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Too much gun?
the other day while i was in the ammo store i heard a guy getting extremely upset about nothing. i mean this guy's blood pressure was getting up there over nothing! he was in heated a debate that hunters these days use way too much gun for the kill on game. he stated that all you need for hogs is a little old .222. he said all you have to do is hit them in the eye. lol. i wanted laugh out loud when he said but this old timer might of whooped me. LOL. i hunt every chance i get and do a lot of hog hunting. i've shot them with a rifle as small as the 6 mm up to a .338-378 weatherby. i do prefer a 30 caliber bullet on most game. I believe in such a thing as not enough gun. when all you find is a blood trail and cant find the animal.... not enough gun. i've hit 250+ lb hogs in the ham with a 30 caliber bullet and it might not have killed on the spot but they didn't move far. so is there such a thing as too much gun?
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RE: Too much gun?
ORIGINAL: dkhamner .... i hunt every chance i get and do a lot of hog hunting. i've shot them with a rifle as small as the 6 mm up to a .338-378 weatherby. i do prefer a 30 caliber bullet on most game. I believe in such a thing as not enough gun. when all you find is a blood trail and cant find the animal.... not enough gun. i've hit 250+ lb hogs in the ham with a 30 caliber bullet and it might not have killed on the spot but they didn't move far. so is there such a thing as too much gun? Now, having said that, is a 338cal. needed for hogs? No. A bum shot/hit in the hams with a 30cal. or any other is just that, a bad shot. Hey, we all make 'em on occassion. The real advantage in the bigger calibers is the heavier bullets for penetration, and the bigger holes for blood trails. And, sometimes it's just plain more fun to use a "bigger boomer". At the same time I can understand some folks aggravation when they see folks thinking they just must have the latest & greatest, and biggest magnum available - to hunt a deer that might weigh as much as 150lbs., and often less. Makes no sense, but then does it make any sense to own/drive a Hummer to go cross town, run the kids to school, etc. None of it worth getting worked up over. Hey, I was once sighting in a 300Win.Mag. when a cottontail made the mistake of coming out into the field. I took his head off with a 180gr. Rem. Core-Lokt. Too much gun? I don't know, it did the job, and the rabbit was tasty later that evening.;) |
RE: Too much gun?
In my own deservedly humble opinion, any gun that the shooter cannot shoot well due to excessive recoil or muzzle blast is "too much gun." Better to hit a hog behind the ear with a .243 than to miss a hog with a .416 Rigby, or worse yet, wound it and lose it.
Better still, however, to hit it squarely where you want to with that .416 Rigby! If you can manage the recoil of a big boomer, power to ya. I've never tried anything bigger than the .30-06 to 8x57 class rifles, but someday I'd like to try one of the big calibers. I do feel very strongly that the NEED for magnum calibers is overstated by gun writers who need to put shoes on their kids feet, and by arms manufacturers who need to do the same. I see nothing at all wrong with accumulating a variety of different and interesting rifles in a variety of different and interesting calibers, but I do feel it is wrong to insist that you NEED a magnum rifle when we've taken millions of head of game with boring old calibers like .243, .25-06, .270, .30-30, .308 .30-06 etc. and so on. Shot placement is always the key to a humane kill. A more powerful gun is just a bit more forgiving for a slightly misplaced shot. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, at least until I have saved enough for my .458 WinMag.;) |
RE: Too much gun?
I only think the phrase too much gun applies if you can't handle it (weight and/or recoil) or if it's not matched to what you're hunting (.300 on a rabbit!? lol) and you waste meat. If you ate the rabbit, then that must've been a good shot to not blow it to chunks.
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RE: Too much gun?
NO!! Good luck.
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RE: Too much gun?
I believe to a certain extent guns CAN be too big. I feel that if the person cannot shoot the gun accurately enough to do the most immediate damage needed to kill an animal, then the gun is too big. Also if a certain cartridge gives a person too much confidence to take shots that are simply just not practical, then the gun is too big. Outside of that, dead is dead, isn't it?
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RE: Too much gun?
I have to agree with the irate person you talked to to some extent. But it is nothing to get worked up that much about.
I guess there is never too much gun as far as the actuall killing of the animal goes cause dead is dead but there can be too much gun than a person can handle accurately. No sence in sending a small framed woman or young person out there to hunt wihtetails with a 338 magnum when a lite recoiling 260 or 243 will kill deer every bit as effectively. However, a person can most definetly use way more gun than is needed like the 338-378 for hogs. A person hunting anything on this continent will never need such a gun for anything but I am not going to be the one to tell a person that he's wrong for using it. Hey, it's your gun, ears, shoulder, and money. Shoot what ever makes you happy. The person shoting the gun just needs to be sure he or she can shoot it accurately. |
RE: Too much gun?
Hey, I was once sighting in a 300Win.Mag. when a cottontail made the mistake of coming out into the field. I took his head off with a 180gr. Rem. Core-Lokt. Too much gun? I don't know, it did the job, and the rabbit was tasty later that evening. If you ate the rabbit, then that must've been a good shot to not blow it to chunks. Actually, it didn't quite take off the whole head, just the lower jaw, a piece out of the skull. I had just finished sighting the rifle for +2" @100yds.. I held a bit low of the eye, and let 'er rip. Want a real laugh - that was the only game I ever shot with that rifle:D I had to sell it following a layoff, and never got to go deer hunting with it.:eek: |
RE: Too much gun?
Too much gun? Nope, no such thing. Dead is dead. Better too much, than too little. |
RE: Too much gun?
Now days no gun is to big. its nice after the kill though if there is enough of the animal left to idenify and tag. Soon if the trend continues the 338 Win Mag will be minumum for small game up to the bigger rabbits. Its rather amusing as a life long hunter to see where we are going firearms wise. The guns I used to use for elk and moose with good succuess are now a laughing stock. Good thing for me that the animals had not read all the hype especially the bears.:D If you can carry it yourself and the blast does not start forest fires then by golly its not to big. Here is to a 577 T-Rex in every cabnet. At least until they come up with something really big.:D
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RE: Too much gun?
James. I love your way of thinking about rifles. I think you and I must be related somehow.
I love this little article from Chuck Hawks web site about "adequate elk rifles". It has come to my attention that it takes a much larger and more powerful cartridge to kill elk these days than it used to. Last time I checked, all the elk that I have shot with a .30-06, are still dead, but I fear that soon this will not be the case. If what the gun writers say is true, then, in just a few short years the .30-06 will not be just "marginal," but totally inadequate for killing elk. It's just a short step from there to proclaiming that killing an elk with a .30-06 is "virtually impossible." As you are probably aware, the elk was almost shot into extinction over most of the west before smokeless powder was invented. As you are also well aware, the elk population in the west is increasing and expanding into places where elk have not lived for a hundred years. There can be only one explanation. Those elk that were killed in the 19th Century are coming back to life because they never could have been killed in the first place. So far, this has not affected me personally, other than giving me more elk to shoot at but, as I said earlier, I fear that soon my antler collection will begin to slowly and mysteriously vanish, as if it never existed. What does this mean to the future of hunting? How will it affect the space-time continuum? I might also point out that mule deer numbers are probably in decline because they are being killed really, really, really dead at 3000 fps from 400 yards away, rather than just sort of dead with a .30-30. And how long before bow hunters get caught up in the Short Magnum fad? Talk about feed problems! |
RE: Too much gun?
I believe your right BC. I keep hearing nothing can be to much but would there ever even be enough?;)
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RE: Too much gun?
IF YOU CAN SHOOT IT .....IF IF IF ...THEN DO SO
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RE: Too much gun?
ORIGINAL: James B I believe your right BC. I keep hearing nothing can be to much but would there ever even be enough?;) I totally agree with this!!!:D |
RE: Too much gun?
I think there are too many busy bodies worrying about what everyone else is shooting and not worrying about thierselfs and family anymore. I think alot of it has to do with insecuritys. What I am saying, is they feel somehow dejected cause others are not shooting what they are shooting. Thats all I can figure or why would they even care. I never ask the question is someone shooting too much gun or whatever. Ain't none of my business, I ain't paying for thier hunt, so what what do I care. I don't get any of thier meat.
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RE: Too much gun?
A few things on this post aggravte me.
1. Its not body size that dictates how a person percieves recoil. If you can handle it,then shoot it. Don't just stick with 243 because you are small. Keep trying so you know your threshold. While I can kill anything on the continent with a 22LR or probably a 22 short, that doesn't mean that larger is wrong. The extra horsepower is there if you ever need it. Of course as stated shot placement in foremost. 2. Large calibers make hamburger of deer etc...... When I was a kid I shot a 243 and lost lots of meat to shoulder shots with that rifle. I ended up headshooting for a long time because I didn't care for the mess. Then I bought a 300 wtby and had to shoot a deer in the body to see. Much to my amazement that large hunk of lead did less damage by far than my 243 ever did. Now again if you shoot a mag and decide for some silly reason to shoot a light bullet-- then yes I'll agree to meat damage. But not more than my 243 ever did. End result. Use what you can handle and don't let others persuade you. Proof is in the pudding and if you kill all yours with a 22lr and are happy so be it. But let the rest of us use what we want and, while I"m at it, shoot as far as we are capable of ethically. Jeff |
RE: Too much gun?
Nope, can't have too much gun.
Look, people in general are stupid, impractical, naive, and incredibly gullible to advertising. If a gun company can convince just one moron that he needs to buy a .460 Wby for "all purpose" hunting, and he can convince just one of his 3 friends that they need one too...well, it doesn't take long before everybody needs one. Does he need that .460? Will he ever shoot anything with it that can't be adequately killed with something smaller and cheaper? Will he ever have to defend himself from some charging wild beast that no other gun could possibly save him but the 460 will? No, no, and amazingly enough, no. But is it his right to have that .460 and hunt anything that he wants to with it in the statues of the law? You betcha. And God bless those laws that lets us own what we want for what we want. |
RE: Too much gun?
is the goverment working on anything big enough for deer or elk
 i'm looking for something that will field-dress, skin, and de-bone my deer, anybody got any suggestionsi'm also looking for a 4 wheel drive p/u that gets between 30-50mpg and can attain a top speed of 150mph, but that is quite enough that i can hear the radio |
RE: Too much gun?
M. T. Sounds as though a laser is what your looking for.:D A built in cooking system could also be installed. Now is the laser would melt a Hippo with one blast then it would soon be needed for elk and deer as well. Maybe the folks a Winchester could get to work on this right away. It would have to have an artificial recoil unit so it could be set to knock peoples eyes crossed or the macho feeling wouln't be there.:D
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RE: Too much gun?
LMFAO!!!! :D So what you are tryin to say is it needs a folding hand that come sout of the stock and smacks the taste out of our mouths after pulling the trigger? :D
M.T. Sign me up for one of them there trucks..I gots to have it!!! |
RE: Too much gun?
biggun
Go to the ablve site, click on firearms, the 14th picture down from the top shows a gun that dominates the entire wall. It's a TWO (2) gauge goose gun. Now boys that gun can do more damage to the shooter than a whole gaggle of enraged geese. That is definetly TOO much gun. :D |
RE: Too much gun?
M.T. Sign me up for one of them there trucks..I gots to have it!!! btw james i'll be checkin winchesters web site daily, let me know if you hear anything, i'd be real interested |
RE: Too much gun?
ORIGINAL: jmfa1957 In my own deservedly humble opinion, any gun that the shooter cannot shoot well due to excessive recoil or muzzle blast is "too much gun." Better to hit a hog behind the ear with a .243 than to miss a hog with a .416 Rigby, or worse yet, wound it and lose it. Better still, however, to hit it squarely where you want to with that .416 Rigby! If you can manage the recoil of a big boomer, power to ya. I've never tried anything bigger than the .30-06 to 8x57 class rifles, but someday I'd like to try one of the big calibers. I do feel very strongly that the NEED for magnum calibers is overstated by gun writers who need to put shoes on their kids feet, and by arms manufacturers who need to do the same. I see nothing at all wrong with accumulating a variety of different and interesting rifles in a variety of different and interesting calibers, but I do feel it is wrong to insist that you NEED a magnum rifle when we've taken millions of head of game with boring old calibers like .243, .25-06, .270, .30-30, .308 .30-06 etc. and so on. Shot placement is always the key to a humane kill. A more powerful gun is just a bit more forgiving for a slightly misplaced shot. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, at least until I have saved enough for my .458 WinMag.;) Well said jmfa1957....Well said! |
RE: Too much gun?
he stated that all you need for hogs is a little old .222. |
RE: Too much gun?
this might be of interest
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RE: Too much gun?
Whose to say your gun is too large? Perhaps the game is to small?
;) RA |
RE: Too much gun?
ORIGINAL: m.t.hands M.T. Sign me up for one of them there trucks..I gots to have it!!! btw james i'll be checkin winchesters web site daily, let me know if you hear anything, i'd be real interested |
RE: Too much gun?
"Too much gun" depends upon what you're hunting and how you are as a shooter. If you can shoot the eye out of rabbit at 100 yards then by all means shoot whatever you want. Not too many people eat the head. But if you're making a body shot you probably don't want to eat what a .338 left. It's an extreme example but you get my point. I'm not bothered by recoil but I still don't shoot any more than a 30-30 on deer. It leaves lots of meat still intact and kills the deer quick enough. If I'm hunting something with teeth and claws and an appetite for human flesh than I bring the big bores out to play.
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