what is lowest calibre rifle to use for deer shootin

[kimchristez]

i was out the other day on land i have got written permission for deer stalking and my way home i got stop by the local police the asked me wat i have been doin so i told them that have been deer stalkin he told me that i needed a biger cal like a 270 or so and i did not judge him with ee been the law but i aplied for my licence and put down wat i needed each rifle for i said 243 for stalking deer i got my licence so i thought i was in the right to use a 243 with a 100 grain bullit i am asking was i in the right by using the rifle with that grain can any one help by replyin to that question cheers

[paulie]

Check your state regulations to see what (if any) minimum caliber restrictions there are.

[clfenimore]

A .243 is an effective deer rifle and a 243- 100 grain round will only drop about 7 inches in 300 yds and at 300 yards has a velocity of about 2334 fps with 1210 ft lbs of energy depending on the bullet and load so a 243 is an effective rifle out to 300 yards and beyond as long as you know the ballistics it can be dead on at 200 yds the bullet has a diameter of .243 or about 6mm I'm not sure what the laws are there in England though I'm sure they are more restricted than here in the USA. I'd read the law where you hunt and see what's allowed

[berudd]

Yes, the .243 is fine for deer. But to be honest it may not be my first choice for most adults. Ha and I guess to continue being honest I have to admit that I can't really justify that point of view. If I wanted someting with that size cartridge, I'd probably go with the 7mm-08; they use the same case just a different caliber bullets.

[clfenimore]

Yes the 7mm08 will get out there also That's a little bigger bullet the most common is 140 grain remington has a 120 grain hollow point that has good ballistics and , federal has the Nosler ballistic tip in 140 grain that is a bad to the bone bullet with great ballistics you should check it out Hornadys 7mm 08 is a 139 gr ballistic tip about the same as far as ballistics go Hornady ammo is a little costly compared to Federal and Remington Ammo all three rounds have decent ballistics at 300 yds and a drop of 8 or 9 inches at 300 yds depending on which round.

[14milecreekbucks]

I don't know about caliber restrictions, but I do know that in my experience a 243 is only adequate for whitetail hunting. I can think of 6 deer that I have helped track or shot myself that were hit with a 243. All 6 were hit exactly behind the shoulder but none left more than speckles of blood here and there. Thankfully all 6 were recovered but upon closer inspection there was only one deer that had an exit wound, the others had the bullit fragment upon impact which did a good deal of damage to the heart and lungs, but left no exit hole and had a rather small impact hole leaving little if any blood to follow. I would personally use a 270 for deer hunting.

[ranwin33]

Are you hunting in England, and if so I take it you do not own the guns, but rather you are "renting" them for the hunt?
 
A .243 is fine here in the U.S., but in England caliber requirements may be different.  Check your local game laws to see if there are any restrictions.  Don't assume that just be cause a clerk checked a gun out to you, they know what they are doing.  From what I know, .240 is the minimum caliber requirement in England for all but the two smallest deer, but then I don't live there so check locally.

[berudd]

Do you know what ammunition they are using? Factory loads, bullet weight and so forth?

ORIGINAL: 14milecreekbucks

I don't know about caliber restrictions, but I do know that in my experience a 243 is only adequate for whitetail hunting. I can think of 6 deer that I have helped track or shot myself that were hit with a 243. All 6 were hit exactly behind the shoulder but none left more than speckles of blood here and there. Thankfully all 6 were recovered but upon closer inspection there was only one deer that had an exit wound, the others had the bullit fragment upon impact which did a good deal of damage to the heart and lungs, but left no exit hole and had a rather small impact hole leaving little if any blood to follow. I would personally use a 270 for deer hunting.

[shaman]

ORIGINAL: kimchristez

i was out the other day on land i have got written permission for deer stalking and my way home i got stop by the local police the asked me wat i have been doin so i told them that have been deer stalkin he told me that i needed a biger cal like a 270 or so and i did not judge him with ee been the law but i aplied for my licence and put down wat i needed each rifle for i said 243 for stalking deer i got my licence so i thought i was in the right to use a 243 with a 100 grain bullit i am asking was i in the right by using the rifle with that grain can any one help by replyin to that question cheers

The advice you've gotten so far is good:  check the game laws thoroughly.

My other advice is to  go on 24hourcampfire.com, and ask your question in the section on Europe in the forum.  The guys on there are much better at answering this than most of us.  I can tell you that a 100 grainer out of a 243 WIN will kill a deer nicely, but I'm not sure about what's permissible.

I do know one thing:  in England there are restrictions based on need.  They won't let you keep a .416 Rigby around if all you're going to shoot is roe deer. 

[Everyday Hunter]

ORIGINAL: kimchristez

... he told me that i needed a biger cal like a 270 or so....

I think that guy posts a lot on message boards [:D], or somebody like him.

Steve