does speed kill?

Macca; That is fine shooting, indeed! My best 1000 yard group is close to yours @ 5.87" That was shot with a 6mm rifle and the 105 grain Berger VLD. I just had a new toy made, A Very stout-barrelled 6mm Remington with a 1-8" twist on a fully blueprinted 700 Short action. David Tubb goodies on the inside of the bolt and a custom trigger round out the package. I'm hoping that this one will be a tackdriver with the 105-115 grain match bullets that are available. I really like the long range target games. It gives one a chance to discipline himself carefully, and to share info with a lot of knowledgeable people. FWIW, I also have a 6.5-284 that is showing a lot of promise as a long range wonder. Many groups in the .2's/.3's at 100 meters and staying tight right out to 600. No chance to try the 1000 with it yet....but soon. Regards, Eagleye.

Fella's;

Speed doesn't kill, neither does mass.  Delivered energy, however, will get the job done.  Gotta combine the two to be effective ya know.  What combination you choose will always be a matter of personal choice &, therefore, subject to argument.

Cosmic 'rays', all speed - damn near the speed of light, thousands go through ya every day.  An here ya are readin' this anyway.  Fall outta yer camp cot & the entire earth hits ya.  Lotsa mass but more injury to the ego than the body I think. 

900F

 

 

Yes speed kills! I'm convinced that my .38 special handload with a 150 grain SWC (cast in a Lee mould from wheel weights) over some 231 must have been going at least 800 FPS out of that 4" Security Six when I popped that little muley buck at about 25 yards. Broke a bone and puched through the heart and piled him up in 25 or so steps. So yes, speed kills quite dead. Wouldn't dare slow those loads down a bit!  AW

P.S. This was just one of those "things that happen" in the woods when your rifle is in the truck 100 yards away!AW

P.P.S. It was also one of the cleanest carcasses I've ever had the pleasure of processing too.AW

Vern,

It'd take some digging to find the documentation, but I heard of an Alaskan cop that did in a fairly large polar bear with a .38 Special and 158 grain +P SWC's. So yes, they penetrate quite well. Must have been a low budget department if that was their "dangerous animal" gun!AW

Macca......I know some good Ole Boys, what can't hit a 14 inch target at 300 yards, let alone a 1000 mind ya. However, them same rascals can hit a running deer flat out at 170 yards with a 30-30 through the heart......Well, that is what one fellar said leastwise. LUCKY you betcha! He don't think so at doin er half dozen times in 20 years. Barber Shop BS is more like for a better topic I suspect.

I am going to get me a model 70 in a feaather weight and use the 270WSM as the case for that .264/270WSM wildcat in the near future. I am hoping Winchester comes out with their own 6.5WSM caliber, keeping my fingers crossed on that idea.

"Cosmic 'rays', all speed - damn near the speed of light, thousands go through ya every day.  An here ya are readin' this anyway.  Fall outta yer camp cot & the entire earth hits ya.  Lotsa mass but more injury to the ego than the body I think. "

I like that one. Never heard the comparison before.

No matter how fast it is going, if it makes a good hole completely through, it will do the job. Some of the wound ballisticians say that any temporary cavitation does very little for killing power, as tissue is so elastic. the optimum wound channel is around 1 1/2" through the vitals. Apparently anything over that, the nervous system does something strange, and the animal can actually get a bit of a last rush in.

I have found this a very good thread, as I see growth of knowledge among the members, and see more separating out target shooting, and realistic hunting ranges, for sure shot placement.

Perfect placement is a rather ambiguous concept -- an animal hit in the lungs can, as evidenced here, go a long ways, and may not be recovered.  Given the choice, I'd opt for a bigger caliber, a bigger hole, and perhaps a quicker kill.

One theory is that the surface of the crush cavity is key -- that is the lining of crushed tissue around the permanent cavity.  The more surface, the more bleeding.  A wide, deep hole is better (all other things being equal) than a narrow, shallow hole.