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with proper bullet weight and construction.
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Hi Ball, I hope you don't mind but I will add to that quote just a bit.
"For the velocity at which it is fired".
CALIBER means NOTHING compared to bullet construction/performance.
Here's my 270 story. When I was young, I bought an old Rem. 760 in 270. Steel butt plate and ribbing on the forearm similar to a Mod. 12 winchester. Great gun but it would slam the crap out of you. Too much drop in the stock which made it kick too much. That gun nearly ruined me. I developed a flinch bad enough I could not even shoot my 22 accurately anymore. I finally managed to get over it but it took a lot of time and effort. Now this was more the fault of the GUN and not the caliber. It killed very well.
Now my 243 story. I traded that 270 for a Win. Model 88 in 243. God I loved that rifle. No recoil to speak of and incredibly accurate. (Later as I began to reload, that Mod.88 would shoot as well as ANY bolt gun!) The only problem was that the caliber would not kill reliably with factory ammo. Make perfect shots and the deer would run off like they weren't even hurt. Bullet performance was absolutely terrible and thus gave the 243 a bad reputation as a wounder. (An example: I shot a 200 pound hog behind the shoulder with a Rem. 80 gr. bullet. He ran so I shot him again going away. Hit him in the right ham and upon dressing him I found the bullet in the v formed were the bottom jaw comes together at his nose. This is supposed to be a varmint bullet yet it shot LENGTHWAYS through a big hog with very little damage. When I got to the hog I finished him off with a 22 mag. behind the ear. I was NOT happy with my 243) I turned to reloading premium bullets (Pet load was an 85gr. Sierra HP) and this gun would kill like lightning. Load that 243 with Partition bullets or one of the other premium bullets and you have as good as it gets for DEER to 300+ yards. By the way, just to tell you how terrible the factory rounds really were, I shot anti-freeze jugs full of water at 350 yards and thought I was missing. Reality was that those bullets, 80gr. and 100gr. from Rem. and Win., were simpply poking holes and draining the water without any shock effect at all! Shot those same jugs with that 85 grainer or my partition load and it exploded, even at that extreme range. THE BULLET IS BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF EVERY CALIBER. IMHO
Take care
Tony