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Old June 25, 2006, 11:48 AM   #9
Johnny Guest
Moderator in Memoriam
 
Join Date: August 28, 1999
Location: North Texas
Posts: 4,123
I feel it's fully powerful enough for white tail deer.

I've taken three with various .45 Colt revolvers and loads. My old Ruger BKH load was a 260 gr. LSWC over 10 gr. of Unique, for around 1000 fps. But they fell equally dead with same bullet and 9 gr. for around 900 fps from a Colt Single Action.

If I still had a Ruger in .45 Colt, I'd probably use the 300 gr bullet for hunting. I really like my S&W Mountain Gun but hold my loads to about 900 with a 250 to 276 gr LSWC.

The only way to get reliable expansion from any .45 load on a modest sized white tail is to drive the lighter bullets pretty fast. I choose to go the other direction: Heavier bullets at moderate velocities, and no expansion necessary. They go right through, making a good-sized hole - - lots of air in, lots of blood out. Remember, the .452 bullet starts out the size a .357 HP aspires to attain.

The whole "secret" is what it has always been - - adequate bullet, adequate "power," adequate placement. You can do it with .41, .44, .45. And, yes, I've used the .357, and killed with it - - I quickly came to feel that it's marginal for deer.

And now - - [soapbox] TFL is all about RESPONSIBLE firearms ownership and use.

As ethical handgun hunters, we should always bear in mind that only the very most powerful revolver cartridges begin to reach the power of the "weak sister" .30-30 round. We're not hunting for food on which to survive, so we owe the game animals we hunt the respect of making ONLY what we're pretty certain will be a precisely placed and rapidly lethal shot. This, certainly, varies with the hunter and his gear. An optically-sighted, single shot, rifle caliber hand cannon (a carbine-without-shoulder stock ) may be efficient a lot farther out than a short-barrel, iron-sighted holster gun. Always depending upon placement. [/soapbox]

Best,
Johnny
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