do you own a overkill rifle?

[SpeedAKL]

Do you own a rifle that is, if you want to be honest, overkill for the game/target you are gunning for but that you love anyway precisely because it puts a huge hurt on the unfortunate object downrange? In other words, you don't NEED that powerful a cartridge to drop what you are shooting at but it is sure nice to have?

A guy at the range one time was sighting in his Weatherby Mark V. I asked him what the caliber was and he said ".300 Weatherby". he intended to use it on and he said, "It's my deer rifle rifle." I half-jokingly told him that it might be a little much against eastern whitetail here in the VA woods and he replied, "But you don't have to worry about them going down if you shoot right!"

 

[unwise11]

I use .308 for paper only so far. But the Howa will get its share of critters.

 

[dtvburns]

270 Weatherby mag for Westen NY white tail for me. Can you believe that nut with a 300 WBY mag?

 

[SpeedAKL]

I use .308 for paper only so far. But the Howa will get its share of critters.

I do the same; Remington 700 in SPS-V for me. Wish I could find more places to really stretch it's legs.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I think most folks shoot more rifle than they need in North America.

I was advised by a very serious hunter many years ago that a 6.5x55mm was good for most North American game up to the Big Bears and that a .375 H&H Magnum was just the right medicine for them...the dividing line for him was Moose, which he would use either caliber on.

I've seen calibers rise and wane over the years, but these two have held pretty steady as supremely accurate over a wide range of distances and having knockdown power out of proportion to their recoil

 

[dirtyjim]

my 375 h&h will be my main hog rifle this year and 300grain fmjrn's are also good on whitetails.
i'll have my 550 express going by this time next year and i think if i just point it at a deer the size of the hole in the end of the barrel will scare them to death

 

[TIMC]

I own 2 rifles in 45/70 and one AR in .50 Beowulf. I consider them overkill for most critters I hunt.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

300 Win Mag, 45-70 (loaded well above SAAMI), and a 458 Win Mag.

The 300 is a target gun (it has never killed anything except paper)

The 45-70 has/will kill deer, bear, and maybe hogs sometime (it is overkill for all of them)

The 458 I have had for a long time...It was an impulse buy at a gun show, and I have only fired it maybe 20 times. I bought it mostly just to say I own a "true" big bore...its a Winchester model 70 and I wouldn't sell it even for 3 times what I paid for it.

 

[kimberkid]

I use .308 for paper only so far. But the Howa will get its share of critters.

Same here ...
and we only have 300 yards so 308 really is over kill, but I have a M1A, Rem 700, AR-10, 2 HK-91 clones and a couple 8mm Mausers anyway ... you know, just in case

 

[Robert Wilson]

"But you don't have to worry about them going down if you shoot right!"

Well, sure, but that's true with just about any cartridge from the .257 Bob on up. I personally think it's kind of silly to try to justify the use of big guns for small purposes. Much better is just to say that you like it "because". When people ask me why I hunt pigs with a .416 Rigby I tell them it's because my .505 Gibbs doesn't always penetrate enough.

 

[Welding Rod]

416 Ruger... just because it is fun.

 

[unwise11]

my range has up to 300 yards. but my glass is not that good.

 

[bgrav321]

I remember in Africa .375 H & H was used for lion, and sometimes water buffalo, and some of the larger antelopes. I think you could take about anything in North America with a 30-06.

 

[XxWINxX94]

I've got a .338 WIN MAG in a Winchester model 70XTR with a Leupold. I don't really hunt, but if I do its normally Squirrels or some pesky critter messing up the garden

I certainly don't use the .338 on Squirrels, so yes, I do have an overkill caliber/rifle.

 

[9mmepiphany]

If you don't count a big grizzly or Brownie, you can take anything in North America with the 6.5x55mm...and the 30'06 would be lighter than I'd feel comfortable with aginst those two.

That's what I was trying to say, the .30'06 and .308 are really overkill for most game or not enough for others

 

[gatopardo]

7.62x54r

This babies will dive thru a motor block no questions asked.
As you can see they are steel core

 

[bpl]

I know three guys who deer hunt with a .338 Win Mag. I consider that a bit overkill for deer.

 

[GunTech]

One deer taken with a 458 win mag with 405gn cast lead.

 

[Snowdog]

Brown Cat, you didn't happen to purchase those rounds on-the-cheap from a Ukrainian vendor back in April of '86, did ya?

 

[Greg Mercurio]

Because I wanted them:

.416 Rigby Ruger No. 1
.375 H7H Ruger No. 1
.30-.338 Ruger No. 1


All are great fun to shoot with Trail Boss. Full power loads are not particularly brutal standing. Sitting at the bench is another story. Not recommended.

I took the .375 and .30-.338 to Akaska for a moose hunt. The .375 dropped a bull with one shot. He didn't move an inch. Horizontally that is.

 

[788Ham]

I've got an .375 Win. that I like to use deer hunting, over kill? Nah, but when hit on the level ground, they tend to step sideways a touch, using 200 gr. FP's.

 

[Maverick223]

My .375H&H is arguably overkill, but I intend to use it for a big bear hunt, and I prefer a decent margin in my favor. My project gun is a .458AmericanExpress (my own name for a nitrocellulose variant of the .45-120 BP cartridge), and I intend to load it up with a 450-465gr. solid and enough smokeless to push it 2250ft/sec.+ (on par with the .450NE#2)...intended use, maybe Am. buff. one of these days?...don't know, but whatever I use it for, it will be decidedly overkill...just the way I like it. BTW, it is going into a Browning 1885 falling block (that is to say no second chances), so there is "0" chance that i'll use it for dangerous game...big game?...maybe.

 

[esheato]

I've got a .405 Win that I have absolutely no purpose for other than bringing a smile to my face the once or twice a year I shoot it. Just too good of a deal to pass up.

 

[Beetle Bailey]

Well, I shoot ground squirrels with a .223 rem. The hits can sometimes be spectacular but I have had better results with it than with .22lr. I am thinking a .17 HMR would be about right but don't wanna buy a new rifle for that right now.

My medium and large game rifle is a .30-06. The list of game animals I try for is basically deer, wild boar, and hopefully one day a black bear. I think the .30-06 is a bit much for deer and meat pigs. Don't care for a trophy pig and I've never even seen a black bear. Was thinking of picking up a new hunting rifle in 6.5x55 actually since I want a lighter rifle and already shoot the 6.5x55 out of a surplus Swedish Mauser.

But .30-06 is just a convenient cartridge to buy and/or load for. I think the extra power is only bad if it causes you to flinch. Also more rifles are offered in .30-06 than 6.5x55.

 

[Bonesinium]

Anything I shoot would be more than sufficient for killing any sort of bug or creature that lands or crawls onto my target.