Small Bores Versus Big Bores

posted on December 2, 2010
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
201012210395-smallborebigbore_f.jpg

Original date of publication: December 1954

I suppose there are few more hotly contested subjects than that of the caliber of rifles for use against large game, especially against that considered to be dangerous. Ever since man began to walk erect-even before that, I expect-this controversy probably raged as freely as it does now, if not about rifles then about clubs, bludgeons, battle axes, and bows. It may in fact be stated, with fair reason, that bored of all kinds have existed in great numbers since the word go.

It will be observed that it is almost invariably the Big Bore who attacks the Small Bore. Why this should be so is at first not apparent. It can be stated with very fair accuracy that the Small Bore does not usually bear any ill will towards the Big Bore. I should say that, on the contrary, the Small Bore rather commiserates with his brother Bore for having to burden himself with his heavy equipment.

On the other hand, the Big Bore will take every opportunity to attack the Small Bore. He will perjure his soul by declaring the smallbore rifle to be unsporting. He will even go so far as to declare that the use of smallbores should be made illegal. Why should the Big Bore get so hot under the collar about the number of thousandths of an inch that constitutes the difference between, say, a .270 and a .375?

Latest

Nra Logo Blue
Nra Logo Blue

ATF Ends Enforcement of NFA Registration & Approval Requirements for Suppressors, SBRs, and SBSs Following NRA Victory in Jensen v. ATF

Today, the ATF confirmed it will no longer enforce National Firearms Act (NFA) registration, application and tax-stamp requirements for short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, suppressors and certain other concealable firearms.

Gun of the Week: H&K VP9CC

Hot on the heels of its CC9 micro-compact, Heckler & Koch introduced a micro companion to its popular VP9 lineup that includes some noteworthy features.

A Raven at 50: Five Days at Gunsite Academy

In Gunsite Academy's 50th year, NRA Director Jerry Kraus made his inaugural visit to the famed training institute and left a Raven.

The Armed Citizen® Oct. 9, 2026

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Competition Shooting vs. Combat Training

It's an undeniable fact that competition and combat solve different problems. Mistaking one for the other or rejecting either one is a mistake.

The Truth About DGUs Gun-Control Groups Don’t Want You to Know

Last August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s webpage again posted defensive-gun-use data—essentially, estimates of how many times per year armed citizens in America use guns to defend themselves or others. 

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.