9MM rifle for deer/hogs

[Brl]

I have a Beretta CX4 Storm in 9MM, 16" barrel. It was left to me in my brothers will several years ago. I hadn't been able to part with it but don't really have much use for it. It's a great carbine and fun to shoot. But, these days, I don't get to the range much and (when I do go) I usually focus on practice with the guns I use for hunting or carry and not just plinking. So...has anyone ever used a 9MM for small deer/hogs out to maybe 50 yards or so? I assume I might get another 200 + feet per second with the longer barrel?

Any thoughts?

Thanks!!

[dk17hmr]

I havent shot anything that bleeds with a 9mm. But if you look at 147gr you can load them to around 1000fps out of a handgun, figuring an extra 200 fps out of the longer barrel you are right around 1200fps. That is pretty close to a 357 handgun with the same weight bullet.

Will a 357 work on deer and hogs?

[superior]

I wouldn't trust the 9mm on hogs. Seems too dangerous as I don't think the ballistics are quite there to stop a charge. I would use it for deer though as long as the distance is under 50 yards and a perfect shot is presented. Just my opinion.

[Boz330]

Anything will kill with a perfect shot. Sometimes you don't make a perfect shot, not necessarily your fault so it is up to you. Personaly I would not hunt with a 9MM except under survival conditions. JMHO.

Bob

[Tn_River_Ratt]

In my opinion, anything weighing less that 250gr and moving less that 1000fps is just asking for trouble with a hog. A deer at less that 75 yards with the right bullet in 9mm would probably work with the right shot.

Ratt

[JeffinNZ]

I was about to agree with the general concensus then I thought about a .45cal round ball from a ML. Same weight projectile albiet a bit 'fatter' and at a range of 60-70 yards will likely have the same impact velocity.

[superior]

I wouldn't trust the ML on hogs either. Deer, no problem.

[Four Fingers of Death]

What about with those good quality 147Gn J word bullets? It would be kinda fun for brassing up rabbits, etc with milsup ammo.

[northmn]

Deer have been taken by lesser calibers. The 32-20 was supposed to be a deer and small game number. Some deer are smaller than others, depending upon geography. Some Southern deer go pretty small compared to the midwestern and northern deer. Talking about whitetails, mule deer are larger. When all is said and done and based on something like 40 years of deer hunting experience with deer weighing in at 150 lbs and over 200, I would not purposely take a 9mm deer hunting. As stated, with a perfect shot about anything will work, but I have had them take a step forward about the time I cannot back off on the trigger and hit them a little further back than intended. Sometimes what you think is a good angle is not quite what you thought. I really prefer a bigger bore in a ML than a 45 also.

Northmn

[zxcvbob]

I havent shot anything that bleeds with a 9mm. But if you look at 147gr you can load them to around 1000fps out of a handgun, figuring an extra 200 fps out of the longer barrel you are right around 1200fps. That is pretty close to a 357 handgun with the same weight bullet.

You don't get that extra 200 fps. 9mm runs out of steam really quick. The long barrel probably costs you a few feet per second (due to friction) rather than gain anything. I assume you mean 9mm Luger, and not one of the longer cartridges like 9mm Largo, .38 Super, or 9x23 Winchester.

[Suo Gan]

Your gun is the perfect deer rifle. Just make sure that you shoot them in the head at under 20 yards. They will drop like they were pole axed. Small calibers will take game. For some reason the 22 wmr is a real popular rifle in the Alaskan bush (Cheap ammo?). I have personally seen Eskimo's shoot Walrus, Seals, and Cariboo with them, and kill them dead.

BTW, if you keep it sub-sonic it would be a neat fairly powerful plinker, without a lot of noise.

[EMC45]

Here in Ga you can hunt with the 22 Hornet. Not something I agree with, but they say it's ok. Now would your set up kill a deer/hog. Put 'em where the count and you're in business. 147gr. +P hollowpoint or a 158gr. hardcast with a slow burning powder out of that longer barrel and it is a killer. I have made up some 158gr. rnfp Lee bullet dummy rounds and they functioned (by hand) in my Browning HI Power. Sorry to hear about your brother.

[acemedic13]

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[Throwback]

I have used the nine a lot recreationally but it is well below my minimum for deer. (.45 for short range, .357 for short to medium distances) I would consider using it on anything up to coyote but not with standard cast bullets. This is one of the few cartidges where you really need a hollowpoint to get the most out of it. I have finished three deer with it (using cast TC profile bullets) and results were not impressive. Also, do not expect better velocity in the longer tube. The .45 ACP sometimes benefits from a carbine barrel but not the nine. I would never use the nine on pigs. Having said all this, it is brilliant on small game.

[Brl]

EMC45, thank you for the condolences.

I have already been bitten by the hog bug. I've shot many, but all with rifle cartridges...usually .30-06. I wouldn't take that 9 carbine with the intent on only using it but would bring it along into my stand or to the friend's tomato farm. When in stand, if the right shot presented itself...than I might pick it up. At the farm, shots are no longer than 20 yards and the pigs are too busy killing tomato plants. They typically don't see or hear you until it's too late. Pretty fun...and hogs feeding on tomatoes all day are really good eating.

Thanks for all the great input!

[longuner]

I have shot many pigs with a 9mm with no problems, even seen a doe shot with one. Most were shot with my glock 17L, and recently one pig with a glock 26. its all about shot placement!!!

[trickyasafox]

Stephen Camp of highpowersandhandguns.com used the +p+ 127 gr Winchester loadings to harvest a few deer.

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/FieldReportDeer.htm

if he did that out of a hipower, I think with your carbine and some load development you could make a very effective short range deer getter.

Never hunted hogs, but I would think that the smaller ones wouldn't be unreasonable.

[Doc1]

Lemme tell ya, gentlemen. I'm an old wild pig hunter. In my younger and stupider days I thought it was great fun to hunt tuskers with a .45 acp. I've shot them with a lot of different calibers.

Then I got older and got smarter. I also met a couple of guys who were horribly scarred up from encounters in our marshes with tuskers where the encounter went in the tusker's favor.

These days, when I take my canoe into the marshes by myself, my minimum pig medicine is a full house 7.92x57 Mauser (or equivalent). No, you don't need that much power for shoats and the smaller sows. You might when you get charged by a big tusker and there's no tree to jump into! It'll change your perspective...real quick.

Who was it who said, "Use enough gun"?

9mm? On the right days, with the right animals - which'll be most of them - it might do OK. On the wrong day with the wrong animal, you'll count your stitches by the score when they sew ya up and if you're in deep marsh by yourself with the tuskers and gators, they may never find you.

Best regards
Doc

[Brl]

Great comments. Thanks for the posts and info gentlemen!

[Four Fingers of Death]

Who was it who said, "Use enough gun"? ............Robert Ruark.

I tend to agree, but thousands of big pigs are shot here every year using 22s, not for me though. I'd want something with a bit more whoopum if I was hunting in an overgrown swamp with no side stepping room.

Use the 9mm insult rifle and strap a 44mag on your hip just in case.

[EMC45]

Here in Ga on WMAs you "have" to hunt hunt hogs during small game season with small game firearms. That is Shotguns with Birdshot and any rimfire weapon. People kill them by the truckload here too. Cool article on the HiPower!! I know a 9MM will do it. I have a bunch of 9MM 147gr. GDHP+P I got from a Federal Agent buddy of mine when they went to the .40 cal. May give it a shot. No pun intended.

[9.3X62AL]

Emphasis on the "when they went to 40 caliber" in the above post.

In the Colt SMG and MP-5, the WW 147 grain JHP service rounds we used went about 1075-1100 FPS in the 14"-16" barrels. Hence, the "sub-sonic" moniker. They worked great on streetlights when the lazy county roads people wouldn't respond to shut them off for us. In their intended venue, the recipients seemed to require many more of the 147/9mm than the 40/180 or 45/230, but let's just say that the installer(s) were not at their most objective mindset during the interludes referred to. Still, SOMETHING accounts for the difference, don'cha think?

I say this to address the matter of taking a sometimes highly-motivated mammal weighing about as much as a human, and one capable of inflicting harm or death if the concept moves him/her. I do carry the 9mm for SD, but not with the subsonic FBI fashion statement on board. I wouldn't carry ANY 9mm for pig hunting or protection--and used either an M-16A2 or an 870/slugs to cover other deputies chasing suspects through our river bottom to address both the armed suspects AND the wild pigs that live there. Lotta cross-over between armed bad guy hunting and pig hunting.

USE ENOUGH GUN is right.

[RugerFan]

Here in Ga on WMAs you "have" to hunt hunt hogs during small game season with small game firearms. That is Shotguns with Birdshot and any rimfire weapon.

Oddly enough "any muzzleloading firearm" is legal in GA for small game and therefore hogs. (see pg 7 of current regs)

[EMC45]

True enough Rugerfan. I have been thinking of using cap and ball revolver for BP season this year.

[acemedic13]

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[725]

Shot placement, bullet construction and speed are the factors to consider. You can control the later and you can do your best to ensure the former. Your results will come as a result of the combination of the two. A well built 9mm well placed will get the job done. Get as much speed as the platform was designed to deliver and as much weight and bullet design to ensure deep penetration / and expansion to disrupt vital organs. Place it well and you will have results. Use a 10 mm and your chances of success increase significantly. I'm sure it would work with a 9, but I wouldn't choose it.

[Gee_Wizz01]

Pig hunting is one of my favorite pass times, and after years of experience in terminating wild hogs, I wouldn't think of using a 9mm on a pig. I have and use a 9mm AR on other varmints, such as coyotes, squirrels, jack rabbits and armadillos. The 9mm carbine excells on jack rabbits, and is marginal on coyotes out to 60 to 75 yds. But a 9mm is NOT enough gun on wild pigs. Sure you can kill them with a 9mm with a good head shot or neck shot, but you can also get them real riled up with a "not quite good enough shot". If you don't think wild pigs will charge you, you haven't hunted them long enough. I learned my lesson a few years ago, the hard way. I was deer hunting on the family farm when about 15 wild hogs showed up. I was sitting on the ground against a tree (I had a 30-06) with a large cactus to my left. Well I also had my 1911 with 189 gr button nosed wad cutters and I decided why not take one of the 95 lb porkers at about 30yds with it. I aimed low on the shoulder and squeezed off the shot, but I hit low, the pig wheeled around and covered 20yds amazingly fast. I squeezed off 3 more rounds real quick and the pig turned away about 5 yds from me and ran about 20 more yds and fell over dead. The first shot went through both front legs and shattered the knee joint on the right leg. The second round went through the front of the right shoulder and ended up under the hide of the left hip and had shattered the hip joint. It was amazing how much damage that pig absorbed and continued running. One of the rounds went through his left ear and cut a perfect .45 hole (it was a wad cutter after all). That was my first experience with a pig charge. A few months latter I tracked a group of 4 sows with about 20 piglets into a stock tank, and when I shot the first sow, the other 3 charged me from about 50 yds, and I dropped 2 more of those. On that day I had my 30-06 and it only took 1 shot a piece. For over 20 years I hunted and shot pigs and was never charged, and then within a few months I got charged twice, but YMMV. The moral is to carry enough gun for the job, and a 9mm aint enough for pigs.

G

[RugerFan]

Whats the deal with hunting private land in GA.? I interpreted the law as saying you can hunt non-game animals such as pig, and coyotes with anything you want on private land. It is just in WMA's and other public areas you can only hunt them with what is legal to hunt the game animal in that area in that season. I.E. during turkey season you can shoot pigs with a shotgun, during deer season a centerfire, so on and so on.. Anything I am missing?? Please let me know. Thanks. Joel

Yes, the hunting rules are much tighter on WMAs and many federal lands including military installations. I believe on Ft Stewart and Ft Benning, you cannot hunt hunt hogs at all during turkey season. You just need to read the regs to find out the scoop for the area you intend to hunt.

[EMC45]

I am stationed at Robins AFB and we can hunt on the the base with shotguns for hog and rifles in certain areas. And of course bows. My buddy uses a Guide Gun in 45-70. I plan to go with the Remington Model 11 I started the thread on in Projects section.