It is in the bullet, you see, that you have the one true connection with the game you hunt. If it fails, you fail. That sentence is a representation of that bit of caliber talk which never gets to the gun shop counter: a cartridge may be correct, ordinary and pleasant to shoot- and still in the wrong place when the animal is clanked like a tank.
The same field is punitive of narrow margins and modern bullets have extended the reach of smaller rounds. Large animals bring weighty bone, solid muscularity, steep gradient, and the type of unperfect opportunities that appear on the final hour of the final day. All of these cartridges have a legitimate purpose. The issue begins when they are placed in work they were never intended to do, and particularly in elk- and moose-sized game when penetration and bullet integrity is more important than the pride of ownership.
1. .223 Remington
The .223 established its reputation of having low recoil and high accuracy as well as a high volume of firing. In the big-game talk, however, it is on the fringe. Moderate frontal area and light-for-caliber bullets can be used to restrain penetration in the occurrence of heavy frontal shouldering or quartering angle.
Hunting hunters cite subsistence use in the far north as evidence that it is possible, but in that case it is a confined context: close range, broadside presentations and being able to wait until the ideal look is reached. When the conditions vary distance, angle, bone, wind, adrenaline, the margin of the.223 is lost.
2. 5.56×45mm NATO
Being the same size as a bullet and having a similar diameter as.223 does not make it a big-game twin in use. The dimensions of chambers and standard loadings are diverse and the strengths of the cartridge continue to be based on manageability and rapid follow-up shooting, rather than large-animal penetration.
Its useful range is limited, even with heavier bullets: it cannot be depended upon to do the type of damage and distraction that larger bodied animals would require in the event that the shot is less than perfect.
3. .22-250 Remington
The.22-250 is a velocity expert, and it behaves like one upon hitting. Violent, premature growth can be brought about by high speed, and that quality is it with thin-skinned predators and varmints.
Speed in the absence of bullet weight can be a curse on heavy game. Wound channel may remain superficial as the bullet tears open rapidly and loses weight. This is the last thing that is wanted when ribs become shoulders and lungs become behind thick, elastic muscle.
4. .243 Winchester
The iconic easy to shoot deer cartridge is the .243: it is flat enough, mild enough, and shoots well enough to promote good shooting. It is also directly on the border between bullet choice and shot choice being useful advice, and mandatory.
There is a reason behind energy rules of thumb being repeated, and a typical modern refinement is that 2,000 ft-lbs at the animal is the indication of a sound minimum of elk. Increasing range causes the .243 to drop below that window much faster, and the greater the weight of the bone, the worse. It can be employed; it only does not give second chances.
5. 7.62×39mm
The 7.62×39 can cleanly kill the deer in the woods at short distances when used with the right bullets and with good discipline in the shot angle. It has no secret, it has accessibility. Velocity and energy decay rapidly and that decreases expansion stability and penetration with increasing range.
When the game is bigger and more robust than a whitetail, or when all that can be shot is angled with more bulky parts, that drop-off will be still further than academic.
6. .30 Carbine
The history behind the .30 carbine is a cultish cartridge that has a cult-like following, however, its performance is in more of a high-end handgun radius than what is expected of a modern day big-game rifle. The range is short, penetration is short, and no attempt was made to design bullets such that they would punch deep through large-bodied game.
In the right line it can be of service, but when it is applied as a sort of a short rifle to take the place of actual big game cartridges it imposes too much on all things to be right.
7. .17 HMR
The.17 HMR is a small target gun. It glows with where small recoil, small herds, and shots into light targets are desired. On large game it exhausts its energies long before the conversation has started. It cannot be relied upon to make regular hits to vital organs with a small projectile and low levels of energy, through hide, ribs, and muscle. The big-game success has nothing to do with pursuing the noisiest cartridge. It is of creating just enough margin, in the form of bullet construction, weight and impact work, that a practical shot made will complete the task.
As one veteran hunter of elks said, forget about the .22 centerfires, 6mm, and others of the kind when the game is a large bull and the game is giving only one chance. Such an attitude is not so much caliber snobbery as it is admiration of what big animals will be able to take before they give up.
