Bullet Calibers on Hunting Rifles

[walkertxkitty]

I've found various manufacturers' listings for which calibers the hunting rifles can handle, but I haven't been able to find any data on how big a hole each caliber would make. I need a caliber that is big enough to cause a debilitating wound but which would probably pass through rather than fragmenting or leaving a hole so large the person would

Comments

[quizzicalsphinx]

Quote from my husband: "Gah! That's the trouble. First off, anywhere from the bottom of the groin to the collarbone is lethal. Trauma won't kill him but he'll bleed out in a few minutes. What you'd need for something like what you're describing is something like a deer rifle, a thirty-thirty. Something that's not going to make that big a hole, but isn't going to slow down enough that it wouldn't pass through the body."

[walkertxkitty]

Deer rifle! That's what I was looking for! Thanks!

[samtyr]

Since it's almost deer season here, most people use a .30-.06 or a .30-.30 . But according to one of my guy friends, even a .22 can make a big hole that can cause a person to bleed out fast. And as far as the size of the wound, a bullet usually makes a much smaller entrance wound than it does an exit wound.

[nicked_metal]

Grazes from bullets can be pretty disabling, too.

If you need a passthrough wound, then the shoulder is good, be aware that the lungs actually stick up just past the collarbone and that a punctured lung will cause a very very bad day and an immediate threat to survival.

If you want them able to limp and gasp, then lower abdomen is OK. But be aware that puncturing an intestine will spray crap through the abdominal cavity (literally), and that's a slow, painful, near-unstoppable way to die.

People don't shoot multiple times to make sure you'll die. People shoot multiple times to make sure you'll die so quickly that you can't shoot them back.