The ONE caliber that NEVER failed you....

86er · Post by **86er** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:04 pm

Is there one cartridge you have used extensively that never failed you? I mean you've never lost an animal hit with it. I thought about this - and I have used quite a number of cartridges throughout the years. There have been some close calls but I chalk that up to the bullets used, and in the end the cartridge got it done anyway. The short list of calibers I have used on big game included 221, 243, 7mmRM, 30WCF, 308, 3006, 300WM, 357 Mag, 9.3X74R, 9.3X62, 9.3X375, 375H&H, 44 Mag, 45 Colt, 45-70, 45-90, 50 AK, 450-400NE, 475#2WR, 12 gauge slug (sabot and full bore) and 50 cal ML (sabot and conical). Maybe I forgot one there somewhere. The two that have NEVER failed me are:

7mm Remington Magnum - always shot 160 grain Nosler Partitions with one exception - the blacktail I shot this year was with a 150 grain Swift Scirroco. I used this caliber exclusively for the first 400 big game animals I shot, with a large percentage being deer, hogs and black bear. I have never lost an animal and never had one run out of sight after being hit. I also never had to shoot one more than once. Knock on wood!

45-70 - with a variety of bullets. I've shot over 100 animals with this caliber now and never lost one or had one even close to getting away. Most of these animals include black bear (about 18), hogs (about 20), African species and exotics. I had a close call with a cape buffalo using 430 gr cast bullets loaded by Buffalo Bore. It was coming at us and got real close, although not in a full charge. Two shots turned it but did not stop it or put it down. I shot two more as it went away and broke a hip and put it down. One bullet broke in half, one lost more than half it's weight and the other two were still in the animal - and it still worked. Another time I shot a black bear with 405 gr Remington Core Lokts four times! When I looked for it the bear was backed into a little hole and I blocked the entrance. He came out and knocked me over, whereas I fired two more times from lying on the ground and got up and ran. When I returned a few hours later he was dead where the last shot hit him. One time I got in trouble because I shot through a pure white dall sheep and hit another Fannin sheep that was a few yards downhill and could not be seen. Killed both right there. The outfitter fixed that mishap at a great monetary cost to me. Nonetheless, the cartridge worked almost too good. The cartridge got the job done on elephant and buffalo but I did feel somewhat undergunned based on the animals reactions. But, the big boys went down instantly within sight.

I guess a bad shot with anything is a bad shot but I have been very lucky with 7mmRM and 45-70 even with a handful of marginal shots.

Anyway - what cartridges have been 100% for you over the years and on what game under what conditions?

mescalero1 · Post by **mescalero1** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:10 pm

86'er,
.223 Rem.
Started life as a Remington 788 in .222, punched it out to .223, 9 deer, 9 1 shot kills, put eveything else it hit down as well.
I attribute it to the accuracy of the 788 action.
Too bad Rem. quit making them.

BigSky56 · Post by **BigSky56** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:35 pm

348 for big game one shot kills elk and deer. When I was doing ADC work I used a 30-30 on bears, cougars and canines never failed me have taken elk & deer with it too I could live with just a 30-30. danny

TedH · Post by **TedH** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:51 pm

I've only lost one game animal in my life so far. That was a nice whitetail buck shot with a 30-30 at about 120 yards. That happened 27 years ago when I was 12 years old, so I'm not going to say poor bullet placement wasn't a factor. The others I've used go from the 357 Mag on up to the 338 Win Mag and 45-70, with many others in between. Hope to include the 470 NE in the list of successful cartridges this fall.

FWiedner · Post by **FWiedner** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:58 pm

The ONE?

.356Win.

The others are .223, and .30-06.

shawn_c992001 · Post by **shawn_c992001** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:09 pm

7mm-08, everytime I pull the trigger something puts it's nose in the dirt.

buckeyeshooter · Post by **buckeyeshooter** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:13 pm

308 winchester for deer hunting --- 128 deer down in 129 shots (one deer needed a second shot for lights out), no escaped game and all but the one needing a second shot dead right there.
50 Alaskan --- 3 bears down on the spot in 3 shots.

Bullard4075 · Post by **Bullard4075** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:17 pm

While nowhere near in the league with 86er, after 30 some years of hunting basically Moose
and smaller size critters numbering somewhere just south of probably 100 I have only lost 2 animals.
Interesting enough both were shot with a 30-06. One was a doe shot in the shoulder (165 Sierra) at 40 yards that left a blood trail you could follow with a helocopter but nonetheless got away. It's a long story.
Stuff happens.

Another Mulie had the nerve to block a 250 yard shoulder shot with a thumb sized limb.
Says I , there's no way from 250 yards I can hit that limb so I'll just aim at the the limb.
.
.
.
I centered the limb spraying the buck with bullet fragments.
In a half mile of tracking the lite to begin with blood trail disappeared.

I think I failed the calibure.

SmokeEater2 · Post by **SmokeEater2** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:32 pm

I had to think back through the years for this one and finally realized the one caliber that never failed me is the .30-30. I never tried to stretch it's range and was always able to tuck the boolit in where I wanted it and it did the rest on everything I used it on. I took my first deer with it about an eon ago and a bunch since but oddly enough I've not hunted with a .30-30 in a few years, That's just not too bright considering my track record with it (Iapparently have not gotten wiser with age.

)
I believe I'm gonna' change my plans for deer season and bring a .30 WCF along this year and see if my record holds with it.

Good thread 86er!

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:34 pm

.54 caliber round ball our of my Flintlock. It has killed everything I have shot at from squirrel, to pheasant, ground hog, fox, deer. Perhaps because I have been close, perhaps because the placement of the shot has been good every time, or perhaps it is a very viable killing machine. I know it is deadly and I am confident with it.

I have not lost any animals with the 45-70 either, but the flintlock has killed more.

I have lost one deer size animal and that was a deer to an arrow some 20 years ago.

86er · Post by **86er** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:42 pm

I didn't want to drag out my first post but I would like to add that I think familiarization and confidence with the rifle are a huge part of success. If your caliber is sufficient and you can just about auto-pilot a shot and then REPEAT shots if necessary there is an astonomical increase in knocking down and recovering game. The two rifles I mentioned have had thousands and thousands of rounds through each. Familiarization and confidence have paid off more than once when I made a quick second (or more) shot or stuck the bullet into a little opening to hit the animal, etc.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:42 pm

Interesting that one of the fastest rounds (7mm Mag) and one of the heaviest rounds (.45-70) 'did the job' so consistently for you. Maybe that whole 'velocity vs. mass' thing is just another example of stuff we like to argue about that doesn't really matter - both seem to do just fine.

For me, who shoots way more feral animals than game animals, it is the .357 Mag out of a Marlin 1894 that has most often been the 'one shot, one kill' firearm around the homestead. Not fastest or heaviest, but perhaps 'handiest' and easy to have good shot placement at the closer ranges I'm usually dealing with. I did manage to actually wound a feral cat years ago with a 7mm Mag

though I'm sure the same hit would have still been sub-lethal with my Marlin .357. I was using a gun sighted in at 200 yards on a chicken-killing feline maybe 15 feet from me, so poor choice of weapons, rather than cartridge failings, was the cause.

Post by **Old Savage** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:43 pm

6MM Rem - antelope - 165 yds to 280 yds.

RKrodle · Post by **RKrodle** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:53 pm

I would pick the 358 Win for me. It's what I grab when I want something on the ground. And I agree with 86er, confidence in your choose has a lot to do with it.

BigMuddy · Post by **BigMuddy** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:20 pm

30-06

Post by **Hobie** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:20 pm

No cartridge has ever failed me because I (that's me, myself) either applied them correctly or not. I can't actually think of one time I didn't correctly choose a particular cartridge for a particular application.

I suppose the standard is different for everyone. My friend Mike felt the .357 Mag from a rifle wasn't any good because he'd once had to use two rounds on a single doe.

19112TAP · Post by **19112TAP** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:37 pm

My .358 Norma mag with 200 gr Sierra Game King's and Speer 250 gr SP have never let me down. Also my Winchester 6.5x55 has been very good to me.

Tom

O.S.O.K. · Post by **O.S.O.K.** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:46 pm

6.5x55 and .270 Win

txpete · Post by **txpete** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:53 pm

375 win in a BB94.
hornady 220 gr
36.0 grs RL-7
win brass
rem lg rifle primer

boom flop

ditto for the lyman 375449 gc

Kansas Ed · Post by **Kansas Ed** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:57 pm

.405
Ed

cnjarvis · Post by **cnjarvis** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 5:13 pm

I've yet to have a failure due to caliber with anything I shoot. Shot placement is a different story.

Modoc ED · Post by **Modoc ED** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 5:16 pm

180gr .30-06

EDIT: Got to add the 220gr .30-06

EDIT 2: Actually, I've never had any caliber fail me.

tman · Post by **tman** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 5:57 pm

bullets don't fail, shooters fail to place the shot correctly. i've never heard or seen a bullet bounce off a game animal. a .22lr in the brain will kill a bear every time. i think we tend to over estimate what is needed to kill big game. the lowly 30-30 shooting remington coreloks should penetrate any bear that has ever lived. IT HAS , and it will continue to do so. shot placement rules. caliber and custom bullets can't make up for that.

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:03 pm

30 WCF.... one step and they dropped. that was with the old Western Silvertips.

I have been luck enough to boiler room deer with 357 mag and 25-35.... if you hit em where they live, they dont go far.

Barcelona Rick · Post by **Barcelona Rick** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:19 pm

Remington 30-06 150 grain soft points.....cheap and always work.

jumbeaux

dkmlever · Post by **dkmlever** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:26 pm

32 Special, killed a few deer with it and bang they have an apple in their mouth before they hit the ground.

deerwhacker444 · Post by **deerwhacker444** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:46 pm

300 Savage w/ Remington factory 150 gr. ammo. It was a Remington 760 that belonged to my Great Grandfather and was the first rifle I owned capable of hunting big game. Everything I pointed it at died with one shot.

..Matter of fact, I need to dig that out of the safe more often..!

Ranch Dog · Post by **Ranch Dog** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:23 pm

444 Marlin and cast bullets.

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:28 pm

7MM Rem Mag and .340 Weatherby 100%
Deer/Bear/Boar/Elk

With that said, have taken I think its now at 35 deer with the 12ga Ithaca Deerslayer Deluxe with the Winchester Hollow Point Slugs and have only ever lost 1 deer in a huge swamp.

Buck Elliott · Post by **Buck Elliott** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:31 pm

.45-70. 405- or 440-gr. cast bullets.

L_Kilkenny · Post by **L_Kilkenny** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:35 pm

To be honest, .22-250. I've lost deer shot with a 12ga. slug, I've lost pheasants shot with 12 ga, I've had coon run off after being hit with a .22LR. But I've never had anything get away after being hit with my .22-250. Of coarse, it's only used for fox, coyote and the occasional crow. But for the job it's called on to do it's perfect.

LK

Warhawk · Post by **Warhawk** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:54 pm

338 Win Mag and 45/70, neither have failed to anchor my game RIGHT THERE.

oldguy · Post by **oldguy** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:00 pm

30-06. for hunting, competition, water bottel exploding.

2X22 · Post by **2X22** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:42 pm

NEVER failed me? The 44, with cast bullets nearly exclusively. Been hunting with one (mostly pistols but also rifles nowdays) since '78 and killed many many dozens of deer and a 1/2 dozen bear. And then starting in about '80 I started hunting elk with .44's too. Near 2 dozen elk have fallen to my .44's since then, and I can't remember a single one (and these are the big Roosevelts!) that needed a 2nd shot. ONE got a second shot, but didn't need it

But then, I've never shot a deer or elk using cast with my 45-70's that needed more than one shot

2x22=?

TedH · Post by **TedH** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:02 pm

Warhawk wrote:338 Win Mag and 45/70, neither have failed to anchor my game RIGHT THERE.

+1

Those two are the only cartridges that I've used on big game (deer, black bear, elk) that have dropped the critter in their tracks EVERY time.

Aussie Chris · Post by **Aussie Chris** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:52 pm

.30.06 SPRG. 180 grain corelokt reloads.

Chris

geobru · Post by **geobru** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:30 pm

308 and 30-06 for deer and elk. 150 grain corelocks.

86er · Post by **86er** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 7:58 am

In further clarification of this thread - I am not talking about bullets that failed (or not) I am talking about a caliber that has not failed YOU personally. In other words, it always met or exceeded your expectations, hit with accuracy in the field in spite of conditions, functioned properly out of the rifle, did the job on game animals. Maybe you clipped a branch and still got a fatal shot - maybe you misjudged range by a large margin and still hit and was fatal - maybe you shot the wrong end of the animal (don't ask) and broke both pelvic bones and severed the femoral artery dropping it instantly and killing it in seconds. If everything was a perfect shot within the parameters of the cartridge this wouldn't be a thread. So .........

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 8:32 am

7MM Rem Mag and .340 Weatherby 100%
Deer/Bear/Boar/Elk

Every animal every shot at with both calibers above have been 100% Dead.
Though the 45-70 and the 375H&H most of the time have ended up taking the game,I can say with them both No, not 100% Now the question as to whether or not it was the animal was not hit properly/ or the caliber did not do what it should have is hard to tell because the animals(1 on each caliber)where never found.

My weakness is(though I think I have improved)is tracking! In heavy cover tracking an animal if I lose a blood trail etc,bottom line there are trackers that probably could have found both animals.The Buck that I thought/felt like I made a very good hit on Bled very good for about 75 yards looked like it layed down but then was gone and no more blood/anything??? Same with a bear in 1977 with the 45-70 only it went about 150 yards and nothing?????????? The one problem I have(still have)is waiting after the hit.5-10 minutes for me is a long time"if I think I hit it right" well must be on them two,I didnt????????????? I searched for that deer hit with that .375 for I bet 2 full days that year because I could not believe it could not be right in that area.Finally thought maybe someone grabbed it????

2ndovc · Post by **2ndovc** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 8:54 am

.222R for the small stuff and .30-06 for the big stuff.

never used anything else until I started hanging around here

jb

Post by **Hobie** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 9:55 am

86er wrote:In further clarification of this thread - I am not talking about bullets that failed (or not) I am talking about a caliber that has not failed YOU personally. In other words, it always met or exceeded your expectations, hit with accuracy in the field in spite of conditions, functioned properly out of the rifle, did the job on game animals. Maybe you clipped a branch and still got a fatal shot - maybe you misjudged range by a large margin and still hit and was fatal - maybe you shot the wrong end of the animal (don't ask) and broke both pelvic bones and severed the femoral artery dropping it instantly and killing it in seconds. If everything was a perfect shot within the parameters of the cartridge this wouldn't be a thread. So .........

And that would be every cartridge I ever used because I properly applied them. From .22 LR Colibris to the .338 Winchester Mag, I've never had a cartridge fail me.

76/444 · Post by **76/444** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 10:53 am

Hobie wrote:No cartridge has ever failed me because I (that's me, myself) either applied them correctly or not. I can't actually think of one time I didn't correctly choose a particular cartridge for a particular application.

I suppose the standard is different for everyone. My friend Mike felt the .357 Mag from a rifle wasn't any good because he'd once had to use two rounds on a single doe.

Ditto !!! I may have failed once or twice in placing a shot, but, never had a caliber fail me.

L_Kilkenny · Post by **L_Kilkenny** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:17 am

76/444 wrote:
Hobie wrote:No cartridge has ever failed me because I (that's me, myself) either applied them correctly or not. I can't actually think of one time I didn't correctly choose a particular cartridge for a particular application.

I suppose the standard is different for everyone. My friend Mike felt the .357 Mag from a rifle wasn't any good because he'd once had to use two rounds on a single doe.

Ditto !!! I may have failed once or twice in placing a shot, but, never had a caliber fail me.

I don't believe this. I do believe that you can do everything absolutely perfect and still end up with sub-par results. I've shot coon dead center between the eyes at 2' only to have them not expire. I've nailed pheasants at 20' broadside and had them run away. Things go wrong for sometimes unexplainable reasons. It may not of been the calibers fault, it may not of been the shooters, who knows. Now that I think of it, you are right about a caliber not failing. If someone chooses a proper round, makes a proper shot and a critter doesn't drop DRT it wasn't the caliber, it wasn't the shooter, it just happened. Call it Murphy's Law as related to hunting.

LK

76/444 · Post by **76/444** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:38 am

Hobie wrote:
86er wrote:In further clarification of this thread - I am not talking about bullets that failed (or not) I am talking about a caliber that has not failed YOU personally. In other words, it always met or exceeded your expectations, hit with accuracy in the field in spite of conditions, functioned properly out of the rifle, did the job on game animals. Maybe you clipped a branch and still got a fatal shot - maybe you misjudged range by a large margin and still hit and was fatal - maybe you shot the wrong end of the animal (don't ask) and broke both pelvic bones and severed the femoral artery dropping it instantly and killing it in seconds. If everything was a perfect shot within the parameters of the cartridge this wouldn't be a thread. So .........
And that would be every cartridge I ever used because I properly applied them. From .22 LR Colibris to the .338 Winchester Mag, I've never had a cartridge fail me.

Yup !