Another dumb rifle question

[Doc]

Ok, bear in mind that I have never shot a deer with anything but a 12 gauge slug, and this is my first year with a rifle. So I am looking at a 12 gauge slug in one hand and my little .270 cartridge in the other, and some obvious questions pop into my head. At 60 yards and under, when I shoot a deer with the shotgun and hit just behind the shoulder, the deer either drops right there or takes off on a dead run for 50 to 100 yards and skids chin first into the dirt. What reaction can I expect when I make the same shot with my .270? Looking at that tiny little hole in the target starts some nasty little questions rolling around in my head. I'm just looking for a bit of first hand experiences from those of you that have taken significant numbers of deer with rifles, particularly with the smaller calibers.

[GreeneHunter]

I've shot 20 / 30 + deer over the years with my 30/30 and they've never run more than 50 yards ... goes in small comes out large !

Edited November 11, 2013 by GreeneHunter

[cdmckane]

If you hit it in the vitals, the deer doesn't know what caliber the bullet was.

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[mac]

that bullet is going to mushroom out a bit , hit the vitals and its not going further than any of your 12 gauge shots. good luck this year

[Early]

Agree: A good hit...is a good hit, regardless of bullet size. Many deer will be killed with the .223 this year; many, also with the bulky 12 ga. slug.

That said....Of your two guns, 12 ga. and .270: I'd use the 12 ga. where shots will be in the 50-70 yd max range...use the .270 for the long shots. Despite the huge fan base for the .270, it would not be my first choice for a deer rifle.

[Doc]

Well, I know I sure wouldn't want to get hit with the thing, but I guess I'm just getting the pre-season jitters. I hate to mess-with-success, but I just had to get into the rifle thing this year since it's now legal in Ontario County. But as usual, with change comes a bit of uneasiness. Thanks for the reassurances.

[Lawdwaz]

It'll be much the same with the rifle.  Luck to you...............................

[Lawdwaz]

Well, I know I sure wouldn't want to get hit with the thing, but I guess I'm just getting the pre-season jitters. I hate to mess-with-success, but I just had to get into the rifle thing this year since it's now legal in Ontario County. But as usual, with change comes a bit of uneasiness. Thanks for the reassurances.

 

DO NOT SECOND GUESS YOUR CHOICE.  YOU WILL LOVE THE RIFLE!!!!!

[Early]

Of course you would have loved it more if you had chosen a .308 !!!!!!

[pistolp71]

You asked about the reaction. DRT. The rifle will give you a lot more hydrostatic shock and that's what puts them right down. A slug doesn't compare. A slow 1 ounce hunk of lead to a 3200 fps rifle bullet Cant remember the last time I had to track a rifle kill. Not to mention the accuracy advantage..

[ATbuckhunter]

If you hit em in the shoulder they're dropping on the spot. I know people that have shot deer with slugs and deer with a rifle and they always say a rifle round will do more damage then a slug will. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

The 12 gauge Core-Lokt Ultra sabot bullet is a .50 caliber, 385 grain HP semi-spitzer. The catalog MV is 1900 fps and the 100 yard velocity is 1648 fps. The ME is given as 3086 ft. lbs. and the remaining energy at 100 yards is 2325 ft. lbs.

Winchester 130 gr Silver tip. The catalog MV is 3050fps and the 100 yard velocity is 2828 fps. The ME is given as 2685 ft. lbs. and the remaining energy at 100 yards is 2309 ft. lbs

 

Now that Remington 12 Guage sabot is top of the line. Not many sabots out there that carry energy like they do.  Not sure what you were shooting Doc. but ballistically they are pretty similar in the short range mentioned

[stop em and drop em]

The 270 will do the job short range and long range, the 12 gauge is not gonna do it long range. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

The rifle will give you a lot more hydrostatic shock and that's what puts them right down. A slug doesn't compare. A slow 1 ounce hunk of lead to a 3200 fps rifle bullet Cant remember the last time I had to track a rifle kill. Not to mention the accuracy advantage..

You need to check on some of the newer slugs out there. They ain't your Grandmas ole hunks of lead anymore. But they certainly do wrap the snot out of you to generate the faster speeds and higher energies.

[sits in trees]

The kinetic energy of a .270 round moving at around 3000 fps is enormous, not only that you can reach out and slam a deer a lot farther with that .270 than you can with a 12ga slug. Far superior to a shotgun slug in any way. Good luck....

[chiefbkt]

I would say 70-75% of the deer I've shot with with my 30-06 have dropped in their tracks.  Those are deer that have been running, standing, walking, starring at me, looking away, etc.  The other 25-30% ran and died in sight or just out of it.  Have had a few that made it a couple hundred yards before expiring, but have that happen with slug too.  This is shooting a 168 grain ballistic tip in the 30-06.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

The kinetic energy of a .270 round moving at around 3000 fps is enormous, not only that you can reach out and slam a deer a lot farther with that .270 than you can with a 12ga slug. Far superior to a shotgun slug in any way. Good luck....

 

 

If I had the 270 I would never pull the 12 ga out again. but inside 100 yards there really isn't that much difference comparing a high quality sabot. Where the 270 pulls away is trajectory outside 100 yards. But since Doc is talking 60 yards, his shotgun could have more energy than his 270..

 

But I guarantee the deer won't know the difference but hi shoulder will.

[pistolp71]

You need to check on some of the newer slugs out there. They ain't your Grandmas ole hunks of lead anymore. But they certainly do wrap the snot out of you to generate the faster speeds and higher energies.

I know they are much better than they were 20 years ago when I used slugs. I shoot those sabots with about the same ballistics out of my .50 muzzleloader But, even the best slugs/sabots out there just don't compare to a.270. And accuracy? Not even close.

[thphm]

Doc, just don't gedt the shakes when that big boy shows up during the day and not on the camera at night.That .270 will get the job done when put in the right spot.As said in another post, back on L.I. they jacked deer at night in the parks with 22's.

[Pygmy]

I've killed perhaps 70-80 deer with shotgun slugs, and perhaps 30-40 deer with rifle bullets...

The rifle bullets disrupt more tissue than the shotgun slugs, but I can honestly say that with good shot placement, I can't see where there is much difference in how fast they expire.

With a heart/lung shot, they will run from 20 to 100 yards and pile up.

With a shot that hits ( or passes very near to ) the CNS, they will fall down on the spot...

No matter WHAT you shoot them with.

[irish_redneck]

Every deer I've shot with my .270 collapsed on the spot, except for one large buck I single lunged who went to bed down about 35 yards away and got jumped by my BIL

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[sits in trees]

Doc, just don't gedt the shakes when that big boy shows up during the day and not on the camera at night.That .270 will get the job done when put in the right spot.As said in another post, back on L.I. they jacked deer at night in the parks with 22's.

It's posts like these that make a .270 seem like a yea I guess compromise. You don't even have to put it in the right spot with a round like the .270, we are not talking a 30-30 here? If anything a .270 is overkill for whitetails.

[cdmckane]

It's posts like these that make a .270 seem like a yea I guess compromise. You don't even have to put it in the right spot with a round like the .270, we are not talking a 30-30 here? If anything a .270 is overkill for whitetails.

 

.270 is my minimum for deer.  I much prefer my 20g slug gun, .30-06, .50 ML and .44 Magnum. 

 

[Pygmy]

 

Every deer I've shot with my .270 collapsed on the spot, except for one large buck I single lunged who went to bed down about 35 yards away and got jumped by my BIL

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Anytime someone tells me that nearly all the deer they shoot collapse on the spot, it tells me that they they are shooting them in the head, the neck or the spine, or MOST LIKELY, the shoulder, which will nearly always also affect the spine. Coming close to the spine ( as in a high lung shot) may also drop the deer in it's track due to the close passage of the wound channel to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM.. Before the deer can recover from the shock to the spine, it has bled to death from the lung damage. A deer shot ABOVE, but CLOSE to the spine or neck vertebrae will often drop at the shot, but will often soon recover and run off as if unhit.

I have heart shot and center lung shot too many deer ( with too many different calibers) to believe that those shots drop deer in thier tracks, except perhaps in rare cases, regardless of what you shoot them with.

I am not doubting your experience, just saying that it is shot placement that determines whether a deer drops in it's tracks, not the chambering that you shoot them with.

[Early]

Wow, Pygmy....120 deer with too many different calibers....That's impressive. When is your book coming out?