My first rifle was a 25-06. I still use it and found it to fit a wide range of hunting situations. It won't knock you around plus you will have a gun with great ballistics.

Hi there,
Depends on what you plan to hunt with it. For deer sized game go with .243 Win or if you reload then go with 6mm Remington.

For just bench or target shooting only.....heck stick with .220 swift, .223 Rem, or .22-250.

Recoil is not just a calibre issue. The total weight of the rifle & scope, bullet weight,powder charge,verlocity, all calculated to give you a measurement in pounds(Free Recoil)
I've fired light weight 243's that had more kick than a heavier 30.06, or appeared to have.
Sitting at a bench shooting, the rcoil will feel stronger than it would if standing.

Personaly, I use a 270.

You'll need to let everyone know what the intended use of the rifle is.
The most versatile round you have listed is the 308 but, it's going to have a good hard kick, when you squeeze the trigger.
If you intend to punch paper and hunt game up to deer sized critters. I'd suggest you go with the 243 or the 260. Both are very fine game getters and all day shooters.
The 7-08 is also a fine round. Great for deer sized game but, you'd be pushing it on Elk or large Black Bear. There wouldn't be any advantage over the 260 and the 260 is going to kick a bit less.
My personal choice, of the four, if I was going to punch paper, with the occasional deer hunt, would be the 260. If I was looking for a hunting rifle. I would go with the 308 but, it's going to have some kick to it when you get into the medium and heavy weight bullet.
If you don't intend to hunt, with the exception of the occasional Cottontail and punch holes in paper. You may want to look at getting yourself a nice rifle in 22LR. They are inexpensive all day shooters and great fun. In a good quality rifle they are deadly accurate and lethal.

Speer's reloading manual has reduced powder loads for all those rounds you stated. I started my 105lb wife on those 308 reduced loads which is like a light 30-30 load. She has taken a few deer with them, and then slowly climbed up the velocity. It worked out very well for her.

I mainly will be hunting deer with this rifle.

I love the results I'm getting with a Browning A-bolt Micro-hunter in 7mm-08. You can't go wrong with that.

It would be hard to go wrong with anything based on the 308 case. One bad point on the 243 is that it will make better use of a 24" barrel while the 260 and 7-08 will do fine with a 22" barrel and the 308 itself works very well with a 20" barrel. One of my favorite all time rifles was a 20" barrel Rem mod 600 in 308; my son stole it from me!

Of those that have been talked about, my choice would be either the 260 or 7-08. Two other good choices would be the 6.5x55, I'm on my third and the 7x57, I've had two. I've no hands on experience with the 260 or 7-08 but view them as the engine that propels the bullet. Small case reduces recoil and lighter bullets reduce recoil. Probally can't find one but the 250-3000 would be a great choice.

Anybody have any experience with the .270? How does it compair to the .308? Thanks again. Alec.

The 270 winchester, I believe, is still the third best selling round in these here lower 48 and very versatile.

Jack O' popularized the round and it is said that he hunted every big game animal, in these lower 48 with it. It is a round that would be capable but, when it came to the larger critters he had a 30-06 or better available.

If you are looking to get your first big game all around rifle. Buy a bolt action 30-06 and load it accordingly to the game at hand. It is still, I believe the #1 seller world wide. The recoil is tolerable. There are more options, for loads, available for it than any other round produced and it can be used to hunt any game animal in these lower 48 and a great many around the rest of the planet.

Once you get acquainted with shooting and hunting. You may choose to have a second rifle of some caliber that you feel you can't do without.