Do larger calibers really compensate for bad shots?

[Deleted member 25294]

wolf76

PLEASE KEEP POLITICS OUT OF IT

Holy Christ man... @Len Backus
I can't take your petty intervention every time someone uses a 3 letter curse word or makes a mild political joke!
This site is getting way to PC and commercial for my taste...
Please consider this an official request to remove my profile from your forum

 

[Len Backus]

Done

 

[zog]

I decided to answer to this permanent question by a real test in SAF, 48 gnus reserved, I selected 3 calibers, a 375 HH (Blaser), a 416 REM Mag (Blaser) and a 458 Lott (Mauser K98) and for each caliber two weight of bullets, light and heavy.

All the shoots have been recorded and the animals autopsied...great work.

Good post, Pat. Was this written up anywhere that we could see it?

 

[zog]

The result was :

. the key factor is the placement, more important than any other in reasonable limits,

Pat, no argument since most of believe this already, but did you do something in your test to verify this? Did you change shot placement with the same caliber to see the results?

 

[DSheetz]

The way I see it this is a family oriented site for people of all ages and sex's to come to , to learn and discuss things that pertain to shooting of all types long range , bench and hunting my long range may be 300 yards yours may be 600 yards of more that is up to you to determine . We talk bullet types and their performance . reloading how to's building of rifles ect. . I don't care how old or young you are you have something I can learn from you . It doesn't matter what your political views are or what your religious beliefs might be , I don't care what your sexual orientation is I came to this site to learn and there are rules set forth that we said we would abide by . I want to give my word and keep it as when I was growing up I was taught to treat others as I wanted to be treated and that my word when given was the way people saw me , if I kept it they saw me as honest if I broke my word they saw me as not trustworthy . Just my thoughts you have been given the choice to make up your own mind and do as you please with the way you want to live your life .

 

[dsteve931]

BIG ANIMALS = BIG CALIBERS

 

[.300 Dakota]

I've had the pleasure (and displeasure) of guiding a lot of spot and stalk hog hunters in my day, using everything from 223's to 338's. Large boar hogs are tough animals that don't like to bleed much, even when shot through. It's my experience (on hogs) that a poor hit, regardless of caliber, will more likely than not result in a lost animal.

Hit a 200lb boar too far back with a 375 Ruger propelling a 300 grain Sierra at 2700 f/s muzzle velocity at about 80 yards (think it deflected off some brush closer to the boar. Darn thing ran 20 yards with everything inside blended extra thin and no exit. Had to throw away a back ham and a front shoulder due to excessive damage and mixing with gut contents. It was like the pig swallowed a grenade...and it STILL ran! This boar was 200lbs. Imagine a 600 -800 pounder with a head of steam! Shot placement is a must on tough game. No compensating with anything capable of being fired from the shoulder!

 

[Bravo 4]

Might I ask:
Do you think a lesser cartridge would have done such damage? Would it have made it further?

 

[Orange Dust]

Ive killed a few myself. Pretty sure it would have been lost with a 6.5 creed or such.

 

[mark223]

This is why I stopped coyote hunting with a buddy that uses an AR15. that was his mentality - spray and pray.

I use an AR for a variety of reasons but spraying & praying aren't any of them. However there was pretty famous person who did exactly that, or at least for his time. Teddy Roosevelt mostly used Winchester lever action rifles. His favorite was a mod. 95 in .405 cal. One of his more famous sayings was, "I may not know how to shoot well, but I know well, how to shoot often!" That may not be exactly correct but it's not far off.

 

[just country]

moring, shot ethnics. justme gbot tum

 

[memtb]

Somewhat on topic! Bigger/higher recoil rifles and lack of (shooter) accuracy. I haven't done much shooting lately, dug my 6.5-284 out of the safe (haven't shot it in a couple of years), and ran a few rounds @ our 300 yard range. The groups were hideous, at about 3"...there may be a scope/rifle/load issue. But, if I couldn't shoot my .375 AI hunting rifle better (around 1 to 2" @ 300 yards).....I'd quit hunting! Again, there may be issues (I hope) with the 6.5-284, but, it is still disappointing. Looks like I've some work to do! memtb

 

[IdahoCTD]

I think it really depends on where the bad shot is and what bullets are used. Years ago I hunted a lot with big calibers and killed north of 15 elk with a 358STA, 375-358STA, and 416 Remington. The .375-358STA and 416 Remington were flat awesome on elk. The only elk that went more than a few step was one I shot in the ankle at about 650yds (the days before rangefinders). Fast forward to more recent times and using fragile bullets like Bergers and Amax's/ELD-M's results in nearly the same performance with smaller calibers. The smaller calibers don't tend to take them off of their feet like the big ones but they don't tend to go far after being hit the same way big calibers do. If your talking about a gut shot I do think the larger calibers will result in more recovered game. Your displacing more tissue which leads to more trauma and blood loss. If it's a blow off leg then the caliber doesn't really matter. A broken leg is a broken leg.

 

[toddlouis]

No way. a gut shot is a gut shot. It will still suffer and more than likey ruin some meat and make your pack out much harder.