Ballistics charts can be deceiving. They’ll tell you a cartridge carries plenty of energy, expands beautifully, and drops game with authority. But when the bullet hits something tougher than gel—like shoulder bone, heavy hide, or gristle—those impressive numbers start to fade fast. Some cartridges expand too early, shed weight too quickly, or just don’t have the momentum to keep driving.
That’s what separates good marketing from good hunting performance. The rounds below all look capable on paper but have earned a reputation in the field for punching in shallow and leaving hunters tracking longer than they should. If you’ve ever walked miles for a follow-up shot, you’ll recognize a few of these right away.
6.5 Creedmoor
The 6.5 Creedmoor’s reputation was built on long-range accuracy, not terminal power. It’s an efficient cartridge that hits with precision, but its lighter-for-caliber bullets tend to expand early and stop short on heavy game. Plenty of elk and bear hunters have learned that lesson the hard way — perfect shot placement that simply didn’t drive deep enough.
Its sectional density looks great, but when combined with mild velocity and thin-jacketed bullets, it loses steam fast after impact. It’s an excellent round for deer, pronghorn, or steel targets, but when the bone gets thick, penetration drops faster than most expect. The Creedmoor’s problem isn’t lethality — it’s consistency when shots aren’t picture-perfect.
.243 Winchester
The .243 has earned its place as a mild, accurate deer round, but it’s also one of the most overestimated when it comes to penetration. That 90–100 grain bullet travels fast, which helps on open ground, but it doesn’t hold together well once it meets bone. The lighter bullet weights simply don’t have enough momentum for deep travel.
It’s ideal for clean, broadside shots on thin-skinned deer or varmints, but if you take a steep angle or clip a shoulder, the results can be disappointing. Hunters love how flat it shoots, and that keeps its popularity high, but it’s not a caliber you want to trust on anything bigger than a mid-sized whitetail. It overpromises on paper and underdelivers in real anatomy.
6mm Creedmoor
The 6mm Creedmoor is a competition darling, built for accuracy and speed, not heavy game performance. It shoots flat and hits targets hard, but hunting loads often use match-style bullets that aren’t built for bone. They fragment early and don’t retain mass once they encounter structure.
In the field, that means shallow wound channels and unpredictable expansion. You’ll see clean hits that fail to exit, even on smaller animals. On light game, it’s fantastic. On anything tougher, it starts to behave more like a varmint round than a hunting one. If you like precision rifles, the 6mm Creedmoor will impress you — just don’t confuse its paper stats for penetration in real-world hunting conditions.
.25-06 Remington
The .25-06 is a speed demon, pushing light bullets fast enough to flatten trajectory and make long shots feel easy. But that speed comes at a cost. On impact, the high velocity often causes thin-jacketed bullets to explode on bone instead of driving through it. The result is messy surface damage and shallow penetration.
Hunters who know the cartridge well stick to premium, controlled-expansion bullets to offset this issue. But with standard factory loads, it’s not uncommon to see fragmenting impacts that don’t reach vital organs on quartering shots. The .25-06 can be a tack driver with the right setup, but calling it a deep penetrator would be generous. It overpromises long-range performance and underdelivers when things get close and tough.
.300 Blackout
The .300 Blackout sells on versatility—supersonic, subsonic, suppressed, short barrel—but penetration isn’t its strength. With subsonic loads, the slow velocity makes expansion unreliable and penetration inconsistent. Supersonic rounds improve that slightly, but even then, you’re still working with limited energy and short-range ballistics.
It can take down hogs or deer at bowhunting distances if you pick the right bullet, but on bone or quartering shots, it simply doesn’t have the horsepower. Many hunters try to stretch it into a do-everything caliber, but it’s best viewed as a niche round. It sounds great on paper, but once you start testing it in real-world hunts, you quickly realize the marketing claims outweigh the actual terminal results.
7mm-08 Remington
The 7mm-08 is one of those cartridges that performs beautifully on paper—high ballistic coefficient, moderate recoil, and great accuracy. But penetration can be spotty depending on the bullet design. Many factory loads use ballistic tips designed for rapid expansion, and when those hit bone, they tend to overexpand and shed weight quickly.
That’s not an issue for deer, but on larger animals or steep angles, you lose penetration fast. With a well-constructed bullet, it can hold its own, but with common hunting loads, it often stops short of what the numbers suggest. It’s a classic case of marketing power outpacing field performance.
.22-250 Remington
The .22-250 Remington might look impressive at 4,000 feet per second, but speed alone doesn’t equal penetration. The light bullets are designed for varmints, not thick shoulders. When they hit bone, they shatter on impact, leaving a shallow wound rather than a deep, lethal path.
Hunters who use it responsibly keep it in its lane — predators, coyotes, and small game. When people push it on deer or hogs, the shortcomings become obvious. Ballistics charts make it look like a laser beam, but speed without mass is a false promise. Against real resistance, the .22-250 runs out of steam in a hurry.
.257 Weatherby Magnum
The .257 Weatherby Magnum’s velocity numbers are so wild they almost look fictional. It’s lightning-fast, and at long range, that flat trajectory is undeniable. But close up, when velocity is peaking, it can be destructive in all the wrong ways.
Impacting at over 3,500 feet per second, lightweight bullets don’t hold together when they meet bone. Instead of penetrating, they explode—creating dramatic surface trauma but often failing to reach vital depth. It’s a phenomenal cartridge for long-range deer hunting, but it can disappoint when shots are close and angles are steep. It’s the classic overpromiser: all sizzle, not enough drive.
.22 Hornet
The .22 Hornet still has its fans, but it’s a small-game cartridge at heart. On paper, it seems to have enough velocity for deer-sized targets, but in practice, it falls apart when it hits real structure. The bullets are too light, and they lose energy fast.
It’s perfect for varmints, but even a rib or shoulder blade can deflect or fragment a Hornet bullet. Hunters have used it on deer for decades, but results vary wildly. It looks promising in ballistics tables, but those tables don’t tell you how fragile its bullets are on contact. It’s accurate and efficient—but it’s no penetrator.
5.7x28mm
The 5.7x28mm is another cartridge that looks better in numbers than in field performance. It’s fast, sleek, and lightweight, but there’s a reason you rarely see it in serious hunting rifles. Its tiny bullets struggle to reach vitals after hitting bone or thick hide, even with expanding designs.
The round was made for low-recoil, armor-piercing applications, not for punching through muscle and bone. At best, it performs like a rimfire magnum with better trajectory. It can be fun for varmints, but it’s not a round you’d trust for anything that fights back or runs far. The promise of “centerfire performance in a pistol” fades quick once real anatomy gets involved.
.30 Carbine
The .30 Carbine was never built for penetration—it was made for light, fast follow-ups in wartime. Its energy is barely more than a hot handgun round, and its flat-nose bullets expand fast and stop faster. On soft tissue, it’s fine. On bone, it’s useless.
Plenty of nostalgic hunters still bring out their M1 Carbines for deer season, but the track record is mixed. Even with modern soft points, you’ll see shallow penetration and poor energy transfer past 100 yards. The round’s ballistics make it sound capable, but it’s simply not built for deep, decisive penetration. It looks good on paper but leaves a lot to be desired in the real world.
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Calibers That Shouldn’t Even Be On the Shelf Anymore
Rifles That Shouldn’t Be Trusted Past 100 Yards
*This article was developed with AI-powered tools and has been carefully reviewed by our editors.
