I found this thread, with news articles on the Big Bend Shooting at bigbendchat to be very interesting.
http://www.bigbendchat.com/portal/f...1/?PHPSESSID=55cce8d2e8b9dc16201955843757ffe7
Obviously given the number of rounds fired, and the potential for spotting the shots, even bad shooters were able to hit innocents at 300 yards. That was not as great of a challenge as a first round hit with a 44 Mag or 30-30 at 300 yards.
The debate of “effective range” has too many variables, obviously there is less elevation error with a flat shooting cartridge, and there are bullet expansion limits, but then what is the effective range of the shooter? And what is a reasonable range?
Last week I was talking to an Acquaintance who pays thousands each year to belong to hunting clubs. The least number of times he has been in the woods in a year is six trips. He has shot many deer over the decades. Due to club rules, the bucks have to have antlers beyond the ears, and there may be a requirement for a minimum number of points. His experience is that all the deer he has shot are 150-200 pounds. These are actually large deer in Northern Alabama as the average deer shot around here is 90 pounds.
Also, the furthest shot he has made was at 130 yards . This was based on yardage tables in the hunting blind from which he made the shot. The two deer I have shot were less than 25 yards. At those distances I would not claim that the 44 Magnum is outclassed by the 30-06 and 300 Win Mag that my bud uses. And I would not say that you “need” a 30-06/300 Win Mag for 90 pound deer at 130 yards.
Remember that the 44/40 was an extremely popular cartridge and killed an enormous amount of deer and it is far less powerful than a 44 Magnum. Of course the 30-30 is a better hunting round than a 44/40, but don’t discount the power of a 44 magnum at 100 yards. It packs a heck of a thump. My M1894 produced such an unpleasant recoil that I had to put a rubber recoil pad on the thing.
I have had fun with the thing, shooting offhand at my 12” diameter ½” thick gong target at 100 yards. A 1700 fps 240 grain bullet (measured muzzle velocity) hits that gong target with a powerful thump. It hits so hard I won’t shoot the target any closer than 100 yards with the thing.
Those 44 magnum rounds eventually busted the welds loose, and the target finally broke when I hit it with another round (I think 303 Brit cast bullet.)
Unless you are shooting down power line clearings, or across some wide fields, a 44 Magnum lever action will deliver all the power needed for Southern deer and you are not really limited by distance. You can not see very far in the thick woods around here.
Though, in my opinion, the 30-30 is the better round from 100 yards to 200 yards.
http://www.bigbendchat.com/portal/f...1/?PHPSESSID=55cce8d2e8b9dc16201955843757ffe7
Obviously given the number of rounds fired, and the potential for spotting the shots, even bad shooters were able to hit innocents at 300 yards. That was not as great of a challenge as a first round hit with a 44 Mag or 30-30 at 300 yards.
The debate of “effective range” has too many variables, obviously there is less elevation error with a flat shooting cartridge, and there are bullet expansion limits, but then what is the effective range of the shooter? And what is a reasonable range?
Last week I was talking to an Acquaintance who pays thousands each year to belong to hunting clubs. The least number of times he has been in the woods in a year is six trips. He has shot many deer over the decades. Due to club rules, the bucks have to have antlers beyond the ears, and there may be a requirement for a minimum number of points. His experience is that all the deer he has shot are 150-200 pounds. These are actually large deer in Northern Alabama as the average deer shot around here is 90 pounds.
Also, the furthest shot he has made was at 130 yards . This was based on yardage tables in the hunting blind from which he made the shot. The two deer I have shot were less than 25 yards. At those distances I would not claim that the 44 Magnum is outclassed by the 30-06 and 300 Win Mag that my bud uses. And I would not say that you “need” a 30-06/300 Win Mag for 90 pound deer at 130 yards.
Remember that the 44/40 was an extremely popular cartridge and killed an enormous amount of deer and it is far less powerful than a 44 Magnum. Of course the 30-30 is a better hunting round than a 44/40, but don’t discount the power of a 44 magnum at 100 yards. It packs a heck of a thump. My M1894 produced such an unpleasant recoil that I had to put a rubber recoil pad on the thing.
I have had fun with the thing, shooting offhand at my 12” diameter ½” thick gong target at 100 yards. A 1700 fps 240 grain bullet (measured muzzle velocity) hits that gong target with a powerful thump. It hits so hard I won’t shoot the target any closer than 100 yards with the thing.
Those 44 magnum rounds eventually busted the welds loose, and the target finally broke when I hit it with another round (I think 303 Brit cast bullet.)
Unless you are shooting down power line clearings, or across some wide fields, a 44 Magnum lever action will deliver all the power needed for Southern deer and you are not really limited by distance. You can not see very far in the thick woods around here.
Though, in my opinion, the 30-30 is the better round from 100 yards to 200 yards.
