whats more important to you in a caliber, velocity or energy?

Answer 1

Hunting big game like deer, bear, etc it is energy. I want the knock down power. When I hit them I want them to stay down.

Answer 2

What's more important in a caliber, velocity or energy? Actually they go hand-in-hand.

Before bullet-making came into its own the only way to make bullets efficient was to make them wide & heavy. Wideth assured an adequate wound-channel and weight translated into 'knock-down power' or energy. This is why we used to see so many .50, .60 & even some .70+ calibers during the days of the Arquebus. Now we know we have to put a spin on a bullet to make it accurate and that light-weight bullets have more 'reach' than bulky heavy ones which tend to drop too soon. We've also learned that velocity can translate into energy and that what really matters is a bullet's ability to dump energy onto its target, thus bullet design. This is why a .357 Magnum, 125 grain semi-jacketed hollow point bullet is a better stopper than a slow moving, wider bore bullet. This is why a 7mm Remington magnum is a better hunting round than a 5.56/.223 round.

So I have to say that I prefer a basic blend of both velocity n energy coupled with bullet wideth n accuracy. This is why I favor a 10mm over the old .45 acp for duty carry. Of course, that's just me. Pick whatever works for you.

Best.

H

Answer 3

Energy is not a true indication of KO Power, according to many gun experts, e.g. Elmer Keith. General Julian hatcher and John Taylor said momentum is more important than energy. I pay no attention to energy figures, because they favor high velocity bullets, when a heavier bullet with lowere velocity has more KO power. Velocity is much more important than energy, e.g. with a .308" diameter bullet, a .300 Weatherby Magnum has more velocity than a .30-06. Energy is useful only in comparing loads of the same caliber.

Answer 4

One of the problems with energy is that it over-emphasizes the importance of velocity, being the product of bullet mass times the square of velocity. The other big problem is that those who aren't experienced or haven't made a study of such things get the mistaken impression that energy relates to the equally silly notion of "knock-down power," as if a bullet actually had the energy to knock a game animal off its feet! I'm afraid in today's urbanized society with limited hunting opportunities we'll see more of this silliness, which has been known since Taylor wrote about it all those years ago, but seems to be getting more prevalent.

Answer 5

To me, the caliber is the most important, because the bigger the bullet, the bigger the punch (in modern weapons). In a smaller caliber, the bullet might go through you and make a little hole, but in a large caliber such as .50, the stopping power is much greater.

Answer 6

You must figure out your question before anyone can accurately answer it. It depends on what you are doing. If I am hunting groundhogs, energy means almost nothing. If I am hunting ferrel hogs or other dangerous game velocity is only necessary in that you cannot have energy without it. The question is much more in-depth than you have made it. You cannot expect a satisfactory answer when the only correct answer is "it depends."

Answer 7

Velocity is a key component of energy. No matter what the bullet size or weight, if it has more velocity it will have more energy.

Answer 8

Velocity. You don't get energy without velocity. Since I reload, velocity is the one thing I can readily measure (chronograph) to determine the performance of my bullet, i.e., range and energy.

Answer 9

All three, however what it really comes down to is nothing more than precise bullet placement.** One shot one kill.*** I use 180 grain boat tail match bullets in my Remington Model 721 in 30-06 caliber with a 3X9 variable scope.***

Answer 10

To me it has to be a mixture of adequate pentration (bullet design and mass), adequate velocity to move said object to penetrate, and accuracy. If the bullet can't hit the target, it doesn't matter what mass, velocity, or energy it has.

Answer 11

Velocity and energy are directly proportional with the same bullet weight.