RE: 9mm luger for deer hunting???
I've been avoiding this post all week because I don't want to come off sounding like I'd encourage a beginner to consider a 9mm luger for deer, or as a deer rifle. It isn't, but I after arguing with myself all week, I feel like I've got to comment.
Most people, when asked, will set the limit for a rifle at a .243win and the bottom limit for a handgun at the .357mag...I wholeheartedly agree that these two should be the bottom rung cartridges for their respective guns...which truth be told, I believe in energy more than I believe in bullet diameter for light skinned game like deer, so in all reality, the .243win is actually above the .30-30 in many loadings by a hundred-two hundred ft.lbs...either of which is leaps and bounds ahead of the .357mag, so we can tell already that the opinion set is a bit skewed....
Anyway, back on subject....
From a handgun, NO, the 9mm Luger should not be used. Not even in +P+ rounds. However, I have used a 9mm +P+ carbine before that did quite well. I bought it for plinking and for coyotes, a buddy challenged me one day while plinking that he'd give me $150 if I took a bigger deer than him that year using THAT gun...I really needed the cash at the time, so I took him up on it.
I took a 182# (dressed weight) doe with it at 47yrds (lazer rangefinder) with some +P+ handloads that I cooked up using a 125grn Speer Gold Dot HP designed to be used in the .357Sig...I was putting out slightly over 525ft.lbs. average from a 16" bbl, which is about on par with a typical .357mag round. He took a 179# dressed weight buck with his .30-30 and was good for his word, even if he wasn't tickled about it.
My loads were using a slower powder than typical 9mm loads, but in the longer bbl, it gave me higher velocity without the pressure spike that the faster burning powders gave.
I used it once more after that, just to prove that it wasn't a fluke, took a pretty nice 6pt buck at 38yrds (laser) with it, and sold it after season for more than I had bought it for...which I still regret for some reason.
The moral of the story is that the 9mm+P+ from a carbine is a valid choice for a deer hunter. I would never suggest it for a beginner or unexperienced shooter and even then it MUST be used with +P+ handloads.
It was basically equivalent to a .357mag handgun, only more accurate, which was nice. I was getting cloverleaf groups at 50yrds very easily using a fixed 2.5x glass. Some claim the .357mag is too weak for hunting as well, but hundreds if not thousands of deer fall every year to them, so I don't know how well that arguement holds water.
If a guy were to load the appropriate rounds, and practice a lot, and of course limit their range to a typical open-sighted handgun range, then it's feasible for an experienced shooter. But just to buy one to use specifically for deer hunting is not a good idea.
It's capable of killing deer in the right hands, but it's not a "deer rifle".