Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Does bore diameter matter?

I've got an antique 8bore and 12bore paradox rifle. I know of an 2" firearm and actually have some bullets from it. Some say that all bullets do the same thing, basically blood loss or if a lung shot its oxygen starvation to the brain followed by loss of blood pressure.

The question is when or what's the point whereball that business is no longer valid and pure mass and ft lbs energy of brute force take over

Ask this guy.

Whatever you do, don’t wake up the fast twist 223 shooters, they know nothing kills like a fast twist 223…

I have a fast twist 223. Cool and all, but not great by any means. More powder, more pressure, less taper, more speed, gets you a recipe for a lightning bolt. Efficient, most of the time no, but less is hardly ever more. Ask the 240 weatherby and 6.5x300 guys. On the other hand, I like an '06 and feel like it is the perfect balance between powder and lead, but hey, just my opinion.

Think about the cannon fire exchanged in the days of the sailing ships, men of war, ironclads, etc.

WTH HIT HIM?

Cannonball.

Merely a flesh wound.

Looks like one of the Mashburn WammyLoads.... But I guess a cannonball might come close

Yes bore size matters,but bullet selection for the job in any caliber is probably more important.As I've killed game with various calibers,I've also noticed the wound channel dia. difference the different calibers produce.I'm not just talking about bloodshot meat and organs,I'm talking about the wound cavity the bullet produces.I've shot a lot of game with a 7mag.I always felt like it was a great all around cartridge.It produced an ample wound channel without being too excessive.In the last fifteen years,I've been getting more into the 30cals and I can see a larger wound dia. with those with like type bullets.Stepping up to a 338,I noticed something different when I shot a red stag with a 338-06 using a 200gr Ballistic Tip.I shot him through the ribs and the entrance wound was about 1.5" in dia. as well as an exit wound about the same size.I was reading about the 35 Whelen and in the article it talked about bullet blow back as the bullet enter leaving a large entrance wound.I think that's exactly what I saw with the 338-06.Here is the article and a paragraph on the subject.
The increase in frontal area makes the .35 Whelen noticeably superior to the .338” bore. When using the .338 bore, the hunter must at times be careful with bullet selection in order to avoid having a bullet that is too tough for the job at hand. The .338 bore excels on larger bodied deer but can on occasion be left wanting if lean animals are encountered. In contrast to this, the .35 bore firing bullets of the same weight displays far greater and much faster energy transfer. So much so, that we sometimes see bullet blow back as a result of hydraulic forces. In these instances, entry wounds may at times be as large as exit wounds. Furthermore, the .358’s can display this performance at mild impact velocities. The .358 is not wholly reliant on velocity in the same manner as the small bores. In plain terms, one cannot have a full understanding of terminal ballistics until one has studied this bore diameter and this cartridge in particular.

https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.35+Whelen.html

Here is a video comparing a 30-06 to a 35 Whelen shooting a 25lb block of clay.Around the nine minute mark it shows the side by side videos as the bullets impact the clay blocks in slow motion.

Well, that video proved nothing as did the accompanying gibberish.

That's at the Musee de l'Armee in Paris. From the side it looks just like a 22LR went through a beer can. I'm sure it ruined his day.

Have a 240 and a 26 Nos (close to a 6.5-300), still like my 06’s.

Have fast twist .223 and .22-204. Still like my ‘06’s.

DF

I agree I've killed elk with the 30-06 and the .35 Whelen The elk usually went a few yards before expiring and the elk were all DRT. never moved from the point I shot them except for straight down.
PJ

Saying the .35 Whelen is better than .338 fails to take into account the better sectional density of 225-250 grain bullets often loaded in the .338 versus the usual loadings of similar weight bullets in the .35, it also fails to acknowledge the far better ballistics of say the .338 Win mag at long distance compared to the .35 caliber. I do agree bore diameter matters, but so do other things as well.

At a certin point the hydraulic effect of fluid displacement has a devastating effect on a body of living tissue, but still requires weight, velocity and diameter. For a light weight, light recoil, I prefer the 6.5s. However when I went o Africa, I carried a 300 WSM with 180s loaded to Win Mag velocity.

I do own a few 223s and a 458 Lott so can do both ends of the scale, plus most things in between. I believe in carrying an approperate rifle for the hunt.

Nothing I need an 8 guage anything for.

Over penetration

Not enough expansion. Need a hollow point?

DF

Man I would have hated to be the one to hose that out and shine it up.

Yep.

Could have been a tad messy.

DF

That was by a 9mm. Blew the lung right out of him. 😳😁