Does Bigger Bullets Kill Quicker?

[P1LGR1M]

Very interesting topic.

This past weekend we were hunting in the Bethulie area. We took three Springbuck with a 308 and 178gr ELD-X dropping them all on the spot, by the time we got to them they were dead. All shots between 180-200m.

I took a shot on a Blesbuck at just over 200m and hit the front left shoulder. Two hours later we finally found it after seeing the entire farm. Shoulder blown to bits and only hanging by the skin, but no penetration into the chest.

Now I am really starting to doubt the performance and suitability of the round, but I have used the same round/load on 12 previous shots from Springbok to Eland and all were one shot drops on the spot.

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[CorditeCrazy]

TStone this is a very interesting thread you have going. Do you think there’s a correlation between wounding and “light for calibre” bullets?

[TStone]

Cordite. By light for caliber I assume you are referring to the 120gr 6.5mm and 150gr .303 bullets? If so, I have used quite a variety of 6.5mm bullets for hunting and in my opinion the 115-120gr monolithic expanding bullets perform better on game than the 140gr+ lead core bullets.
In the case of the .303, I really don't know. I have not used this particular rifle and have very little experience with .303 British rifles in general.

[A-R]

Somehow my carefully designed columns did not survive publication in the thread. First number after caliber is no. of animals hunted, second no. animals wounded and lost, third % of animals wounded and lost.

Thus, percentage wounded and lost by caliber for the year of our Lord 2020:
6.5 Creedmoor - 3.0%
.270 win - 3.4%
.303 Brit - 11.1%
.30-'06 - 1.6%
.300 win mag - 1.9%
9.3x62 - 1.5%

This would seem to bear out that the larger calibers, with the exception of the .303, kill better than the smaller calibers when taking into account all species hunted. However, much more animals were shot with the Creedmoor and the .270 than with the larger calibers.

I think these numbers say nothing about the calibers listed, but the speak volumes about the owners of these calibers...

[treeman]

I think these numbers say nothing about the calibers listed, but the speak volumes about the owners of these calibers...

*********************
The truth this be.

[TStone]

I think these numbers say nothing about the calibers listed, but the speak volumes about the owners of these calibers...

Seeing as the calibers listed belong to two owners, three each, I would reason that it does say something about the calibers as well? Also, not all animals were shot by the owners of the rifles, as the rifles are also used by clients.

[pre 64]

T....I have had clients shoot small buck [grysbok,duiker,klipspringer ect] with solids from larger calibers such as .375's and 458's simply because only a caliber size hole is made on entry and exit and the client wanted a full mount of the animal. A high velocity small caliber expanding bullet can really make a mess of the skin on exit.
While the smaller calibers kill quicker,it would be silly to use them on eg.Elephant where penetration is required.
2 very different scenarios that show the importance of bullet selection for a specific need.
Quite honestly,for our plains game, shooting within a distance where the bullet [decent bonded or mono] can be placed accurately makes your question superfluous. The animal will not know if the bullet was 264,284 or 30cal...makes no difference.
A 44 handgun bullet makes a bigger hole through a Kudu than does a 308 but on a shot where the Kudu will drop within a few meters with the 308 , it will travel over a hundred meters from the same shot from the 44.
Nothing is cast in stone,however,a bullet capable of penetrating through the vitals at a reasonable angle of the target animal and retaining enough energy to do the most amount of damage to internal organs is the correct bullet to use.
I think that the larger the hole and the more damage caused to the animal,the better. But...it is not allways the bigger calibers that achieve this.

[TStone]

Nothing is cast in stone,however,a bullet capable of penetrating through the vitals at a reasonable angle of the target animal and retaining enough energy to do the most amount of damage to internal organs is the correct bullet to use.
I think that the larger the hole and the more damage caused to the animal,the better. But...it is not allways the bigger calibers that achieve this.

I fully agree with this.

[CorditeCrazy]

Cordite. By light for caliber I assume you are referring to the 120gr 6.5mm and 150gr .303 bullets? If so, I have used quite a variety of 6.5mm bullets for hunting and in my opinion the 115-120gr monolithic expanding bullets perform better on game than the 140gr+ lead core bullets.
In the case of the .303, I really don't know. I have not used this particular rifle and have very little experience with .303 British rifles in general.

Ok thank you

[driepootx]

The ballistics of the 308 and 303 are very close. The 303 has ample penetration and even more so with mono's. I shot an Impala ram at very close range (10 metres) and the 180gr Goodnel entered its chest and after breaking the femur, it still penetrated right through and out.