It only took the first paragraph to see the OP’s personal stance on the subject, and the likelihood of the OP viewing any conflicting replies with any degree of having an open mind is pretty slim. However, why not join in…. Lol
I’ve long wondered on threads like this, where someone has the same position as the OP, on where their experience falls when it comes to killing game? Not in a negative way, just out of curiosity what the individuals mindset is based on in respect to their own experiences.
My grandfather was a home hobbyist gunsmith, a gun nut who tried everything that came along, and a competitive rifleman. My dad though, he was a One Rifle man. He had a full custom 300 win mag that he used for everything from muskrats to grizzlies (and he killed a fair jag of those with it - grizzles and elk were his passion), a Sako 22 mag for coyotes, a Cooey 840 410 for grouse, and those were the guns he used his entire life. In that 300 he exclusively used Winchester white box 180 gr psp’s, because they worked and he saw no reason to try anything else. He certainly wasn’t stuck on the energy idea though, or “use enough”, he was more of a “you can kill a grizzly with a 22 mag, as long as you can hit something important” mindset.
I personally landed more like my grandfather, always curious about different things, and trying new stuff.
Which has put me in a position where I’ve shot a lot of stuff, with a lot of different cartridges, and a lot of stuff with the same cartridges and different bullets, and the same cartridges, and the same bullets, but different twist rates.
My personal experience base has shown me that the same bullet at different twist rates will have different results on game, but the same bullet at the same twist rates but in different diameters doesn’t really have much difference on what it does internally.
What does matter observed from my experiences, is softer bullets spun fast and pushed at moderate velocities will kill stuff deader faster than hard bullets at faster velocities. There will be more damage to vitals and stuff will not go as far after the shot.
So if I had to knock over a big bull 20 yards shy of the property line, and count on him not getting there, it’s going to be an eld m at 1800+ fps impact velocity. Diameter doesn’t matter to me.
If I had to stop a grizz at snot blowing range, its going to be an eld m at 2500 + fps impact. (And for context, mowing my lawn, I’m in grizzly country. Everywhere I hunt is grizzly country. Packing meat in the dark is grizzly country. I’m perfectly comfortable with a 223 and a headlamp in that scenario, because I’ve seen the on game results and know how soft bullets work on critters.)
A 108 eld m is going to look reallllllly similar in on game performance as a 147 eld m….. and both of those are going to look realllllly similar to an 88 eld m, at the same impact velocities and similar twist rates. Enough so, that it really doesn’t matter which one you use on game. Now could I stuff a 225 eld m into a 300 Ultra case and use it for elk? Sure. Would it kill them faster than a 180 TSX? Yep. Would it kill them faster than the 223AI/88 eld m I’m using currently? Probably, but I don’t know if that would be a benefit to me, considering the vast majority of my bulls are killed sub 100 yards, and I’m not much into losing the entire front half of an elk to bloodshot and they fall down within feet of where I shot them anyway.
But like I said, those are my personal observations, so YMMV. Use what blows your skirt up, but don’t think you are being “more effective” or “more ethical” just because you use a different cartridge. It matters less than you think it does.
. Now I hunt exclusively with 223. I'm a way better shot and stuff just dies.
