well the firearms i have used to kill deer include 20 ga 12 ga 16 ga 30-30 243 7.7 jap 30-06 308 45-70 460 450 bushmaster 444 marlin & 45 cal muzzle loader & of coarse the 50 cal inlines . in hand guns i've taken them with 44 mag 45-70 & 460 & the 454 casull . the best one i like using is the 450 bushmaster . everything i've hit with has gone down right there . but i love my inline muzzleloaders. pretty mch the same eveything i hit i have found with in 100 yrds. except last year did'nt recover one during the muzzleloader season . just made me sick that i did'nt recover it . it went into a creek & never did find it . until this spring when my buddie found it underneath a dried up beaver dam. but shot placement is what it is all about .