Racoon and .38 Special +P FBI Load

[Walkingwolf]

Animals are not like humans in that they do not know they have been shot. Which is why most people shot stop, the rest stop when they can no longer keep going. I have shot snakes in half, and they still were alive, and capable of biting.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

My air rifle can drop a squirrel with one shot. Routinely. But it still takes shot placement.

As for dogs and raccoons,

A coon can do some serious damage to dogs if they are inexperienced and don't work as a team. I only had one dog that could take a coon by itself and had the scars to prove it knew how.

I do think that either of my dogs on their own, or their predecessors, would have gotten pretty beat up fighting a raccoon alone. But when they team up it is way easier for them because the coon can only fight the dog in front of it. The one that gets behind it can and does inflict the real damage. I have seen it live so I know and it is pretty dramatic, believe me, because once your sweet pet dog that nuzzles you and licks your face gets started on a raccoon it's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!!!!

And except for one time when there were a few scratches none of my dogs have ever exhibited any signs of being in a fight.

 

[Watchdog]

My air rifle can drop a squirrel with one shot. Routinely. But it still takes shot placement.

As for dogs and raccoons,

I do think that either of my dogs on their own, or their predecessors, would have gotten pretty beat up fighting a raccoon alone. But when they team up it is way easier for them because the coon can only fight the dog in front of it. The one that gets behind it can and does inflict the real damage. I have seen it live so I know and it is pretty dramatic, believe me, because once your sweet pet dog that nuzzles you and licks your face gets started on a raccoon it's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!!!!

And except for one time when there were a few scratches none of my dogs have ever exhibited any signs of being in a fight.

And this relates to shooting a raccoon on the ground from four feet away with a .38 Special revolver because...?

 

[LoboGunLeather]

So you expect a 10-15 lb. critter to offer enough resistance to cause the 158-SWC-HP to upset, expand, etc? Unrealistic at best. Under the conditions you have described I would expect any handgun bullet to zip straight through the critter, and unless a major artery was severed or the heart was penetrated I would expect exactly the results you have described.

A .22 rimfire to the head would probably be far more effective.

 

[elm_creek_smith]

You don't generally get enough velocity out of a sub-4" barrel to get the FBI load to expand quickly. For non+P .38 snubbies, I've gone to the Winchester 130 grain Train & Defend HP ammo. For +P .38's I use the Speer 135 grain "Short Barrel" ammo.

My wife killed 2 coyotes in the back yard with 2 shots from her Model 681 with the Speer "Short Barrel" .38 +P ammo, one standing at 20 yards, the other running at 25 yards.

YMMV.


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[camsdaddy]

I have been reading a good bit about a full wadcutter as a woods/target/defense load. I wonder if it would have been more effective in the situation.

 

[SmithSwede]

I have been reading a good bit about a full wadcutter as a woods/target/defense load. I wonder if it would have been more effective in the situation.

I've been thinking about full wadcutters as well. Not hard to reload some full power wad loads.

 

[crazyphil]

I shot a bull elk one time with a 30:06 180-Gr Winchester silvertip.
Hit him right behind the shoulder. He just kept running. But about
50 yards he laid down and died.

We should think seriously about the almost unanimous opinion that
target should be "center of mass" for self defense. An agressor, hit
center of mass (heart), just like the elk, can continue for 15 or 20
seconds. Enough time to kill.

Jim Cirillo, who put down 19 bad guys, said he only saw 2 one-shot-
stops. He said even accurate heart shots were not instant stoppers.
Bob Stasch, a Chicago Police Sergeant and veteran of 14 gun fights,
said he had only experienced 1 one-shot-stop.

I have not been in a lot of gun fights myself, so I learn as much as I
can from those with credibility like Cirillo and Stasch. The NRA tells us
there are about 2 million incidents each year where people use a gun
for self defense. They only need to shoot in about 4% of those incidents.

When shots are necessary, about two-thirds of that 4% stop voluntarily.
Hit or not hit, they don't want to get shot at again.

The remaining third of the 4% is our main problem. When "TSHTF"
we need STOPPING POWER. Only hits to the brain or spinal cord will
stop the attack instantly.

How do you hit a moving target the size of the brain? PRACTICE!

 

[jhnttrpp]

Coming home one night late driving my 06 Chevy 3/4 ton crew cab with a fifth wheel hitch and a 40 gallon aux fuel tank in the bed I saw a big coon come running out towards me. His head hit the nerf bar on the driver side. It rung like a bell. Then the truck jumped up as I ran over him with the back tire. I turned around and went back. The coon was gone. That was one tough coon.
I bet he woke up the next morning thinking "man I feel like I've been hit by a truck".
I think if I run into a rabid coon I'm going to try and get back in the house for a bigger gun than my little J frame. If I can.

 

[camsdaddy]

Jerry Clower taught me at a young age that coons are though.

 

[Lt JL]

I use a .22 on squirells and rabbits. Possums, Coons, coyotes in close, all get a load of 00 buck from a 1187.
when I was working, and had to put an animal down, I found that .38s 9s, and .40s were not reliable. I was shooting a lot of pit bulls at the time. I once responded to an officer needs assistance call to find a cop standing on the roof of her cruiser trying to shoot two pit bulls who had her surrounded. Her Sig P226 with Federal 165gr hollowpoints seemed to just bounce off those big thick chests and heads. I got out of my car, shotgun in hand, and finalized the disposition of the call. Ever since then, the 12 gauge is my go to critter gun under 50 yards. (slugs on the side saddle.) Longer shots seldom present at my house, but if they did, it would be 5.56.