[U S Army EOD]

It is the old argument of mass vs. velocity. Roy Weatherby always felt that velocity was much more important due to the large amount of hydraulic shock created by a super high velocity.

If you can get some type of .300 Mag take it and a 45/70 and shoot a watermelon at about 100 yards or so and see which one does the most damage. This is why the 5.56 will do more damage to some targets than a slow load in a 30-06 under 100 yards. Where I grew up, we had a lot of problems with wild dogs killing cattle. I have shot them through the head with a .308 and it just blew a hole through the head. I have also shot them in the head with a .222 rem and it literally blew their heads off. ie. the jaw bone being 20 feet in front of the head, one eyeball stuck up on the side of the barn about 8 feet up and the only thing left of the head from neck up was a sliver of skin with one eye attached. (Grossed me out when I saw it). That was a 53 grain HP at 3150 fps. My .300 Weatherby will crank a 110 grain bullet out in excess of 4000 fps. I would still hesitate to use the .300 on a Grizzly bear and would prefer something similar to the .340 Weatherby or larger.

Anytime you are under 2000 fps you will not get the desire hydraulic shock.

[U S Army EOD]

I remember reading articles on firearms back in the 50's when you didn't have much choice of what you shot. The weapon of choice for Eskimos for both seal and polar bear was the .222 Remington. Better them than me.

[judywillow]

Hydraulic shock might make an impression on a wild dog but it's not going to phase a rhino. They're using that Garret 45/70 ammo and Marlin rifles to kill elephants and rhinos these days.