pistol caliber carbines & rifles

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The .45 colt is great if you reload. Hard to find loaded hunting ammo for it. 300 grain bullets over near max loads of H110 will kill any deer cleanly. So much faster to reload than rifle cartridges.
 
Yeah, I had thought of the AR's & have not talked to my buddy about this one knowing he would definitely ring in on that one but then many areas it is not legal to use a .223 to take

Who said anything about 223? Plenty of larger caliber AR's available for legal hunting.
 
My current collection are not stocked, but both do quite well. My contender 44 mag 16" seems right in your questioned area. It has seen it's fair share of venison. My buntline 357 15" has put steaks on the grill as well. Both will have SBR stamps in the not so distant future.
 
I just got me a Ruger M77/44 and love it, I have 4 pastures full of hogs, some shots can be 600 yards, some in the brush can be 20 yards and that is why I bought this little carbine....I usually carry .308s, 7mm-08 or .22-250 with me when I ride the pastures and check cattle....last few days I have gotten in the brush and taken out some hogs up close....I love this little .44 mag carbine...always got a .44mag Ruger Super Blackhawk on my hip too.....I am infested with hogs....I have killed some very big hogs with this....ideal lil carbine....lots of recoil, but when shooting pigs all around you, don't even notice it.
 
Theoretically you could use just about anything. The lower the caliber the more important shot placement will be. Personally I think a handgun caliber round in a rifle is silly. For me, I want the most compact I can get for a caliber unless I have a special need.
 
many areas it is not legal to use a .223 to take Deer. many areas it is not legal to use a .223 to take Deer.
I believe someone here on this forum researched this widely repeated statement for accuracy. IIRC, exactly six states that allowed rifles to be used to hunt deer banned the use of the .223 cartridge. "Many areas" is becoming less and less of an accurate statement regarding the .223's legality
 
i some times use old win lever actions to hunt deer and if i get close(75yds) enough i shoot them thru the lungs. this one took a 200gr cast bullet at 1500fps and didn,t make 20 yds. eastbank.
 

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Ohio has been shotgun only for years, along with MZs and pistols added in the 80's . This year they had their first Pistol Caliber Rifle inclusion, and a lot of people moved in that direction.
 
I have lots of lever carbines and lots of AR rifles, love to shoot both for fun and small game. I have no need to justify the use of either but I do make every attempt to fit the rifle to the shooting scenario Intended. My Colt AR in 9mm is a fun plinker and if I need to justify having it that would be the basis. In most cases when cartridge, range and type of game involved are matched the hunt can be successful but I feel that a rifle in a more efficient caliber is best for you and the game. Loss rates will be much higher with pistol calibers when compared to rifles that are designed for hunting at all reasonable ranges. I shot a huge Texas boar with a Handi single shot in 300 Blackout recently, took him right down with one shot but I think I was as surprised as he, I just did not expect to see such a monster as all the previous hogs I shot were in the 45-125 # range. Maybe I strayed a bit but final result is I like to shoot, pistol or rifle calibers just means there are more ways to do that shooting.
 
Like em or not, and I don't personally use one for big game hunting, but an AR, even in 223, with big game bullets is every bit as effective as the 357 and 44 magnum at the same ranges or even a little farther.
Uh, no. The .44Mag has been used to take the largest game on planet Earth. The .223 is barely marginal for deer and not even legal in many states. God, not even close. :rolleyes:
 
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Three of the lever carbines I own are pistol caliber (four, if you count a .22 Magnum Henry)... two .357 and my most recent acquisition, a [insert any appropriate superlative here] Browning (Model 1:cool: 92 in .44 Remington Magnum. MAN! What a sweet-handling, sweet-shooting pistol caliber carbine.

Haven't hunted with it yet; only plinked steels but with off-the-shelf Fed American Eagle 240 gr lead-tipped jacketed it's as accurate as I am through 100 yds. Recoil is surprisingly mild.

And I thought .357 levers were fun!

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A revolver round out of a long gun takes on many properties of a "real" rifle round. With the proper powder, velocity gains can be surprising and mass and large diameter inherent to magnum revolver bullets make for something quite potent.

A .357 will make a deer just as dead as a .308, just not out to as far. Yes, I get that American shooters are currently long range obsessed, but there are a lot of areas of this country where long range hunting (even medium range hunting) isn't possible due to the thickness of the woods. If you can't even see 50 yards from your stand, a .30-06 is really just a lot of wasted energy.
 
Long range is not an option in my woods, dense as they are, but I find myself hunting with my .308 there (when I don't feel like the .50 caliber Wolf) because of the optic. I can't see open sights when the light is low and the deer move at dusk or dawn, especially back in those trees. And, a lever gun with a scope is sort of revolting to me. :D

Now, if I were forced at gunpoint to buy an AR15 and I couldn't kill the guy first, I'd get one in .300 Blackout, not .223. Seems the only decent option in those Mattel toy lookin' things. I never liked Beowulf in high school senior English, though the movie was decent. I ain't in to 50 caliber unless it's driven by 90 grains of 777, anyway. :D
 
Long range is not an option in my woods, dense as they are, but I find myself hunting with my .308 there (when I don't feel like the .50 caliber Wolf) because of the optic. I can't see open sights when the light is low and the deer move at dusk or dawn, especially back in those trees. And, a lever gun with a scope is sort of revolting to me. :D

I get that, though the small, compact low power scope I had on my 1894c didn't look half bad. Attempts to mount optics on 92s invariably look awkward.

I've almost entirely settled on the Ruger 77/357 for my first rifle after I get my life back on track. I'm ultimately thinking of two scopes with quick release mounts for use with loads of 3 different power levels. Maybe open sights for .38 spl cast loads, 1 scope for screaming fast 158s, and anoter scope for 180-200 grain loads pushed as fast as the gun will safely shoot them.
 
I get that, though the small, compact low power scope I had on my 1894c didn't look half bad. Attempts to mount optics on 92s invariably look awkward.

Only thing, one really needs at least a 40 mm objective to have a bright enough scope in low light conditions. I have a 1.5x4.5x22mm on my 10/22 that I could and have used on deer rifles before, but i find it not optimum in low light.
 
Only thing, one really needs at least a 40 mm objective to have a bright enough scope in low light conditions. I have a 1.5x4.5x22mm on my 10/22 that I could and have used on deer rifles before, but i find it not optimum in low light.
If I can get back into deer hunting, I think I'm going to focus on figuring out where the deer are between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. I'll save money on optics and also not have to get up early or worry about tracking and dressing a deer in the dark.

i can't say I've ever been a huge fan of being in a deer stand an hour before first light.
 
If I can get back into deer hunting, I think I'm going to focus on figuring out where the deer are between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. I'll save money on optics and also not have to get up early or worry about tracking and dressing a deer in the dark.

i can't say I've ever been a huge fan of being in a deer stand an hour before first light.

Then, I reckon you should stick to parcheesi. :rolleyes:
 
Then, I reckon you should stick to parcheesi. :rolleyes:

Or perfect my tacking and stalking skills. Or more accurately, develop a few rudimentary tracking and stalking skills. :D

Revolver round carbines are great for that sort of hunting.

Stand and blind hunting is its own circle of hell. So very, very, very boring. Like watching paint dry with a gun on your lap.
 
MCgunner, some of the best bucks I have ever taken were at midday....I always hunt the moon, I hate getting in a deer blind early and hunting late, deer don't disappear during the day, you gotta go in after them or use your brain. think like they do.
 
Or perfect my tacking and stalking skills. Or more accurately, develop a few rudimentary tracking and stalking skills.

I wanna see you "stalk" a deer in cover that you have to use a machete to get through. :rolleyes: Stand hunting is the only way in such cover and you'd better be on stand when they're moving to bed or feed. They go nocturnal pretty quick around here with the hunting pressure. Not every place is South Dakota or the Trans Pecos and even there, I've always done best on stand or sitting on a rock quiet, still, watching the sun rise or set. :D It gets light quicker in the desert than it does in the woods, too. I killed my first 51 years ago...with a .257 Roberts on my grandpa's lease near Leaky, Texas in Real County.

Yeah, I've shot a few deer during the day, too. I ain't saying every deer I've ever shot was at dawn or dusk, but a significant number were. I don't wanna give up those wee hours, especially here where the hunting pressure is heavy and the woods are heavier. Hell, in Llano, there's so danged many deer, they can't all bed at the same time, no room. :D Shot two there at high noon. Ain't much bigger than German Shepherds up there, but they taste better. But, you have to admit, low light is the best time to stay alert for deer. I've killed a good number at dusk or dawn . That, for me, with my eyes, requires optics.

On topic (sorta) story.....

One hunt I went on, the one I killed the doe with my Rossi 92, was quite strange. It was a doe cull advertised in the Victoria Advocate. I called, was on one of the Welder ranches between Green Lake and Bloomington SE of Victoria, 50 dollars for one doe. So I asked the guy, "Can I get close enough to shoot one with my new .357 magnum?" He was an old ranch biologist and didn't seem to hip on the .357 thing, but said he could get me within 100 yards. So, I asked him what time I should be there. He says, "I'll pencil you in for 10AM." I'm thinkin' "***", was expecting 4AM or something. "OK, I'll be there." So, I get there, took the .257 just in case he couldn't get me into range of the .357 I could still get some meat, I get in this Toyota 4 runner with the gun, roll the window down, and we go driving. Off over there is a herd, we stop and glass, big 12 point, he says "that'll be a nice one in a couple of years." My reaction again, ***!? So, we drive along, a herd runs across the road in front of us about 50 yards, I jump out with the .357 carbine, but can't get a good shot on 'em, they won't stop. "Don't be in a hurry, we'll get ya one." Ooooookay, then, so we get about 1/2 mile in on this ranch road and there's 3 do grazing about 80 yards off the road. He stops, I take a bead on one and fired. The grass was tall and we lost sight of it. We get out, go look where it was and there's this huge puddle of lung blood on the ground. I see 3 more doe just ambling along near a tree. I though maybe it was wounded 'cause it didn't run. I threw down on it and watched hesitating, unsure, when the doe raises her tail and takes a dump! She wasn't wounded, she was just so used to people she wasn't scared! Anyway, we found the doe about 15 yards from the blood puddle piled up, hole through her lugs. He was impressed by the wound channel, didn't give the little .357 its due.

That was my one doe with a .357 Carbine. I've hunted with it a few times since while still hunting in East Texas on a WMA near Rusk, but haven't shot any other deer with it.

Anyway, it sorta depends on conditions what will work. OUT HERE, at my new little place, the woods are SO thick, still hunting isn't productive and "stalk" is a joke. I hunt a feeder. I have walked up on deer, though, out of season and last year, as I was slipping up on the tank in back, which I always do because more often than not there are ducks on it, I had my 20 gauge loaded with 3 buck in the I/C and a number 5 3" in the mod barrel. Yeah, it was lead shot, so sue me. :D I'm easing up on the tank, look to my right, and a nice 8 point is just standing there lookin' at me. So, I lowered the 3 buck on him, killed him at 35 yards.

So, yeah, you CAN catch 'em out mid-day, but I still want my rig to have optics for those low light hours. I don't mind walking out to my box blind before light. Hell, I have to get up at 3AM to go duck hunting, get there and get a spot, walk to it, put out the deeks, then it's usually 45 minutes until shooting time. If you can't get up early, don't take up duck hunting. :D But, for me, life's too short to be lazy during hunting season. :D

Oh, the other deer, a spike, I shot last season was just at sunset. I was only able to take him because of the scope on my .257 Roberts. I'd never seen iron sights. He wasn't big, but he made some good chili. :D
 
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i love PCC's

i have a winchester in 44 mag and a rossi .357 lever actions... both are great for deer. i'd even go for elk with the 44.
the .357 is the cheapest shooting rifle i can find since i reload. although i don't care for rossi/taurus the m92 does have the best reputation for cycling both mags/38spls.

i have an extra nickel steel pre-64 30-30 that is damaged beyond collectors value that is in line to be converted to .357.

some of the pluses of a pcc lever gun are; with short cartridges in the tube you can carry a lot of ammo. combine ammo with a handgun. and lever guns lend themselves quite well to having a suppressor installed! (and many loads are already subsonic)
 
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