foot pounds of energy

[Frankr]

truthfully I have no idea in ft lbs energy on ground hogs..They always told us years ago that on deer size game you wanted at least 1200 Ft Lbs..Recently that has been tested and FT Lbs of energy has nothing to do with it..It is impact speed of the bullet..Lighter Bullet needs a higher impact speed.. With most big game bullets they have tested 2,000 FPS impact speed seems to produce good bullet performance and a good wound channel...I actually think PO Ackley did a lot of testing on this years ago. But that FPS impact speed is not wrote in stone..a lot of variables as bullet weight ect..
So it is more impact speed of the bullet and the bullet being able to preform at that impact speed...make a adequate wound channel..So a example would be a 22/250 55gr varmint bullet launched at 3,600 FPS say hit the ground hog at
1,650 FPS it the bullet expands and penetrates and or exits...that impact speed works..Now same secenario but bullet hits at 650 FPS punches a pin hole not a good impact speed...With a varmint bullet I have no idea....But impact speed of the bullet over FT LBS of energy is what gets it done..

 

[357Mag]

Bullet -

Howdy !

Not a " magic number ".

As a general guide:
For enhanced lethality on " Soybeanus Digestus " @ distance, use a good design varmint calibre bullet delivered w/ a minimum 450 ft lb
of energy.


With regards,
357Mag

 

[XBBR Shooter]

At 250# you are not bringing much to the table, that logic is saying a .220 swift is a 700+ yd gun.

... well, yeah! And your problem with that is what?

The lowly 22RF LR cartridge delivers 850-ish fps, and 90-ish foot-pounds of energy at hunting ranges, with a badly designed bullet, and enough 'chucks have been killed with the 22 Long Rifle cartridge, to feed a third world country for 300 years.

 

[potatoe]

Your right, it's a 700 yd gun what was I thinking.

 

[JRS]

truthfully I have no idea in ft lbs energy on ground hogs..They always told us years ago that on deer size game you wanted at least 1200 Ft Lbs..Recently that has been tested and FT Lbs of energy has nothing to do with it..It is impact speed of the bullet..Lighter Bullet needs a higher impact speed.. With most big game bullets they have tested 2,000 FPS impact speed seems to produce good bullet performance and a good wound channel...I actually think PO Ackley did a lot of testing on this years ago. But that FPS impact speed is not wrote in stone..a lot of variables as bullet weight ect..
So it is more impact speed of the bullet and the bullet being able to preform at that impact speed...make a adequate wound channel..So a example would be a 22/250 55gr varmint bullet launched at 3,600 FPS say hit the ground hog at
1,650 FPS it the bullet expands and penetrates and or exits...that impact speed works..Now same secenario but bullet hits at 650 FPS punches a pin hole not a good impact speed...With a varmint bullet I have no idea....But impact speed of the bullet over FT LBS of energy is what gets it done..

Speed plays a part in the end result.

 

[284winner]

Common sense. That's more of the subject of discussion. Potato you are correct. Range dictates cartridge for sure. That's with most situations. Bottom line, a .177 Cal pellet gun will put a Groundhog wheels up with a head shot at a reasonable range. How many ft lbs does a 7.8 grain pellet have ? So many variables in this scenario as well as opinions. These days I'm a one cartridge Groundhog guy. Keeping it simple is my prefernce. My deer gun is my Groundhog gun. I use it for 100-1000+ yard shots. Same bullet, same load.