On paper plenty of rifle cartridges are impressive. High groups at 100 yards, crisp velocity figures, a reputation that is based on coyotes or steel can turn a round into one that is good enough when the tag is in the pocket. Big game audits such assumptions. Once the bone is heavy, distances are distorted, and angles are not perfect, then the underpowered or unmatched cartridge ceases to be a trivia point and it becomes a problem of recovery.
1. .223 Remington
The.223 Remington is not difficult to shoot, and that is precisely the reason why it ends up in a duty it never intended to perform. A typical load propels a 55 grains bullet at 3200 or more fps to a range of about 1280 ft-lb muzzle energy-good enough to shoot varmints, and deer at modest ranges with caution, but a mere scrap of insurance against heavier game. Bonded or monolithic bullets do not solve the problem of the small frontal area and low mass of the cartridge where it is necessary to break heavy shoulder structure and still propel deeply. It is capable of killing cleanly in ideal conditions; it is just that field conditions are hardly ideal any longer.
2. 5.56 NATO
It has the same bullet diameter as 223 but is usually under higher pressure and can also add some velocity to the bullet. The addition of that margin does not alter what is most important on large game, penetration and discontinuity of the tissues, as the shot cuts an angle, or the animal is a tank. Caliber loads are useful and do not make the platform an elk-and-moose tool. In the areas where it is permissible to shoot deer, the practical restrictions are evident right after the shot is straight on other than a broadside rib-only presentation.
3. .22-250 Remington
The standard predator round, often used is the .22-250 which is the classic laser-flat round, and light bullets will often travel at speeds in excess of 3,800 fps. Speed itself is actual performance but only when coupled with sufficient bullet mass and construction to continue to drive after being hit. Light bullets, as little as.22 caliber, will open quickly and recede prematurely on larger animals, particularly when it strikes harder tissue or bone. It is precisely the characteristics of the cartridge which render it such a poor fit in deep, continuous penetration of vital in big game, namely, its flat trajectory and rapid expansion.
4. .243 Winchester
The .243 Winchester is in that nice zone of low recoil and useful accuracy and it has packed freezers with deer and pronghorn. It can make a maydeal deer cartridge within reasonable ranges with 90-to 100-grain bullets. Its weakness is manifested in cases where the hunter expects it to punch above its weight on game of elk or moose size, in which case more sectional density and allowance of imperfect angles are required. The location of the shot always counts, however the size of the cartridge increases the forgiveness when the presentation is quartering, animal is in motion or the wind is playing its game.
5. 7.62x39mm
The 7.62x39mm is resilient and common and its medium recoil makes it friendly. Even standard ballistics of approximately 123-grain at about 2,350 fps and approximately 1,500 ft-lb at the muzzle is effective on the deer at close range.
After about 150 yards the velocity and energy drop rapidly and the cartridge is much more sensitive to the angle of shot and type of bullet. It is not a question of its ability to kill, but of its ability to do so in a consistent manner, at the distances where wind and anatomy are arranged to favour shallow penetration.
6. .30 Carbine
.30 Carbine made was never intended to be a contemporary big-game round, built around M1 Carbine. Average loads propel a 110-grain bullet to an approximate of 1,990 fps, an achievement similar to that of hot handguns compared to the usual deer cartridge. It is able to hunt small to medium game at close range and with selective choice of shot. What it fails to provide is the penetration reserve that hunters use when the shot cuts into a heavier bone or when they have to travel further into the animal than anticipated.
7. .17 HMR
The.17 HMR is a small-game gun, not a big-game gun. A 17-grain bullet at 2,550 fps yields somewhat more than 250 ft-lb of muzzle energy, which is nowhere near the amount required to get good penetration into the vitals of a deer-sized animal. It may be surgical on paper and disastrous on little varmints, but its light bullet has no weight sufficient to penetrate deeply through flesh and bone. That gap manifests itself in the field as inadequate margin when the impact is not optimum.
The simplest form of engineering is in cartridge choice: to find the tool that fits in the actual constraints of the job. Bullet weight, bullet velocity, construction and realistic distance must all conform to anatomy and shot angles that can hardly be co-ordinated. There is nothing new about the field lesson: accuracy and low recoil are merits, although they cannot substitute penetration and downrange stability. Almost enough will be the answer soon when the animal is weighed in hundreds of pounds.
