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From: keith@clodII.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM (keith)
Newsgroups: rec.hunting
Subject: Re: Best Rifle Caliber
Message-ID: <1991Jun22.112311.19293@doug.cae.wisc.edu>
Date: 22 Jun 91 16:23:11 GMT
Lines: 61
Approved: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu
Originator: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu


Joseph Crunk writes
> 
> From: smosjc!joseph@uunet.uu.net
> 
> Well...the net is kinda slow, so I'll ask the question of all questions:
> 
>    What is the best all-around hunting caliber for North Americam game?
> 
> I'm stewing with the idea of dumping the bucks into a KDF or McMillan
> and figure I won't ever have any money for the rest of my natural life
> after that, so I need to make one caliber do it all. (except brown bears)
> 
> Which of the following would you choose and why?
> 
> 	.25-06
> 	.270
> 	.280
> 	.30-06
> 	.7mm Rem Mag
> 	.300 Win Mag
> 	.300 Wby
> 	.300 H&H
> 	.338 Win Mag
> 	.340 Wby
> 	.375 H&H
> 	.416 Rem
> 
> Any inputs anyone has on any of the .300's would be appreciated.
> 
> -Joseph Crunk
> 

  Well Joseph, you really opened a can of worms on this one. ;-)
Everyone has their favorite caliber like myself and each will gladly
argue the merits of his/her choice. I personally love the .270 cal
myself and have hunted with it for 12 years now and have taken 42 deer
with it and only lost 2 or 3 that I know for certain that I hit. (bad
shot placement) This caliber is great for whitetail and mulies but
anything larger and I suspect it might be a just a little bit
inadequate for a one-shot stop. A .270 should easily dispatch anything
up to 250 lbs or so but for larger game I just cannot say since I have
never taken anything that big. :-(( A .300 Win Mag is too much gun
IMHO for smallish deer along with the other calibers listed below it.
You just simply damage alot of meat on smaller deer. I know of one guy
who shot a med. size buck (.300 M) and nearly half of the meat was
bloodshot. A guy in my hunt club uses 7mm Magnum and it doesn't seem
to be *overkill* for smaller game while at the same time I believe it
would have sufficient stopping power for the largest of North American
big game excluding bears as you asked. So my choice for an all around
caliber would be a 7mm Magnum. This is my opinion so don't take it as
the unabridged truth!
                                               Regards,
                                                Keith Boyd

---
| Keith M. Boyd  (NCR E&M Cola.) |  Nothing could be fina' than huntin' and  |
| 3325 Platt Springs Rd. ________|  fishin' in South Carolina!  -Me-         |
| West Cola., S.C. 29170 | Std Disclaimers | keith@clodII.columbiasc.NCR.COM |
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