Magnum overkill. Over bore calibers on medium game

[Cole]

Ifn I've ever come to learn anything about hunting here in B.C. is that OVERKILL IS A VERY MINOR SIN.
Dead is dead, anyway you look at it. Using a .378 Weatherby for gophers was deffinatly fun as all get out but it was expensive and hard on the shoulder.

 

[rifleman762]

I think it's great when a high lung shot makes a deer drop out of sight instantly. 300 WM all the way.

 

[pothier33]

Had I used a 30-30 instead of a 300WM on the last deer I took, I could have maybe salvaged a bit more lung meat.

I dont know about meat damage, I've shot deer in the last 5 years with 308,30-06, and this year with a 30-30. the 308 was with ttsx bullet, the 30-06 was a nosler ballistic tip and the 30-30 was Hornady ftx. this years deer with the 30-30 seemed to by far have the most damaged meat. ( shot placement was very similar with all 5 deer ( boiler room, lungs hit, no bones)

I was quite surprised at how violent the 160Grain FTX was.

Lee

 

[PEKS]

Had I used a 30-30 instead of a 300WM on the last deer I took, I could have maybe salvaged a bit more lung meat.

Lung Jello for Dessert..

 

[Longwalker]

I've shot more than two dozen elk so far, and the one I shot last fall was the one that surprised me the most with a long follow up after the shot. The shot was the same as many others, a high lung shot just behind the shoulder that usually results in a 20-30 M tracking job or the elk falls in sight. This one ran over 200 M. I was trying to gain experience with a new rifle that I planned to take to Namibia for a Cape Buffalo and Elephant hunt. My Merkel 140AE chambered in .450-400 Nitro Express 3". Firing a 400 grain bullet at 2100 fps. I think it actually was a case of "too much gun" or at least "too much bullet". The Hornady DGX bonded didn't open up much or at all from what I could see. I've seen several elk shot in the same spot with 7mm08 and .270 and .308 that died much, much quicker. So there you go. Over powered rifle = under killed animal.

 

[Longwalker]

- another note about that cartridge/bullet combination, when I actually used it to shoot a buffalo a month later, the results were satisfactory and dramatic. Buffalo showed immediate reaction to the shot (just above the heart and through both lungs). Death dash was about 20M. He was shot again along the way, but I don't think it was necessary. It's a case of using a bullet / cartridge combination that is appropriate for the game. Big rifles work, but with tough bullets they are really suited best to shooting big critters. With a softer bullet my elk would not have run far.

 

[shakeyjake]

Worst for me would have to be 270 vs squirrel. When I was a kid my buds would laugh at me for using 270 for yotes, but that's all I had that'd reach out. It liked the cheap 130gr Winchester PP at $12.99 a box.
I don't think 458wm is too much for black bear, might find out this spring. I've taken all of mine with 2 quick shots from a Win m94 (30-30) over a bait. 2 quick shots because it's fun, and I don't like tracking a wounded bear, they all dropped right there.
My go to gun is an older Savage 7mm RM. However, I'm planning to put a better scope, get some dies, and make "nowarningshot"s old 338WM my go to gun.......very nice.
Thanks again..lol

 

[shakeyjake]

Longwalker....nailed it,
Bullets are key.

 

[Browning_300wsm]

Used to use a .300 Win Mag and .300 WSM for deer all the time. Now my .280 Remington is my main carry.

Just did a trade deal on here for a .257 Weatherby Mag, a caliber that I have always loved and wanted. Finally got my hands on one. I will be using that for pretty much everything. Coyotes, groundhogs and deer (if I'm field hunting)

 

[chrismc]

Agree. Match the bullet to what you want to see, regardless of calibre/diameter...

I just sighted in my first "overbore" rifle - overbore in this case, meaning a greater amount of powder for minimal gain - but it sure made a loud bang. tolerable recoil, and certainly less trajectory based on shooting rocks far away in very cold weather... sure will have to be mindful of the bullet used when using on deer sized game.... 6.5prc.

 

[dgradinaru]

I carried my 338 Win Mag last year for deer. Filled my tags out with it. I used 225gr Hornady Interbond at approx 2850 fps. Never had any issues with overkill or excessive meat damage. One thing that i noticed was it didn't kill any faster than my 8x57 at those ranges i took the deer both in around 150 yards.

I also used my 9.3x62 a few years back to harvest some deer and meat damage was very minimal. When that 285gr hit the deer it sure put a smack down. My hunting partner took his buck last year with his Ruger #1 in 9.3x74R with a 250 gr tsx and agian meat damage was minimal aswell.

 

[bunny]

I don’t feel bad using one of my .458 ‘s for whitetail, but they are heavy to carry all day.

 

[Gonewild]

I’ve been shooting the 270 wsm and 325 wsm for everything the past 10 years. The meat damage is what I don’t like about these. Seriously considering just going back to the 30-06 or 338-06 if I can find one. I would have no problem with any of the bigger magnums either at modest velocity. Like long walker said bullet selection is a bigger factor than cartridge.

 

[Prairie Plinker]

I’ve been shooting the 270 wsm and 325 wsm for everything the past 10 years. The meat damage is what I don’t like about these. Seriously considering just going back to the 30-06 or 338-06 if I can find one. I would have no problem with any of the bigger magnums either at modest velocity. Like long walker said bullet selection is a bigger factor than cartridge.

Got a .338-06 a while back and have used it for four hunting seasons now. It has harvested 3 whitetail bucks, 2 mulie does, 1 mulie buck, 1 mountain caribou....and a gopher. I'll concede it was overkill/overbore for the gopher. As for the rest, well, I'll just say it worked extremely well. That rifle is getting buried with me!

 

[horseman2]

A quote from an early post:

Most of the truly over kill situations i can personally think of are using my hunting rifles for target of opportunity coyotes. A 338wm or 300wm are not ideal for predators, but the results were what i had in mind.

Following an elk draw in 1986 I had convinced myself I needed a 338 WM but ended up using a 30-06. That December the Remington 700 Classic came out in th 338 WM.
Over the years I often said if I could only have one gun it would be the 338 WM but perish that though.
Over the years this rifle took grouse, gophers, ground hogs, crows, coyotes, black bear, elk and moose. Gophers and ground hogs prior to hunting season were great practice.
Eventually someone decided they needed it more than I. My go to rifle now is a Remington BDL SS in 280 Remington bought in 1998. Loaded with Barnes 140 grain TTSX to just over 3000 fps.

 

[trevj]

Had I used a 30-30 instead of a 300WM on the last deer I took, I could have maybe salvaged a bit more lung meat.

As someone said earlier, shot placement. Biggest mess I ever witnessed was a hot loaded 300WM with light-ish bullets. Dude smacked the poor little doe in the shoulder at about 25 yards. Pretty much destroyed the whole front quarter.

There is such a thing as too much gun. If you can't shoot it, because you fear the resultant recoil, etc., then it's too much gun. The fad of heavy African type calibers that was happening some years back, or the numbers of Sharps repros in .45-140, and similar extreme calibers, are a pretty good case in point. I am positive that the ones that ever shot a full box of shells are a small minority, even smaller, the number of those Owners that shot those boxes of shells themselves, rather than foisting them off on "friends".

 

[Barnes_270]

Last few years I've used the Husky 9.3x62 for blacktails. 250gr TTSX, about 2600fps. No meat damage, and they drop in their tracks - this year was three for three with that result. The first year I didn't have the 300 Savage sighted in when I unexpectedly had the opportunity to hunt early in the season. Carried it all day, and it carried great - and then at the end of the day I took a spike buck with it with excellent results. The next year I just took it without thinking twice.

 

[trapoholic]

30-06 is overkill on a beaver, I watched the back 3/4 of him turn to hamburger flying off the dam.

 

[Big bore dinosaur]

Used to use a .300 Win Mag and .300 WSM for deer all the time. Now my .280 Remington is my main carry.

Just did a trade deal on here for a .257 Weatherby Mag, a caliber that I have always loved and wanted. Finally got my hands on one. I will be using that for pretty much everything. Coyotes, groundhogs and deer (if I'm field hunting)

My 257wn is dynamite with the 75 gr Vmax.. porcupines and coyotes open right up.. your going to giggle BROWNING _300wsm
I like my 378 wm for black bear , 235 and 250 gr barns bullets with a bucket of R22. Have yet to recover a bullet. Nothing wrong with to dead , if you ask me

 

[rral22]

Why does anyone worry about this topic? Yesterday I drove the half ton to the confectionery for a half pint of coffee cream. Shooting a big bullet at something is hardly as "overbore" as that. CGNers can obsess over astonishingly meaningless issues, and get mad about them sometimes too. Odd behavior.
The opposite concept of using the tiniest cartridge you can and still manage to kill some game animal can have real issues, but shooting a deer with a .375 H&H is not a subject of concern to me.