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Most ranges won’t allow you to shoot .22 Long Rifle cartridges at 200 yards because calculating the hold over to ensure that you hit the berm and not skip it off the ground is typically beyond many shooter’s ability.Please note that a 2″ target at 200 yards is a gun that can shoot a consistent 1 Minute of Arc or 1 MOA. Even when it comes to general rifles, this is about the limit of an off the shelf model. Your common AR-15 is typically larger than this standard.The vast majority of air guns on the market do not shoot as consistently as a .22. I have a very quiet .22 caliber air gun that remains subsonic which was taken new and carefully polished and fitted with high quality seals for superior performance. It will easily make 1 hole targets at 25 meters (roughly 82 feet), but even at 100 yards, it’s over an inch group. And this is a gun that was carefully built for accuracy.The other issue is that if your “pellet” starts above roughly 1100 fps (original article had 700fps which is wrong. Although the speed of sound is about 760mph which is probably where I was recalling the number) and then drops below this, you are dropping subsonic and the transition does terrible things to accuracy. A typical .177 pellet does this and is what makes it a poor choice for longer ranges.That said, there are some larger caliber air rifles that could be used, but their projectile is hardly what I would call a pellet.Shot from something like this:With a 3000psi charge (see that air gauge on the side?) it can push the 145 grain “pellet” above at 800 fps. This is roughly the low end of a 9mm handgun. At 100 yards, your first few shots will group under an inch. Then things start to drop off as the air pressure is lower.For a 200 yard shot, you are going to have to calculate the drop and it’s only your first few shots that might make that 2″ target maybe, and only if you are really good at the ballistic calculations and the subsonic transition does not impact the accuracy too bad.Pricetag: $700 plus ammo and 3000psi capable compressorNot good enough?Try this:The Airforce Texan can be had in a .45 caliber and can launch “pellets” over 1100 feet per second with as much as 500 or even 800 ft lbs of energy. (higher muzzle energy would actually have a shorter range as it is a heavier “pellet”.)With a proper selection of ammo, this would be a bit easier to zero in on that 2″ target at 200 yards and you might remain supersonic the entire way. But as before, only the first few shots would count.Price: $1400 plus ammo and 3500 psi capable compressor.Compressors range from $1300 to $1800 and require a 120v and even 240v power supply depending on how quick you want to refill the gun.You can employ air tanks that are filled to 4500psi and allow several refills, but then you really need a high end compressor and each tank is $400 - $700Of course, there are hand pumps too. These range from $200 to $400. They are quite a workout and you need to be careful not to overheat the seals, but typically you are too tired from pumping to get to the point where you have to worry about the heat unless you are packing some serious guns (oh come on, that was a good one).And ammo? For the top level “pellets”, you are looking at roughly $1 a round. The one I pictured above is a Nosler and costs about $23 for 25 “pellets”. For the .45 caliber? You can find some practice rounds that are $20 for 50, but for stuff that is going to be accurate at those 200 yards - long, aerodynamic, highly balanced, and hollow to keep the weight down, we are talking $35 for a box of 25.If you are thinking of an airgun because it will be quiet, think again. Both of these (even with the Benjamin’s suppressor) are VERY Loud. Hearing protection is strongly recommended.In the grand scheme of things, unless air guns are your thing or you simply can’t have a real gun, a traditional bolt rife is a lot cheaper and more accurate at range. By my experience, it is harder to become an accurate shot with an air gun than it is to do so with a standard firearm. Part of that is due to the guns, but the recoil is different and you have to allow the airgun recoil to be consistent or you alter the trajectory just enough to throw off the impact area.

You clearly don’t know what ‘military grade’ means. The following shotgun is the Mossberg 500, very popular for police, hunters, and people who want to defend their home:I own the gun model pictured above. In fact the Mossberg 500 is the first gun I ever bought with my summer job money when I was 13 years old. And the following is the ‘military grade’ Mossberg shotgun known as the Mossberg 590A, which I also own. The 590A is a variant of the civilian 500 redesigned for military contracts:The millitary grade 590A is used by the millitary for CQB ops and breaching. The only differences are that the ‘military grade’ 590A has a metal trigger guard instead of a plastic one and the barrel is thicker and heavier. In a way, you could say that the military upgrades only make it heavier and slightly safer to use. The 590A is also equipped with ghost ring sights. But most shotgunners are scratching their heads wondering what’s that doing on a shotgun.So I assume by ‘military grade’ you mean nothing else than black scary looking guns like the AR-15. The AR-15 is the civilian version of the widely used military grade M-16. The main difference is that the M-16 is capable of full auto function while the AR-15 is only semi-automatic, like a revolver or a handgun - one bullet per trigger pull. I think you will not find a single military anywhere on this planet that issues the AR-15 to their soldiers.And besides, the civilian AR-15 was put in circulation ahead of the millitary issued m-16. So you might have to admit it’s the millitary that uses civilian guns when we are talking about both the Mossberg 500 and the AR-15.Below are two rifles with the exact same barrel length, same semi-automatic action, chambered in the same popular .223 cartridge, same 30 round capacity, and same weight:Please tell me which features of the black scary looking gun make it more dangerous. Is it the color, the style, the plastic adjustable stock, or the pistol grip? Every gun owner around the world wants to know. What exactly makes the ‘military style’ one more dangerous?Rambo movies always use the scary black one because movies are a visual medium and Rambo wouldn’t look as cool with a wood stock rifle. But that doesn’t make the AR-15 in any way more dangerous.Furthermore, the AR-15 and the AK-47 are just some of the rifles your type of people want to ban. Like, I presume, most of the rifles below:But they are just rifles. And all rifles (scary and non-scary looking combined) are involved in fewer than 3% of homicides according to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting statistics. And if you want to narrow it down to only scary looking ‘millitary grade’ ones, the numbers would likely be around 1% of all homicides.The handgun is the weapon of choice of killers in 65% of the time. A rifle is just too bulky and too difficult to conceal.So even if you could come up with some magical unicorn gun law that could prevent every single homicide done with a scary looking ‘millitary grade’ rifle, it would barely register on the overall crime rate. And you’ll be back bitching about more gun laws within a day or two. I for one, would more readily support a gun laws that would shut you up for at least a week.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■My other popular gun answers:Why shouldn’t guns be registered?Why are shotguns preferred to other guns in close quarters combat?Are gun owners proud of their guns?Can I get a pro-gun conservative's sincere views on how to decrease school shootings in the US? Can it really be done with introducing lenient gun laws?If the 2nd Amendment establishes the right to bear arms, why are we not well regulating it?

While I love the 30–06 and have killed elk with it… I will disagree.Let me explain.First, “most effective” is something you need to narrow down a bit. There is the pure “ballistic” most effective. There is the “shooter” most effective. There is the “lethality” most effective.And then there is a lot of very bad myth, lore and legend about “killing big game” (like elk).Let’s tackle the myth, lore, and legend first. Here are a few things I want to put to rest:There is no perfect single ballistic, shooter or lethality bullet. In fact, the actual bullet-bullet (the little thingy on the end of the cartridge that goes down range) is a variable element depending on range, depth of penetration required, etc even inside of a caliber choice.The minimum numbers like 1400 ft/lbs to kill game the size of elk are from old research based on older powder, and bullet technology. I have killed elk at 1000 yards with a 140 gr bullet - which would violate all of these theories. Oh, by the way, that was the thickest hide, hairiest elk I or my brother have seen (head scratcher right?).Anchoring an animal is more about shot placement than it is bullet, caliber, etc.If you want a complete and thorough treatise on this, then please check out Nathan Foster’s Terminal Ballistics site… He does a way better job of talking about this and proving it empirically than I could ever do here.Now to most effective…Are you looking for a gun that a youth, woman, or man of slight build can shoot? Are you looking for a gun that you can tote all day and night and not be ready to throw it off the mountain? Are you looking for a gun that can hunt other game effectively as well? Are you looking for a gun that makes you grow hair on your chest (my apologies to women)?You see the question about most effective can go on and on…While I think the 30–06 is a GREAT candidate, it is a gun that:Some people can’t handle well. It is a cartridge smack between a magnum and a short action. Recoil is a bit closer to a magnum for the “elk” killing type rounds.A caliber that you may or may not find GOOD ammunition in some more remote places. You need GOOD ammunition if you are hunting elk. You WANT good ammunition if you don’t want to waste your chance on an elk.You will find mostly bolt action 30–06s (although there are some good M1s still out there).Given (3) you typically only have 3 (or 4) rounds without reloading.Now what would I propose as a GREAT cartridge/caliber for elk??…The 308 WinchesterI am already hearing the Boos…. LOLHear me out.First remember the 308 Win was originally designed to replace the 30–06 as a short action (aka could be made into a machine gun) format. That said the ballistics of the 308 are about as close as you can get to the 30–06 - roughly differing by 50–100 fps across the board. The only place the 30–06 really has an advantage is in bullet weights above 180 gr (you diminish case capacity in the 308 too much).Why do I recommend the 308 over the 30–06??Recoil is more manageable in general. I recently handed my 6 lb 3 oz 308 to my youngest son to shoot and he loved it. No recoil issues at all. He is a thin, small framed youth.I can find 308 rounds nearly anywhere in the world (remember its a NATO caliber) and can typically find GREAT 308 cartridges most places.I like the semi-automatic options I have in the 308 (AR10).The short case allows me to shoot a shorter barrel and still get the most out of the round (powder burn is more complete). Typically shorter barrel 30–06’s sacrifice more of the speed at the muzzle.Given the semi auto options, when I am in grizzly country (which is often with elk hunting), I now have a gun that I can load up with 10, 20, or 30 round magazines for my own safety and I can reload a AR10 in less than 2 seconds under stressful conditions (try doing that with a bolt gun).The 308 is the “mule” cartridge. Its not pretty. Its not elegant. Its not the thoroughbred. But it can kill pretty much anything you need it to. Remember famous hunters of the past killed many African big game with the 7x57 which has lessor ballistics than the 7mm-08, which is a 7mm variation of the 308 (actually smaller weight bullets typically).The 308 is a great round for elk under 200 yards. Actually you are probably good (with the right round/bullet) out to 500. Under 200, easy peesy. In fact, its all I am carrying this year to hunt antelope, deer, and elk - and I am going into heavy griz country!Don’t get me wrong 30–06′ers… I love the 30–06! Its my bolt action back up gun for areas where semi-autos are disallowed. It is also the gun my brother carries. I recommend either, but tend toward the 308.Here are calibers I would recommend and why (priority of preference):308 (my all around #1)30–06 (my all around #2)270 (a solid candidate)7mm-08 (my recommendation for very recoil sensitive people)These ARE NOT the only choices. If you are a magnum person there are many magnum rounds that are great. That said, they are not necessary in spite of the many opinions that will swear to you they are. They recoil heavily. They are more expensive (in general). The cartridges cost a lot more and are less available…. The list could go on.