Deer handgun question

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
Which would be better for close range deer hunting, the 40s&w or 357 sig?

I would pick the .40 because there's no guarantee that you'll get expansion from a handgun short barreled or not. The .40 will allow the use of a larger caliber bullet with more mass. With a handgun I have found that having an entry and exit hole is more reliable than counting on bullet expansion. Unless you are reloading your own look for factory 180gr loads running close to 1,000 for hunting. Higher bullet weight and speed would be even better but the cost of such ammo and availability may not allow you a lot of practice.

Remington/UMC 180gr HP is my go to .40 load for my G22 for any use.

<>< Fish
 

41magfan

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
The .357 Sig round does its best work with much lighter bullets than the .40 S&W.

Either will kill a deer at close range, but I'd rather shoot a light for caliber (155-165 gr) bullet in the .40 if I wanted something faster than the standard weight 180 gr stuff.

Double Tap Ammo offers a 165 gr bonded JHP that does about 1200 fps from the short barrel of a Glock 23. That load will kill any deer that walks at close range.
 
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Weekender

Twelve Pointer
Should a pistol hunter be as concerned with nailing both lungs like a bowhunter does? I honestly don't know. Some advice on shot placement should be taken up at some point in this thread. No offense intended.
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
I don’t think hitting both lungs is as important as in archery. For archery the main reason for taging both lungs is hitting the largest vital zone with the least bone since we avoid heavy boned areas in the ft shoulder that a rifle will punch through with ease. I’d say with either a 40 or 357 Sig you would be fine with a standard shot placement inside of 50 yards. In longer shots I’d either pass completely or take a double lung just behind the shoulder. Granted this is assuming with a 357sig or 40 that the gun doesn’t have optics and the shooter is rocking iron sights, if optics are in use I’d say it would extend ranges abit but not a lot. For instance, with my TC contender in 44mag that has a 3x scope I’m good out to 120 yards, but with my S&W 29 in 44mag with irons I wouldn’t shoot past 60 yards.


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Lonehunter

Six Pointer
I would recommend a behind the shoulder shot. Better be safe than sorry! A bullet fired from either round would probably get threw to both lungs, but that same bullet could desinagrat on a shoulder bone and only leave a surface wound.
 

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
I would recommend a behind the shoulder shot. Better be safe than sorry! A bullet fired from either round would probably get threw to both lungs, but that same bullet could desinagrat on a shoulder bone and only leave a surface wound.

Bullet selection/construction, bullet mass and velocity do need to be taken into account with each individual's handgun and ammo combo. It has been my experience that quick expanding bullets work good on lung/double lung shots and that hard cast Keith or LBT style bullets will provide pass through shots on shoulder shots very reliably.

<>< Fish
 

Buffet Trout

Twelve Pointer
Bullet selection/construction, bullet mass and velocity do need to be taken into account with each individual's handgun and ammo combo. It has been my experience that quick expanding bullets work good on lung/double lung shots and that hard cast Keith or LBT style bullets will provide pass through shots on shoulder shots very reliably.

<>< Fish

I’ve killed many deer with a handgun and have had the same observations.

I prefer a heavy hard cast or jsp at moderate velocities through the shoulders bc they usually run shorter distances this way.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I dont use any of the “newer” type bullets. I try to use similar to the post above or old jacketed hollow points.
 
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