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Pistol deer hunting??????????????

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If a ball is decelerates so quickly it stops in the flesh it is likely not tearing blood vessels as much as a ball passing through at high speed.

Not sure about that..., some say that the faster a rounded front projectile (some modern bullets and all round ball) moves through the fluid in an animal, the more of a wave it creates thus pushing aside some of the soft, flexible tissue and blood vessels...

On the other hand, IF the bullet is moving fast enough to deform, especially if it strikes bone, it doesn't do so in a uniform shape with totally smooth edges, and it is still spinning if launched from a rifle....so some think it's "cutting" as it does so...

I don't worry about either of that. I think it's just interesting to look into, and possible ammo for use vs. know-it-all cartridge shooter who says my .530 round ball isn't ethical past 25 yards. :confused:

IF I shoot the deer broadside, I want the ball to pass through both lungs and exit the opposite side. IF I go for the shoulder shot, I want the ball to penetrate in and find the spine. My experience is that with my load, either of these two conditions means I can expect the deer to be close enough that I can see the deer down, when I walk over and stand where the deer stood when it was hit.

LD
 
Hey Gang, Look at what I found...
No idea on the caliber, and it's one of them new fangled caplocks, but it is sorta like what I posted in my "imagined" image on page one of this thread. The source where I found it thinks this is some sort of "buggy rifle"...
CAPLOCK TWO PIECE CARBINE.jpg
CAPLOCK TWO PIECE CARBINE DETAIL.jpg


Here's what I suggested back when this thread started...just for reference...
Fantasy Bounty Flintlock  Carbine.png

LD
 
Since moving here I have taken 198 deer with revolvers. Modern and BP. My last with the Ruger OA went over my fence and hit the ground dead. Distance she went was 6' straight up.
Velocity is not needed and makes things worse. The best for a fast kill is my OA .44, .45 Colt and .475 with heavy bullets. As soon as I make a flat nose too fast I will lose deer. Even with two holes I find no blood trails. velocities range from 1100, 1300 and 1350 FPS. Moving to the 45-70 revolver and I get a hole and if I recover the deer hit at 1632 FPS, lungs are still pink with a hole only. I am convinced the pressure wave will move tissue out of the way. You MUST leave energy inside the animal. BP guns are super at doing it. A RB leaves nothing to be desired. I killed many deer with a .45 flintlock in Ohio and PA but once I killed a deer on a full out leaping run at 125 yards with a .50 TC and a Maxi ball. I swung way ahead and a foot high for double lungs.
Going larger to the .500 JRH and a 440 gr bullet at 1350 FPS gives me trouble with deer going 120 yards with no blood on the ground. I shot a doe and lost her, then a buck came out at about 120 yards and I hit him. He ran to me before dropping. I back tracked and there was no blood on the ground at all. I was gutting and it got dark, when I flashed my light I seen white up the hill to find the doe at least 100 yards from where hit. I had spent 3 hours trying to find her. I back track every deer and do a necropsy on every one to see what the ball or bullet did.
I grit my teeth when a guy wants 1500 FPS from a .44 with a light bullet. ME is a myth and a RB with BP is much better.
 
Although prohibited here in Canada to hunt “anything” with a pistol I would use my Lyman .54 Plains pistol I built from a kit.
It’s killed plenty of paper targets.
 

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