I need some help. I have a .30-06 now but I am looking to get something different. The majority of my hunting is whitetail. I have been looking a few different calibers but I keep going back and forth between them all. The main calibers I was looking at were .25-06, 7mm08, .270, .308. I have thought about 6.5x55 or .260. I keep getting turned around by reading articles. I see “ if you get a .270 then you might as well get .270wsm” I need some help with your real life experience. I want something with less recoil then the 06. I don’t mind shooting mine but I would like something lighter I can enjoy more in the bench and I. The field.

Down load your 06 with 150 grain bullets at a lower velocity or drop down to something around a 130 grain. There are 110 grain bullets available. All of which will reduce the recoil.

If you want dramatically less recoil, consider a .243 Winchester.

.243 Win: Doubletap 100 gr. Swft Scirocco II, MV 3120 f.p.s. (22 inch bbl.) / ME 2162 ft. lbs., BC .384

100 yd. HITS = 694
100 yd. KPS = 20.4 (E = 1826 ft. lbs.)
275 yd. KPS = 15.0 (E = 1339 ft. lbs.)
300 yd. KPS = 14.4 (E = 1282 ft. lbs.)

30-06 and 308 are almost the same cartridge as far as performance. Biggest difference is action length. 308 based rounds 243, 6.5/260, 7-08 are all short action. 6.5mm bullets have some of the best bc’s available, also good sectional density. For short range deer, have you looked at the 350 legend?

I use a .270 & it’s great for deer. I use 130gr bullets and recoil is no problem. It’s based on the .30-06, just necked down.

As Curly N. has suggested downloading the 30-06 is an easy solution IF you reload. I have done that and loaded some very effective 150 grain and 130 grain bullets at no more than 2,600 fps. Quite mild and yet effective.

If you don't reload, the 7mm-08 with 120 grain is a milder but in my experience a very effective caliber on deer size game. They commercially market a lower velocity 7mm-08 to reduce recoil even more. They are called "managed recoil" and one brand I know of is Remington's. See below.

https://www.remington.com/ammunition/ce ... ged-recoil

Having said all that, I am going with Randy's recommendation after seeing what a .243 did on a very fat and full size KY 8 pointer this season. It was Hornady Superformance ammo from a .243 Mossberg Patriot. It was killed by my friend's 11 year old grand son. The amount of damage that bullet did to that buck when shot at a quartering away angle was very impressive. Real mild recoil of course. Was never a fan of the .243 until I saw that and admittedly it is a very small sample size.

Compare the cost of .270 Winchester vs. .270 WSSM ammo.

.270 Winchester is one of the best deer hunting cartridges there is. But so is the .30-06. I wouldn't buy a new gun to hunt deer unless you just want a new gun. .30-06 is a caliber in which the ammo options are plentiful; as Curly said, find some ammo that recoils less.

But if you're wanting a new gun, the 6.5's seem to be the latest fad caliber. The WSM's and WSSM's are very efficient but ammo is expensive and not widely available.

Randy is right on!

Though I use a 243 WSSM and it is all I need for deer and black bear, many of my club members use 243's with 95 grain ballistic tips with great success. They also use it for feral hogs. A deer is a thin skinned animal, not at all hard to kill. The 243 has almost no recoil.

Though I cut my teeth on a 270, I actually prefer the 243, either the WSSM or the standard 243. I have made some long range shots with the WSSM that impressed me. The ballistics of the regular 243 and the WSSM aren't that far apart.

One other caliber that I love is the 7mm-08 with 140 grains. Almost no recoil and a known killer.

7mm-08. That's all the gun you need, with very little recoil. It's a much better choice than a .243. If I was just starting deer hunting today, the 7mm-08 would be the gun I would buy.

When I was 22, I bought a 30-06 because I had visions of hunting mule deer and possibly elk in western states. I'm 68 now, and that never happened. But I did kill a lot of whitetail deer with the 30-06 in the 40+ years I actually hunted with it.

Personally, I like the 7-08 for deer with the 6.5x55 in a close second. Modern equals to the 6.5x55 include the 6.5 Creedmoor, 260 Remington, and the 7x57 Mauser

I've killed a bunch of deer with a 6mm Rem. If I absolutely, positively, gotta hit what I'm shooting at (and when do you not), it's what I use. Only had one whitetail go farther than 25 yards.

Get a .270 Winchester, one of the very finest deer cartridges in existence. You won't regret it.

I experimented with lighter bullets in my 30-06 Weatherby Vanguard (Howa). It will not shoot anything lighter than 150 grain. Anything lighter will tumble/keyhole. It does shoot the heavier bullets very well though. Better than I am capable of.

I would look at the 6.5 Creedmore, as much as it pains me to say. I say this as I have been using the 260 and 7mm/08 for 20+ years and the Creedmore has pushed both even further to the side. The 6.5 Creedmore is a fine cartridge and if it would have been available years back I would have saved myself some money on some rifles.

As for the 6.5 Creedmore benefits, recoil is light, ammo is inexpensive and pretty dang common, and it can perform well from close in out to as far as you are comfortable shooting. If I were not so heavily invested in the 260 and 7mm/08 I would have jumped on the bandwagon.

Of the cartridges listed, I'd choose the 7-08. I think it's an excellent balance of ballistics, terminal performance and recoil.

You can only kill a deer dead. No more than dead! It doesn't take a cannon to do long range shots. I have gone through stages when I used a 444 cal, a 44 cal, and a 30-30 for short to medium range shots. Deer were dead when I placed the shot correctly. I have used 30-06s, 7mm mags, and the old reliable 270.

Now when I get the urge for deer meat, I either grab the 243 or the 7mm-08. Both are
light weight, low recoil, long range killers. And I don't mean maybe. They do the job.

Seriously, one does not need a 300 mag to kill a deer. It will kill one, of course but with a lot of ruined meat. Deer are easy to kill and don't require a cannon. Shot placement is the secret, IMO. That is why I settled on a light weight, low recoil caliber, like the 243 or 7mm-08. They kill as deadly as a 300 mag, or a 270, or a 30-06 with less damaged meat. Long range shots are easy kills with proper shot placement with any caliber. I prefer the light recoil calibers.

My BIL uses a 22 magnum and fills his tags every year. The secret is shot placement. He know his limitations and has venison in his freezer every year. Yes, 22 rimfires are legal in NC for deer and quite effective within its limitations.

I own a 270win and a 30/06, the 270win is a great light recoiling round, flat shooting and kills as well as anything else.
My 30/06 kicks more unless shooting equally light projectiles, the difference in trajectory is nothing you would notice out to 300 yards or so.
I have been shooting the 130gn Barnes TTSX and 130gn Woodleigh PP in my 30/06 and the 90gn Sierra HP and 130gn Barnes original in my 270win.
The 270win is a slightly heavier gun, by about 1.5-2lb and that might make the difference recoil wise, my 30/06 is only around 6lb or so that might be why it kicks more.
I would try some low recoil factory ammunition or load some 130gn moderate velocity loads and try that instead.
What range are your shots usually taken at?

But also consider a 6.5CR, from those I've shot recoil is extremely mild and pleasant and it has plenty of flat shooting ability.

Yes, in fact you can even force .30-06 casings into a .270 resizing die and make ammo for your .270. If you get the deluxe resizing dies, it will even change the head stamp.

I doubt if most people could tell the difference in recoil between a 130 grain .270 and a 150 grain .30-06.