.243 or .270 heavy barreled Savage?

[sims5]

Just my personal tastes but I really like the heavy varmint barrels compared to the sporter styles. Am I over looking or does Savage make a heavy barrel in .243 or .270?

Second question, for a deer rifle which would be a better caliber? .243 or .270 ?

Thanks

[EFBell]

270 for deer would be my choice of the 2 mentioned. Several sporter weight models are available. No long action varmint rifles are offered anymore. I'm glad I got my 112BVSS 25-06 when I did. Lugging a heavy rifle around in the woods really sucks after awhile, I know this for a fact.

[Smokey262]

Lugging a heavy rifle around in the woods really sucks after awhile, I know this for a fact.

My 7mm RM 112 BVSS darn near killed me one year. It's not a walking around rig for sure

[sims5]

ok, looks like you'll are talking me into the sporter barrel. Which action, short or long?

sorry..............just looked some more and looks like the .270 is model 111 and the .243 is model 11

[GaCop]

270 and similar length cartridges will require the 110 series long action. 243, 308, 7/08 length usually use the 10 series short action. Of course, you can chamber a long action for any caliber you so choose if you have the correct bolthead, baffle and magazine box.

[12fv 308]

I have a 12fv in .308. Love it off the bench or bi-pod. But would never think about taking it for a walk in the woods. It is very hard to shoot off hand. I took it to a friends cabin in western pa, he could not even hold it off hand. I was able too but was no good shooting it that way.

[sims5]

Yea I have a 10fp in .308, use it on bipod to shoot groundhogs. I know it is over kill but don't have to worry about them going back to the hole. I love that gun.
I think I'm going to go with a sporter barrel, probably a .243 to give me another yote or groundhog choice. .270 will probably be next after the .243

[EFBell]

Go with a 25-06 and you have the best of both worlds.

[sims5]

Yea but that would only give me one gun, ;D.

[dcloco]

Hmmm...there are alternatives. Have the best of everything....

I built a 7 Rem Mag on a long action Savage receiver with an older Savage wood stock. Wood stock is a lot lighter than most of the aftermarket stocks made specifically for a varmint weight barrel, just going to take a little time to sand the channel to fit the barrel. I used a 5/8" wood dowel with varying grit sandpaper - did not take that much time.

7 Rem Mag will reach out to 1000 yards on deer sized game with 162 AMax or 175 Bergers.

Recoil for my 7 Mag is very reasonable, as this was a factory barrel with muzzle brake.

In my opinion, a 7 Rem Mag has less recoil than most of the 270's I have shot, because the Magnum uses slower burning powders.

[sims5]

I was looking around on the site here and some guys were saying with the 25-06 they liked a 26" barrel or longer. One Savage web site it has a 25-06 listed with a 22", which I would prefer. Don't like long barrels.

What's your opinion on the 22" ?

[Got Diesel]

With the 25/06 it really depends on how fast you wanna throw that bullet at the critters your shooting at. The 26 inch barrel allows you to use a slower burning powder and really gain some speed. The 22" won't allow you to do that as much.

[chj3]

Possible compromise, the Model 10 Predator Hunter, supposed to be available in .260 this year, 24" barrel, 8.5 pounds.

[alwaysshootin]

Everyone likes a heavy barrel, but, they really aren't hunter friendly for woods carry. My preference, and choice, for deer hunting, is the .270. The reasons are plenty, but suffice it to say, the .270 can take any animal, with efficiency, on the North American Continent. Don't get me wrong, the .243 is quite capable on whitetail, and as a varmint dispatcher, may even be a better choice, but for midsized, to large game, get the .270, and buy once!

[tammons]

243 is good for eastern whitetails. Just load it with 80 gr barnes TTSX bullets over RL17 to about 3400 fps.

270 is a good one especially since the 6.8 SPC has come along.
All sort of new light bullets like the new 95 gr TTSX, etc.

My favorite all around deer and hog rifle is a short action 19" barreled (chopped sporter) 308 in a tupperware stock.
I get 2500 fps with a 208 gr amax over a stout load of RL17.
Weighs about 7# with scope.

Its a real sledgehammer bullet with a SD of over .3

[Cycler]

A good compormise would be get a short action in 7mm-08 (now that Savage has returned to the 9.5" twist) with a sporter weight barrel and a second heavier, longer barrel in .243. The 7-08 would be an excellent deer rifle and most other meduim game up to Welk with good bullets while the .243 would do for deer and be a good varmint rifle with light bullets. They use the same go/no-go gauges and shell holders so the inventory problems are simplified.

[tammons]

I will agree witht he 7mm-08. Set it up to shoot the 162 gr amax.
Another great bullet.

I had one with a 20" barrel and it was a real hog whacker.

[chevydude]

not trying to jack the thread but i just bought a stevens 7mm-08 last week at academy for 240$ btw but i did not realize until doing a little reading after i bought the gun that they had changed to 1-11.5 twist. I am just curious when they changed back or really just how can i tell what the twist is

[rcinit]

I have a heavy barreled .243 and a sporter barreled .270. Although I really like the heavy barreled .243, I bought a heavy barreled .223 to go along side of it for several reasons. Number one it's cheaper to shoot and it does not heat up the barrel as fast as the .243 does. Both of them are Savage model 12 VLP DBM's. As for the .270 it's a standard 110. Great pretty flat shooting deer rifle. I wouldn't to shoot it all day at the range. The barrel heats up way to fast to use as a range gun gets a little expensive to keep feeding it too. Although I do reload load for all my except my 22lr and 17hmr guns. My vote would go for two seperate guns. The .270 for hunting and a .223 for shooting at the range on a regularly. My .243 only goes to the range once a month now, while the .223 goes several times a week.

[tammons]

Seems like the 11 twist 7mm-08 barrels lasted about one year.

Take a cleaning rod and titght fitting brush and insert, mark one side about 13" long and mark the rod at the end of the barrel.
Run it down the barrel until it rotates 360 degrees. Mark it at the end of the barrel.

Remove and measure the length. That length will be the twist.
Repeat a few times.

http://www.gunnersden.com/index.htm.rifle-barrel-twist-rates.html