How to Choose a Rifle

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Choosing a Rifle

The goal of every hunter is to make a clean, humane kill without damaging the meat or pelt. Sure, it may be fun to shoot a rabbit with a rifle intended for deer.  Although the kill will be humane, you would lose a lot, if not all, of the meat. This would be deemed an unsuccessful hunt.  Hopefully you get the point.

Likewise, too small of a round is just as bad. Shooting game with an underpowered cartridge invites multiple shots, resulting in extended suffering for the animal and wasteful meat loss for the table.  Again, this would be an unsuccessful hunt.  

You will find that certain cartridges are more versatile than others for hunting applications.  This versatility derives from the fact that a given cartridge may accept a variety of bullet weights, each suited to a particular type of game animal.  

Take, for example, the .30-06 (pronounced "thirty ought six": yes, it's tradition).  This incredibly adaptable round is appropriate for fox, coyote and varmints (125 grain bullet), antelope (150 grain bullet), deer and black bear (180 grain bullet), and moose/elk (220 grain bullet).  Other cartridges also exhibit versatility.  

A further consideration involving cartridge selection for a particular model of rifle relates to the type of terrain you will be hunting.  Specifically, will your shots on game be relatively close, such as those associated with southern or eastern woodlands, or will they take place in the wide open expanses of western America?  

In the West, use of a "flat shooting" cartridge is a requisite.  Southern and Eastern shooters often select a "brush busting" cartridge.  The difference between the two can be generalized and simplified:  a "flat shooting" cartridge tends to propel a lighter bullet faster, while a "brush busting" cartridge tends to propel a heavier bullet slower.  

The impact all this has on the shooter relates to the bullet's ballistics, essentially the dynamics which act upon the bullet to produce its trajectory during flight.  The shooter must memorize key pieces of these data; specifically, how high or low the bullet lies in its arc at hundred yard intervals with respect to the rifle's "zero", or point of aim.  

This is relatively easy to visualize.  If a rifle is zeroed at 200 yards, the bullet will fly through an arc and strike an object at that distance exactly in line with the rifle's sights.  What if the shooter desires to hit an object at a distance estimated to be 100 yards?  

Because it is traveling in an arc, the bullet will be above the rifle's line of sight at 100 yards.  To hit the object, the shooter will need to hold the rifle's point of aim slightly below the object.  How much below?  

Our hypothetical sportsman is firing a 130 grain, .270 cartridge, an extremely flat shooting round.  From the ballistics tables, kindly reproduced on line by www.remington.com and www.federalcartridge.com, the shooter recalls that his particular bullet will be 1.5 inches high at 100 yards.  Hence, the shooter holds the point of aim through the sights at a point 1.5 inches below the desired point of impact.  At 300 yards, the bullet will be  7.0 inches below the zero point.  Thus, to hit a target object at this range, the shooter will hold a point of aim 7.0 inches above the desired point of impact. 

Succinctly put, with a flat shooting cartridge, longer shots will involve hold over or hold under corrections measured in inches.  Hence, one is less likely to miss.  Brush busting cartridges will necessitate long distance adjustments in the point of aim which are literally measured in feet.  A miss is much more likely.  Add to this mix the fact that the shooter must be good at estimating distances in the field, another source of potential error, and you can appreciate why flat shooting cartridges are preferred for long shots.

Another consideration one needs to reckon with when selecting a rifle involves type of action.  It used to be said that bolt action rifles were significantly more accurate than pumps, autoloaders, and lever actions.  Unless one is a military sniper, this probably isn't really a consideration any longer.  The inherent accuracy built into the production firearms of today likely exceeds the ability of most people to shoot them.  Therefore, choose a type of action that you  feel comfortable with.

Subjective considerations related to firearm selection are largely a matter of visual appreciation, handling aspects, and overall aesthetic appeal.  Some shooters prefer  synthetic stocks.  Others love the look and feel of classic wooden stocks, some of which can be strikingly beautiful.  Gold inlay or engraving on a receiver may produce a work of art.  Camouflage coloring on steel parts may aid in concealment, black matte contributes to stealth, stainless steel resists adverse weather, and good bluing is gorgeous.

Because each firearm and caliber or gauge tends to fulfill a specific role or function, don't be surprised if, like most members of the American gun community, you end up owning more than several.

The following chart depicts caliber/bullet recommendations for various game animals:

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