistantly break a clay pigeon is the distance you can hunt to, a foxes head is about the same size without fur. For mil- dots foxes eyes are 1.25" inches apart and 18"inches off the ground when they are sitting erect. We've got a lot of good riflemen in the Kingdom, cause we're talented folks.

HJ:)

jwshooter

happyjack wrote: »

Election posters work well, that poly ribbed stuff, white side to the front.
I've not killed a deer past 200 yards yet with my 7.62, but I'd have confidence taking a kill at 400 yards if there was a still wind and I'd a good rest. I've killed vermin out to 550 and 570 yards when I had a swift, and believe it or not 400 yards with a point 22 long rifle when I had a 10/22, on smaller vermin. I'd not recommend others shoot out that far on live vermin unless they have shot the same distance on paper regularly first.

To my mind the distance at which you can consistantly break a clay pigeon is the distance you can hunt to, a foxes head is about the same size without fur. For mil- dots foxes eyes are 1.25" inches apart and 18"inches off the ground when they are sitting erect. We've got a lot of good riflemen in the Kingdom, cause we're talented folks.

HJ:)

i can shoot tight groups at 400yds with my custom 270 on the range ,field conditions are a totally different matter.

my longest kill on a rabbit with the 243 is 705yds .

i dont normaly take long shots on deer.

deerhunter1

Glensman wrote: »

Ok so 3 farmers have 'asked' me to take care of their Goat 'problems'...

So this means I can apply for basically any calibre of rifle I like. This will be used mainly on Fox, Goat and the odd deer. Mainly the foxes bein honest.

I've been thinkin for a long time of .270, it's powerful and shoots flat. What do the experts think. I shoot over mainly mountainous ground if that makes a difference?..

308

happyjack

jwshooter wrote: »

i can shoot tight groups at 400yds with my custom 270 on the range ,field conditions are a totally different matter.

my longest kill on a rabbit with the 243 is 705yds .

i dont normaly take long shots on deer.

Sir I totally agree with you, my hat is off to you, 705 yards on a rabbit, thats
a very long way for such a small varmint, well done. A friend of mine here in Kerry has popped a bunny at 660 yards, but 705 yards thats excellent marksmanship, well done.

HJ:)

s-cogan

happyjack wrote: »

Election posters work well, that poly ribbed stuff, white side to the front.

HJ:)

during the summer me and a cousin used election posters to pattern bb cartridges in his 12g. bit hairy taking em off telephone poles but we got em.:D:D:D:D:D:D

Mjollnir

For anyone interested in extreme long-range shooting, these boys are the business: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX4aqmbaGIo

CJhaughey

s-cogan wrote: »

during the summer me and a cousin used election posters to pattern bb cartridges in his 12g. bit hairy taking em off telephone poles but we got em.:D:D:D:D:D:D

I would be looking at the Meath area for some election posters to pattern on.

tomcat220t

jwshooter wrote: »

i can shoot tight groups at 400yds with my custom 270 on the range ,field conditions are a totally different matter.

my longest kill on a rabbit with the 243 is 705yds .

i dont normaly take long shots on deer.

Thats dam fine shooting !Fair play .