Its New So Its Got To Be Better . Right!.. Wrong

[Grumpy]

I had one of the local guys stop by to show me a new deer rifle he had purchased
it was a RUGER,

and while its a nice light rifle thats sure to be useful, and will most likely be very popular, due to its low recoil,

he has some how developed the idea that its an absolutely devastatingly effective, stop anything in its tracks, rifle!
I had a hard time not bursting out laughing
the marlin 35 Remington that a few people think is inferior to the 30/30, is marginally more powerful,
all the 35 caliber rifles HAVE PROVEN EFFECTIVE,
EVEN MY BROTHER-IN-LAWS 357 MAG REVOLVER AND MARLIN CARBINE,

HAVE KILLED DEER CONSISTENTLY FOR DECADES,
while precise shot placements were and are extremely critical to making a good kill,
added range and impact energy certainly helps.
look over the ballistics
and both the 358 win and the 35 whelen stand head and shoulders above the 350 legends in power.
the only big advantage I see the legend has is its designed to function in an AR15 semi auto rifle,
but its been 4 plus DECADES since I needed more than a single shot from my 358 BLR to drop a deer!
so I don,t see having 4 or more, instantly available shots in a magazine in a 350 legend,
having any advantage over having 3 more in a 358 BLR magazine or a 35 whelen 7600 remington pump action.
the vast majority of deer are killed at well under the 350 legends roughly 225 yard effective range.

https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle
look over the data for


new
the 350 legend 180 grain at about 2200 fps is about max

all THESE RIFLE CARTRIDGES LINKED HERE BELOW ARE at least 60 years older and more powerful
35 remington (1908)180 grain at about 2300 fps is about max
(its a well proven deer cartridge)

decades of use hunting elk with these two cartridges have proven them effective
358 win (1955)250 grain at about 2350 fps is about max
35 whelen (1922)250 grain at about 2500 fps is about max

358 win

35 whelen

 

[rlphvac]

Nothing is devastating on any animal you can miss with a bazooka the only thing devastating is if you score your kill shot there are good and bad choices I know a man who killed a lot of deer with a 22-250 not my choice but that man is without a doubt the best shot I have ever seen and they were head shots but I wouldn't use that gun unless I had to he uses a 7mag now but the gun doesn't kill the shot does

 

[Grumpy]

thats true enough,
but Ive seen enough deer and elk killed, and Ive dressed out plenty of both,
enough to notice a trend, and you can,t ignore physics, heavier projectiles,
traveling at higher velocity tend to hit harder,
yes proper shot placements always critical,
and no amount of extra power makes up for bad shot placement,
thats certainly not suggesting youll kill any deer or elk deader with a 338 mag or 35 whelen,or a 450 marlin,
than you might with a similar shot with a 6mm rem , a 270 win, or 308 win.
but from what Ive seen ,youll generally notice a noticeable difference in the games initial reaction,
to well placed hits in the heart/lung/shoulder areas
or put a bit differently one of my better shot buddies uses a 270 win for everything and its 100 percent lethal.
I suggest most of us carry the rifle we have the most confidence in
, and at least in my case I trust my 33-45 caliber rifles a bit more than the sub 30 calibers,
yes Ive hunted extensively with a 44 mag carbine that has noticeably less power than a 35 legend will have and,
yes Im fully aware its shot placement that matters,
but a 350 legend is just a modern version of the 35 remington in both power and velocity,
not a thing wrong with that, as its proven effective for a century,
and a good shot can kill any big game in the U.S. with it inside its effective range,
but its not in the same league with a 358 or 35 whelen either.

yet even hes commented, on the difference, he kids me frequently about carring a rifle thats several lbs heavier than his,
and says I must be overly concerned that allowing the
deer to run 30 feet after its hit,might allow it to escape
I let him use my 340 to take a deer one year in colorado,
hes convinced that rifles lethal on both ends,(he did not like the recoil,
but he also noticed the deer dropped right where it was hit, something hes done only a few times with his 270.
now certainly that's not conclusive, but he was impressed!

some guys may find this link helpful
https://saami.org/wp-content/upload...99.4-CFR-Approved-2015-12-14-Posting-Copy.pdf

 

[rlphvac]

I think this deer season I'm going to use my 45/70 with my 7mm mag as back up most of the time I hunt with my main gun in the morning and my backup after lunch that all will depend on me getting them both ready and if I don't find something else that I can't live without to hunt with but I'm running out of choices