Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 9mm for deer

A 9x57 would be a near perfect deer cartridge.

Very interesting thread. I read every response and all of them had good points to be made.....I firmly believe the trump card in hunting is shot placement.....not so much so energy expended.

The difference between law and ethics is that one is externally required and the other is self required. Both are important. You pick your own ethics.......I'll pick mine. If you don't hold me accountable to your ethics, I'll not hold you accountable to mine and we'll get along just fine.

I have a friend that took a very fine whitetail buck with a 1/5 OZ .410 shotgun slug.....another friend that uses his .204 Ruger with amazing results, and I'll be using a .218 Bee this year. My father once killed three whitetails (one a fine buck) in about as many seconds using his M-92 Winchester in .25-20 WCF.....all examples of fine shot placement. So, I certainly won't tell anyone that it can't be done with a 9 mm Luger.....but I can tell you that it wouldn't be my choice.

I've taken several deer with a 44 mag (handgun) as well as 45 acp. About like using a bow. You've got to give them time to bleed out, unless you hit the spine etc. I would not use a 9mm if I had something larger available.

I killed a few with a .357 revolver and 158 gr. JHP's. Several with a .22 mag. and Winchester 40 gr. JHP and a couple with a 5mm Remington magnum rimfire and 38 gr. PLHP. All lung shots at under 60 yards. None went more than 75-80 yards after the shot. If a .22 mag. will work I see no reason a 9mm wouldn't. Most hunters don't have a clue how little it really takes. Oddly they don't seem as spooked/shocked when popped by a .22 mag or 5mm as with a more powerful cartridge.. Don't know if it's the lesser impact/shock or less pain or the lower noise or a combination but they seem inclined to not run away as urgently and more inclined to just trot off a ways and slow to a walk and just stop and think about it for a few seconds before they lay down and die.

I have killed several wild hogs including some fairly big ones with my Sig 365 using the 147 grain Federal HST load. I was careful to wait until the hogs turned broadside and would hit them in the center of the shoulder in order to stress the bullet to max.

I have a couple of videos that I shot testing various handgun loads on trapped hogs. Have not posted any pics or videos here since photobucket went south.

But I could email the videos to somebody to post here. I think it would put to rest the question of the lethality of a single well placed placed shot with a 9mm.

Agreed

i have harvested 3 mule deer bucks with a 6" .357. two with ( stout) hand loaded 125 grain , one with a factory 158. i have had several browning hp 9mm, and several 6" 357. besides the i have harvested 12 javelina and 3 coyotes, and 3 fox. a highly accurate 9 mm like a sig P210 can shoot as accurately as an excellent revolver at 50 yards. i believe that is too far for a 9mm handgun for deer. while some of the coyotes and javelina were taken at longer than 50 yards , the deer were less than 25.

I think my 9mm x 56mm will be OK with 245 gr round nose soft point. Be Well, RZ.

I killed a deer with a 95 grain fmj.380acp. It had a broken leg. A 9mm would have worked just as well.

Yeah, and a 22 will kill a grizzly bear. I know it's true cause I readed it on the innanet.

https://www.ammoland.com/2017/06/be...-the-1953-world-record-grizzly-and-more/

Killed a small truck load of them with a Glock 17 and 147 Gold Dots, usually finishing off what a car couldn’t get done. At least as effective as any bow on the market.

I have harvested deer and hogs with a 9mm of course I must clarify that was with a 9x56 MS in a model 1905 Mannlicher Schopenhauer rifle with 200 grain bullets at 2200 fps. I wouldn't recommend a 9 mm pistol. Unless the range is 50 meters or less and you can keep it in a 6" inch circle at that range.

This topic entered my head a couple years ago when I got a 9mm Ruger PC carbine. Not seriously; but just curious, as my only 9mm experience was handguns only. Once did a coup-de-gras on a wounded whitetail buck with a 9mm handgun to the back of head/ upper neck area. NY State says any centerfire rifle so I figured a 9mm PC carbine would qualify as a centerfire rifle. Only way I'd try it is at bow range, standing still, broadside to me and double lung it. I'm sure it could be done successfully but I'm not all that interested. It was just one of those "what if ?" things that I think of now and then. Years ago a buddy of mine took lots of deer with a 6" stainless Colt Python .357 and never lost one. All done at bow range from his bow hunting spots. Deer aren't that hard to kill at closer range with good shot placement.

I've been meaning to try out a 9mm carbine on goats out of curiosity. The effectiveness of the 357mag on kangaroos amazed me so has made me optimistic for the 9mm but the ballistics on paper makes me think otherwise. I've generally used a 308 for everything small/medium that I encounter out in the bush.

I'll try the 357 on pigs but think the 9mm might dissapoint. I've used hard cast 458 loads on pigs but only used the subsonic versions on rabbits, although I've heard the urban legend tales of subsonic 458 loads used on Sambar, somewhat illegally.

Killed a few deer and hogs with the .30 carbine with the 110 grain JSP- broadside on the deer through heart/lung produced dead deer with a full pass through out to 80 yards, good expansion and blood trail and all deer dead- all hogs were head shots, up to 200 lbs either between the eyes or in the ear, all exited with a big hole- all hogs dead.

I would think a 9mm 147 grain bonded hp like the Winchester LE round shot from a carbine would do just fine- I know my Marlin lever 357 with a 158grn JHP kills them dead

It's always more the Indian rather than the arrow but the question is why ? Unless it's a must do situation with the tool at hand, then a wise person chooses the best tool for the purpose.