I have been thinking about a 7-30 waters. I hear that it is better than the 30-30. What is your opinion on the best handgun caliber for Deer?
Swede44mag

There are a couple of current 7X30 success stories being posted and here and there on some of the forums, Here is an old one from another site but the author is a current poster here.

http://www.handgunhunt.com/feature/s14/index.html

And that is a 10" gun so I think he probably gets some serious practice in before season!

LouisB

I would choose the 7x30 over the 30-30 in the Contender, but since you are considering the Encore, I would choose something with more horsepower. Probably something based off of the 308 Win. or 284 Win.
Ernie

350 Rem mag Sorry personal bias there. Sean

I like the 375 JDJ for deer out to 300 yards
Crow Mag

If you opt for the Encore, it's pretty hard to argue with a .308 or 7mm-08. I shoot a 15" stainless .308 with excellent results. I haven't shot a deer, but I killed a couple feral goats with it. It's a nice shooting round, and with 150 grain bullets the recoil won't kill you.

I really like the 250 Sav. AI, 25-284, 257 Rob AI, 260 Rem., 6.5-284, 7mm-08, and the 284 Winchester. IMHO some of these can go beyond 300 yards for deer under the right conditions.

Ernie

[ 11-20-2003, 19:45: Message edited by: xphunter ]

I like the 7mm-08 in mine. Accurate and chrono's 120 gr. Hornady SSP bullets at 2667.

I shoot the .35 Rem in the contender and if I was not afraid of the recoil I would consider either the .358 winchester or the 350 Rem. Mag. You have a wide choice of bullets includiong the .357 pistol bullets. If you are hunting open country I probably switch to the .308 or7mm 08. Just my nickels worth jess

I'd say .223rem or 22-250 where legal, or .308win everywhere.

Now I am probably boring you to tears, but my fun has always been to use plain and common factory cartridges in highly customized firearms, with very high magnification target optics, and load them and squeeze uncommon performance from them, verses toying with the wildcat and custom cartridges, custom dies, custom load data, etc. Not critizing those who do, just stating my own preferences.

Just a personal preference, and in fact I have a 20" full bull Encore ss in .308win on order with Mike at MBMCO/On Target Technologies which demonstrates my penchant for such, which is going to wear a Bushnell Elite 4200 8-32x40 target scope

I have even been thinking seriously about having another 20" full bull Encore barrel made in 30-30, or 303 British, due to the accuracy potential and low recoil of these cartridges.

"Sean VHA #60013" I have been thinking about the 308 for an Encore Pistol. It should be easy to load and plenty of power. Do you have any load recommendations? You might check the eye relief before you order the Bushnell Elite 4200 8-32x40 scope. I have the same scope but it is on a 22-250 rifle. I like the scope very much it is clear and plenty of magnification.

Swede44mag

I have even been thinking seriously about having another 20" full bull Encore barrel made in 30-30, or 303 British, due to the accuracy potential and low recoil of these cartridges. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Have you looked at the 30-40 Krag AI? I would think the 303 AI should be a possibility as well.
I have thought of this for some time. As to the AI, I am thinking just more TC user friendly?

Swede44mag
I have been whatching this thread off and on. I have a factory 308 Encore barrel that just plainly, impressed me. The thing shoots great! I am thinking on a deer load on of the 30-30 type bullets should perform well. I have shot some steel with mine a couple of times, (IHMSA). It is a little more horsepower than needed for the job, but made me really feel better performance wise after this.
The 30-30 type bullets were just as good at 200M as the spitzer types, both 150's.

As too answer your question what the best caliber was, why the one you can shoot the best of course.
Jeff

Swede, I shoot a 15" Factory SS 308 barrel. Your bullet choice will depend on the ranges that you expected to be shooting...and the size of the deer. Here in Va the average nice buck will dress 140 to 180+ lbs. With my encore I limit my shots to inside 200yds. For this application I like the Barnes 130XLC or 140XBT over a charge of W748, BL-C2 or H4895. If you prefer a more conventional bullet design go with a Horn SST , Nosler B, or CT BST. in 150 grains. These later bullets will probably prove a little better at the further ranges than the Barnes....as I am not sure how much the Barnes will peel back/expand at the slower impact velocities. If you intend to load 150s I wouldnt bother with the W748. Go right to the BL-C2 and H4895.
Good Luck I think you will like the 308 in pistol lengths.

I like to keep things just a little different than the lowing herd. Instead of a .308Winchester, I opted for the .307Winchester. In the break-open Encore, I like the rimmed cartridges a little better. I also have a .356Winchester, .225Winchester (semi-rimmed), and .405Winchester. I still can get factory ammo for them and the dies are reasonable. They all have worked great on deer and the .356 and .405 worked excellent on elk. You can always find a good used barrel on ebay or other auction site, use it for awhile, then sell it or trade for something else to play with for a time.

Swede,

Now you have heard of quite an array of "best" chamberings for deer under a wide range of circumstances. When it come down to the end, the really best one is the one you can hit it with. And the operative there is "HIT". So get one you like and practice, practice, practice.

Don Shearer

What Don said and....

405 Winchester, 444 Marlin or 45-70. There is just something about 40+ caliber bullets!! LOL!

"jsh I am thinking on a deer load on of the 30-30 type bullets should perform well."

Swede44mag
I like the idea of using the 30-30 bullet in the 308 cartridge in possibly a 14� or 16" SS barrel. The round nose 30-30 bullets should punch harder than a spire point and with a loss in velocity should help with expansion. Anyone have an idea on what velocity I could expect from it 150gr bullets?

What type of type of stock, barrel, and scope do you think I should I get for shots up to 300 yards? Opinions are welcome. And I am still looking for 308 Encore loading data.

Swede44mag