Hoarding The Stuff We Use Daily.

[nomolites]

If gun hunting I love putting whitetail down with a 245 gr xtp from of a .50 muzzleloader.  Anchors them,  disregards any impeding twigs, and delivers a most satisfactory sensory experience.  Accurate well beyond 100yds and that is overkill in the thick woods I hunt.  I have many other rifles but that one puts a smile on my face every time I pull the trigger.

Mike

[fshndoug]

I bet I have killed at least 70 deer with a rifle. I have dropped deer where they stood with any of my .243 rifles while others have run 100 yards. Shot many with my 30/06 and had the same thing happens. Same with my .50 caliber muzzle loaders. The one thing they all have in common is that they ended up in the freezer .I have never killed a deer over 100 yards and I haven't shot at them more than once to kill them. I shoot hand loaded ammo in my centerfire rifles . Good shot placement will anchor them every time. After all we are not hunting cape buffalo folks. Most people I see shooting at ranges are happy if the can shoot a three shot group inside a 1lb coffee can lid. I prefer that those shots be within a 50 cent piece on centerfire rifles and a tennis ball  for a muzzle loader .I have a friend that shoots deer over 200 yards every year ,he is a really good shot. I was in the hut with him last year when I saw a coyote step out into the field and I nailed it with one shot at 257 yards through the back of the neck as it faced away from me, I thought that was a fairly good shot with a crosswind  with my .243. Too bad for all the high prices for ammo it is stupid expensive.

[MrGiggles]

9 hours ago, jdmidwest said:

You travelled the same direction I have.  Started off with the 6mm and then went to the 30-06.  But, the surgery tweaked a nerve on the right shoulder and I am back to softer shooting rounds.  And I have a pile of grandkids coming up the ranks.

I shoot the .300 Blackout, 350 Legend, and the 6.5 Grendel.  All work thru the AR 15 system, soft recoil.  .300 Blackout and .350 Legend both perform like a 30-30.  The 6.5 Grendel is more like a .270.  Gas system on the AR smooths out the recoil and I don't have to flinch.  Adj stocks fit the kiddos.

Then there is the pistol aspect that lets me use them during the "Alternative" season.   I have 3 AR's set up for that too.

I shot a 300 BO for a while. The issue I always had was finding good hunting bullets that would expand at lower velocities, that were also reasonably priced. At the time Barnes had one but they were about 75c a piece. Nosler 125gr BTs were what I used, but they weren't real cheap either, and there was really no guarantee that they would expand reliably since they were designed for the 308/06.

I bought a 6.5 Grendel barrel a couple years later during a New Years sale and sold all of my 300 stuff. Which was kind of a mistake because 6.5 ammo has been next to impossible to find lately. Last I saw was $40-50 a box for the good stuff, steel is just shy of a dollar. 

An upper in 350 has been on my list for a while. I see cheap ammo laying around for it everywhere.

I haven't noticed any real correlation with caliber and whether they're DRT or if they run a ways. Shot a tiny doe with a 30-06 at 40 yards, she ran probably 60 yards leaving a blood trail that a blind man could follow. My 2020 buck had a 50 cal hole through the boiler room and he still ran 80 yards without bleeding much at all. All of my 270 kills have been DRT but I think that's just a coincidence. A shot through the nervous system is the only thing that will kill them right there every time.

[Terrierman]

When it comes to deer, it's where you hit them, much more than what you hit them with. 

About the 6.5 Creedmoor.  It's a round that long range shooters love for the ballistics and low recoil.  The guy in the orange hat killed this elk at a lasered 897 yards with one shot from his McMillan Creedmoor, shooting prone with a bipod.  He's a serious long range shooter.  Carries a ballistics calculator with him that tells him how to adjust for temperature, altitude, humidity, wind and the angle of the sun what day of the week it is and when he last talked to his wife.  Basically everything.  I was there.  Saw it happen.  That's me in the black vest.

It's a very capable round from a good rifle with the right guy behind it.

[jdmidwest]

9 hours ago, nomolites said:

If gun hunting I love putting whitetail down with a 245 gr xtp from of a .50 muzzleloader.  Anchors them,  disregards any impeding twigs, and delivers a most satisfactory sensory experience.  Accurate well beyond 100yds and that is overkill in the thick woods I hunt.  I have many other rifles but that one puts a smile on my face every time I pull the trigger.

Mike

Black powder does have a satisfactory roll to it when it goes off, then a puff of smoke.  My Hawkins did fairly well with round balls, but not always quick.  I have yet to take one with the inlines I own due to the recoil.

[MrGiggles]

33 minutes ago, jdmidwest said:

Black powder does have a satisfactory roll to it when it goes off, then a puff of smoke.  My Hawkins did fairly well with round balls, but not always quick.  I have yet to take one with the inlines I own due to the recoil.

I always liked being able to hear the bullet impact. BOOM......thwack.

[MOPanfisher]

I have shot deer with a lot of different calibers and rifles.  It's a lot about where you hit them, some about what kind of bullet you hit them with, and sometimes a deer just doesn't know its dead yet.  Remember jump shooting a 9 lt buck one year with my 7 Mag. trailing it for about 60 yards by blood and pieces of lung to where it ran straight into a forked tree and died.  He was dead from the "bang" but want ready to quit.  Since my wife decided to deer hunt I have rediscovered the fabulous fall fishing opportunities.

[Seth]

If you’re having trouble putting deer down with a .243 or 6.5 CM then you are a terrible shot. Any rifle with bullets in the 100-140gr will work fine on deer if you do your part.

[BilletHead]

                 Come on guys really? 

    Like a few have said it is shot placement. This isn't a pick on a firearm one way or another post from me. Heck this post isn't even a firearm. No fire involved :). Get creative it's kind of fun. .45 cal. Air rifle. Even a round ball.  I am going to get it out next season again.  Coyotes don't like it either.

 

[Seth]

People act like thin skinned deer are tough to kill. No, no they are not. If you want tough, go elk or moose hunting.

I am thinking about picking up a .308 and a .350 legend. Those are two varieties of ammo that always seem to he available. The .350 is really popular with youth hunters too.