72 year old friend wants to deer hunt for the first time but needs a rifle.

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SoonerP226

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How? A bad shot is a bad shot no matter the caliber.
The key word in his post was "experienced." In the hands of an experienced hunter, the smaller caliber isn't going to make much difference because he better understands the limitations of the cartridge and knows when not to take that "maybe good enough" shot. He's also less likely to get "buck fever" and take that marginal shot that would be OK with a .308 or even a .30-30 but is just outside the performance envelope of the .223.
 

El Pablo

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The key word in his post was "experienced." In the hands of an experienced hunter, the smaller caliber isn't going to make much difference because he better understands the limitations of the cartridge and knows when not to take that "maybe good enough" shot. He's also less likely to get "buck fever" and take that marginal shot that would be OK with a .308 or even a .30-30 but is just outside the performance envelope of the .223.
Which would be the exact same issue with a 50 bmg. A bad shot is a bad shot. You can’t miss enough to win.
 

SoonerP226

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Which would be the exact same issue with a 50 bmg. A bad shot is a bad shot. You can’t miss enough to win.
It's not about a miss, it's about recognizing that an available shot might give you a clean kill with one caliber, but the same shot with another caliber might only wound the animal--and it might even be that slightly changing the circumstances (like the angle or distance) would give you a clean kill with that other caliber. An experienced hunter is more likely to recognize that difference and not take the shot with the "lesser" caliber.
 

slas

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The guy selling guns after his dad passed has an Enfield No1 MK3 listed for $400. Might be able to make a deal on it but I know NOTHING about Enfields. Maybe? How hard is it to get ammo for those things?
 

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