The animal will not know what it was killed with, even if it were shot with the lowly ol 30-06 and 200gr. partitions.
There I fixed it. Yes, I totally agree. I'll admit, after owning a 9.3x62mm and the 30-06 all these years I'm back to the 30-06 and sent the 9.3 down the road. There's not a whole hell of a lot the 30-06 CAN'T do with the right bullets.. ...Let's face it, how much more penetration and knock down power do you need than the 30-06 with a 200gr. partition? That's where I'm at in this whole debacle...
Originally Posted by Sitka deer
If only there were such a thing as "knock down power."
bsa & Sitka deer: While I agree with your statements, how does the arbitrary term ‘stopping power’ play into the equation? What I mean is how does the caliber and weight of the bullet affect ‘killing power’? I thought I understood how velocity, sectional density, cross sectional area and energy played a role in bringing down a tough animal, but your statements have me questioning what I thought I knew. I do understand how penetration and bullet construction play a role as well. So why then is the .375 H&H a minimum caliber for dangerous game in many African countries? Sure, dangerous game can effectively be stopped with smaller calibers and shot-placement is key, but what are the advantages (other than recoil, perhaps) of using a .30-06 over a .35W or 9.2x63 – or vice versa – for any reasonable comparison one could make?
In the case of defending against a brown bear charge, would not a larger and ‘more powerful’ load be desirable? I personally have never been in such a situation, but I would think that in such a case that the 9.3x62 w/ a well-constructed 286 gr. Pill would be more effective than a .30-06 w/ a cup & core 200 grained bullet, and perhaps a 430 grained JFN in .45-70 would be better still at stopping a charge. Putting aside any preconceived notions, favoritism or arbitrary terms such as ‘killing power,’ my thinking is that penetration, along with shot placement are the most important factors in turning a charge or putting down a tough and/or enraged dangerous game animal. Of course, there are other intangibles such as field reports that state a particular caliber performed far in excess of what its ballistics would have indicated – should such reports be taken into consideration or discarded? So in this case, is the .30-06 just as effective as a larger caliber and if so why or why not?
When guiding brown bears hunters my back-up rifle most of the time was a 300WM. Phil Shoemaker has plenty of pictures of very big bears he had to follow-up where he used a 30-06 to do it.
Back in the old days the 30-06 was considered the big stopper...
If not a cns shot all animals die the same way, a loss of blood big enough to drop blood pressure low enough to starve the brain and muscles of oxygen. An extra is breaking down running gear to make locating them easier.
Shock does not kill. The energy carried by the bullet was just handled comfortably at the shoulder and a lot was lost between the shoulder and the critter.
A bigger bullet means a bigger hole and a deeper hole means more tissue was disrupted and more blood is leaking. A leak on both sides means the blood pressure will drop faster. The exit wound is usually larger and the disrupted tissue points that way allowing more blood loss faster than the entrance.
All of this a drawn out explanation of why a single hole in the right place is critical. Taking the aorta off the top of the heart and leaving most of the rest of it alone will bleed an animal out in just seven heart beats. Destroying the heart muscle itself stops the positive side of the pump and the suction side. It strands a bunch of blood around the muscles leaving enough oxygen available for the critter to go amazing distances.
Simple answer is the bullet location is far more important... CNS shots are going to be pretty much same:same with any reasonable cartridge.
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
