ever have a rifle you just trust to near instantly stop game

[grumpyvette]

now Ive hunted big game for 40 plus years and Ive used almost all the comon calibers from a 357 mag rifle to a 458 LOTT, theres been , 223 rem, 6mm rem, 257 rbrts, 270 win,300 mags, 338 mags,35 whelens 308 win,45/70, 378 wbys, 416 wbys, and a several dozen more ,etc.
but the rifles I find myself grabing the most are the 358 win BLR, the 450 marlin BLR for deer and my 340 wby,35 wheelen, and 375 H&H for ELK, those five rifles have provided me with very consistant performance, the 340wby and 358 win 35 whelen ,I load with 250 grain bullets the 450 marlin with 405 remington bullets
those five rifles have accounted for more than 80% of the big game Ive killed(the 340 wby easily the most) but all have been consistantly effective and provided very quick kills, it helps your confidence imensely if you know that anything you hit drops almost on the spot, you sure don,t want to be in spitting distance from something that can easily kill you if you don,t have confidence in your rifle

 

[grumpyvette]

Ive tried almost a dozen calibers, I keep going back to my 340wby and 375H&H and 35 whelen, 250-270 grain 33-37 caliber bullets just seem to get thier instant attention on impact noticably better than the 30 caliber and smaller rounds, now you can kill elk with about anything if its placed exactly right, but hammering them consistantly from odd angles and at various ranges requires careful shot placement and a decent bullet construction,design,energy & weight.

ONE OF MY OLD POSTS
"when I started hunting elk, the PETERS, winchester,remington, and federal 220 grain 30/06, ammo, was being used in a slide action remington, or bolt action by almost all the older guys I saw , and was what the older guys used.
IT killed ELK very dead, not instantly,in most cases, but it was dependable, and a single well placed shot resulted in a dead elk every time!
BUT being young and "smarter" than the guys who had been hunting for many years,I wanted to slap those elk silly, I JUST KNEW I COULD DO BETTER!so,I bought and still use a 340 WBY loaded with 250 grain bullets,
and yes it tends to get the ELKs full attention,on bullet impact far more often,
but the truth is "IT killed ELK very dead, not instantly,in some cases, but it was dependable, and a single well placed shot resulted in a dead elk every time!"
Over the last 39 years or so Ive seen almost everything from a 257 bob loaded with 100 grain soft points to a 458 win loaded with 405 rem bullets, used on ELK, same deal,IT killed ELK very dead, not instantly,in most cases, but it was dependable, and a single well placed shot resulted in a dead elk every time! yes some things worked better, faster,or at longer ranges or made the job easier, but it still came down to hunter skill and shot placement more than the caliber.

IF I was going to pick the calibers that worked exceptionally well, Id suggest the 30/06-35 whelen,338 win,300 mags and 375 H&H, but I sure would not stay home if I only owned a 257 roberts, or 6.5mm swedish, or 270 win because it was (TOO SMALL) for ELK
"

 

[rbl2]

I read someplace that either of my .58 caliber muskets (both reproductions), an 1841 Mississippi and an 1862 Cook and Bros., would drop any animal on the North American continent with a single shot.

I got to thinking about that and decided to take the authors word for it. I have no intentions of shooting a grizzly or a polar bear with a single shot weapon smaller than A1 Abrams.

I catch a lot of grief for hunting with an SKS. The biggest thing I can hunt here is white tail deer. That SK has never failed me. I dropped one buck at 375 yards with open sights, one shot.

 

[grumpyvette]

Ive used a 62 caliber HAWKEN style rifle loaded with 620 grain mini balls over a stiff charge of powder, minis recovered from game expanded to over an inch in dia. and resembled flattened mushrooms, they do incrediable damage, leaving a huge path of destruction , but even those minis don,t ALWAYS result in instant kills even with near perfect heart shots, or lung shots .
now Im 100% convinced after use of that rifle that its fully fatal on everything Ive shot from deer to ELK, but don,t think any rifle will prove instantly fatal unless the brain/spine is destroyed, because simply shutting off the other organs function such as destroying the heart or lungs will allow some big game to function as if totally uneffected by the damage for several seconds, seconds that might be used to discuss the matter up close and personally shreading your body in a few cases

 

[rbl2]

because simply shutting off the other organs function such as destroying the heart or lungs will allow some big game to function as if totally uneffected by the damage for several seconds, seconds that might be used to discuss the matter up close and personally shreading your body in a few cases

Well said.

I would also say that bullet placement has about as much to do with a quick kill as does bullet caliber. I have been known to hunt with my muskets during the regular gun season simply because I like my muskets.

Opening a can of worms with this following practice though, my weapon of choice is an SKS. I once killed a deer at 375 yards using open sights with a single shot. My son says my memory is failing and that it was 475 yards but I will not make that claim. In any case, I have never failed to drop a deer with a single shot using that rifle.

I regret to say my eyes are no longer as good as they were even just a few years ago and I have mounted a scope on that rifle.

It must also be admited that the largest game where I live would be bear, and I do not hunt them. The largest game I would hunt would be white tail deer. If I had to hunt larger game I would look at larger caliber weapons.

 

[grumpyvette]

one of my best friends used a 308 win caliber rifle for years to hunt nearly everything, I convinced him to try a 338 win and 250 grain bullets on several ELK HUNTS, he shot a couple ELK with that rifle and I don,t think the 308 wins been out of the safe since.
he went and bought a ruger #1 falling block single shot in 458 win to use for HOG HUNTS, he loaded the Remington 405 grain slugs designed for the 45/70 to about 2100fps and while he took a lot of good nature kidding, about the caliber and rifle choice that stopped when he shot a very aggressive. large HOG, (slightly over 500 lbs, that's all the weight scale limited out at) at bayonet range with the rifle, the guide was so impressed he wanted to buy the rifle on the spot!
It seems that HOG had a reputation, in the area as darn nearly unstoppable as it had been shot at several times over several years, most guys assumed bad shot placement was the reason the hog got away, my friend was skeptical, about the stories figuring the guide was looking for a larger tip at the end of the hunt, but dressing out the hog back at the lodge they found numerous buckshot, two arrow broad heads, and a spent 357 bullet in the carcass covered with gristle, so the hog had an attitude and reputation for a reason

feral hogs do get to be rather large in some areas, most don,t get that large but a few do,like this one in the picture

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/wil ... ok/pig.htm