.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

[ihookem]

I never shot anything with a 22 cal. center fire. I have read for decades 22 cal. are great. I started out with a .270 Win. If I shot a deer through the shoulders, it went down, if shot through the lungs/ heart it ran quite a long ways. My son turned 12 and a .243 WIn . was in order. Our 1st deer with a .243 WIn. was hid big doe. I was amazed how fast it killed the deer. I shot 5 with the .243 Win. Deer go down sooner with a .243 Win. when shot in heart lungs . I think I have it figured out. A smaller bullet is really better and this is why . It has nothign to do with knock down power . The animal goes into shock cause it hits the boiler room with such violence that it separates arteries . It makes the blood run backwards in the veins and that is shock power and a small bullet does that better than a big bullet... I could be wrong , but nothing else explains why deer die so fast with a smaller bullet . This is a big doe I shot with a 100 gr. Rem. coreloc in .243 Win. The bullet likely deflected off a branch cause it was only 25 yds. away . The deer dropped right on the spot and was dead in 30 seconds. There is no other reason for this deer to die that fast. It was the worst darn shot a hunter could have and it dropped it right there, spun around a few times and that was it. Because of this , I wont bother with a .270 Win. and will likely use my .243 WIn and my new Savage 10 Hunter Light . I bought 500 70 gr. Speer bullets and will use them for deer . It wont shoot 55 gr. bullets so far but looking for a load that will work for 55's cause have so many .

 

[Shraggs]

I never shot anything with a 22 cal. center fire. I have read for decades 22 cal. are great. I started out with a .270 Win. If I shot a deer through the shoulders, it went down, if shot through the lungs/ heart it ran quite a long ways. My son turned 12 and a .243 WIn . was in order. Our 1st deer with a .243 WIn. was hid big doe. I was amazed how fast it killed the deer. I shot 5 with the .243 Win. Deer go down sooner with a .243 Win. when shot in heart lungs . I think I have it figured out. A smaller bullet is really better and this is why . It has nothign to do with knock down power . The animal goes into shock cause it hits the boiler room with such violence that it separates arteries . It makes the blood run backwards in the veins and that is shock power and a small bullet does that better than a big bullet... I could be wrong , but nothing else explains why deer die so fast with a smaller bullet . This is a big doe I shot with a 100 gr. Rem. coreloc in .243 Win. The bullet likely deflected off a branch cause it was only 25 yds. away . The deer dropped right on the spot and was dead in 30 seconds. There is no other reason for this deer to die that fast. It was the worst darn shot a hunter could have and it dropped it right there, spun around a few times and that was it. Because of this , I wont bother with a .270 Win. and will likely use my .243 WIn and my new Savage 10 Hunter Light . I bought 500 70 gr. Speer bullets and will use them for deer . It wont shoot 55 gr. bullets so far but looking for a load that will work for 55's cause have so many .

Nice post. Thing is it’s not 270 vs 243 caliber thing it’s bullet type and their differences in wounding.

I’d encourage you to read all of this thread despite how long it is. You will find detailed information on how different bullets behave in tissue, and ultimately how a 223 is capable of taking elk past 400 yards only with a handful of specialized bullets.

And that pattern continues in other small calibers too. Or conversely how larger calibers have reduced tissue damage with bullets that do not optimize their greater speed and diameter.

 

[ihookem]

I dont think I read every page . However, the .243 Win . seems to be much more like the 223 Rem . than the .270.. A .243 " diameter is close enough that I found one on my bench and had to really look at it to determine it was a .243" Soon we will see 90 gr. .224 cal. bullets and it will be much the same as 22-250 for big game and .223 right behind it. .... When I was a kid , dad told me not to get the 30-30. Get a 30-06 , has more oomph. We all thought that was the standard in Wisconsin 50 yrs. ago . I hunted with an old man that used a .243 WIn with 87 gr. Hornady for deer. I thought he was nuts till he informed me he got a deer almost every year and none ever got away. He even shot a 300 lb bear with it . In the 80's were the WInchester mags, and even some Weatherby mags. Then Short mags and slowly went smaller and smaller . Now it is 450 Bushmaster, 350 Legend and the 22 cal. Caliber preference went 180 degrees.