I'm thinking about 75 yards on deer with the .357 Mag and 50 yards on black bears with the 45 LC. Wha6t you're thought?
I really love the lever action in 357 in the 45 Colt and I want to start hunting with them even more and also for small game too.
I'm thinking about 75 yards on deer with the .357 Mag and 50 yards on black bears with the 45 LC. Wha6t you're thought?
I really love the lever action in 357 in the 45 Colt and I want to start hunting with them even more and also for small game too.
I completely agree with your range limits.
I would say you are not giving the 45 colt a fair shake. When shooting mine into my bullet trap, it is the only caliber to reach the back steel. While it is not a fast bullet, it take a lot to stop it. I shoot a 255 gr.
I agree. 75 yards sounds like a very reasonable limit.
I'd cut them both off at 50 yards.
I see a lot of people going 100 yards. Range is 0 to whatever you can shoot properly.
I'd give them both 100 yards if you can place the shot in the vitals and resist taking an "iffy" shot. I have a lot of bear in my area but I don't shoot them. I let friends hunt them on my place and a few have been taken. Most are around 200-300 pounds, not as big as most people think. I've shot over fifty deer with the .357mag in a handgun and another nine or ten with various .357 rifles. Expansion with a handgun really drops off past 75 yards even with the fastest loads and the rifle gets you another thirty to forty yards with reliable expansion. Note: I've never lost one with the .357mag but I never take a shot too far and I hunt the same way I would with a bow....only shoot when I know I can put the bullet in the vitals.
I shot a Doe with my Ruger Blackhawk 45 Colt at 103 yard, DRT! First handgun deer was with a 357 mag, also a Blackhawk. 65 yards, bang/flop! Shot placement, boys!
Whatever range you can put 9 out of 10 into a 3" circle.
Both calibers IMO with good loads and assuming decent shooting are capable further than what you posted.
The .45 colt handi barrel you sold me stacks them into a roughly 1.5 inch group at 100 yards. Put that 200 + grain bullet where it needs to go = dead bear very quickly.
But to me the limiting factor is what you can make the round do with your loads in your rifle.
NOT terminal ballistics.
But maybe I'm crazy as a loon.
This.....Quote:
Originally Posted by veeman
Ethical distance?_~_ Under 100 yards. > for both.
Although I'd put my mola down on the old 1873 Colt holes mak'ins ability to stretch that 100 yrd ethical distance a bit further.
(Squinting my shooting eye a littl.) I'm thinking the 357 cartridge would be hard pressed to match.
Ethical distance is limited by several factories, it's not just a number.
Number one is can YOU make a clean, accurate, pinpoint shot at X distance. I've seen and known old guys who can drop a deer at a hundred yards with a 22 long in an old single shot (despite rimfire not being legal for deer in Texas). I'm talking old men (most of whom are now gone) who ate this way during the depression. Flip side is I have seen and known guys who couldn't hit a deer at four yards with both barrels of a shotgun fired at once. I'm not trying to shame anybody by saying this. Some folks just ain't good at it. I've seen people who could out-shoot me on a paper target that couldn't hit a deer or squirrel if their life depended on it, and I've seen guys and girls who can't hit paper that can clean drop a deer every single time.
If you feel that YOU can only make a good clean shot with X caliber at X distance. Then at least you are setting YOU a reasonable distance. That is what counts. Ballistic-ally (despite folks claims) those rounds are capable of cleanly taking game at what we would consider to be staggering ranges, but the person who can do it is rare. I know I shot some calibers (30-30, and 32-20), and cleanly taken deer, well beyond what folks consider reasonable these days. And I know that these days I can't see well enough, and my hands ain't steady enough, to try those shots again. Sounds like you have set yourself a reasonable goal. Stick with it, have a good time, be safe, and take home some meat and hide!
Anyway God Bless, and One Love.
GoodOlBoy
Groo here
Put up a paper plate, shoot off hand 5 shots.
If all 5 hit , step back and repeat.
Continue till you miss one, the last target is your limit.
If that is not far enough, start practicing.
The ethical distance is the distance at which you can consistently place a bullet in the vital area. Either cartridge out of a rifle is far more powerful than the same load out of a revolver, and folks have been killing deer with those caliber revolvers for decades.
I personally have killed three deer and one hog with .44 Special and 45 Colt revolver that were from 44 - 48 yds. A rifle will easily double that distance. Killed a sow at 50 yards last December with a .357 carbine and a cast HP.
35W
If you can hit a 8-10” steel plate at 100 yards consistently with 45 colt, I wouldn’t pass up that shot. Since this is posted under lever guns, we are assuming your shooting a rifle. Good chance your shot will be 40-75 yards anyway.
I'd say you should be able to do better that 8 to 10 inches. I do this at 60 yards all the time with my Henry.
Attachment 227723
Is that off a benchrest or standing offhand with buck fever????????Quote:
Originally Posted by MyFlatline
Off hand with buck fever, that’s the real test of the hunter accuracy capability. All firearms can group it’s shots tighter than a person can hold it. I can make very tight little groups when bench resting, but to make similar sized groups off hand standing I would need to glue the target to the end of the barrel. Next time you all goto the shooting range try a few shots standing unsupported free hand for a reality check on your real shooting capabilities.Quote:
Originally Posted by indian joe
I beg to differ, Not all rifles are tack drivers. The target posted was from load development, pretty consistent off of a front rest I'd say. I don't shoot targets off hand, I shoot gongs. If I can bang the 3 incher I'm happy. As for testing buck fever, film that for me..Quote:
Originally Posted by greenjoytj
Maybe,Quote:
Originally Posted by greenjoytj
But almost every deer I have ever taken was from some kind of support. Either a log, the hood of a truck, etc.
Only one was taken standing un-supported. He stepped out 35 yards away. Not exactly challenging, even for me.
And you may or may not believe this, I really don't care. But I have never experienced buck fever before the shot. My huntin' buddy doesn't either. But I do get the shakes after I walk up to them and start looking them over.
Steve in N CA