The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - what is the most accurate 1000 yard deer caliber

tahunua001 · February 6, 2014, 01:47 PM

lots of things come into play but one of the biggest factors is the ballistic coefficient of the bullets used. right now the two best ballistic coefficient calibers are 6.5mm(.264) and 7mm(.284). so in that regard I would be willing to guess that a 260rem using a 120gr bullet or 7mm-08 would offer the tightest groups.

HOWEVER!!!

I am willing to wager that 99% of all hunters couldn't even hit a deer at 1000 yards, no less hit the kill zone and if if could the bullet would be travelling too slow to do anything. many of the higher BC bullets require 1600 FPS velocity to open reliably there are very few calibers that still have that speed at 1000 yards. there is also the "energy equation" it is commonly accepted that you need at least 1000 FTLBs of energy to cleanly take an animal, now I have killed deer with a 3rd of that energy so I know that's not really an accurate requirement but I do think that to be on the safe side for deer you should probably try to have at least 500FTLBs which again, many calibers can not muster at 1000 yards...

February 6, 2014, 01:47 PM	#56
tahunua001 Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2011 Location: Idaho Posts: 7,839	lots of things come into play but one of the biggest factors is the ballistic coefficient of the bullets used. right now the two best ballistic coefficient calibers are 6.5mm(.264) and 7mm(.284). so in that regard I would be willing to guess that a 260rem using a 120gr bullet or 7mm-08 would offer the tightest groups. HOWEVER!!! I am willing to wager that 99% of all hunters couldn't even hit a deer at 1000 yards, no less hit the kill zone and if if could the bullet would be travelling too slow to do anything. many of the higher BC bullets require 1600 FPS velocity to open reliably there are very few calibers that still have that speed at 1000 yards. there is also the "energy equation" it is commonly accepted that you need at least 1000 FTLBs of energy to cleanly take an animal, now I have killed deer with a 3rd of that energy so I know that's not really an accurate requirement but I do think that to be on the safe side for deer you should probably try to have at least 500FTLBs which again, many calibers can not muster at 1000 yards... __________________ ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar. I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin