45 ACP load for deer

lscocoa

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Does anyone use the 45 acp for deer and what loads do you use ? I am a 44mag. hunter but the owner of the range brought out a springfield 1911 ,somewhat custom and he said it would make a nice deer gun . So if this is true let me see some of your loads and what range do you shoot , or max would you shoot ?
 
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In Indiana the 45ACP cannot be used for deer hunting. The round has enough energy to do the work on small deer but I would think that the corn fed behemoths of our two states would be out of it's league any further out than 50 yards.

Of course, there are the hybrids out there too. 460 Rowland, 45 WinMag and either one of those would be more than adequate for any animal out to 100 yards. Just remember that there is going to be a considerable amount of drop to a 230gr bullet that started out at only 800fps @ that 100 yards. If you can get that weight bullet up to over 1000 fps, either by using one of the variants mentioned above OR shooting them in a revolver and running them over pressure or in +P and you my be good to go too.

For me, the 45ACP is my carry caliber. 2 legged @ less than 20 yards and they have had it! 4 legged though, give me a 45 Colt with Linebaugh's loads or a 44Mag in a carbine. Just sayin' :D
 
I tried to use a 45 ACP round for deer hunting in Missouri. I heard that you couldn't use the FMJ so I got some rounds that were, IIRC 180 gr. They were a kind of cone shaped lead bullet. I don't reload and have no idea what the powder was or anything like that. Whatever it was it didn't work. I shot at a deer in an open field, about 75 yards off and the bullet made it little more than 2/3rds of the way out there.
I traded the gun for a Winchester .300 magnum. Problem solved.
Peace,
gordon
 
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I think this is a big case of just how much you stalk your target when hunting. The .45 ACP was never intended for hunting. But I know guys that have used Beretta 92's in 9mm for hunting. And they got in darn close to do it and claimed it was one heck of a rush. I can only assume bow hunters do and feel the same way. SWC ammo for .45's is typically loaded as target paper punching ammo and loaded soft enough to cycle reliably but get you back on target fast. If you wanted to hunt I would try and find a good 185 or 200 grain SWC and load it out to the max stats allowed in a 1911 and see if you can shoot them accurate enough at fifty yards MAX. Add to this I would drop in at least a fresh spring if not a heavy one. You might even add one of the nylon buffer bits. I just don't see this as a good idea unless you are going all Predator style on them and slapping them in the face first before you shoot them. I'm not the avid hunter but I know at least a little bit about 1911's.
 
Years ago, a Virginia Conservation Official got in a lot of trouble shooting two wild pigs with a 1911 .45....

Trouble was, he shot them on a Federal Wildlife Refuge, they were driving through the refuge on the way to a National Gaurd picnic as I remember, he saw a sow hog and a piglet not far from the road. He stopped his car, shot both pigs with his .45, killing the piglet but not the sow. Sow was injured, immobile, and knucklehead had run out of ammo. He had to go to the Refuge Manager and tell him what happened, the refuge manager returned with a revolver and put the sow down.

Why so much trouble? The car following him to the picnic was full of reporters who witnessed the whole thing. All over the papers the next day, "Top Virginia Conservation Official Kills Wild Pigs Out of Season, On a Federal Wildlife Refuge, Shooting From the Road, etc. ", and the fact he shot them without enough gun and left them didn't help....
 
i have killed a few deer w/the .45 acp.

they were both small texas deer (100 lbs) and were within 20 yards.
i have killed about 10 bow hunting, also.
if you keep your range the same as bowhunting, i think the .45 acp has a definite advantage over any arrow,
hollowpoint or fmj roundnose works well.
 
Personally I would not use 45 ACP for this purpose. However if I had to, I think I would go with a 230gr XTP over a very stout charge of Unique. My testing with max loads of this powder gave me 930fps average out of a 5" bbl. A Gold Dot gave the same velocity. 440 ft/lbs of energy with a 45 caliber frontal area is nothing to sneeze at. If you do work some loads with XTPs or Gold Dots, keep in mind that both of these bullets require a shorter COAL than FMJ ball for proper chambering. This will reduce remaining case capacity.

Also, as much as I don't want to say it, I think a Glock 21 would make a better "deer gun" than a 1911. The G21 is an extremely strong firearm, derived from the G20 10mm design, firing the low pressure 45 auto. While this is not a license to work up dangerously high-pressure loads, it does give you some leeway to stretch the cartridge's legs into the "+P" range.
 
A friend of mine had a Glock 36 KB on him with factory ammo. I sure wouldn't push the platform. Don't take that as Glock hate speach. I have a Glock 21 SFNS that is my constant companion. I have nothing against Tactical Tupperware.

Like the cartridge too.

I was riding my horse through the apple orchard one day and came upon a deer that had been hit by a car. Back leg was busted pretty well and it didn't run. Have to call the cops for wounded deer around here or if you get caught with the carcass you can get into tons of trouble. When the cop arrived, I asked if he wanted to use my 1911 to put it down. Loaded with 5.0gr of Bullseye under a 230gr XTP. It was a Smith 1911 of course! :)

Anyway, he put one in the right eye of that deer. Never left the skull and mushroomed to about .800".

'Course he was only 30' from it! Just saying' :D
 
The last buck I killed with my kimber custom classic fell. Got up and wobbled off about 20 yards and expired. Shot him with a Fed. 230 gr. hydrashock. Bullet entered behind the left shoulder and came out the right shoulder breaking the leg. Shot was about 35 yards. Would I do it again. Heck yes! 45acp has plenty of power to shoot through a deer at close to moderate woods ranges.
 
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A friend of mine had a Glock 36 KB on him with factory ammo.

Everyone on the internet has "a friend" with a Glock that blew up. You'd think there were Glocks blowing up every day at ranges all over the US... :rolleyes: I've never seen one. Not trying to give you a hard time, I just hate seeing this falsehood constantly perpetuated on internet forums.
 
If you like the 1911 enough to try it on deer, there's a better way to boost the power. Get a longer barrel, and then tinker with powder types and charges.

I've given this a lot of thought for a few years, but so far, I've stayed with my wonderful Remington 11-87 and bulldozer 12 ga. slug loads. In Ohio, we can use handguns, but caliber must be .38 or over, minimum 5" barrel, and no bottle neck cartridges. So I bought a 6" drop-in 1911 barrel. In a handgun, each additional inch gives you the chance to boost velocity considerably.

But there's something even better, and legal. Numrich's is still selling a kit to make the 1911 a legal detachable shoulder stock carbine. You get a mainspring housing slotted to take a stock, plus the stock, plus a 16 1/4" barrel. It sounds awkward, but the thing is a tack driver. All is legally well, as long as you do not use the stock with a short barrel installed. You could use the long barrel without the stock, as a legal deer hunting handgun in Ohio. All you need are good sights, such as a red dot.

With registered Thompsons (10" standard barrel) we can get around 1000 FPS with standard .45 ACP ball ammo. Load it with slower burning powder and you can get well above that. So for a handloader who likes to hunt with a pistol, there is no reason why you cannot use a long slide 1911, or one with just a longer barrel, and boost velocity to the 1000+ FPS range, where a well made expanding bullet can do a very respectable and accurate job on deer in the 50 to 75 yard range. I've never had a longer shot here in Ohio, and most are much closer. No thoughtful hunter should consider taking a pistol shot at a deer beyond 75 yards anyway.

Maybe this year I'll try a handgun. I keep thinking about my .44 Automag. Then I think about that rifled and scoped 11-87 and the certainty of it, and I hesitate. :rolleyes: That gigantic air rifle sabot slug does the job every time...all the way through, and with an impressive exit hole.
 
Everyone on the internet has "a friend" with a Glock that blew up. You'd think there were Glocks blowing up every day at ranges all over the US... :rolleyes: I've never seen one. Not trying to give you a hard time, I just hate seeing this falsehood constantly perpetuated on internet forums.

I have seen a G17 that gave up the ghost when the locking block on the frame simply gave way. I suspect it was poor disaasembly/re-assembly that led to the officer's service weapon giving up the ghost the day before her re-qualification . Of course, I have also seen an M9 and a 1911 each have a catastrophic failure. I think in each case it was due to material fatigue and a poor maintenance routine, or an inadvertent hot load.

Back to the thread, I would stick with the XTP bullet in a +P level charge.
 
If you can get a revolver take a look at the 45 Auto Rim loads in Speer #8. The 240 gr bullet looks like 452423. Assuming you can work up to the top loads, you can get >1,000 fps. That will handle a deer.
 
Does anyone use the 45 acp for deer and what loads do you use ? I am a 44mag. hunter but the owner of the range brought out a springfield 1911 ,somewhat custom and he said it would make a nice deer gun . So if this is true let me see some of your loads and what range do you shoot , or max would you shoot ?
You have a 44 mag? Why would you want to go down to a 45 acp?? I have shot 3 deer with the 44 mag that were heart lung shots and had to track all of them from 40-90 yds, all were broadsid , both lungs destroyed and 1 heart this was with hydroshocks, IMI soft point, Rem soft point. I have since switched to 250 XTP- one FELL about 3 yds otherwise is was like Thor's hammer and anchored them in the spot. All were broadside 33-35 yds. Why did some run ? I have no idea, at necropsy the damage was essentially the same with all loads, deer range from a 120 doe to 175 lbs buck?? I have shot deer with 357 mag and 40 SW ( 165 gr ranger ) all dropped there. IF you have to go with the 45 I would use XTP 230 or ranger 230 +P, and keep it to 50 yd or under. There is nothing worse than trailing/tracking a deer that should be lying on the ground. Enjoy. Be Safe.
 
Choose wisely, grasshopper

Used my government 1911 with Federal 230 Hydrashocks to put down a deer hit by a car near my home.

I was on my way to work, dressed in "business casual," and the poor critter was lying in the middle of the road. Went back to my house and got my 1911 (because its always loaded), and had my wife call the warden.

Should have brought my rifle. The deer got up on two broken legs when I returned, and began to hobble off. Must have had it's nervous system totally maxed with adrenaline, shock and pain. Didn't want to lie down on the ground in my work clothes to make a head shot at 30 yards, so stuck with center mass. Took about 5 rounds in the rib cage to put it on the ground. Took maybe 30 seconds.

There are better calibers for deer.

Took a course with Clint Smith at Thunder Ranch last month. We were practicing transitions from the carbine to the pistol. Clint said, "Think about this. By going to your pistol away from your rifle you have just traded Ken for Barbie."
 
Years ago I took several whitetails on Fort Benning, Georgia using an issue M1911A-1 and GI ball ammo. Solid hits in the heart-lung area within about 25 yards always did the trick.

Not the choice I would prefer, but it's what I had to work with at the time, and I was acting under orders to get it done and that's how it got done.
 
Used my government 1911 with Federal 230 Hydrashocks to put down a deer hit by a car near my home.

I was on my way to work, dressed in "business casual," and the poor critter was lying in the middle of the road. Went back to my house and got my 1911 (because its always loaded), and had my wife call the warden.

Should have brought my rifle. The deer got up on two broken legs when I returned, and began to hobble off. Must have had it's nervous system totally maxed with adrenaline, shock and pain. Didn't want to lie down on the ground in my work clothes to make a head shot at 30 yards, so stuck with center mass. Took about 5 rounds in the rib cage to put it on the ground. Took maybe 30 seconds.

There are better calibers for deer.

Took a course with Clint Smith at Thunder Ranch last month. We were practicing transitions from the carbine to the pistol. Clint said, "Think about this. By going to your pistol away from your rifle you have just traded Ken for Barbie."

I too had to dispatch a car injured Doe. I used my Kimber ultra and it took 6 shots to the head. I was standing right next to the poor thing. From my very close hand experience I can verify the .45 ACP is not adequate for Deer.
Another time I had to use a m-60 2 inch .38+p on a injured Doe from about 30 feet away and it took all 5 shots, I no longer carry a .38 ,for that reason.
Stick with your .44 it`s better to have too much gun so that you are more able to stop the animal`s suffering sooner.
 
I carry a Glock 21 daily to protect me and my family( of course all of my other hand guns are S&W's). All my other guns are S&W's I have never seen one in person go BOOM! I have a friend who is a C3/C7 so he get Post Sample MG's and we beat on them. He had a Glock 18 that he put 30,000 rounds thru in two years, he had a handful of FTF's, but no BOOMs!
 
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