Thread: 223 on deer

Originally Posted by Hunter_Nick

Just to clarify, I’m not laying accusations on anyone. I was just trying to articulate that we all come from different backgrounds to this thread, and these ‘foundational influences’ have a huge part to play in how we look at the discussion. Another example: a very good friend and mentor of mine was asking me about the specs and performance of my 22 creedmoor recently. After he had formed a picture of what it was his words to me were - ‘that’s a bit of a silly exercise?!? My 6x45 will kill just as well with about 20gr less powder’. Essentially saying that in his eyes it was more cartridge than required to get the job done. Or perhaps not worth the extra effort and expense over a .223 case.

My first time tahr hunting the ‘expert’ of the party was visibly concerned that I was ‘only’ using a 260. He came along with me for ‘backup’ with his 7mmRM. I happily killed a 13” bull with a single shot, and watched him use 10 rounds to kill one animal. So there’s some BS out there, and I feel for some of the young guys as it’s a minefield to navigate.

For the record, if I was to start again with a clean slate and have one centrefire in my possession it would be a Blaser K95 in 6XC.
And the guy with 7mm08 is 100% true, he’s a mate that I race with.

Well Nick that's a far far better and fairer wording than what I read last night.

In that regard, do you have any anecdotal experiences of guys with bigger guns who are not, for want of a better word, aresholes? because that's not in my view, a good way to judge the merits of any cartridge.

For example, not once have I used an individual who uses a 22 calibre firearm and how they used it poorly to example why the calibre shouldn't be used.

Originally Posted by whanahuia

Well Nick that's a far far better and fairer wording than what I read last night.

In that regard, do you have any anecdotal experiences of guys with bigger guns who are not, for want of a better word, aresholes? because that's not in my view, a good way to judge the merits of any cartridge.

For example, not once have I used an individual who uses a 22 calibre firearm and how they used it poorly to example why the calibre shouldn't be used.

I have, Tahr are no respecters of any ×63/magnum etc where the bullet doesn't do its job cause it's not constructed/sent with the right terminal ballistics in mind or shots are poorly placed, or just bad luck. I can think of at least 3 episodes I've watched first hand, and there are several pitiful episodes on you-tube that Ive seen. Anybody who has guided a bit will have followed up on these.

The point being none of these fuck-ups are purely the result of the "energy" placed on the game I.e. are not calibre or cartridge dependant

Originally Posted by whanahuia

Well Nick that's a far far better and fairer wording than what I read last night.

In that regard, do you have any anecdotal experiences of guys with bigger guns who are not, for want of a better word, aresholes? because that's not in my view, a good way to judge the merits of any cartridge.

For example, not once have I used an individual who uses a 22 calibre firearm and how they used it poorly to example why the calibre shouldn't be used.

To be completely honest, most of the guys I know in the sport are using cartridges on the smaller end of the spectrum. Most have gone big at some stage, but settled on something more moderate. I have one mate that used to use a 300WM (as well as a 6x45). We used to compare notes on his mills with the 300 and mine with something smaller. He doesn’t use the 300 anymore, but says he will own one again just because it’s ‘cool’. He still has the 6x45 and a recently purchased tikka 308.

I’ve got no problem with whatever anyone else uses. A 225gr ELD-M from a big magnum is an impressive thing- just doesn’t work for me (I can’t shoot one to save myself)