Minimum caliber for big game change in Saskatchewan
- Thread starter saskgunowner101
- Start date
Glock4ever
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Edmonton, AB
My best friend uses a lever .45 Colt and has killed a lot of animals cleanly with it using factory lever-revolution or whatever it is called and the black powder loads killed god knows how many animals in North America since the inception of the .45 LC. The regs are a bit weird as it allows some lever type guns/carbines (i.e. .44 Mag) but not others that are fairly comparable. Back when I had a .44 RM lever gun, we used to shoot at steel gongs at 100 and 150m and we really couldn't tell the difference between them (.44 Mag and .45 LC) maybe it was a bit flatter shooting but who could tell with the iron sights? Seems pretty arbitrary. Lever guns with open sights and pistol cals are all pretty much short range propositions so what does it matter?
My grandfather shot numerous moose with it. The thing is, in those days, ethics didn't matter much. It was subsistence hunting, not sport hunting. The 357, 41 Mag, 45 LC are all great medium-game calibers, if handloads are used in capable hands. Problem is, you can't legislate ethics or common sense. Nothing in the law could stop Jimmy Yahoo from buying a 357 mag lever gun and going after elk or moose and never having fired a single shot before heading out. I've never hunted elk, but a well-placed 357 shot, with a good bullet in the hands of a calm, accurate and patient hunter will easily kill a moose - but how many hunters meet all those criteria. Again a case of the many paying for the follies of the few.
Kinetic energy equals 1/2 m*v^2. Velocity is squared, so it has a much more substantial effect on energy. A 308 pushing 150grs at 2820fps produces 2650 ft lbs of energy, while a 360gr pill at 1200fps is only 1150 ft lbs. The 308 has more than double the energy at the muzzle, and almost certainly would have higher BCs to hold onto that energy better at range.
The momentum is slightly higher for the 360gr load @1200fps though.
rifleman762
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Alberta
If they need to have restrictions to protect people from making dumb decisions, why not just have a bullet weight and muzzle energy minimum? Here in Alberta we can't hunt deer with a 223 Rem shooting 77gr bullets but a 6mm PPC with 55gr bullets is A-OK.
Standard .45 Colt factory loads out of a rifle should fire a heavier bullet at a bit lower muzzle velocity compared to .44-40, which, as has been pointed out, has killed lots of deer.
This illustrates the problem with cartridge restrictions. There is plenty of opportunity to make inappropriate choices while still complying with the regulations. It is ultimately on the hunter to know and work within the limits of his equipment.
Empty cartridge length prohibition eliminates all the rimfires and 9mm
But now Jimmy Yahoo can hunt Elk and moose with a .204!
The old law simply stated illegal to use a firearm or metal projectile of .23 caliber or less for big game.
What they have done is opened it up to even smaller projectiles and made up a list of specific exceptions.
This will apply to licenced hunters only.
Is there a rimfire that has a spent casing over 32mm?
no idea and shouldn't matter.
17(1) is centrefire
(2) is shotgun and muzzle loader
(3) is airguns
(4) is handguns
(5) is no upland with centrefire rifle
(6) no hunting wildlife with shotgun bigger than 10ga
(7) shotguns must be plugged for birds
rimfires are not mentioned in prohibition re certain firearms
