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.308 Winchester 150, 180, 220-grain & 30-30 170-grain

If you want to see some interesting numbers, compare say a 180 grain 30-06 to a 3" turkey load on recoil. You might be surprised.

Which is why I'm a fan of gas operated shotguns, good choke tubes, and light loads! lol

I reference this rifle recoil table a lot..
https://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

And there's a shotgun recoil table as well..
https://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_recoil_table.htm

I was also looking into 357 magnums for deer recently. This thread reminds me of the principles stated by the guy I was studying. He said go for the heavier rounds available with a good amount of sectional density for the cartridge and basically count on punching a hole straight through the lungs, passing completely through the deer resulting in collapsed lungs because the 357 revolver (normal length barrel) is not going to generate enough velocity to result in significant tissue damage like a deer rifle.

It's my understanding that a rough estimation could be given that most standard cup and core deer hunting bullets with diameters around .257-.308 will start to mushroom tremendously and cause exponential tissue damage (when compared to lower velocities with the same bullets) at around 2900 fps. I think at around 2900 fps the bullet starts to create a significantly larger exit wound in the game. Any higher velocities will impart more and more damage to a point. I've also heard the ideal striking velocity is around 2600-2700 fps, so there's slightly more damage to the internals (compared to say 2200 fps), but not to the point where meat is being excessively damaged where the bullets are entering and exiting the game.

Long shots would require a higher muzzle velocity to maintain 2600-2700 fps at distance.

Of course, different brands of bullets will react differently, so finding the sweet spot for your own selection is necessary.

FamDoc2892 FamDoc2892 I think the biggest difference might come from using a hollow point with soft lead which would mushroom and displace more tissue vs using a hard cast lead bullet which will keep its shape and punch a hole straight through. At around 2000 fps either bullet should pass through unless you're using a very, very soft lead bullet and strike very large bones.
 
I do not know where the velocity threshold is or if there is a clear threshold, but somewhere above 2200fps, maybe well above, you start getting blood shot meat which I suspect is that exponential tissue damage you mention. In my experience, shooting a deer or hog with a 180-200 grain 35 caliber bullet traveling around 2100fps has dropped them dead in their tracks and absolutely no blood shot meat. As I have heard others say "you can eat right up to the hole". It is a lot nicer when cleaning a deer and you save a lot more meat. I like the big and slow results much better than the light and fast.

Rosewood
 
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