Big Game Cartridge Criterea

[Foxer]

A 100g .243" interlock is still going 2200-2300Fps at 300yards.

That'd still give it in the neighbourhood of 1000-1200 ft/lbs of energy. Probably fine for most deer - but it should at least get you thinking a little.

What's the penetrating power of a 100 grain bullet at that speed/energy? How much would it take to knock that bullet around, if it hit bone for example? WOULD a good mushrooming bullet go all the way thru a good sized deer, especially if you clipped ribs going in and/or out? The 'shock' wave isn't going to be fantastic at that speed on that size a bullet - your chances of disrupting cns systems if the bullet passes close go down. The deer may still die, but will it get a lot farther and be a harder tracking job? Are you any good at tracking?

It should make you aware that you're beginning to get CLOSE to a 'marginal' performance profile, where more things have to go right than wrong for optimal results. Obviously, on deer you're still doing pretty good, but it should be a bit of a warning to take only 'sweet' shots, and not push the envelope too far on a quartering shot for example. It might also make you think just a little about tracking - is that a good shot to take right at dusk in a heavily wooded area, vs dawn in a fairly open area where you'll have all day to look? Are you going to get much of a blood trail?

If you were using it for moose or bear you'd think even harder - it'd probably be a bad idea to shoot because even tho you stand a GOOD chance of killing the animal, the chances of something going wrong are starting to get pretty high.

I'm not offering an answer to any of those questions, but it demonstrates how being AWARE of it can help you make better shooting decisions. It depends on how well you know your gun and your hunting/tracking/shooting skill, how well you know your game, and what level of 'risk' you're willing to accept. A newbie hunter may wisely decide that 300 yard shots with a .243 are not a great idea. An experienced hunter who knows his load and what it can do might not even think twice about it.

It's always good to think about.

 

[Eagleye]

I will qualify what I said in an earlier post, in case someone got the wrong idea. I said the 6mm's make deadly "deer" medicine out to 300 and a bit. I have never considered any of the 6mm's moose or Elk cartridges. They will kill these animals, but need perfect shot placement and when I have used them on bigger members of the deer family, I always have used the 100 grain Partition, which will usually exit a deer, even at 300 yards, and even with the shoulder on presentation. A Moose is a lot more animal, but the couple I have shot with the 6mm/100 Partition were broadside, and under 250 yards. In both cases, the bullet exited, which in fact was a bit of a surprise. Both moose died within 20 yards of where they were shot, without second shots needed. When using the 270 on Moose, I prefer the 140/150 Partitions, but the 130 seems perfectly matched to the 270 for deer sized targets as far out as any good rifleman should be shooting at them. The 6.5's with the 140 Partition are great moose medicine, the 6.5x55 out to 250 or so, the 6.5-284 to 300+ and the 264 Win Mag to 400+. I once killed a moose at 350 yards with a 6.5x55 and the 125 Partition [hunting deer at the time], but again, the presentation was perfect, and I was confident that this swampdonkey was mine. The new Barnes TSX bullet is accurate in anything I have tried it so far. It is devastating on game, and allows smaller chamberings to take big game reliably. You will seldom recover one of these from an animal. Energy sufficient? Never even looked at the charts to see what sort of energy was being delivered at the distances mentioned. A Dead deer [moose, elk, you insert your favorite game animal here]that goes nowhere after the shot is evidence of sufficient disruption of the vitals to do the job. Can we put an arbitrary figure on it? Probably not. But if limiting yourself to 900, 1000, or even 1500 ft/lbs on deer makes you feel safer, then go for it. Ditto for bigger figures for bigger animals. One thing is certain: No decent sportsman wants to wound a game animal and then have to follow it for a great distance before recovering it [if ever] The onus is on us to make clean humane kills because we are under severe scrutiny already. No point in giving the antis any ammunition to shoot at us. Regards, Eagleye.

 

[Boomer]

Both Foxer and Eagle Eye make good points, and perhaps we are making the same argument, which is to know the range limitations of your cartridge/bullet combination. However, I would like to address a couple of the statements made.

I made the statement that light rifles shoot father than they kill, and the response was that all rifles do. While this is true, the mid caliber hunting rounds from 6.5 to .30-06 with bullet weights of 140 grs or more are proven on game out to and beyond 300 yards. As a side note, it is my belief that the average hunter has no business shooting anywhere near 300 yards unless he has done some shooting at that range, knows what he can do, and under what conditions he can do it - at which point he is no longer average. As I've said, a miscalculation of range by as little as 10%, when everything else is done right, equals a wounded animal. Despite the fact that there are those who take big game with light rifles, those cartridges run out of steam well before 300 yards - yet shoot very flat, making 300 yard shots relatively easy. For many this is not a concern, because the majority of hunters use .270's, 7mm's, and a variety of .30 calibers from .30-30 to 300 magnums - according to ammo sales.

On the other side of the coin is the inexperienced hunter who takes to the field with more gun than he can handle. This is equally bad if not worse, because regardless of its diameter or weight, the bullet still has to cut a path through the vitals of the game animal in order to work, and the proper management of exceedingly powerful rifles can be difficult. For years I was quite happy with the .30-06, and frankly I believed that attempting to shoot big rifles would ruin the level marksmanship I had worked so hard at achieving. Happily this was not the case, and while the recoil of some rifles can be intimidating, most of these things were designed to be used by normal people, and can be mastered quickly when approached in a proper manner. However if you are not a recreational shooter, and your first hunting rifle is a 6 pound .338 Winchester, chances are that rifle will intimidate you to the point that not only will you be unable to harvest a game animal, but it will take a supreme effort on your part to ever master shooting with any rifle.

With regards to bullet shock on big game, it has been my experience that some game - moose in particular - show little reaction to shock. That is not to say that they cannot be killed quickly, but you don't often get that rug pulled out from under them kills, touted by the Weatherby School of Thought.

If hunting, as we know it, is to survive another generation, the public must be of the opinion that hunting plays an important role in game management, generates a significant amount of money which can be used in wildlife programs to the benefit of all, and that those who participate in hunting - particularly big game hunting - endeavour to harvest their game with minimal suffering.