Follow up on gun suggestion thread?

[Randy]

That site is good. Notice how the 7mm-08 is almost perfect for most NA big game. They may not mention it specifically but they mention calibers/rounds on each side of it. Add that to the fact that the 7mm-08 is available in lightweight, accurate rifles and what other gun could you want?

 

[Racor]

I know a well placed shot with a ball peen hammer between a deer's eyeballs have sufficient velocity and energy to kill a 219lb buck.

Hmm...will have to add one to the old hunting bag this fall!

The remington site is tilted towards remington but does give an idea of animal vs caliber vs cover. I'm still up in the air on which caliber will be my first rifle. Don't think I want to slug hunt this year (although I've dropped many deer with a slug...hmmm wonder how slugs work on pigs?). Going to venture out and decide on a rifle this month.

 

[Bucky T]

Shoot, a slug will work on anything!

Those are some deer slamming guns!

Tommy

 

[Buzz]

I read the Remington site and I suppose the info is OK but some of it is not so great either.

For example:


Whitetail Deer, Centerfire (close cover)
What Experienced Hunters Say... ".30 caliber or greater to minimize bullet deflection."

That is an old myth that has been dispoven over and over again.

The answer to your question is there really ISN'T a clear cut answer. You want something that can be able to break light bone structures and have enough "momentum" to carry the bullet through the animal creating as much internal damange as possible. It sounds simple enough. Bullet construction and shot placement are more important than velocity and bullet weight. Even something like a .44 Magnum handgun will easily penetrate deer sized game (and larger). It will also leave an impressive wound channel and blood trail, yet it has less "energy" than a .223 rifle.

 

[hambone44]

.270 WSM, great speed, accuracy, and PUNCH.

 

[Racor]

Shoot, a slug will work on anything!

Those are some deer slamming guns!

Tommy

I agree. I'm giving my slug gun to my nephew for some hunting this season. So now I have to buy something new!

 

[Lostoutlaw]

Cpiper I like that ball peen hammer deal so let me and you go together you hold deer and let me hit deer no sound or loud rachet Then we come home with Deer and let Woody mount them KOOL

 

[GT-40 GUY]

If I am not mistaken. The state of Georgia allows any center fire cartridge to be legal for taking deer. This means that the 25 cal. automatic pistol cartridge is legal. That means that about 5 lbs. of energy at 100 yds. is sufficient to take deer.
I guess sometimes things get by our legislators.

 

[Lead Poison]

My simplistic view of bullet performance...

Let me begin by saying that I do not believe that soft point bullets begin to expand the moment they exit the barrel?

Deer can be killed with any of the following;
1. Large slow moving bullets that penetrate deeply
2. Small high velocity bullets that expand rapidly
3. Medium weight, medium velocity bullets that do a little of both

Shot placement is the key and along with it, some type of truama to the deer's circulatory and/or nervous system that causes its bodily functions to be interupted and eventually stopped.

Personally, I like to have my bullets completely penetrate the deer, while doing considerable damage to all vital organs it passes through. After the bullet does this, I want it to exit the deer leaving copious amount of blood on the ground.

 

[Slasher]

website tables info and more than you need to know

Chuck Hawks Gun pages

This is a great site for the differences and reccomendations of calibers for different game animals. I especially found the s/d or sectional density info educational and cleared up why some calibers do better than we think they should and why some don't do as well as expected...

 

[RJY66]

That site is good. Notice how the 7mm-08 is almost perfect for most NA big game. They may not mention it specifically but they mention calibers/rounds on each side of it. Add that to the fact that the 7mm-08 is available in lightweight, accurate rifles and what other gun could you want?

Question about the 7mm08. It sounds like a really nice round for deer hunting, but is their any practical difference between the 7mm08 shooting a 140 grain bullet and a .308 shooting a 150? Could the recoil possibly be that much less? Also, with the .308, if I wanted to hunt Elk or something I could move up to the 180 grain bullet in a factory load, whereas I would probably have to handload the 7mm08 to get a heavier bullet.

 

[Buzz]

Question about the 7mm08. It sounds like a really nice round for deer hunting, but is their any practical difference between the 7mm08 shooting a 140 grain bullet and a .308 shooting a 150? Could the recoil possibly be that much less?

No. There is very little difference. The .308 can shoot a 150g bullet about the same speed as the 7mm/08 shoots a 140g but it doesn't mean anything in the field. Unless you are terribly recoil shy - there's not a practical difference there. About 1 ft/lb of difference. Due to cartridge length limitations, 180g is about the practical limit for the .308 Winchester.