Thread: A question for the doubters

Originally Posted by SPEARONZ

This discussion has more value than polarising shooters opinion of the 223.

It could be useful for anyone considering their next mountain rifle, tahr cartridge, moose killer etc. It has definitely made me re evaluate shootability of a rifle over raw horsepower.

Yeah look at the ground we've covered and where we have got to.

We have moved far past saying things like "[x] doesn't have enough energy, it's no good"

We have agreed that specific bullet construction/behaviour and placement are much better indicators of good performance than calculated energy figures. We've differentiated incapacitation and death.

We are discussing the specific characteristics of wounds caused by bullets, using the generally accepted terminology in the field of study, and we are looking at the mechanisms by which specific wounds in animals can cause incapacitation and/or death.

Any discussion on the forum on the subject in future is likely to look somewhat different to those in the past.

We haven't yet resolved a difference of opinion on whether the temporary cavity (or the hypothetical "shockwave" theory) is a significant additional factor in incapacitation or mortality. If it is, we haven't resolved whether the difference between a .223 w/good bullets vs anything else is actually a significant difference.