Suggestions for a "big and slow" caliber?

SHELL SHUCKER said:
Good one fer sure.:cool: Always had good results with the larger caliber rifles using heavy cast bullets at 22 LR rimfire velocities. The 45-70 along with the .450 Marlin, .458 Win and .45 Colt are rather efficient dumpers of hefty critters inside of 80 yds with well placed shots on 'em when they're not aware of yer presence.

I really like the 9.3's & .375's as well when using cast boolits of weights from 270-300 gr. at similar speeds. Fook, they dig deep and bust bone well along the way.

I'm now workin' with the rifled 12 bore for primo knock down of big critters in close. I reckon my loads from my 3 in 12ga rifled guns will be more than ample for
the job when tossing 825 gr Paradox type bombs at 1050 fps. T'will be fun.;)

De Savage 212 with 2.5x Weaver.
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De Rem 870 with Hastings barrel & Bushnell Holo Sight.
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De 825 gr boolit next to my .375 Win load.
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^ it's like kamlooky after a few grammar lessons.
 
9.3x62 would be my pick. But if you reload you should consider a 348 winchester as a medium range big game rig.
To be quiet honest I do not own a 348 but a member here has posted videos of his and the load development
He had done and that renewed my interest in that cartridge/rifle combinaison .
 
38-55 gets another vote

enoch said:
But if you reload you should consider a 348 winchester as a medium range big game rig.
To be quiet honest I do not own a 348 but a member here has posted videos of his and the load development
He had done and that renewed my interest in that cartridge/rifle combination .
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.348 was my 'bucket-list' cal, Always a favorite of mine, I thought too long on one and it went to another buyer.
Now my interest over the last year has settled on the 38-55.
Dropped a moose last year with one shot, Hornady 220gr FP. Being a Lead Boolit caster I am working on a Lyman 264gr FN gas checked boolit,
Slow, heavy accurate. I did up a bunch for my Brother who shoots the Win 94 Big Bore .375 Win.
And finding brass is no problem, 30-30 sizes up nicely.
 
conor_90 said:
Are you loading those in brass casings shell shucker?
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Nope. I'm using fresh Federal high base 3" hulls with Ballistic Products gas seals and waxed wads. My intended loads will be running around 10,500 psi max. so as not to strain the tube on the 870. I now just gotta get a fresh batch of wheel weights to smelt but I got a batch of Federal 1 oz sabot slug ammo for dialing the guns in at 80 yds. Oh de fun of it.;)
 
Ardent said:
A .300 Win Mag will beat it. ;) Any normal off the shelf load 150-180grs will be more impressive on big bears.
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You are speaking from experience so I don’t doubt it. However what about the most extreme scenario.. say the biggest of grizzlies at 30 or 40 yards.. and a .300 mag with a cheap cup and core 150 gr bullet.. shot hitting right on the largest part of the shoulder bone. Would it have what it takes to drive through to the vitals?
 
Used my 14" barreled T/C G2 Contender in 338JDJ #2 (444 Marlin brass necked down) loaded with 180gr Accubonds @ 2500fps to score my first buck of the year yesterday morning.

Bonus I can load up to 250gr bullets if I want big and slow.

 
Yesterday I spent a pleasant several hours putting a couple hundred rounds of low-velocity 405gr lead bullet rounds through 3 different .45-70 rifles. I thought of this thread more than once throughout the day. There have been many good suggestions put forward here, but they are all just sorta-big and fairly-slow. The old Government round answers the question of big-and-slow better than any other reply given so far, by a wide margin. If it was going to be my only centerfire hunting round, I'd have to give the nod to a .358 or, better yet, a .375...but you asked about something different to supplement your do-it-all .270 and the .45-70 is it in spades.

My granddaughter once remarked that the cartridge looks like a giant .22lr, and it actually functions pretty much the same way for me as well. These guns just make me smile every time I pull the trigger. The deep boom, the pause while you wait for impact, the sight of that little pumpkin arcing through the air towards the target (easily visible through a scope, or even with the naked eye under good conditions), the reaction of a gong or a deer to the bullet strike...there is literally no downside to this round. Okay, it isn't cheap to shoot, but nothing is nowadays, so...

If you must, you can hot-rod it up to magnum levels in appropriate rifles (thereby trying to turn it into exactly what you didn't ask for here), or you can just plink away all day with mild loads and still know that they are perfectly adequate for hunting. For much hunting (baited bears, or any stand hunting for deer where no long-range shots are possible), these loads aren't merely adequate; they are much closer to perfection than the .270 would be. And yet they are so pleasant to shoot that you can literally go through hundreds in a sitting...even from a bench if that's your thing...without any discomfort.

Get a .45-70 and try it. It's not a 'til-death-do-you-part kind of thing; you're buying a rifle, which you can turn around and sell if you don't like it. I wonder how many folks try the .45-70 and decide they don't like it? I'd bet it's not many.

You're welcome! :)
 
I have both a 14" and 21" barrels in 375JDJ I load Hornady 220gr JFP & 225gr spitzers for the 14" barrel for the 21" barrel I load 250gr Partitions & 260gr Accubonds @ 2300fps I have shot blacktail deer and a 6' black bear with the 21" barrel but still need to break in the 14" barrel.

I load 139gr Hornady SST's for my 21" 7-30 Waters barrel have not shot a deer with this combo yet.

I also have a 21" 375 Win barrel that I will load the 220gr JFP's in when I get around to putting it on a frame haven't even shot it yet.

My 14" and 22" 45-70 barrels are great too both have taken nice blacktail bucks as well.

Other than the 7-30 Waters as far as I am concerned these all fit in the big and slow category.
 
I have more than once thought about the same thing, a cartridge that is big and slow but can deliver a heavy bullet with authority.
Not an elegant rifle but the Baikal MP-221 in 45-70 is what I would look at.

David
 
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