Thread: Calibre / Velocity / Projectile vs Meat Wastage

What's the general consensus (if there is one) on the relationship between calibre, velocity, and projectile weight vs meat wastage?

Obviously with reloading you can change the variables such much calibre almost become irrelevant...so for this assume factory ammo only. Also assume a beginner so no neck shots.

Would it be correct to say, that generally for the same given energy, a higher speed / lower weight projectile will cause more meat loss than a lower speed higher weight projectile?
(Either due to damage or blood shot/ bruising)

Eg - (Using Barnul ballistics data)
7.62x39 125g - 2109ft/s & 1235ft/lbs @ 100
556 55g - 2717ft/s & 902ft/lbs @100
556 62g - 2567ft/s & 907ft/lbs @100
308 168g - 2537ft/s & 2401ft/lbs @100

Remington data
300 AAC 125g - 1977ft/s & 1084 @100
300 AAC 130g - 1824ft/s & 961 @100


What's going to reliably put the animal down, while minimising meat wastage?



(Sorry, this was supposed to be in the Hunting section, not Firearms )

I note that you are assuming 100 yard shooting.
Bullet construction id a big consideration. Light fast bullets are not as reliable as heavily condtructed bullets that can reliably penetrate deeply and smash bone. Say you ate looking at a terminal energy delivery requirement of at least 1000ft lbs;- as well as this the bullet must be strong enough and designed to penetrate deeply through hide, bone and sinew to vitals of heart lungs and nerves. One thing is for sure; at 100 yards you do not need any sort of centrfire magnum ! There is good info on the Terminal Ballistics website. A good all rounder for 100 yards is the 30-30.

forget ALL about meat loss....think animal lost and it becomes irrelevant..... far better to kill it 3 times over than kill it just about enough and have it get away into spot you cant find it.....one of you old meat hunters will correct me on this if wrong but I believe 70% of the good meat is behind the 3rd rib..... so at WORST you will loose 30% shoulder and neck is stew or mince.....the steak is in the back and bum....TAKE OUT THE FRONT WHEELS AND ITS GOING NOWHERE.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

forget ALL about meat loss....think animal lost and it becomes irrelevant..... far better to kill it 3 times over than kill it just about enough and have it get away into spot you cant find it.....one of you old meat hunters will correct me on this if wrong but I believe 70% of the good meat is behind the 3rd rib..... so at WORST you will loose 30% shoulder and neck is stew or mince.....the steak is in the back and bum....TAKE OUT THE FRONT WHEELS AND ITS GOING NOWHERE.

Yup the dirty old rem mag has destroyed a few shoulders but nothing has ever walked away.....or at all granted I'm almost never shooting at 100 yards

A big bullet, think 45 going slowly will cause minimal meat loss and still be lethal even if only dawdling along subsonically. It's shot placement that does it. Take out the front wheels. Hydrostatic effects from hyper velocity and soft rapidly expanding bullets are what cause it.

I use the most devastating projectile I can find pushed at an effective speed. Penetrate then expand violently but not splatter all over wet hide. I try to damage as much meat as possible, at the front.

All the tasty bits are in the back.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

forget ALL about meat loss....think animal lost and it becomes irrelevant..... far better to kill it 3 times over than kill it just about enough and have it get away into spot you cant find it.....one of you old meat hunters will correct me on this if wrong but I believe 70% of the good meat is behind the 3rd rib..... so at WORST you will loose 30% shoulder and neck is stew or mince.....the steak is in the back and bum....TAKE OUT THE FRONT WHEELS AND ITS GOING NOWHERE.

Obviously an animal crawling away to die slowly is an animal lost and totally wasted.
But referring to the question at hand -if all other things are equal, and one option preserves more meat than the others - why wouldn't you want to use that option? Otherwise you might as well use a 338 on rabbits...

Basically - I have no issue with killing animals for meat/ and or pest control. But I feel it is more respectful to the animal/life to use as much as possible. That's just my ethics though. Other may feel differently and thats totally fine.

Most of my deer receive a 308 Hornady 150gr,at 2964ft/sec with 2950ft/lbs at the muzzel ,thru the sholders.Most of the time i loose both sholders or my cats get some off cuts,no fancy head shots.But deer dont walk away.Shots between 30yds and 300yds.

Better to get most of the meat than none of the meat and have an animal run to where you can't find it. Over gunned is better than under gunned. Accept the fact that you are not going to get 100% of the meat unless its a head shot. That's just how it works.

45/70

Eat right up to the hole.
And nothing hit by one of those is going very far....bang-flop....

Another consideration is lead in the area where the animal is hit, it’s been covered in other threads.
I recommend take out the front legs and leave them in the bush. Take home the rear end as has been said.

Originally Posted by berg243

if you want as much recoverable meat as possible use a 44 or 45 cal with a big lump of lead at sub velocity otherwise pick your angle to miss the meaty bits.

The angle of the shot can definitely save a lot of meat. The last 2 fallow I took were with the 338 at 130 and 380m . Both taken with the animal positioned around 45 degrees facing away from from me. Bullet goes in back behind one shoulder and out to one side of the chest. All the shoulder meat was left untouched .
Broadside isn't the best option for meat retention and I prefer to wait for the angled shot if possible to save the meat from damage. As long as you can picture in your mind where best to place the shot to clear both shoulders and still do max damage in the engine room and the bullet doesn't deviate then all is well.

The heavier the projectile the less meat damage as a rule - a 130 sp in a 308 will damage more than a 150.
I like a hard projectile that exits. Accubonds open immediately and cut a hole straight through. Damaged shot meat from a carcase averages 5 litres - I always carry out the whole deer. Most animals will run for a few steps but always die quickly with a hole right through.

If that tiny bit of extra meat is really that important then you might aswell be head or neck shooting them to save everything otherwise meat saving is irrelevant IMO. Never ceases to amaze me the amount they blab on about meat saving in the states. I suppose their opportunities are much more limited then ours. What matter is using the appropriate caliber/projectile to achieve the most humane and efficient kill at the target end. My experience has been that it doesn’t overly make much difference. Deer i’ve shot square through the front shoulders with my 243, 708, 308, 270, 284 etc are generally just as stuffed as the ones I shoot with my 7mmRM.

I use a big bullet (for calibre) at a reasonable speed and always aim for the front wheels (thru the shoulders) as its better to recover all the rest and feed the damaged meat to the dogs than try for a "tricky" meat saver shot and end up with no meat or even worse wounded meat running away.
For me that means a 30cal 200gn ELD-X or TLR bullet at about 2850-2900