Minimum Catridge for Big Game

if i was writing a "minimum cartridge" law for montana, the .257 caliber would be my pick for a minimum, because i have heard of SOME bad experiences with the .243 (albiet not many), but i have never heard of a failure in a .257.

my own minimum would actually be a bit bigger, the .264/6.5 caliber

yeah, i have no doubt you could, as could many (most? all?) serious rifle cranks. but, my argument is why? why use a 22-250 when the rifle costs the same as the same rifle chambered to 308? the 22-250 might handle the task ok, but the 308 will handle the task. and it is a rare hunter that cannot handle the 308. if not the 308, then 257 rob, 243, whatever...

Rob1 wrote: I think that a argument could be made that a .223, 22-250. 220Swift are all very capable with a proper bullet (read non-varmint). May be stretching things but I'd bet I could harvest deer cleanly with a .22 hornet as well.

Of course you can. The question is, can you do it consistently? My wife's grandfather killed more deer than I ever will with a single shot Mossberg .22 RF.His rifle was with him always, and he didn't take shots he knew he shouldn't take. He saw dozens of deer each day. How many have the opportunities to do that? How many will limit their shots to effective range?

Hmmm . . . not sure caliber should be the main criteria.

Knew a guy one time who was a professional wookie hunter.  He was up in Minnesota, or some place, and he was using a .240 Weatherby Mag.  Shot a wookie in the butt and blew his left cheek completely off!      Dang fur flew everywhere!  Last he heard, that wookie had left the State and was out West somewhere, sitting in a bar on one of those foam rubber rings and nursing his pain and moaning over a glass of Moose Drool. 

More seriously, we didn't have to worry about all this until the Army dreamed up the M1 carbine and left thousands of them floating around the country.  More guys were chasing wounded deer around the hunting fields than I care to think about.  So came minimum lengths, calibers, and on and on.

Frankly, I think the minimum caliber should be 6mm.  I wouldn't be afraid to take a .240 Weatherby Mag into ANY hunting area.  The .243, despite being called a "girl's gun" by at least one person, has accounted for more than a few deer.  On the other hand I hunted whitetails in Texas with a Mini-14.  The .223 is quite effective against SMALL deer.  Texans have proved it thousands of time.  But . . . some States, like West Virginia have a 25 caliber minimum.

As much as I hate Federal regulations, I think a .243 minimum would be acceptable - as long as energy figures etc. were adequate.  A 6mm Remington makes a fine whitetail cartridge - although I would opt for a .240 Wby Mag or a .257 Roberts or .25-06 for deer.

korey -

first, we find out that you have a .30/06!

now this!!!!!!>>>after that and mixed its use with a .30-30 for the next while

all i want to know is:

who the hell are you and what did you do with the REAL klallen????

I can understand the .307,because it is rare. The .277 cal i can understand because you said the stock was beautiful on a tomato stake rifle. The aught six you own i can understand because it was a relative's rifle. You should post a pic of that .277 caliber and the aught six, i want to see pics of them

NH_Hunter

Howdy Gents:

Would you use a .250 Savage on a white tail?

Montana. Home of the Mule deer and some very nice Whitetails. Large deer. Minimum would be 6mm like the .243 Winchester. If you wouldn't use it on a bear then why use it on deer. Would any sane person use a .223, .22-250 or a .220 Swift to follow up a wounded Black Bear into the brush. Many years ago when I was young and stupid I tried the .220 Swift. I shot a nice 3x3 Blacktailed buck at about 150 yards, three times. All of my shots went right where I aimed them, heart/lung area. Thankfully my best friend was there to stop the buck with his .270. I know someone is going to ask what load I was using, it was the heaviest factory bullet/load available at the time from Winchester/Western. I believe it was a 57 grain PSP. It was the load that everyone said to use. Accurate yes but didn’t work on deer. My father tried them with the same results. Like I said a 6mm at the very least in fact I agree with the .257 caliber(.250 Savage) the smallest. Lawdog

  25-06 ....no experience myself but ...its a cal. I reckon is mighty underlooked.

  And then go buy a nice 270..

  bcboy