By Frank Brophy
The Best Deer Calibre? The Mauser .270 in South Africa's Great Karoo.
T
his question has been around forever, well, certainly since hunters began using firearms for hunting deer. Having spent over half a century in the sport I’ve heard it debated at the end of every hunting season. If you were to ask a dozen hunters for their views you’d probably get a dozen different answers. Individual opinions are varied, sometimes heated, depending on one’s point of view. Almost everyone has a favourite rifle/calibre combination with many of these opinions based on performance in the field. If the hunter takes successful shots the ammunition used is usually considered to be the ultimate. Less successful hunters who miss or require several shots to arrive at a conclusion have been known to blame those “useless bullets”! Could it be possible that they don’t spend enough time offseason on the range? 96
With rifles up to and including .30 calibre classed as non-restricted, there’s a decent variety to choose from. In the bad old days when hunters were restricted to a .22-250 calibre rifle, ongoing discussions inevitably centred on the unsuitability of that specific bullet and the urgent need for a more suitable calibre. The dogs in the streets knew that the round was not appropriate for the stated purpose, yet it took an EU Directive to generate action on the subject. However that’s a separate conversation. Suitable calibre ideally should be based on correct bullet performance. The appropriate bullet over an appropriate distance (100 – 200 metres?) producing appropriate terminal energy will do the job. It’s that basic! The appropriate bullet is one that strikes at a decent velocity and expands at the chosen distance. A round designed to
Spring 2022 Irish Country Sports and Country Life
expand at 500 metres won’t do so at 150 metres. Likewise one built to expand at shorter distances won’t perform well at long range, plus its energy starts dropping off over the longer distance. It’s also worth noting that two bullets of identical weight fired from rifles of different calibre won’t perform the same as each other. The larger case produces greater energy, so its round will travel faster at higher velocity. Bullet construction, controlled expansion, terminal energy, sectional density plus shot placement are the important criteria. Sectional density is the relationship between a bullet’s length/weight to velocity. For example, a heavier than standard bullet still has to fit the same barrel and the only way to accommodate any extra weight is to make the bullet longer. An over-long bullet may not stabilise if a barrel’s internal twist is not designed for it.
