[rnovi]

Large caliber vs Power I think is a better question here. But there is absolutely no disagreement that a well placed shot is a requirement!

I have one rifle (at the moment) - a Rem 673 in .350 RemMag. I bought it for several reasons:
1. I loved the looks. Subjective, but still, it's MY gun and I have to like it. That laminated multilayer stock just makes me drool every time I see it...
2. I LOVE oddball cartridges. The .350RM doesn't get much play at all, even moreso with the advent of the shortymags.
3. I like the .35 caliber. I think a bigger hole gets the job done a bit more efficiently, all other things held equal.
4. I reload and can pretty much make the cartidge do pretty much whatever I want. (I load 125gr .357 mag bullets for varmints and up to 250gr slugs for the nasty tough stuff)

Perhaps most importantly, I bought it as a ham-slammer. The .350 is certainly up to that task as well as taking anything in North America. 250gr bullets at 2500fps...yeah, it CAN do that...But why would I want to do that to a deer? Hog? sure. Deer? Nahhhhh.

For deer I drop a 200gr bullet down to 2400-2500fps (factory load is around 2800fps) effectively duplicating a hot .35 Remington.


I didn't buy the gun because it said "Magnum" on the box of bullets. I was seriously considering the Marlin Guide Gun in .35 Remington (and I will still buy one! LOVE the look!) but I needed something that could carry 300 yard effective shots on Big Game. And I was (and still am) sold on the .35 caliber. I could have gone with the Whelen but then I saw the "Ugly as only a mother could love" .350 RM cartridge and I was done. A warthog. And I got a good deal on it as well.

Since I handload, it's easy for me to make the gun do what I want. Pistol bullets for varmints...cast bullets over unique for plinking...250gr grand slams to anchor any NA animal to the ground. Versatility - IF and ONLY if one reloads.

I personally believe in the old addage of "Use enough gun". And I also believe one does not need a .416 Rigby howitzer to shoot a deer. Sure, you can do it, but why? It won't be any deader than a heartshot deer with a .243.

It's just my belief that, all other things held equal, an animal hit with a larger caliber bullet will likely die quicker than an animal hit with a smaller round. I'm not really concerned about the animal dieing (although I want it to die quickly).

I AM concerned about the Elk that gets hit by a "too small a caliber bullet" that can run for an hour before dieing in some place where it will never be seen again.

Use enough gun for a humane kill.

And use the gun you love to hunt with.

The rest is academic.