Nomercy

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".

superman8791

Thank you Nomercy for your imput which i am sure you will receive flack for. I am not just a beginner or an average shot...I own quite a few guns and i shoot ALOT. I too agree in the hands of a capable shooter it could be deadly, but i would not throw it in the hands of a first timer. I have been at both ends of the spectrum. I have had a deer run just to never find him after taking a 30.06 to the shoulder, and I have in my younger days (not that Im pround of it, so dont anyone write and cuss me out) but Ive taken a deer at 60 yards with a single 22 long rifle to the head. At any rate...I was just thinkin on it one day and I never thought my first post would turn into this.

Thanks Josh

DM

If the deer ran, and you didn't find it, you "really don't know" exactly where you hit it!!!

Wish i had a dollar every time i read something like that...

Drilling Man

superman8791

Actually DM i shot the buck at 25 steps and therefore seen the bullethole/entrywound as he fell on the ground right in front of me.



Wish I had a dollar for everytime someone made a dumb assumption..

DM

I'm sticking to my previous answer, if you didn't find the deer, you honestly don't know "forsure" what really happened.

I've shot literally hundreds of game animials, and i've seen some odd things happen over the years!! But, the same thing goes for me, "If" i didn't open the animial up and see what actually took place, i'm really only giveing my best guess as to what happen!!

Especially when it all took place in the "heat of the moment!!"

Drilling Man

VAhuntr

I have to agree with DM on this. If you did not recover the deer, you have no idea what exactly happened.

Are we to believe that this is a problem with the gun or caliber(30-06)? The problem here is with the person shooting and/or the person tracking.

superman8791

Geez guys, Im not saying that there is a problem with .06,Ive killed plenty of deer with that gun.Just trying to make the point that alot can go VERY wrong or VERY right in the feild depending upon circumstances.

Smokem Joe

ata boy superman, unintentionally you took the flack off of the quite elliquent and well thought out answer from Nomercy.

personally, i think it to be to small, But this is my opinion.

duramaxlt

not legal in ga. i wouldn't do it if it was

camp_13

How about a .380 or a .32 acp in a 26" barrel....Just kidding. From what I have learned a longer barrel in a 9mm is useless because the small amount of powder is burned up in a 10" barrel or something like that. So anything longer than that would only decrease velocity due to friction.