Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters How much is “Enough”?

So there is the book USE ENOUGH GUN. That phrase is usually interpreted as meaning “more is better” or “bigger is better”.

I have generally observed that there is a direct correlation between the distance travelled or the price of the trip and the size of the cartridge. Example: traveling to Africa the bwana needs a 300 RUM for the same game on which the locals use 243’s and 308’s.

Draw a desert sheep permit and the lucky hunter now “must have” a 26 Nosler rather than the 243AI which he has used to knock off many pronghorns and mule deer. It takes a big desert sheep to be as big as a mature mule deer.

At SCI and DSC and Wild Sheep there is a big demand for 28 Nosler’s and 300 PRC’s and 300 Ultra’s. These guys are not uninformed or dummies but the drive to get a bigger “enough” cartridge is substantial.

Your thoughts.

I'd rather have MORE than enuff than......

just not quite enuff, or almost enuff.


Jerry

I bought a .35 Whelen 29 years ago because I felt undergunned with a .308 Win in Montucky with ol’ griz wandering about. About a dozen years ago I bought my 7mm Weatherby to reach out a bit farther in open country. Eight or nine years ago I stumbled upon a like new .300 Weatherby Fibermark at an absolute steal while looking for a .257 Roy and never looked back. With the right load, those 3 will kill anything on the planet.

I've never travel far to hunt, so I can't reasonably respond. You need to hear what hunters who hunt near and far actually do.

I thot he DID :

Sometimes, and I probably would be in this group, but with a LOT of actual shooting and training under my belt, if I spent money especially on once in a lifetime trip kind of thing, I"ll take the best I can get and handle.

That might sure mean magnum of the flatter/faster etc... for that once in a lifetime shot, long shot, windy shot, walking away with the head down... might be for the drop or lack of, drift, or lack of, or simply power.

When around "normal" I grab whatever and can deal with passing shots, and I"ve passed more than a few because I grabbed a 150 yard gun and the pigs were at 350 plus.... with deer in the way and so on... no big deal.

When its a big deal, you come prepared IMHO. Or prepared to go home empty handed. Which doesn't bother me generally speaking, unless I was dumb enough to bring the 30-30 on a caribou hunt and only had a 400 yard shot.
Wait lets see, I took my recurve on what I figured might be my only caribou hunt, and so far it has been, but I did manage to borrow my buddies 338 when the only bull we got close to was a shade over 800 and all by himself...

I hunt local and travel...US and Canada anyways. I use a 270 for absolutely everything. I’ve come to this after owning and loading for tons of rifles. It just works. Shoots flat, kills everything and doesn’t punish with excessive recoil. Same could be said for a 280 or 7/08. 270 just happened to be the one that showed me the light. I sold everything else, built two and spend the time and money I would have waisted on the never ending parade of guns on hunting and shooting

I like that. Have come back home to my 30-06 in recent years and it has performed very well.

Regards, Guy

About 37 years ago, I decided that I wanted one rifle to do all of my big game hunting. Alaska, and Africa were on my bucket list, so I chose a rifle that would be at home for those purposes. I bought a Win. Model 70 in .375 H&H for my “do it all” rifle...the legal minimum for some African game. Though, most everyone thought it was unnecessary, even ridiculous for Whitetails in Louisiana. Truth being, at normal shooting distances....it created much less bloodshot meat with similar impact points than that of a 130 grain 270 Win. Too much rifle.....no such thing. More than what was needed...the obvious answer is yes.

Fast forward a few years, I’m living and hunting in Wyoming. I had the opportunity to meet and spend time with experienced hunters and a couple of good gunsmiths. I learned more about firearms, learned of custom and semi-custom firearms and wildcat cartridges. After a few years of climbing steep ridges, and putting many miles on my boots, I began to realize that my Wood stocked, factory Win. Model 70 375 H&H, quite heavy and somewhat range limited....wasn’t the most practical “do it all” rifle. So, with my recently befriended and energetic young gunsmith friend..... we designed my new rifle. It had to be within my budget (limited), so, it’s just a semi-custom, based on a Win. Model 70 action. We got a 24” SS Douglas Match grade barrel in the lightest contour practical, chambered it in a 375 AI, put on express sights, with a barrel mounted front sling swivel ( hand will not get “bit” during recoil, and the muzzle is much lower when shouldered) at set it in a McMillan full length bedded stock, presently wearing a Leupold 3.5-10 CDS. It’s much lighter than my previous rifle, at 9 pounds 1 ounce....scoped, loaded, and slung. It’s almost impervious to the elements, and easily good out to 600 yards....farther if I want to be irresponsible!

I never made it too Alaska, or Africa, but I’ve never regretted my decision. So far, it’s only been used for antelope, deer, elk, moose, and sheep, here in Wyoming. It is my “do it all” rifle, and it may get to those “bucket list” places yet! I think you will see that my signature reflects my opinion on hunting rifles! memtb



Today you can buy factory rifles that nearly duplicate my semi-custom rifle (Kimber Talkeetna comes to mind), for a reasonable price. And if you want a little more “pop”, a good gunsmith can run a chamber reamer in it, convert it to an AI or Weatherby....and add another couple hundred yards to your hunting area!

If you can afford a sheep hunt, I would take a 20 pound 50BMG and hire an additional guide to carry it. Better safe than sorry. Wouldn’t want to run into a 401 yard shot at a ram and have that 340Wby not be enough!

Seriously? I see this as similar to hunting with single shot rifles or 6X scopes. We’re all recoil proof never-miss stone killers on here. But when it’s time to get off the bench and head into the bush, you can’t fake being comfortable with my examples. If you have used a decent 6mm type cartridge with good bullets, you KNOW it’s plenty for any shot at a sheep. If you haven’t that confidence, we default to more horsepower to buy confidence.

Balance logistics with ballistics: if you travel by air, then get something chambered for a commonly available cartridge for when (not if) the airline loses your bag. I went with a 30-06, but 308, 270, 7mm RM, 300 WM, or 338 WM are also good choices depending on where you're headed.


Okie John

This is exactly why I chose a 270 over a 280 or 7x57. Equal performance...same same recoil, same same trajectory, need ammo in a pinch?

Good advice above imho

Similar to what some others have posted, maybe "enough" is whatever delivers enough bullet to kill and to make hitting easier farther out, yet still within your skill level. More gun, provided you know how to use it and have the skill to use it, doesn't just buy confidence. It buys real capability too. That said, there are still limits, as no one wants to haul a .50 BMG or probably not even a .338 Lapua very far.

For me this has become a real simple question.....after owning and shooting almost everything from .218 Bee to .404 Jeffery, the answer is resoundingly......a .30-06.

short of a very few critters on the planet it is enough......and if one finds that it's not......it's quite possible that one needs to learn to shoot.

RE comment about less bloodshot... I"ve shot deer with my 50 bmg, almost no blood shot at all.

Folks that comment on mags sometimes don't really have a clue. Now if I drove some kind of light super fast, like dumb enough to shoot 300 mags with 150s or such.. then I'll have bloodshot...

RE another post about 6mm and sheep, as long as you have the energy you think is required I've no issues, but is your 6mm good at 600 for a full length stem to stern shot if thats all you had? Or on a 25K dollar hunt are you willing to walk away from the only shot you might get? Some of us are and thats very cool with me. Of course 308 is overkill on deer but we keep using it. When we aren't using the 10mm Glock 20s. LOL

Quote-worthy.

I'm one that believes a guy can buy and use whatever he desires as long as it's legal. Based on what is seen nowadays, as well as the pics a guy can see on various forums, in a hunting situation, seems like most people are over-scoped, and over-rifled.

7x64 Brenneke is ADEQUATE for rabbits...anything smaller and you have to pick the bloody things up.

Agreed!

That came from Robert Ruark, on his first trip to Africa. IIRC he shot a wart hog with his .220 Swift..hit it in the ham, and finished the pig off with an 06. He never used the Swift again on that hunt.
IMHO, a poor choice on his part of bullets used in the Swift, plus poor bullet placement. No fault of the cartridge.
Got to be a lesson here, as I understand a lot of guys use the much smaller .223 on pigs in this country. You guys are not using enough gun..