Some rifle rounds become known among other bullets, and they spread like wildfire. They shoot straight, they are comfortable out of a bench, and they appear great on a ballistics track. Then the true test presents itself in rough terrain, in bad light, in an animal that is a sucker of errors.
It is hardly the hang-up that is accuracy. It is effect at the point of impact bone and muscle penetration, disruption of the vitals well enough, and outcome that will stick together at angles that are not-so-perfect. The energy number might provide a way to conceptualize the problem, yet the hunters remain required to relate the energy number to the bullet structure and the effective ranges of shots.
1. .223 Remington
The low recoil and non-strenuous accuracy that the .223 had established its reputation with were enticing, and that could easily mislead hunters into thinking that the round is a one-shot answer to all problems. It is about 1,280 foot-pounds at the muzzle with the usual 55-grain loads, but the larger problem with big game is the small wound passage and small margin when angles become quartering or when bone is involved.
On deer, it may be used with long-disciplined placement of the shot and a real hunting bullet, yet with the small opening and irregular exits may leave thin blood on the ground when all is not right. That makes recovery a more laborious and questionable task than it should be.
2. 5.56 NATO
Due to its similarity with the.223 in terms of bullet diameter, 5.56 is frequently included in the same close enough discussion. And indeed it does run at higher pressure than.223 and it may acquire some velocity, but it does not alter the fact that when a lightweight.22-caliber projectile hits thick shoulder and heavy ribs, something happens.
In big-bodied game, the same spills over: shallow penetration in hard angles, terminal performance which here greatly depends upon the design of the bullet, and upon the location of it.
3. .22-250 Remington
The .22-250 is power in a bottle, which can regularly hit 3,800 feet per second with light bullets, and it flattens varmints with command. The same speed is also an issue when the bullet is constructed to not penetrate the larger animals in a deep controlled penetration.
When using thin varmint bullets, the chances are of early blow-up to the near side and lack of reach to the vital core. Despite the presence of controlled-expansion choices, it is still a small-bore capable of rewarding marginal hits with small blood trails and random exit points.
4. .243 Winchester
The W243 is mere inches away between being an ideal deer cartridge and being too light to attack the big stuff, depending on the animal and the conditions. This is further compounded by the fact that energy thresholds are being thrown around in isolation but typical suggestions are 900 to 1,200 foot-pounds deer and 1,500-2,000 foot-pounds elk-sized animals.
Real-world experience shows it can kill elk under tight constraints. One hunter described: “[I’ve killed] a total of eight [elk with the .243]… none over 200 yards.” Another voice, D’Arcy Echols, put the boundary in plain terms: “If the hunter has enough experience with elk to wait like an archer for the perfect broadside shot… you’ll have a dead elk.” The cartridge can perform, but it demands restraint and leaves little room when the shot is angled, rushed, or threaded through cover.
5. 7.62x39mm
This was the round of rugged reliability, rather than of long range authority. Normal loads propel a 123-grain bullet at approximately 2,350 fps, and the muzzle energy is approximately 1,500 ft. lbs. At small ranges, that can be done with deer using the right bullets.
Beyond 150 yards the speed and energy are soon wasted, and that narrowing performance envelope appears in the form of a shorter penetration and a less reliable expansion, particularly when the hunter attempts to push the performance envelope beyond the open country ranges where it was not designed to be competitive.
6. .30 Carbine
The .30 Carbine is a misjudged weapon since it is convenient, lightweight rifles that come in handy, and carry like a dream. It is ballistically similar to a hot handgun, and typical of a modern big-game rifle round, it will send a 110-grain shot out to about 1,990 fps.
It can work at a very close range, on small to medium game. On large game, it burdens itself out of penetration and bullet integrity quickly, and the deficit appears in precisely those places where it is most needed: through shoulder construction and into deep vitals.
7. .17 HMR
The.17 HMR is an accuracy rimfire which is designed to kill small varmints. Ordinary loads propel a 17-grain bullet at a rate about 2,550 fps, and a very slight distance of slightly more than 250 foot-pounds at the muzzle. Such energy is not an opinion, it is a hard limit of what the cartridge is capable of reliably doing when the target is a few hundred pounds and is forcing bone through the target.
Incidentally, where it is technically permissible on deer, the margin of error is maddeningly slim, exits cannot be relied upon, and recovery can become a lengthy low trace when the shot is not a perfect one. None of these cartridges are bad. Majority are exceptional in the task they had been designed to perform- targets, varmints, predators, or close-range deer with deliberate bullet selections.
This mismatch occurs when reputation outstrips physics and a hunter finds himself or herself requesting a small bore or range constrained round to bear the weight of an animal several times larger. That’s what gaps as in the field there is shallow penetration, erratic exits and recoveries that become increasingly more difficult at a time when the conditions are already stacked against the hunter.
