SteveBurton
Formerly 'Jackmonkey'
My nephew in PA shoots groundhogs with his 300 WM. Usually just a fine mist left. Never too much gun for varmints.
Too much gun?!?!
- Thread starter Hunt5BN
- Start date
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Shot placement, bullet design and velocity make a difference in the end results. I have shot coyote at 50 feet with a bullet design that normally would open up and make a mess of them, but it was placed where it didn't hit large bone structures and was traveling at a fast enough speed that it didn't open up before it passed through the coyote. Using the same style of bullet at 200 yards loaded the same as in the first example hit one in the shoulder it made a mess of the coyote. Both examples were using Speer 55 grain spire point bullets fired from a 22-250 with a 22 inch 1 in 14 twist rate, using 33.5 grains of IMR 4320 powder so they should have started out at close to 3500 FPS MV. I have also seen coyotes shot with 7MM rem. magnums and 30 caliber rifles that were a mess but some also with the same loads and calibers that only had small entrance and exit holes. Again, it was due to shot placement and the distance to the animal so that the velocity of the bullet made a difference in how the bullet performed. I routinely shoot coyotes with Sierra 55 grain hollow point boat tail bullets in a 223, with a 20-inch barrel that has a 1 in 12 twist loaded with 21.5 grains of H335 running at 2900 FPS MV normally the bullets fragment inside of the animal and have no exit hole. But if the animal is hit in the wrong place or at extreme distances the bullet doesn't perform as it should and will make a mess of things.
And don't anyone forget.....ATIP's ARE NOT FOR HUNTING, ATIP'S DO NOT EXPAND! ELD-M's are not for hunting....
Nice job to your son...well placed! Next time give him a bow and arrow...with a C4 Broadhead...might be more left!
hesse
Well-Known Member
The old saying if you are not hunting for the pelts never too much gun
bonie
Well-Known Member
I shot 2 with a300WSM with Berger 168 classic hunters. the first was a pass thru with a moderate exit maybe 1 1/2" the second was facing me it ripped on leg clean off. he ran in to the brushes swamp bottom and died I Imagin
Lenny Foffa
Well-Known Member
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- Mar 6, 2017
- Messages
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It only too much if you think it is!!! If the goal was " lets see " what it would actually do to a small animal, I'd say you now have no doubt!!! ..........and you saved a fawn!!!
BroncBlue55
Member
Great use of what you had! A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush 
Aussie Hunter Steve
Well-Known Member
Any 300 bullet that hits the shoulder blade of such a small critter can do extensive exit damage, including FMJ's…. Using big bullets on little critters gives no meaningful feedback as to how the bullet will perform on deer size game. Good shot
Vettepilot
Well-Known Member
I once, as a kid, had "almost not enough" gun on a coyote. I was out on my dirt bike, hunting rabbits and rattlesnakes. Had a 22 rifle slung on. I was riding cross country, and came across two coyotes. I took off after them. They split up, and I stayed on the one with a rabbit in his mouth. He soon dropped it! I would ride up on him, right until I thought he was going to bite me, then I would slam on the brakes, grab the rifle, and start hosing wildly. After two revolutions of this, I thought to myself, "You know, it doesn't matter if he gets 3 or 4 steps farther away, if you just calm down and hit him!!"
So I calmed down and the next time, just as I was about to squeeze off the shot, he jumped a drainage ditch onto a road. I thought "Ok, when he jumps the next ditch, I'll shoot". I did, and he died in the air!! The shot went in under his mouth, and out through the top of his head! It was a wild shot that I'll never be able to repeat. I tanned the tail, and gave it to my brother for his bicycle.
This was 50 years ago, not far from Pearce-Sunsites, in southeast Arizona. May I ask where you nailed yours?
Vettepilot
So I calmed down and the next time, just as I was about to squeeze off the shot, he jumped a drainage ditch onto a road. I thought "Ok, when he jumps the next ditch, I'll shoot". I did, and he died in the air!! The shot went in under his mouth, and out through the top of his head! It was a wild shot that I'll never be able to repeat. I tanned the tail, and gave it to my brother for his bicycle.
This was 50 years ago, not far from Pearce-Sunsites, in southeast Arizona. May I ask where you nailed yours?
Vettepilot
Great story, thank you for sharing.
Near Nogales, AZ.
Buffalobwana
Well-Known Member
No such thing as too much gun. Extra dead is better than almost dead.
Vettepilot
Well-Known Member
You're welcome! It was a fun day. You surely look back on exciting experiences with fondness as you get old...
Vettepilot
