THE main topic for argument among hunters gathered around a campfire concerns the effectiveness of various calibres. One man who has successfully hunted every size game animal with a 7mm Mauser swears by it. But he’s no sooner aired his opinion than another chap airs his view and condemns the 7x57mm, claiming that it isn’t powerful enough for red deer, let alone sambar.
This is when all the other shooters start taking sides. Soon a heated argument is taking place — and a more fruitless subject is hard to imagine.
The difference, of course, lies not in the cartridge or the rifle, but in how it was used, by whom and under what conditions. Right from the start, it should have been obvious to these guys that where you hit your game is far more important than what you hit it with.
A .284 bullet landed in the vital heart-lung area carries a lot more authority than a far more powerful .338-calibre projectile that
