Shot Placement or ....

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yep, swimmers.
We harvest 40% of our Caribou in the Fall rivers, and freeze them for winters freeze up. When the ice is thick, we hunt again.
We take the most advantage to c heck on the animals condition as well as minimize losses that way. Not to mention, easier to get inna boat after processing.
Not sporting at all, just feeding the family.

Just showing the proper bullet for the proper animal at the proper time, nothing is universal.

NO F'n way would I hunt a Caribou on land with a .22LR, thats where something with more 'Sissu' is required, and I use my Sako M-39, with Czeck LPS FMJ's. Doe the job every time.
 
MCGunner said:
My .257 Roberts and .308 are my primary rifles and my 7 mag collects dust waiting for the day I can afford an elk hunt.
Click to expand...

More proof that we are alike in mind...

The .257 Roberts is an fine round for deer, elk, black bear, hogs and can be used on Varmints, but doesn't have quite the range of a 223 because you have to use a heavier bullet to stabilze the rotation and when you do it make it arc more than the 223.

My 30-30 and .357 mag carbine have also proved to be effective white tail / mule / desert mule and hog getters.

7.62x39 gets an honorable mention here as well, but it is about the same as a 30-30 with a better flight pattern.

MCGunner- CZ makes a DANDY little carbine in 7.62x39 which is handy and light and a neat little game getter. I believe that this peice would qualify as one of Col. Cooper's famed yet elusive "Mountain Guns". I would encourage anyone to give it a shot. Has some SHTF utility also, which makes it doubly cool. Also comes in 223.

http://www.cz-usa.com/product_detail.php?id=15
 
:confused:

"They chamber it in the 7.62X39 that's pretty darn close. "


LOLOL :D

"Close" don't count. A miss is as good as a mile.:uhoh:

It would be nice to have a bolt carbine that used the same ammo as my lever-actions and my Contender G2. The .30/30 is the better of the two rounds anyway, albeit not by any huge margin.

:)
 
but doesn't have quite the range of a 223 because you have to use a heavier bullet to stabilze the rotation and when you do it make it arc more than the 223.
Click to expand...

A feather falls just as fast as a brick (in a vacuum). Bullet weight has nothing to do with trajectory. BC of the bullet and initial velocity are the determiners of drop. This is what gives the .50 BMG such a flat trajectory, what with BCs over 1.0. I'm pushing a 100 grain bullet to 3150 fps. In my Speer manual, they're showing over 3200 fps for a 50 grain bullet in .223, close, but advantage .223. Best BC for a flat base 50 grain spitzer in my Speer manual is .255, significantly less than my Game King. I show a BC for the 100 grain .257 game king of .388. I doubt the .22 can beat that with a good boat tail, something like a Barnes X bullet. Point blank range is in the neighborhood of 275 yards. I'm not sure how the .223 fairs in comparison.

I ain't saying the .257 is flatter shooting than the .223, but I'm guessing there isn't a lot of difference either way. For taking out zombie prairie dogs at long ranges, the .22-250 is better than either by virtue of higher velocities. And, then there's the .22 Swift.

As to the 7.62x39, it ain't too far off the .30-30, not enough to get all worrid about. I have a couple of SKSs, one bubba hunting gun. It's not as accurate as a CZ bolt gun, but accurate enough for it's 200 yard limits for deer hunting. You might can squeeze another 50-75 yards out of a .30-30 with Hornady leverlution or with a Nosler 150 BT handload, 100 more yards. That would be the advantage, but if I'm going to need more'n 200 yards effective range, I'll have a .308 or something to do it with. :D

I took the scope off my bubba SKS and use it for a truck, ranch rifle, now. It's almost as handy as a .30-30 lever gun and a lot more rugged, though not quite as light. :D I kept the 5 round mag in it so I could carry it one handed at the balance point easily.
 
Last edited:
McG,

I was saying that with a light bullet the .257 will not be as accurate as the .223 and with a heavy enough bullet to stabilize the round, then it isn't as flat shooting.

MOST people wouldn't notice or care, I mean the vast majority of varmint hunters are not shooting at 300+ yard ranges where it would be noticed.

But you are right on everything you said.

I am in love with .257 roberts, greatest game round ever invented IMO... The 7.62x39 and .357 / 38 are my other favorites. Everything else I may use, but those are my favs.
 
Last edited:
Gotcha. Yeah, I don't care much for the light bullets in .257", not in my rifle, anyway.

I'm going to try Goosegestapo's li'l gun load in my .357 carbine. I've confirmed his claims on reloader's nest. This looks like an awesome powder for rifle barrels, not sure how it'll do in handguns, but over 2000 fps from a 20" barrel is pushing .30-30/.35 Remington territory. WOW. I mean, I've killed deer with it at 1850 and 1470 (handgun) with the 158 grain bullet, but that's a significant improvement on the cartridge. I haven't messed with some of the newer powders in this caliber, just have always shot my standard loads I worked up 30 years ago. I need to get serous about the little .357 carbine. There are gains to be had, here. :D

As much as I like the .257 for deer, I think .308 is my favorite all around caliber. I don't do varmint hunting. Oh, I've shot a few coyotes, but just targets of opportunity while I was deer hunting. If I was a prairie dog hunter, I'd be into the high velocity .22 stuff, but I have deer rifles that are superior to .22 and are quite easy to shoot. If ya can't handle the little .257's recoil, in the words of the governator, you're a girly man. :D
 
Up until this year I mainly used a 7MM mag and a 30-06. Due to injuires I tried a .223. I am a firm believer in shot placement. I was surprised and pleased at how effective the .223 was on big deer.
 
This year I used a 20" barreled rifle in 6.8 SPC Remington. At 135 yrds my buck had just as much damage as the deer I used to shoot with my 280 or 30-06. My big advantage was the lack of recoil and and total steadiness in the hold with the short rifle. One of the great factors in any weapon choice should be the weight of the hunted game animal. It doesn't take much gun to harvest a 100 Lbs deer. But, if your local deer are 250 + you would cull some small calibers. Close and long range has the same factors involved, as does bullet weight.
 
I saw where mbt2001 and Shawnee mentioned CZs. I own three CZs now and two of them were used this year to take my deer with. Those single set triggers have won me over! Talk about helping me shoot better. I never knew how much a trigger can make or break you in shooting accurately until I bought one of these rifles and now I am not sure I will ever buy anything else. These rifles are great! If you have never fired one if you ever get the chance too you should take advantage and shoot it. Shoot it with the trigger in the regular position and then set it forward and shoot it in that position.
 
If the cartridge is up to the job, shot placement is everything. If you're trying to take a lion with a spitball, well I don't think placement is going to do much for ya. lol.

If I have a choice of shooting a deer's heart with either a 68grn .22 or a 250grn .358, I'll take the .358...there is, after all, no replacement for displacement.
 
Its all about shot placement, the 22-250 with the right bullet and proper shot placement you can drop your deer and not worry about it. my son shot the biggest deer i've seen on the ground in Texas last year with a Ruger M77 Mark II target rifle in 220 swift with 60gr Nosler Partition handloads.
 
Shot placement is without doubt the key but I do not think I would feel good about shooting a deer from the north where they can weigh north of 250 lbs with a 22-250 or even a 243. That is just too much mass for the bullet to travel through.
 
We have talked a lot about shot placement and I wonder how many of you that have responded would take a 400 yard shot? 500 yard shot?

I am reloading some rounds right now to take to my father-in-laws and we are going to see what we can do at 300, 400 and 500 yards. I think we both believe we will shoot ok at these distances...not so much based on our ability but based on the rifles we have. They are all REAL accurate rifles and I guess we both believe that using them will allow us to make the shot required at that distance...it is going to be fun to see what we do. I have 4 life size deer targets we are going to set up after we shoot at a couple of the distances to see if in fact we can hit the vitals.
 
A good point was made in this thread about downloading larger calibers for deer-sized game. One of my favorite loads is a .300 win mag loaded with 130gr soft points at 2800fps. Very light recoil and DRT deer medication. On the other end of the charts is a 180 SGK at nearly 3300fps that's good for anything in North America.

T2E
 
i dont know if this has been mentioned but this is my opinion.
i agree that bullet placement is the most important, take a look at bow hunting.

however, if the shot is less than perfect, bigger is better, or at least most energy, yada yada yada.

another example, bigger=better is the trend in self defense carry, because less than perfect shots will probably happen
 
I do not think anyone would disagree with the statement that a shot that is marginal but is made by a larger caliber weapon as a rule will cause more damage and therefore you have a better chance at recovering your animal. But I also KNOW that it is more important for someone to shoot a caliber they can shoot accurately. If someone is shooting a caliber that while he has his finger on the trigger getting ready to shoot the animal he is thinking about the recoil of the rifle he is about to fire he is shooting TOO much gun!
 
.308 doesnt have enough recoil to cause flinch and if it does perhaps they should think of a heavier gun.
if that is out of the question more practice should be done.

of course i've killed my share of game with 6.5 se.
any rifleman should be able to handle a moderate cartridge like the aught 6
 
.243w is an excellent big Game round with 100gr bullets.
Seen many a Caribou and plenty of Brown Bears go down with the .243w scrambling their innerds.
I used a Rem700 ADL with the cheek and comb removed , for years with open sights.

If I do my part, the rifle does its part and the bullet does its too, then we have meat.
 
Last edited:
I went through a similar scenario ten years ago. I made my final choice based on the sucsess my wife and I had enjoyed deer hunting over the years. Hers with a .243, and mine with a 7mm Mag. I settled for a model 700 Mountain Rifle chambered in 7mm08 and have never looked back. The old 7-mag has been retired to the back of the gun safe ever since.
 
Ive shot 2 deer with my 12ga (rifled sabots), needless to say both were dead before they knew what hit them. Ive got a buddy who claims to have shot a deer with a 223 at 375 yards. I would believe him just because ive seen him shoot and he is a great shot.
 
An old timer around here killed bear with a 1892 Winchester he was proud to own. When he bought it in El Paso the only one they had left was a 25-20, they were out of 44's. But it was a WINCHESTER 1892, how could he go wrong.
He was telling his story in a El Paso bar and someone said "you can't kill bears with a 25-20!".
"Hmmmm then all those bears I ate wer'nt dead yet ? "
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
  • Locked
Shot placement
Replies
3
Views
1K
Art Eatman
A
Steve Traxler
  • Locked
.243 shot placement on deer
2 3
Replies
68
Views
9K
Ks5shooter
Ks5shooter
V
  • Locked
Emergency food hunting. Head shots or body?
2
Replies
25
Views
1K
JoeDanger
J
HB
  • Locked
  • Poll
Shot Placement?
Replies
17
Views
1K
T.R.
T
alsaqr
  • Locked
Another Buck Culled From Gene Pool
Replies
0
Views
243
alsaqr
alsaqr
Back
Top