.32 round ball for deer

[Enfield Musketoon]

A .310 ball only weighs 45 grains. Like a 22 LR bullet.
With a muzzle velocity of 1,950 fps, it is only going around 1500 fps at 50 yards.
Inhumane and un-sportsman like...

 

[wattlebuster]

I am not/will not/not gonna :shake:

 

[MacRob46]

A .310 ball only weighs 45 grains. Like a 22 LR bullet.
With a muzzle velocity of 1,950 fps, it is only going around 1500 fps at 50 yards.
Inhumane and un-sportsman like...

That is exactly right and I wonder some times why these questions are asked because in today's environment they are kind of pointless. You can kill an Alaskan Brown Bear with a .22 short but should you carry one hunting? Of course not so why even bring it up?

 

[Ft. Jefferson]

mk3; i've taken a half dozen whitetails with a 36cal on depredation permits. Not advisable but never the less, legal! The permits were open during our squirrel season and i took advantage of it. I loaded heavy, for me, at 40gr-3f w/360prb at 1750 fps out of my flinter. My squirrel load is 1/2 that. All deer were does, full broadside, at ranges of 40yds or less. All were heart/lung shots and non went more than 60yds. 2 were DRT. The wound channels were decent, but the deflections from bone contact were "unsettling" to say the least. My ft-lbs energy equals a 357mag/125jhp with 6" barrel, which is legal here. But, Is it Humane? No!!! Not as long as i'm behind the trigger. I now use a 40cal in these situations and that, sir, IS a decent deer killer. 50gr-3f w/ 395prb. Out to 75yds, works goooood. Full broadside only! This is all recorded, witnessed info!

 

[crockett]

You are in LA which is a lot like FL. I've had lots of deer come in and stop at about 10 feet. The whole deal on a 32 is that right at the muzzle it will be moving pretty fast but at 50 yards I'd think the small ball might not do the job. Folks have killed deer at point blank range with 7 1/2 birdshot so, yeah, it could be done but as stated, similar to a 22 rimfire. Back in the 20'3 and 30's poachers (I am told) took gators with a 22 rimfire at point blank range right in the noggin.
I've thought about the Crocket 32 rifle- if it could be loaded with a conical- how would that do on a deer at 20 yards or less. Trouble is, illegal in most areas- need .40 or more to be legal.

 

[Leatherbark]

If I were inclined to use a .32 I would use harder than normal lead and shoot for the head and at 1900 fps turn a deer's brains into mush. I would only do this if I was hungry enough to eat the south end out of a north bound deer.

Bob

 

[hanshi]

Yes it can; but a bit of luck would be required. If you can slip that tiny ball between his ribs and into his lungs or heart, he's yours. The kill is very unlikely to be quick or easy to follow (but you never know). This is without a doubt a subject for the "I'm starving and a .32 is all I have" category.

 

[mooman76]

You can do it with a 22 and a 32 BP is pretty close to the same power wise. So I would say yes in an emergency situation. I'd want to be close though. %0 yards max but preferably 25y and with a very stout load of powder.

 

[jdkerstetter]

I don't take head shots since I've seen the results of a deer who'd had its lower jaw blown off which resulted in it's starving to death.

The brain is small and if it or its stem are missed there is a good chance the deer will survive and be left to die a more horrible death.

I'd hope if I was being shot the shooter would have a little more respect for me and make a clean kill. Enjoy, J.D.

 

[nchawkeye]

It's good that we all have different experiences so we can share our knowledge...I grew up in the country and we cured 20 pigs a year...All were killed with a .22 to the brain from Dad's .22 revolver...I never remember him having to shoot one twice...

When I started hunting in the 60s we had a .22 and a 12 gauge, that was it...Nobody had a "deer" rifle because we didn't have enough deer to justify it...Deer were usually run by deer hounds with men put on stands where they knew they would cross...Buckshot only was used, no centerfire rifles...As mentioned, this buckshot was usually 00 which is about .33 caliber if I remember right...

By the time I was 16, I was a pretty fair squirrel hunter...Sitting in the woods, waiting for dogs to run a deer by was simply too boring for me...I preferred the challenge of squirrel hunting with a .22...By this time I had also bought a Remington 552 semiauto and put a 1.5x4x Weaver on it...

We all know deer and squirrels both like acorns...During this time it became a joke around the farming community that I went squirrel hunting to kill deer...Seems every year, I would be sitting with my back to a big oak, squirrel hunting and a deer would slip in and pick up a few acorns...

Now, if a hunter can hit a squirrel in the head at 30 yards with a .22 then it's pretty easy to hit a deer in the brain as well at that distance...I've seen hundreds of hogs dispatched easily with a .22 pistol on the farm and I have dispatched a few dozen deer with a .22 as well...

When I finally did buy a "deer" rifle in the early 70s, it was a 22-250...I killed probably 50 deer with that...By this time they were a nuisance and I was killing many in our peanuts and beans in the summer...

Oh, and while I'm at it, this was in North Carolina...Our Regulations do not mention anything about legal calibers, they leave it up to the hunter, so I was killing these animals legally and quickly...

So please explain to me, what part of that was inhumane???? :grin:

I'm quite sure a .32 ball to the brain of a whitetail would put it down quite quickly...For those not able to do so, don't....

 

[54ball]

I don't take head shots since I've seen the results of a deer who'd had its lower jaw blown off which resulted in it's starving to death.

So true, heads shots can be cruel and especially messy in every sense of the word. A bleating deer with half it's head gone is an image that I do not want to be responsible for.

Speaking of responsibility there's a subplot to this thread.

real emergency situation

Does a real emergency situation mean that one can simply disregard laws,honor and morality? Does it justify cruelty? I would like to think that I could face an emergency situation again with the same honor that I have in the past.

Once you loose that sense of honor and civility you might as well be a dang Zombie.

"We've dressed up in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen." "Tell my wife, if it should happen that my secretary and I both go down, tell her I played the game out straight to the end. No woman shall be left aboard this ship because Ben Guggenheim was a coward."

 

[KHickam]

If I am starving - and all I have is a 32 - gonna get really close and let fly - track the deer down - eat the meat and tan the hide

 

crocket. the 22 is still the weapon of choice down here for gator. it aint perfect. the wrong spot and the bullet will bounce off. and this is close range execution of gator.

 

I have seen that too. A slow painful death it is. But then again, I have seen deer killed that had a healed over half jaw. And thats with high powered 270s. i am sure glad i never took such a bad shot on game.

 

I think one merit of the 32 ball rifle over the shotgun is that you can really hop up the velocity. I am glad this has blossomed into an honest conversation.

 

[Wes/Tex]

The guys have pretty much covered it. Could it be done? Yes! But you'd have to have a pretty good case of "sneaking-up-on" going and a direct hit in the ear hole!! "Could": Yes. "Should: No way Jose!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Do you think it is possible to cleanly take a whitetail deer with the little 32 caliber pea? Not saying its a good idea but could it be done in a real emergency situation?

Of course! You could take a deer by dropping on it from above and using a knife in an "emergency situation". The .22 LR is often used by poachers out here on the East Coast as it's not very loud compared to a "legal hunting cartridge or shell"... and they're breaking the law to begin with, so they aren't worried about what ammuntion they use. The deer has to be very close, and facing toward you, and the target is the eye, though I don't know the desired angle.

Why would somebody ask..., well for one..., if somebody was writing a story about a character who found themselves in a survival situation with only a .32 muzzleloader..., they might want to know if their scenario was plausible.

We have a section on this forum where we lambast authors and directors who use very implausible scenarios in the telling of a story..., why lambast a person who is simply inquiring about plausibility?

LD

 

[nchawkeye]

Using a .22 rimfire for deer is not poaching in every state... :blah: :thumbsup:

 

[Vaino]

To nobody in particular. Most states have or should outlaw "dinky calibers" like the .32, .36 and even .40. for big game hunting. Leaving the caliber of choice up to the hunter is folly.

Most hunters use 'scoped CFs for big game hunting and many can't even kill an animal w/ these. So these "poor shots" should use a "peashooter" w/ iron sights?

I too lived on a farm and seeing we bled the hogs for blood sausage, the caliber of choice was the .22 short between the eyes.....just wanted to stun them so the heart kept pumping. These were controlled conditions...far from the vagaries afield.

Again....this topic is inane and along w/ being hypothetical, isn't a topic of any practicality.....Fred

 

[Walks with fire]

I have no doubts at all that I could do it. I also have no doubts that I would not do it unless it were truly a survival situation. A decent load placed under the ear would do it quite nicely if range was reasonable.

I once had a deer drop on the spot from a treestand shot at a walking doe at around 25 yards. The shot hit him square in the skull from a quartering in to me position with a 6" colt .357 180 grain slug. She never twitched and the bullet never penetrated the skull; I just reached down and pulled it out with my fingers. I also took one at 100 yards with the same pistol but this shot was to the heart. It was dead right there. It doesn't take alot of power; it's all about where the shot is placed.

It's just my opinion but light weight bullets placed in soft tissue vital areas work pretty well as long as they can penetrate to the vitals. Large heavy/slow bullets work pretty well anywhere they can break bones or hit vitals.