I'm sitting here having a think about what I would use as my dedicated Roe deer rifle for all of Europe. I am concerned about meat damage and I'm not expecting any bigger game to come along while out for a stalk.

My idea is something along the lines of a single shot in 5.6x52R, but I'm not sure it's legal in England (6mm calibre minimum?). If not then make it a 6.5x57R.

Who wants to join this game and hazzard an opinion?

25-06 for long range in my Remington M700 Sendaro.

243 in my Blaser K-95 for shorter ranges.

Haven't hunted them yet, hoping to find out about it this summer. Going to do a package for 5 days and 4 buck with Wayer or Diana.

I am currently building a very lightweight .250 Savage for use on ROe, Muntjac, and CHinese water deer. May shoot an odd sika with it, but pirmarily building it for roe. I toyed with the ides of building it around a 6mm PPC. But a .250-3000 is more classic, powerful enough for sika if need be, and not too powerful for a 50# roe.

Stu C

A break top rifle as kiplauf requires a rimmed caliber.

6,5X57R will do fine for Roe deer, a second alternative would be 7X65R or 7X57R. Use good bullets to reduce meat damage

The only rimmed 6mm is 6X62R. I imagine it has a potential to spoil a bit of meat

Cheers
/ JOHAN

Stu,

due to the spreading of wild boar "decicated roe cartridges" are not very popular in Germany.
But there is some choice, if you reload:
the 6x50R Scheiring, based on the 5.6x50R
the 6x52R Bretschneider, based on the 5.6x52R
and the 6x70R (coming from Krieghoff?), based on the old and odd 6.5x70R

Fuhrmann

Well, if it was just for Roe, then I think I would be more than happy with my .243, handles the job easily

I only use two rifles for deer in any case. If it is Roe I am after then I take the .243 loaded up with a Speer 100 gr BTSP, the bullet could be smaller but this way if I see a Sika or Red I can deal with that. Now if I am going after Sika or Red then it is my 6.5 X 55 with 129 gr Hornady, this way if I see a Roe I can deal with that without ruining he meat.

I suppose this means that either would make a good dedicated Roe Deer rifle, just depends on my intended quarry for the day what I take, but, the truth is it does not make any difference

John

My vote goes for the 6.5x55mm or maybe a 7x57mm

Especially with handloads, either make a great (roe) deer round...

Regards,

Pete

My dedicated roe deer rifle is (was, since I moved) my 9.3x62. The big sturdy bullet leaves lots intact. But I admit that had I been sure not to get a shot at something else, I'd have gone a bit lighter.

Frans

Fuhrmann,
I guess that means there is a 6mm minimum calibre restriction for Roe in Germany? I haven't researched it but I didn't know that. Thanks.

John,

What meat damage have you experienced shooting Roe with the 243? Perhaps with 100gr bullets it's not too bad?

Stu

I have never had any meat damage with the 243, and I have never had a bullet stay in a Roe, or a Sika hind come to that. I have never shot one beyond about eighty yards with the 243, woodland stalking, a boiler room shot will pass right through in my experience. I am really fond of my .243, I have just started casting bullets for it. I usually drive the speer BT with 43 grains of H4350 and use it for Fox as well as Deer.

I think the 243 is a round that is passed over too quickly as being any use for anything except for Fox and the like, but that's just me.

John

The most classic and efficient option you mentioned already: Pick the 6.5x57 R in a nice single shot rifle, Nosler Partitions 125 grains and some Vihta N140. In a modern rifle like the K95, use the load data for the rimless 6.5x57, pressure is still lower tham the 300 Win Mag Blaser uses to proofshoot the locking blocks.

Flat shooting, spoils less meat than the 5.6 and 6 mm alternatives and if one of those mean hogs comes running, you are prepared as well.

I have hunted roe for more than ten years succesfully with mu CZ 527 in .223 REM in the Netherlands. This little cartride has proven to be very effective on ranges up to 175 metres. But, only good shots, placed in the head or heart-lung area will kill instantly and you have to be very sure there is no grass or whatever in the line of fire. Since a few years I also hunt wild boar in Germany, for which I built myself a 30-06. I tried it on fox and roe with a 150 gr. Hornady roundnose and since then I have not used the .223 on roe anymore. The 30-06 is capable of killing any game you might encounter and are allowed to shoot. The plain roundnose bullets mushroom nicely, they go through, even when they hit grass or a tiny twig and do not damage much meat, not even when bone is hit. So to me the 30-06 has become my all round rifle.

Raindeer, you bet! The 30-06 is my all around rifle too. I have 2 right now a Sako AV Finnfiber, a Ruger M77R (tang safety), and two blaser barrels K95 and R93.

I have a lot of other cartridges, but the old Ought Six is my favorite.

What no votes for the 5.6x50mm Magnum which was designed for roe hunting?

I shoot quite a lot of roe in England. The 5.6 is not legal - pity.



I shoot:-



5.6x50R (Scotland) 60gr - tremendous fun and effective



243 85gr very good indeed



6mm rem 90gr PERFECTION



6.5x55 100gr near perfection



6.5x57R 100gr near perfection



7x57 140gr the extra bullet weight/size does not achieve anything extra. It works well but is not IMHO needed.



Accompanied roe stalking in England can be quite taxing. I have done it 3 times with a good stalker (for my level 2). The shots I was offered and expected to hit in the vital area without damaging spine or guts were



125m standing near frontal, very short set up time.

100m kneeling very short set up time on animal 10m from cover (and moving toward it)

150m prone broadside



I could not have shot on the first 2 with my K95 - too light to hold steady enough in the time available



A 243 gives up nothing in killing power on roe, is flat shooting, well nigh recoiless, legal and has ammunition available in any gunshop selling rifle ammunition. As such it is the most sensible choice. A 6mm rem will feed out of a mauser action but ammunition availability is about 5% that of the 243. 6.5x57R ammunition is not available in the UK full stop. 6.5x55 is but only federal 140gr in any worthwhile quantity. 7x57 likewise.

NitroX.

My vote goes to the 5,6x50R, indeed.

I have shot my share of roe with it with perfect results. I have never lost a roe to a shot of the 5,6. I have, though, lost one to a 6,5x65R and another one to a .243 which confirms that the important thing is where you hitttem, not what you hittem with.



I always wonder those who advise on the use of .270 or 7x64 as sensible minimums for 30 kilo roe what would they use on 200 kilo red deer, a .416 maybe?

I now carry a 6,5x57R because I eventually have a chance at a very large wild boar. I have shot them with the petite 5,6 but I have also had to pass a couple of shots on two huge tuskers...

montero

Amazing buck, Alvaro! Weidmannsheil
- mike

Montero...
Terrific roe buck, really nice set up !!
Dont see many of these around where I live.
Nice six pointers all right, but not that size by a long shot! Is that an Iberian Male ??
And is that a single shot kipplauf you are toting ??

About roe calibers, I�ve used many different rifles between 22-250 to 375 H&H.
As for now, I ended up with a ZKK 601 in 308 Win as my dedicated roe rifle, not because such a caliber is needed, but I occasionaly run into red deer in the fall, and as such it doubles up nicely. Bullet is 165 gr Hornay wich work exellent on roe, but might be a bit on the softer side on red. I find that the 165 gr is less prone to meat damage, exellent presicion and less affected by wind.
My two cents....

thank you, Mike and Arild.

it is a kipplauf, the old blaser model 77ulaw or ultra light all weather.

it had two barrels, a 5,6x50R and a 6,5x65R.

the 6,5 was unnecesarily powerful for roe and chamois


and the 5,6 was perfect for roe but too light for wild boar.

I swapped it for another kipplauf, now the more modern k95 in 6,5x57R.


regards,

montero

Montero

Some fantastic trophies! Fantastic roes and I love those chamois.

I had a play with a little U/O double rifle in 5.6x50R and .22 magnum about 20 years ago and it was very accurate.

The owner used it for many roe in Germany plus other 5.6x50's he had.

Nice bucks is that a Spanish corzo?

Stu,

In my opinion The World's Greatest Exclusive Roe Deer Caliber is .243 Winchester and I have shot many Roe Deer with this caliber. I consider it offers the right balance of killing power, flat trajectory and bullet weight in a light handy rifle for the diminutive Roe.

I use 85 gr. Speer Spitzer Boatails exclusively but have just purchased some Nosler 85 gr. Partitions to try as well although the load hasn't been fine-tuned .....yet.

Mark's suggestion for a neat little 250 Savage would also turn my funny button too, I've long considered this caliber might prove ideal but living in Europe with a .250 Savage may create logisitcs issues at the wrong time. Like he says it also offers that little bit extra when larger game opportunities arise.

Until things change though, the .243 Win. is my Roe Deer caliber of choice.

Regards,

Gerry

I started out hunting roe deer with a military mauser in 7.62x63, been through the 5.6x52R, 5.6x50R, 6.5x55, 6.5x57R, 308 and have shot a couple with 300wsm and 375wea. My favourite these days is Remingtons lightweight varminter in 22-250 with 53grains Barnes Triple Schock for buck hunting. That would be my favourite rifle for stalking and posting. As an all round roe deer gun where driven hunts/dogs or birdshooting is included I like the versatility of my drilling in 20-76/6.5x57R. Lightweight, easy handling, and fun to shoot

Since the main hunting object here in Denmark is Roe-deer, I have been experimenting in making the perfect Caliber/bullet/rifle/optics combination, and I have ended op with a Kiplauff (Blaser k-95) in 6,5X57R - as it covers a lot more ground than the .223´s (5,6mm) I use the Blaser CDP bullet a 840 ms (app. 2800 fps), and a 3-9X36 scope from Swarowski.
The first season I have taken; two Foxes, One beaver, One ferret and 2 roe bucks, all stalking with that little deadly light rifle hanging over my arm.

6,5X57R will do the job.

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My other toy have tits !

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Hi all,
I think there is a much more important criteria than calibre, and that is bullet choice.
For intance I shot several fallow with a box of 100gn rem out of my 25-06 in Nov last year, there were huge differences in range but all bullets fragmented and caused extensive meat damage, due to fragmentation.
This time(Jan 05)used the 120gn hornady and had very little damage or fragmentation.. lets face it, its the bullet that causes damage not the calibre...

My choice for Roe and roe sized game would be a 22-250 or a middlestead with something that holds together like a barnes x or gs custom....

just my two cents

Griff

Stu C

My roedeer rifle is a 6 BR and I´m extremly happy with it! I use the 70 gr Hornady SP and lke this bullet a lot. I have also built rifles for a few other people in 6 BR and thy all have good reports about accuracy and performace on the deers.

I have put used benchrest barrles on these rifles and they have a 1-14" twist. That´s why we use the light Hdy. bullet. I´m not all that sure about changing to a heavyer bullet though. This little flatbase shoots really well and the performace in deers have been flawless!

If you would like a rimmed cartridge and don´t shy away from a little tinkering at the reloading bench I think it would be possible to make a rimmed 6 BR out of a 7X57R

Stefan

I ever dreamt of a roedeer rifle. I chose a nice Rem 700 heavy barrel varmint 22-250 and I was in deep trouble……………..like Alvaro.

Whenever I used this accurate rifle I bumped onto wild boars ranging from 50 to 200 pounds. Either I had to shoot them behind the ear or let them frolick along. I got back and stick to my 7x64 or 300WM, the best way to encounter no stag or boar.

Sometimes to blow the dust out I give it some fresh air, crow and magpie shooting. Don’t count on any fox when You have the right rifle.

Quod erat demonstrandum ! That's why my std. Roe rifle is a 7x64.

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Originally posted by Stu C:
I'm sitting here having a think about what I would use as my dedicated Roe deer rifle for all of Europe. I am concerned about meat damage and I'm not expecting any bigger game to come along while out for a stalk. <br /><br />My idea is something along the lines of a single shot in 5.6x52R, but I'm not sure it's legal in England (6mm calibre minimum?). If not then make it a 6.5x57R.<br /><br />Who wants to join this game and hazzard an opinion?

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My idea and personnal use : 7mm-08 Rem cartridge / Remington Seven Rifle Topped with a 1,5-6 Scope (Tasco Titan 30 European model)
Personnal reload : 150 gr Barnes-X bullet in plain / open field and 173 gr Sellier et Bellot SPCE bullet in typical "Battue" brush forest as we practice here in France. The gun is incredibly handy and swift for quick response very important is this type of hunt. Recoil is very mild, precision excellent. Only regret the Remington brass on this caliber is appaling, the worst I ever bought. Wished I could have Norma but they do not produce in this caliber

May the Great Spirit guide your bullets !
Salute from a french hunter

Hola Whitehunter it's illegal to use the excellent Lapua brass in .308 to reload your 7-mm 08 ? .

Saludos
Daniel

For roe deer the best meat calibers are 6,5x55 and 7x57. Amen

Whitehunter, I am glad someone said 7mm08. I have a Sako AII in 7-08, light and handy, and it is a very nice stalking rifle. It is also legal for boar here in Sweden, which .243 is not, and with an ever increasing number or boars it is a vital factor for anyone looking for a roedeer rifle in Sweden.

I agree on the Remington brass. I have not reloaded them more then once yet, but sure I should prefer Norma. Sako make brass according to their website, but I have not been able to find it.

Regards,
Martin