Deer Hunters Relieved Over Semi-Automatic Weapons Law Change | WNEP.com:
On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Game Commission made a last-minute change and decided not to legalize semi-automatic rifles for hunting big game like deer, black bear, elk, and turkey.I agree with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
The .556/223 is an underpowered caliber, deliberately designed for "war", where a wounded foe is better for the aggressor than a dead enemy ... a wounded warrior hopes he has two buddies to get him to medical help.
I've never been a fan of the .223 and its kin, because it is a wimpy cartridge and over-touted; it is best suited for small game like woodchucks and prairie dogs
(ASIDE: I own a .22-250 which is MUCH more effective even on small game, but much more powerful than the .223 cartridge.)
MEAT:
I've hunted deer and antelope, and I'm a firm believer that a cartridge of at least .25 caliber is most likely to bring a quick and humane end to their life as fauna, and immediate transformation of their body into a locker. Yummy! (No .. Antelope does NOT "taste like goat"!)
I've served in Viet Nam, where wounded prisoners were brought in, and those were almost invariably 'wounded', not killed, by the 5.56mm/AR16 .. unless it was a "Head Shot".
Conclusion:
I agree with the Pennsylvania Game Commission that the 5.56mm/.223 caliber is not an appropriate (or at least a "controversial" cartridge) for medium-size game such as deer.
Certainly, the .22* cartridge is not optimal for Elk, which are closer in size and vitality to a horse, than to a deer.
POSTSCRIPT:
Now, if the AR15 frame is presented with a more powerful cartridge than the .223/5,56 cartridge, I think that an overly broad definition of the term "AR15" is premature; that frame is capable of accepting more powerful cartridges (if only barely' the AR15 is not a "robust" frame, after all) and for the folks in charge in Pennsylvania to (apparently) have made such a broad statement is to accept that .
That's all I have to say about that.
On the other hand, I'm dumb as a stump and if you read down this far ... you already knew that.
3 comments:
I dunno some stumps are pretty dumb.
Browning makes a semi-auto hunting rifle in 300 winmag, Remington makes a 30-06 hunting rifle, there are several other firearms makers that make semi-auto rifles in popular big game calibers. The AR15 isn't the only semi auto rifle in the world.
ARs also come in .308 Winchester. Isn't that adequate for deer?
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