Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters What cartridges don't kill as well as the book would suggest?

Since we hear so much about cartridges that kill out of proportion to their ballistic tables...

Ones that land in the guts or worse places.....

"Ones that land in the guts or worse places....." from guys flinching with the big magnum.

I know the 22lr kills a lot more than what the book says.

Can't think of any that won't kill as good as the book says. but there are a lot that work better than what is said.

,308




















Just kidding.

My friend and other guys that use the 270 say it takes deer down better than the 30-06 and 300 magnums. I guess the 30 cals are overrated arn't they (lol).

The smaller the caliber the more they fit your question - thus the .243 is probably the number one in this category.

...according to kevin robertson (the perfect shot), the .375hh...

You better be . . . . . . .

This thread should be a doozy....kinda like Grimms Fairy Tales.

Never seen a reasonable cartridge fail to kill well;seen some lousy shooting,but nothing a guy could blame on the cartridge.

I've never seen an animal killed with a cartridge.

Bruce

Even if I believed it, it's a train wreck I don't want to see again right now.
Wouldn't want to be accused of being a bomb thrower. ...grin

Similar to what I was going to say.

Now - BULLETS - that's a much better angle on this question.

Where can I see a copy of "THE BOOK"...

I have no personal knowledge of this, but from what I read, African pro hunters have a pretty low opinion of the killing ability of the .458 WinMag. Underpowered, they call it.

I'm thinkin' the 270...

RH

The only time I was around when they were run through the chronograph two 270's using two diffferent box's of factory ammo were way slower than published. In fact 130's in the 270 were slower than 150's in a 308 by 100 fps. miles

Just what is suggested in "the book", and to which book are we referring?

There is little reference to ballistics in the Good Book, except, of course, the "smooth, round stone" that David chose to sling at the forhead of the offending Philistine, Goliath.

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Yeah.

I don't see that as a cartridge issue so much as it is about bullet choice and shot location. Mice bullets on mooses or moose bullets on mice-s doesn't work out so well as if you pick the right bullet for the game. But even that can be overcome many times with shot selection. Take a varmint bullet ... not so good on a shoulder shot on a deer but if you stick it in the ribs right over heart or lungs the results can be spectacular. You have to also consider the likelihood of getting an opportunity for that special shot that lets a bullet that otherwise won't work succeed.

Example, I've killed 4 black bears with the .25-20 WCF and 60 grain hollow points. That doesn't make it a wise bear gun.

To my thinking, more important than cartridge choice is recognizing what the shooting conditions will be where you're going to hunt, then picking the right bullet for the game for the shots you're likely to get. Picking cartridge, for me, is much a matter of maximizing the number of such bullets available so that perhaps there will be a load with a good bullet and adequate accuracy.

Tom

I saw alot of deer wounded with 30/30 lever action rifles when I was a kid.

I'm sure it had more to do with the shooter than the round.

For whatever reason, that has stuck in my head and even though I own one, I have never shot at a deer with it.

Really just a case of how people become weirded out by stuff they see, but don't fully understand. I'm sure it's adequate for the job, but I still won't use it for the simple reason I lack confidence in it.

And when you lack confidence in something, you can usually make your worst fears come true when using it.

JM