• An ethical hunter knows that his choice of cartridge is appropriate for taking game.deer image by Henryk Olszewski from Fotolia.com
  
  A short action cartridge has a shorter length than a standard rifle cartridge. This allows a bolt action rifle to cycle a new cartridge faster and smoother. The powder also burns more efficiently, which increases the bullet velocity over a standard cartridge. Short action cartridges are often used in hunting since the rifle can be a little smaller, which decreases the weight a hunter has to carry.
  
  

7mm-08

• A popular short cartridge for deer hunting is the 7mm-08 with a 130 grain bullet. The bullets can be cast up to 140 grains. There are 7,000 grains in a pound which means the bullet is fairly small. However, the cartridge has the ability to take down a small bear.
  
  

.308 Winchester

• The .308 Winchester is a versatile short action cartridge that is widely used both by big-game hunters and the military. It is similar in ballistics to the long-used .30-06 cartridge. There are hundreds of rifles of all shapes and actions that are manufactured to accept the .308 Winchester.
  
  

.270 Winchester Short Magnum

• The new .270 Winchester Short Magnum was developed by modifying the long action .270 Winchester. The original cartridge was designed to compete against the .30-06 and the short action version is even faster and packs more energy into the loading, even though the case is a full half-inch shorter.
  
  

.223 and .243 Winchester Super Short Magnums

• In the early 2000s, the Winchester Company introduced two new short action cartridges, the .223 and .243 Winchester Super Short Magnums. The smaller .223 cartridge is designed for varminting, or the taking of small nuisance animals such as feral pigs and coyotes. The larger one is designed for small deer and antelope-sized game. Both cartridges allow much faster terminal ballistics than comparable full sized cartridges.
  
  

Hornady 300 and 338 Ruger Compact Magnums

• The Hornady 300 and 338 Ruger Compact Magnums (RCM) were designed to shoot from a short action, short barrel rifle. Even though the cartridges use up to 15 percent less powder they still exceed the performance of larger sized 300 and 338 Win Mags. They are easier on a rifle barrel, which allows more shooting before replacement is necessary.