I haven't seen
@Bob Nelson 35Whelen on here for a while...?
I'll give him a call to make sure he's ok
He's probably just out hunting... half his luck.
Bob is a larger than life fella with his strong opinions and like and dislikes - and I'm sure they are based on first hand experiences and what he's seen over the years...
Now personally, I'm not a big fan or the .25 calibers - but I am a big fan of the .270 calibers.
This isn't to flame Bob - he's a mate, this mainly stems from the fact that I live in Victoria and Sambar deer is my main quarry.
And the .270 Win with a 130gn projectile is the minimum cartridge allowed.
Now, l have personally owned a .25, it was a Weatherby Vanguard in .257 Wby Mag.
It was a nice rifle and l worked up a load consisting of the 100gn Nosler Partition with a shovel load of 2217 for a little over 3500fps. Now, I'm sure this would've killed a Sambar - but it wasn't legal so l sold it.
I have also owned a couple of .270's, which Bob isn't a fan of.
They were a Parker Hale 1200 Super in .270 Win and a Winchester M70 Stainless Classic in .270WSM.
With the .270 Win l had a handload that pushed out a 130gn (can't remember what brand - but nothing fancy) projectile at 3050fps, but never collected any game with it so can't comment on it's effectiveness - but l did use the 270 WSM on some big Sambar and it was awesome.
My favorite load in the 270WSM was the Winchester factory loaded 150gn PowerPoint stuff and it chronographed at spot on 3100fps in my 24" model 70.
I shot my biggest stag with it and it was a one shot kill (shoulder shot) and I also shot a big doe with it at well over 300mtrs - which is a loooong shot for me. That was a one shot kill too.
So big, big fan of the 270 WSM and l'd own one again in a heartbeat.
The same goes for the .243... Bob hate's it and l like it.
I also know people that have shot hundreds - not dozens of Fallow with it and they love it too.
I am really looking forward to personally trying it out myself on Fallow and you never know, if it lets me down l might end up hating it too... I'll join Bob's team!
We shall see...
I think it's great that we have so many different cartridges available - even if some overlap and essentially do the same thing...
I mean we need SOMETHING to talk about around the campfire!
And a bit of stirring is always fun - as long as it's light-hearted and not personal.
So long live the .243!
And the 6.5 Creedmore!
And the .458 Win Mag! (Which really does work - and if you don't think that, you're in denial...)
So lets just get out there and shoot straight, hunt ethically and have fun.
Russ