C & B Revolvers for Deer

[bubba15301]

in my state (pa) a .32 short is legal for deer but c&b pistol isnt . doesnt make much sense , does it?

 

[BGRooster1]

If you ever question the intelligence of law makers.Look at the firearms laws of most any state in the union. :rotf: :youcrazy: :rotf: :youcrazy:

 

[cgn71]

I think revolvers work fine aslong as some others have said that the shot placement is good. Back before I bought houses for 2 ex's and had quite a few guns I've taken deer with an 1860 44 and even the small 30 cal. M1 carbine. Just have to know what to pass up when the shot isn't good enough and I've sure wished I had something different a time or two when I had to let some go on by that I didn't want to take a chance of just wounding.
I haven't checked since I moved back to Georgia but the 357 magnum fell just short of what they considered strong enough for deer hunting here.

Chad

 

[M Kuhn]

I think revolvers work fine aslong as some others have said that the shot placement is good. Back before I bought houses for 2 ex's and had quite a few guns I've taken deer with an 1860 44 and even the small 30 cal. M1 carbine. Just have to know what to pass up when the shot isn't good enough and I've sure wished I had something different a time or two when I had to let some go on by that I didn't want to take a chance of just wounding.
I haven't checked since I moved back to Georgia but the 357 magnum fell just short of what they considered strong enough for deer hunting here.

Chad

I don't recommend it personally but I have a journal from Granville Stewart in the 1860s where he talks about the 51 Navy colt being an excellent mule deer gun out to 100 yards and he used it frequently LOL! I have used a Remington 44 revolver a couple of times with success myself but limit myself to about 50 yards. I shoot a lot of calibers both black and smokeless power and I honestly don't know how many deer I have taken with all calibers combined But I have taken more deer with the .357 than any other caliber. 30 or more with that caliber alone.
My standard flintlock deer load is 55 grains of 3F and a 390 round ball and I have taken both mule and whitetail deer with that load. That is about equal to a Colt dragoon or a walker and I wouldn't feel under gunned with either of those for a cap and ball revolver deer.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

In pa the 2mm Kolibri centerfire is legal for deer, with all 7 ftlbs muzzle energy.

I do feel that most game agencies would probably decide there is insufficient power for big game.

Although in PA a 54 cal perc Sharps is not legal for deer.

 

[M Kuhn]

In pa the 2mm Kolibri centerfire is legal for deer, with all 7 ftlbs muzzle energy.

I do feel that most game agencies would probably decide there is insufficient power for big game.

Although in PA a 54 cal perc Sharps is not legal for deer.

I'm not quite sure what your point is, I don't think anyone is advocating shooting deer with 2mm's :idunno:
I was responding about C&B handgun calibers used for deer.

 

[M Kuhn]

This is a Max load 6 shots fired in a Rogers & Spencer Target at 25 yds. from a bench rest. Accuracy is not a problem. I doubt that most BP revolvers are powerful enough to take big game. The Walker should be OK out to 25 or 30 Yds.

Just some food for thought, Think of how many millions of deer and elk were killed with 44-40's
Not to mention 38-40's and 32-20's, even 25-20's.
They were the deer calibers of the day. They were considered adequate to 100 yards. A cap & ball revolver is capable of that kind of power and the dragoons surpass a 44-40. A Walker even more so.
Your cap & ball should be adequate to at least 50 yards and even further with a dragoon. I have read that dragoon revolvers were used as often to shoot a mans horse out from under him as they were to shoot the man and that one shot from the dragoons was sufficient to drop a horse.
We all have magnumitis these days. Most of our target and plinking loads were considered hunting loads in the day.
Deer give up easy in my experience. I've never had to shoot one more than once and I've shot a lot of them. My 40 with 55 grains of powder does a fine job and the two I shot with a cap & ball revolver seemed just as dead as ones shot with a rifle.
I'm not saying we should all use revolvers , Use what you are comfortable with but I do believe we tend to use overkill these days.
There's nothing wrong with that but I don't see anything wrong with shooting a deer at 50 or even slightly more yards with a handgun, particularly if it's a dragoon. They have plenty of power for deer.
I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a deer with your Rogers and Spencer with that kind of accuracy.
That's pretty impressive.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Sorry, the remark was not directed at you. Just pointing out that game agencies, particularly, PA, has some really stupid rules about what is legal and what is not leal for deer. PA permits centerfire, muzzleloaders over 44 cal, shotguns with solid bullets and archery for deer. Cap and Ball revolvers don't load from the muzzle and aren't centerfire. A massive rimfire, like the Spencer or even the 41 swiss, not legal, under the general idiotic view that no rimfire ever made was powerful enough to take deer.

They insanely permit any centerfire fired from any manually operated firearm,

I agree that a cap and ball revolver is adequate, but I also agree that game agencies are stuck on magnumitis, as you put it. A walker is certainly more than adequate.

The Pa Game Commission recently outlawed most centerfire guns for small game. Anything over 23 caliber. (25-20's, 25-21 Stevens, 32-20, 32 long etc.) While they claimed it was for safety reasons, it still permits folks to use a 220Swift for tree rats.

If it came to a move to legalize cap and ball revolvers in most states, it would fail based on magnumitis.

 

[napolean]

The subject I started was about the game laws of different states in regard to allowing the hunting of deer with C & B revolvers. It's obvious that most states don't recognize them as muzzleloaders. Some states allow use during regular firearms seasons.
Jon

 

[John Wasmuth]

There are only a few counties left that actually have a "Muzzle Loader" season. Cap and ball revolvers can be used in most counties during the "General Season", which allows for anything center fire to cross bows, from .22 hornet to .50 BMG.

 

[cowpoke1955]

In Alabama, you can use muzzloaders and black powder handguns of .40 caliber or larger on deer.