In one class of rifle cartridges with similar velocities, sectional densities, and quality of bullet - say 6.5x55 to 30-06 - what benefit do we get from shooting the bigger one?
I know the disadvantages - more recoil, more cost, and close to my heart (and ringing ears) recently, more noise.
I've always assumed until recently the balancing advantage was that it killed better and more humanely, but recent articles and references make me wonder. I think Mule Deer's article a couple of years ago on low-recoiling rifles made me begin to look at it seriously, followed by his recent Rifle Magazine article on the 7x57 in which he describes the penetration and wound channels of tested cartridge/bullet combos as not too dissimilar. The Scandinavian studies of alg hunts with 10,000 instances of shot animal tracking distances bolstered my confusion with little differences among the various cartridges used. Then more recently, Phil Shoemaker (I think, though I can't find the reference) referred to the 6.5 Swede to the 30-06 as a class of cartridges performing similarly. Finally, though the issue was not a 6.5x55, but a 270 Winchester, JJHACK indicated that he saw no real killing difference between the 270 and the '06, but the '06 left a better blood trail.
I've seen no real difference between the 6.5 and the '06 on deer, so I assume any difference shows up with bigger animals. So, what is the observed difference in effect that makes the '06 a better choice than the Swede on elk or kudu, say?
Jaywalker
