Western Canada is blessed with a plethora of wildlife, much of which can be hunted legally. The game varies from creatures as small as squirrels and rabbits to bruisers like bison and moose, and the habitats they inhabit are almost as diverse as the animals themselves. Each combination of animal and habitat poses unique challenges for the hunter; a good knowledge of hunting calibres and their performance characteristics is essential to choosing the right calibre and cartridge for the job at hand.

In this article I review the ballistics tables for ammunition of the same calibres but different bullet styles from the three major manufacturers: Remington, Federal and Winchester. When comparing the ballistics of each calibre, I picked the top-performing round from the three companies for the bullet weight being reviewed.

The Heavyweights

I consider the heavyweights to be bison, elk, moose, black bears and grizzly bears. Some may disagree about black bears being in this group, but I placed them here because of their potential danger if wounded.

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