TJEN

I often see where to prove a favorite cartridges superiorority anauther some timescomparesit to alarger caliber cartridge. Statingthat its faster/flater. And then a smaller caliber cartridge and stats its hits harder.

Thats just pick and choose mantalitythat denies the merits of both the other cartridges. The reality is both the smaller and larger cartridges can do things better than the one in the middle can. And it all depends on where one puts the brackets. And if you pick and choose you can show the middle one is best to. Actual they all have merit but what applies to one applies to the others.

Examples 270win/280rem/30-06 or 30-06/338-06/35whelen or 308win/338fed/358win or 260rem/7mm08/308win.

General withthese like case rounds smaller is flatter and largerhas more penitration /walop with apropreate bullets. Simply choose the ones that best fit your needs. Thats why the 338-06 can't hit harder than the 35whelen and or shoot flatter than the 30-06, BUT it canhit harder then the 30-06 and shoot flatter than the whelen.

Reflecting on some of the 277-08 coments.

salukipv1

well some others do come up with ideas/or suggestions I or someone else may not have thought to consider.....before my next purchase I'm sure gonna ask a question or two. Such as a guy may be between a .25-06 and a .243 Win, and never thought of a 6mm, and someone suggests it and then is like ya perfect middleground etc... but i hear ya, I think thats why those questions are around, trying to figure out what would work best, and get another pair of eyes on the situation than just your own.

SwampCollie

Or everyone could just conceade that the 7mm-08 is the greatest medium game cartridge ever devised and put an end to all the bantering.....

Tuco

I would pick accuracy over a few FPS or foot pound of energy any day. You can break calibers down into basically 4 groups, rimfire, small center fire, medium center fire, and large center fire. If I had say a .270 that I could shoot very accurately, I would not be looking for new caliber just gain a little fps.

eldeguello

All of which just once again proves the old adage "Figures don't lie, but liars do figure!"

nchawkeye

One thing that I don't believe many hunters give enough thought to is the bullet used, it's construction and it's weight within a given caliber.....Making a blanket statement that a larger caliber with a heavier bullet gives more penetration is just not true...

One example is the 30-06 150 gr Winchester Silver Tip...A friend of mine used this for many years and seldom got an exit hole with lung shots on deer...He has since moved to a .243 and uses the Hornady Custom 100gr InterLokt and always gets an exit on lung shot deer...

Now, you can also have too much penetration because a bullet is too hard for the application, this will give you longer tracking jobs on lung shot deer...Because the bullet is "harder" than needed you have a long, narrow wound channel through the deer so it doesn't do as much internal damage....

I think this is one reason that some guys keep getting a larger caliber...They shoot a deer or two, the deer runs further than they think it should and decide if they had a larger diameter bullet the deer will drop faster...

Until you kill several deer with various bullet in the caliber you choose then you really don't have a good idea as to the effectiveness of the caliber.....

I've even had guys diss one caliber and not even be able to tell you what grain or type bullet that they used....

I really think discussing different calibers for deer is a waste of time, unless you include bullets that have been used effectively into the discussion....

In addition, the ranges that you anticipate having your shots should also be considered...If 90% of your shots are within 100 yards, then you need to look at the harder bullets....If they run 150-300 yards, then something like a boat tailed ballistic tip or one of the softer boat tail soft points will usually give you shorter tracking jobs....

ipscshooter

I would venture to bet that a lot of us dis cartridges we've never used... I know I've been guilty of that...

Pavomesa

They will all kill...and if you hit right with a proper bullet, they will kill quickly. I think basically all the endless arguments we all love to indulge in over the "ultimate cartridge" are silliness. What really matters is the man/gun combination. Give a guy most any gun you like and let him shoot it until he's good with it, understands its velocity, trajectory etc and ultimately you've got a lethal combination. I suspect most of us went through something like this progression with .22 long rifles when we started hunting. At first we weren't very effective and things needed to be fairly close. But by the time we had shot up our first brick or two of ammo, it was a whole different story. Before I stopped hunting with .22s, I got to where I could make shots no sane person with a 22LR would even try. And I'm sure many of youdid the same.

Now years later most of us have SEVERAL guns and may never shoot the same load twice in any of them....none of which is conducive to great skill with any of them. We all probably suffer from too many toys and options. Bottom line is most any modern cartridge will work fine if used as intended. Thousands of guys with nothing but their old 30/30s prove this every year.

nchawkeye

Pavosmesa...I think that is another problem...I grew up squirrel hunting, mainly with a .22...I always took head shots...From the time I was 8-9 until about 16 or so, I killed hundreds of squirrels...

Now we see guys wanting to know what is the best rifle for a 8-9 year old...Actually it's a .22 and teaching them to squirrel hunt is excellent training for deer hunting later in life...Many want to skip this step and jump right in to deer, then squirrels seem too small to go after...

I do realize some areas don't have squirrels, but other small game can be substituted...

idunno

I'd have to agree... I on the other hand started out with a .410 then progressed to 12 ga. I think no, I know if I had started out with the 22 I would be a much better marksman today. Just in the last year or two I have started hunting squirrels with my 22. I can already see an improvement. Many people are so tied up in deer or other big game hunting that they forget what many of the older generation consider a much better pastime in squirrel hunting.