Hard to believe you could take a deer with a 218 but I had another old timer say the same thing.If you had to rely on factory loads it would diffently be an expensive caliber to shoot.The other thing that hurts that caliber is it was only chambered in one bolt action rifle and that was the Winchester 43, unless you like using a lever action that's your only choice.Ballistically its Superior to the hornet but just never really made it for several reasons.