do you own a overkill rifle?

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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.
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If you like the full length stock look, the CZ 550FS is a beautiful rifle at a very reasonable price...they also chamber the round in their half stock 550. If you like a stainless/polymer look/feel, the Tikka is very nice too
 
.500 S&W , .416 rig, .375H&H, As soon as the barrel is done a .450 nitro (just for fun and watching pigs go POOF) All these I use for pig hunting sometimes (The .500 always on my side for backup).. Too much??? naaaaaaaaaaaaa Big hole=dead faster and you will find, when using hard cast, you actually ruin LESS meat than you will with one of them handy dandy barn burning speed rockets.
 
"...you don't have to worry about them going down if you shoot right!..." That applies to any cartridge.
"...most folks shoot more rifle than they need in North America..." Yep. Starting with any magnum of any kind. Isn't marketing a grand thing? 20 plus years of the gun rag writers espousing them. Excessive felt recoil and muzzle blast with no real advantage.
 
Any rifle can be considered overkill depending on the game you're shooting with it. My CZ .308 is good for just about anything in the lower 48, but I had to have that Browning BAR in .338 Win Mag. For large elk, bear and the likes the .338 is ideal, but for most anything I'd be routinely hunting my .308 works just fine.
 
9mmepiphany said:
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
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This is the truth. the 6.5x55 will handle up to moose without issues that can be traced to cartridge power. The key is shot placement, and I don't mean headshots.
 
I'd don't have any problems with someone hunting an animal with an "overkill" rifle, at least within certain limitations (a .50 BMG doesn't belong on a deer hunt, for example), and assuming that they can handle such a rifle. I like large caliber rifles myself, and fully intend to pick up a .338 Lapua Mag and a .416 Rigby eventually, just because those cartridges intrigue me (in very different ways). In time I may find myself hunting with those rifles as well.

But, the reality is that it doesn't take a whole lot of gun to kill most animals on this continent. I'd happily carry a .308 or .30-06 against anything except the larger species of bear (which I don't hunt anyway). I've known of some old timers who were hunting elk with .270's and .243's for many years... the elk never knew that they weren't supposed to die!
 
I went javelina hunting for the first time this year. Took a model 70 winchester in .243. IMO, that was way too much gun for a javelina. I'm going with a .223 next year
 
Haven't hunted anything but paper in a few decades, but I remember from my younger years that a .220 Swift doesn't leave much when it hits a ground squirrel.

Just kind of a red poof and a red greasy spot on the rock with a few pieces of fur floating down in the spotting scope.

I'd call that overkill.
 
ferrel dogs with a 50 bmg, i guess its not really hunting but its the only thing i have to contribute
 
I own two myself, the first one is a Ruger Express rifle in 375 H&H. I fell in love with this beautiful walnut stocked rifle and do shoot occasionly downloaded with lead bullets. Mmy second rifle is a post '64 Winchester Model 70 in 338 WM with an older Lyman scope. It is my bear protection rifle that I take to Alaska and Canada for my yearly fishing trips. Haven't needed it yet but have come close. It just gives my a warm fuzzy feeling to have it with me and I do know how it will perform with Nosler 250 gr Partition bullets and I do know how to shoot this rifle.
 
Two 375 &H, one 458 Win mag, 5 45-70's all used for paper targets. No elephants, rhino's or buffalo in my garden though.
 
My largest bore in rifle caliber is .308 which is used for hogs in my M1A. Next in line is my .280 that is used for deer. Niether of which constitute overkill for thier intended purpose. Now, with that in mind take either one of these two and shoot a squirrel/armadillo/possum/skunk and now I have an "overkill rifle". I'd say my biggest overkill situation was either a squirrel with a .243 or the turtle with a 16 ga. slug.
 
The .270win. is sure fun to use on them coyotes, bobcats, fox, coons, opossums, skunks, rabbits, squirrels, rats, field mice exc.....
 
I used to use a 7x57Ack on yotes and g-hogs. That count? The thing was 25# and I used 160gr out of it.

Build a plain old 7x57 now for the same purpose.
 
I'm not sure there is such a thing as over-kill, because we hunters believe we have an ethical responsibility to make a quick, clean kill. More power, flatter trajectory both contribute to that. It's like asking is your rifle too accurate? I used my .257 Wea Mag, .300 Wea Mag, .338 Win Mag and .375 H&H Mag effectively at close range and distant shots. I still have a .300 Win Mag Mark V, but I don't use it much per the recoil. My .30-06 Sprg will do as much as it, and with less punishment.

No such thing.

Geno
 
My first buck was taken with a .22 Long rifle.
I have since gotten deer with calibers up to .458 (.45-70).
It all depends on how much power you want to have, same as the vehicle you drive. Do you need to have 350 HP to go down the freeway?
I know of hunters who hunt deer with elephant guns and others that hunt with calibers that are the minimum acceptable by both state and hunter opinion.
Dead is dead, no matter if your hit with a Kenworth or a VW.
Put the round where it needs to be and do it with 1 shot.
Most everything on the market is going to be overkill for some type of game.

Ray
 
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