.22 rifle vs shotgun for"Wilderness survival" podcast

Hi again"ewvolutionsend":
it was the "gopher" part of comment; that threw me. A fully loaded center fire rifle (2500feet/second+) round has so much "hydrostatic shock" it would blow a ground hog in half. The super sonic bullet hits a non-compressible ( water) filled sack of meat; it sets up tremendous shock waves and tranfers the force to the tissue. In a bigger animal it creates a temporarily expanded wound cavity many times the size of the bullet then collapses .in a smaller animal they just burst into pieces.

Originally posted by Logarock

Originally posted by Evolutionsend
reply to post by 46ACE

 

.30-06 is the best wilderness gun imo. Big enough to take down a bear, small enough to go through a gopher without mutilating it.

Even a .22 magnum won't reliably drop a deer, or a bear.

edit on 10-10-2011 by Evolutionsend because: (no reason given)

This is just my opinion but a 223 bolt action or some such mini 14 would cover both bases if one were looking for something in between. As for the 22 vs shotgun question there really is no question that the 22 is the way to go. I have a 10-22 and it is fine but have always felt better shooting and holding one of the longer 22 18 round tube mag rifles.

Hi logarock:
I agree I also like tube magazines and hate box magazines sticking out under a rifle(lost one before; simply fell out somewhere!) Col Cooper would back me on this. my next bolt gun will probably have a tube mag!