16" deer gun

[Marbles]

My pick at the moment would be 6 Creedmoor, or 6.5 Creedmoor for not having to buy a new barrel on a Tikka. With the right bullets, both should work well.

My selection of Creedmoor is for simplicity reloading. If not reloading, I would put less value on those two.

 

[mjspeers]

350 Legend. Ruger American Ranch w 16 barrel in pic. Comes threaded. Makes a big hole thru the deer - this one bled out thru the entrance hole

A 165 gr Hornady FTX over a stiff load of Lil Gun will get you there. It is the softest, easily available bullet for reloading or factory loaded ammo. Will expand reliably down to 1200 fps - I was told 800 fps.

View attachment 638770

I shoot the bullets in 357 mag and 350 Legend. Haven't shot further than 250 yards with it yet but the 350 Legend will keep it inside 1 MOA all day long if I do my job. Shoot 8 inch plates with em at 225 yds with 357 mag rifle and 4x scope.

I’ve killed 3 deer with this combo. Plus been apart of another half dozen. 16” 350L over Lil Gun. I have been pretty disappointed with terminal performance.

 

[Jelliott4444]

I trust a 30-06 or 270 to “flatten” a deer at 200-250 yd distance (drt, fall over) but not 243 or 350 Legend or 300 BO or 6.5 CM, etc.

The less recoil cartridges will kill the deer, just not gonna drop it on the spot. I will expect a full pass thru w 350 Legend but have shot a deer at that diatance with it yet.

To clerify when i said drop i didnt mean literally drop on the spot. Just drop as in kill. I should have clerified sooner.

Im currently leaning towards the cva scout in 243 right now.

 

[Rich M]

Knockdown power is a complete myth

Our opinions and aparently real life experinces seem to differ greatly if you believe that enough to mention it.

I hunted from 1978 til about 2007 before i tracked the first rifle lung shot deer - mine or others. been shooting 150 gr pro hunters in 3006 at 2900 fps since 1978. Somewhere around 100 deer sample size. All but maybe 3 deer, bucks, have been drt. Never had a doe move. The tracks have been due to angled shots - thru ribs out gut kind of shots.

The folks i hunted w shot 270s and 130 gr bullets. Same responses, drt.

Thats why folks shot these calibers. If it aint knockdown power i dont know what to call it. You need to figure out the correct bullet for your gun and watch em flip, neck and head toss, just plain drop, whatever, they fall and dont get up 9+ times outta 10. We would hunt and if someone shot, ease on over and they’d direct me/you to the dead deer.

have a load w 15 drt and 1 track for 357 mag rifle. Anazing how lil pip squeak flattens them. Have a lot of energy transfer w xtp fp bullet. Other bullets (a-frame) punch thru and required tracking for a couple of those. Id feel comfy shooting a moose w that load. It is gonna go deep. Shot a 700# steer in forehead and found bullet about 16 inches behind skull, down neck.

1 drt and 1 track w 350 Legend so far. Its too slow with regular rifle bullets to be a drt kind of gun. 2350 fps w 165 ftx. Get 2 holes so that’s good. I need a bigger sampling but only get a rifle tag every 3 yrs now hunting public…was shooting 2-5/yr on a couple leases for a while.

243 has been the least impressive of my calibers but we trying a 2850 fps NP load and dad flattened a buck at 125 yds, facing. Blew out heart & entire side of ribcage from inside and then lodged in ham. Gives me hope for this gun. Oh, drt. Wish was shooting that load when shot my big muley w 243.

Sometime have to go w my experience over the “experts”. They gotta keep talking so they can get paid. Just keeping a narrative going. Not necessarily “right” about everything, discussing ideas. They missed the whole knockdown power thing by using elephant guns as examples. I’d rather get hit by a slow bus than a fast sportscar w crumple zone, just saying.

@fwafwow - both the 223 bullet and .308 bullet are “exploding”, would favor the one 2x the size if everything else was equal. Have had interconnective tissue bruising from neck, under shoulder, almost to the ham on some deer - but not in the shoulder muscle. Crazy. Then some are just a hole on both sides and a dead deer. Go figure.

I have no experience w the 223 77tmk combo.

 

[DangerRanger]

Love my 16” 6.5 creed

 

[JohnJohnson]

Sometime have to go w my experience over the “experts”. They gotta keep talking so they can get paid. Just keeping a narrative going. Not necessarily “right” about everything, discussing ideas.

The "experts" who are actually getting paid are the people agreeing with your stance though. The people writing articles in hunting magazines about "knock down power" and other fuddlore like that. Make no mistake, they're wrong like they've been wrong about basically every other subject related to hunting/shooting so far. But the overwhelming majority of them agree with you.

 

[czgunner]

I sure like my 6.8 SPC. Its great.

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[A.hol1]

Another vote for 6.8 spc.
It hits harder than it should. Put down multiple deer in one shot, all have dropped in less than 40 yards.


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[Forestryguy]

375 Raptor

 

[Jelliott4444]

I sure like my 6.8 SPC. Its great.

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6.8spc is on muly list. I just dont actually know anyone that owns one so my exposure to it has been very limited

 

[lungpuncher1]

What about the 6mm arc with a 16” tube on a howa mini? Definitely on my want list


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[Dust Rider]

That little CVA Scout V2 TD in 300blk or .243 would be a great pack gun.

 

[Jelliott4444]

What about the 6mm arc with a 16” tube on a howa mini? Definitely on my want list


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I definitely need to look more into the 6 arc. Seems like it has a lot of potential.

 

[Jelliott4444]

That little CVA Scout V2 TD in 300blk or .243 would be a great pack gun.

I am currently leaning towards the v2 in .243. Ill cut it down to 16, get it threaded and that will be a really nice handy deer gun.

 

[Bestonearth]

Either .243 or 7mm-08

 

[Lowg08]

CVA Scout in 6.5CM has my approval.

Break Action rifles are so compact, even the 20” barrel is small as my 10.5” SBR AR
CVA also makes .300 BLK with a threaded 16.5” from the factory.
View attachment 638753

I have that rifle in 44 mag. Im reloading some bear creek ballistic for it so its a longer range gun

 

[Rich M]

The "experts" who are actually getting paid are the people agreeing with your stance though. The people writing articles in hunting magazines about "knock down power" and other fuddlore like that. Make no mistake, they're wrong like they've been wrong about basically every other subject related to hunting/shooting so far. But the overwhelming majority of them agree with you.

I'm just running with my personal experiences. I find most of the experts to be lacking and just increasing word counts. Back in the day, we used NPs or heavier cup & cores for penetration - it is all there was.

You told me there is no such thing as knockdown power.

Tell me the newest term folks use for a round consistently "instantly putting a deer on its ass - dead - where it won't get up" with 1 shot behind the shoulder.

 

[JohnJohnson]

Tell me the newest term folks use for a round consistently "instantly putting a deer on its ass - dead - where it won't get up" with 1 shot behind the shoulder.

The closest term would be hydrostatic shock probably. @Formidilosus would probably be able to answer better though.

 

[Rich M]

The closest term would be hydrostatic shock probably. @Formidilosus would probably be able to answer better though.

That is another term the old guys would throw around. The outdoor writers have tried to pin a label on it and of course they muddied the waters like they did with knock-down power. They tried to put it in a measurable box and then discussed all the times it didn't work instead of just the times it did and deciphering it from there. Trying to make a career out of it. I'm sure you remember the theory of heartbeat - if you hit the deer on a certain heartbeat it fell over, if not, then it ran off. LoL! They actually published that hogwash.

Bottom line is that some combo's just keep dropping them and others keep leaving blood trails. It is amazing how well some stuff just kills.

As with my posting, i feel the 350 Legend falls into the "go and look for it" category.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

the 223 kill thread, Fackler's papers, and the why is rokslide shifting towards smaller calibers talk at length about wounding, how stuff gets killed, and what drops animals instantly (i.e. central nervous system disruption). it's way too much to recreate in this thread.