Best all around hunting caliber

Actually, the .22 LR has earned that right long before we were born.
Every species of big & small game on earth have been dispatched with
the little .22 under the right conditions. Big bores are a true blast to
use for hunting and plinkin', but knowing your game's anatomy & putting
the "pill" in the zone for a sure finish goes a lot further than a big-ass
bullet in the wrong spot anyday.
 
SHELL SHUCKER said:
Actually, the .22 LR has earned that right long before we were born.
Every species of big & small game on earth have been dispatched with
the little .22 under the right conditions. Big bores are a true blast to
use for hunting and plinkin', but knowing your game's anatomy & putting
the "pill" in the zone for a sure finish goes a lot further than a big-ass
bullet in the wrong spot anyday.
Click to expand...

However there is nothing as effective as a "big-ass bullet" in the RIGHT spot!!!
As far as 22LR dispatching EVERYTHING big and small on earth, is more than a bit of a stretch. You might want to confine that to North America, or show me the write ups on elephant, hippo, rhino, Cape buffalo, croc etc being dispatched with even the best shot from a 22 LR.
 
trebor2880 said:
If one were never to leave Ontario, a .243 Win. is all that would be needed.:stirthepot2:
Click to expand...

If you are going to hunt moose then you will be very much on the light side! Many years ago a buddy took a couple with the 243 but he only used it because he couldn't afford anything better. Incidentally, he now uses a 300 Win. Mag with 200 gr. bullets.

Jim
 
I had a hunter tell me he took a Moose with a 270 Win from 400+ yards. I'm gonna guess 150gr - but he said he dropped him with one shot that hit. He said it took 3 shot to get on target with help of a spotter. Does this sound possible?
 
c-fbmi said:
However there is nothing as effective as a "big-ass bullet" in the RIGHT spot!!!
As far as 22LR dispatching EVERYTHING big and small on earth, is more than a bit of a stretch. You might want to confine that to North America, or show me the write ups on elephant, hippo, rhino, Cape buffalo, croc etc being dispatched with even the best shot from a 22 LR.
Click to expand...

In his book "African Rifles & Cartridges" John Taylor mentioned that "the modern .22 rimfire is really an
astounding little weapon. Given a good scope sight and a steady shot, it's almost unbelievable the
variety of animals you can shoot with it. There was a fella in Tanganyika who habitually used it on
all kinds of buck up to, and including zebra."

He mentions elswhere in the book that he knew a fella that killed 2 elephant by stalking right up close to
them and would shoot the buggers in the left armpit. This pierced the aorta leading from the heart, and
on both occasions, the elephant dropped within 60 paces from the spot they were shot.
Pretty ballzy hunters they had in those days before WW2. The good ones knew the anatomy and
physiology of their game well.

You can bet your ass that the .22lr has nuked the biggest critters around on occasion, but it's not
recommended unless it's a survival situation. Poachers have always been abundant in the game fields
and many rely on the .22 because of it's quiet report and affordability.
Crocs are no worries for the experienced hunter armed with a .22 who times his shot proper.

I myself prefer to use big chunks of lead for both small and large game, but I use reduced velocity
cast bullet loads in all of them. I shoot big game within 100yds. and preferably under 80.
For varmints and pests I'll bomb them out to around 200yds.
But I still carry my old Cooey model 39 the most when loafing about the woods.
 
triplepete said:
I had a hunter tell me he took a Moose with a 270 Win from 400+ yards. I'm gonna guess 150gr - but he said he dropped him with one shot that hit. He said it took 3 shot to get on target with help of a spotter. Does this sound possible?
Click to expand...

Is it possible for a 270 win to kill a moose @ 400+ yds? Totally.

Is it possible some guy took 4 shots to figure out where his gun was hitting @ 400+ yds, then luckily hit it? Totally.
 
While it would not be my first choice for deer or moose the .22 LR is not harmless.

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I think I'll be fine vs deer with my .243 or 30/30. :)
 
SHELL SHUCKER said:
In his book "African Rifles & Cartridges" John Taylor mentioned that "the modern .22 rimfire is really an
astounding little weapon. Given a good scope sight and a steady shot, it's almost unbelievable the
variety of animals you can shoot with it. There was a fella in Tanganyika who habitually used it on
all kinds of buck up to, and including zebra."

He mentions elswhere in the book that he knew a fella that killed 2 elephant by stalking right up close to
them and would shoot the buggers in the left armpit. This pierced the aorta leading from the heart, and
on both occasions, the elephant dropped within 60 paces from the spot they were shot.
Pretty ballzy hunters they had in those days before WW2. The good ones knew the anatomy and
physiology of their game well.

You can bet your ass that the .22lr has nuked the biggest critters around on occasion, but it's not
recommended unless it's a survival situation. Poachers have always been abundant in the game fields
and many rely on the .22 because of it's quiet report and affordability.
Crocs are no worries for the experienced hunter armed with a .22 who times his shot proper.

I myself prefer to use big chunks of lead for both small and large game, but I use reduced velocity
cast bullet loads in all of them. I shoot big game within 100yds. and preferably under 80.
For varmints and pests I'll bomb them out to around 200yds.
But I still carry my old Cooey model 39 the most when loafing about the woods.
Click to expand...

Much of Taylor's musings are taken with appropriate doses of salt. An elephant to my thinking would take hours to die with a .22 caliber whole through it's aorta which is the size of a fire hose, and the heart weighs up to 70lbs. That's more than many of the small antelope or an eastern wolf here. There is about 500 litres of blood in an average elephant, that's several oil drums, and if you shot a hole in a drum and kept topping it up to get 500L through the .22 hole, even with pressure inside, you're measuring time til empty in hours. There is no possible way it's dropping in 60 yards. Odds are, it would actually clot and heal. I've seen heavy African game lung shot with a .300 H&H that cut the heart (frontal shot) still a fraction the size of elephant running half an hour after the hit.
 
Ardent said:
Much of Taylor's musings are taken with appropriate doses of salt. An elephant to my thinking would take hours to die with a .22 caliber whole through it's aorta which is the size of a fire hose, and the heart weighs up to 70lbs. That's more than many of the small antelope or an eastern wolf here. There is about 500 litres of blood in an average elephant, that's several oil drums, and if you shot a hole in a drum and kept topping it up to get 500L through the .22 hole, even with pressure inside, you're measuring time til empty in hours. There is no possible way it's dropping in 60 yards. Odds are, it would actually clot and heal. I've seen heavy African game lung shot with a .300 H&H that cut the heart (frontal shot) still a fraction the size of elephant running half an hour after the hit.
Click to expand...

That's the fun bit about game reactions to bullet strikes. One gets different results on each critter shot.
If the game is not alert or tensed up, one can place a well aimed shot with an almost certain outcome
of a downed head of game. Startled or wounded game however present a more difficult challenge.
Selection of the right bullet for the job is as important as bullet placement for a proper result.

As for Taylor's writing on the elephants dropped by a .22, all I can say is we'll never know for sure,
unless we were there.
 
Regarding the .22LR heart shot kills on elephant, furthermore that huge heart moving the near 500L of blood is a couple feet behind the heaviest terrestrial ribs on this planet and a whole lot of tissue. I've seen a .375 H&H skid off ribs, the fortunate part for Taylor is he claims this was an associate's experiences, so we can't pin it on Taylor for being full of it. The story is indeed full of it however.
 
How did this end up on 22LR for elephant, leave it to CGN!!

I vote for the first rifle that you shoot well with in any caliber from 243 to 950 JDJ.
 
SHELL SHUCKER said:
He mentions elswhere in the book that he knew a fella that killed 2 elephant by stalking right up close to
them and would shoot the buggers in the left armpit. This pierced the aorta leading from the heart, and
on both occasions, the elephant dropped within 60 paces from the spot they were shot.
Pretty ballzy hunters they had in those days before WW2. The good ones knew the anatomy and
physiology of their game well.
Click to expand...

It was actually P.H. Capstick that wrote about shooting elephants in the heart with a .22, not Taylor, and Capstick got the story second-hand, and over drinks. It's in his book "Safari", "A Solid Suggestion" chapter. First time was a fluke of sorts, since they weren't actually trying to kill the elephant with a .22, just sting it so it would move into a better position, the second time was the subject of a bet.

I have to say I don't have a lot of time for either Capstick or Taylor, though their books are still on my shelves. Take it with a grain of salt.
 
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