.32 round ball for deer

[Bon Sauvage]

:rotf:

 

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?

My thoughts too. Why bring it up?

Hey, mark3smle, you say that you make guns, but so far you have asked what every caliber is good for. You make guns, but have you ever used any?

 

[Wes/Tex]

Ok. Maybe I should have asked who has a .32, a hog problem, and a tall tree to climb just in case they turn out to not be as good a shot as they think they are. :stir:

Funny you should say that. Although I had a .45 & not a .32, the shot only made the big oinker a really P.O.ed big, honkin' oinker!! Two things, be sure there's a fallen tree between you and said oinker (believe me, it gets seriously silly with him running around it and you jumping over it!)...the second is never believe the old saw about if you don't kill him just stay still and he won't know where you are! Jumping back & forth over a fallen log and reloading was interesting, thank God the second desperation shot did the trick!!! :rotf: I can laugh at it now!!

 

[mr.flintlock]

Here in Georgia the minimum caliber legal for deer hunting is 44 caliber. I have a 32 caliber flintlock that I use on squirrels. There is no doubt in my mind that a deer can be humanly killed with with a 32 caliber - If you put that ball through the deer's head. A shot to the heart would probably but if the deer ran you may not have a blood trail to follow. That' s the reason that I prefer my 58 caliber for deer hunting. I usually have no trouble blood trailing them.

 

Good point. I would be hesitant to even use a 40 on a deer. but I live in areas where 44 is minimal. And that works.

 

[58CAL]

I don't think Glass killed a griz with a bowie knife. I think the griz almost killed him and that he crawled several hundred miles while recovering from the mauling. Also I believe the "bowie" knife came along after Glass died in an indian attack. FRJ

 

[Blake]

There has been a lot of advice give here the good thing about advice is you can take it or leave it that said. Here's is some hard cord data
30gr of FFg 45gr RB Muzzle Energy 287 LBS at the Muzzle, Velocity at the muzzle 1695, Velocity at 100 yards 874, energy at 100 yards 76 LBS I got thisinformationn from Sam Fadala's book Black powder Handbook & Loading Manual.

 

[Dean2]

In muzzle loading energy, whether FPE, joules or whatever, has little to do with killing power. Just like shooting game with pointy sticks. In muzzle loading the hole is what does the killing, so penetration and blood loss are paramount considerations. Will a 32 kill a deer, yes, will a 50 or 54 do it much better, no question.

It amazes me that so many people weigh in so vehemently on these kinds of questions. The OP asked a simple fact based question, ethics, legality etc weren't part of the question. These only become a consideration if you decide to go out and try to shoot a deer with a 32.

 

[ChrisLJ]

I used an 89 on the only deer I ever killed. An '89 Honda Civic that is. Not very efficient or cost effective, but it did the job. If I was in a survival situation I'd probably try a rock if that's what I had. If that didn't work I'd turn vegan and eat weeds or something. :wink:

 

[bpd303]

Ya see that was your problem...too small of a weapon. One of my guys got a deer with a Ford Crown Victoria at 100 mph. Not much left to field dress.

 

[BrownBear]

Sure it could be done with a well placed shot.

The only restriction for modern calibers up here is that it be centerfire. At times the bag limit has been up to 7 per person. And the season runs 5 months.

Of course I've been in the field with arms other than "deer" calibers, and have taken opportunities for perfect shots, even if I hadn't headed out the door for deer. They did just fine, but anything that will splatter brain tissue will do that. I put the 32 cal RB on the same list.

Would I hunt deer with it? Nope. Could I take deer with it? Yup.

 

[Walks with fire]

Would I hunt deer with it? Nope. Could I take deer with it? Yup. quote]

That says it about as good as it can be said and it's exactly how I feel.

 

[Toomuch51]

Why not, kills 'em jus' as dead.
As Rusty Nail said Pa. as many other states have a minimum caliber requirement, but many do not. The only concern is with the smaller bores shot placement becomes more critical.

Toomuch
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Shoot Flint