Purely a mental exercise

[Bill in Oregon]

I got to thinking about the straight-wall pistol cartridge thread, which for some reason reminded me of a story Steve Garbe wrote early in the history of the Black Powder Cartridge News about killing a bull elk with a .38-55 loaded with black powder and cast bullet out of a single shot -- probably a High Wall. It did the job just fine, but Garbe is of course an excellent shot. (I bet the .360 Buckhammer loaded with BP and cast would be pretty capable as well.)
And because my mind is illogical, that got me wondering about the performance of the good old .44 W.C.F. on game larger than deer. I'll have to see if Ned Roberts ever said anything on this topic, or maybe Townsend Whelen.

[JimT]

I read a story by Bill Cody of using one on a Grizzly that came after him. He said he put all 15 rounds into the bear and it worked quite well. I have no idea if the story is true or not, but it sounded right.

[earlmck]

Been lots of elk killed with a 44 WCF but the trouble with it is that it isn't going to put a hole clear through the elk and so you end up with not much of a blood trail. And the critters have a bad habit of being able to go a couple hundred yards even with a heart shot and that can be a dang long ways to try to find a dead animal in the forest. (voice of experience).

When I shoot an elk I want something that gets me an exit wound.

[Malamute]

When Charlie Russell came to Montana in 1880 as a 16 yr old kid (he was called Kid Russel for some time), he ended up staying with an old frontiersman/trapper/prospector/meat hunter named Jake Hoover, who had a cabin in the mtns. Charlie wrote that once going down a trail they encountered a sow grizzly with a couple partly grown cubs. the sow charged, giving Charlie some discomfort at the situation, Hoover shot all 3 with his 73 Winchester, 1 head shot each.

Some instances of running buffalo, meaning riding up close to running buffalo and shooting them, was done with 73s.

Many today seem enamored of the 10mm auto pistol cartridge, it being considered fairly potent for defensive use against larger animals to include grizzlies. The performance is rather close to black powder 44-40 loads, 200-217 gr bullet@ 1300 fps. I think theres better rounds for many jobs, but they seem to work when used carefully.

[GunnyMack]

A buddy of mine who now lives in Craig CO- the elk capitol of the world has shot a few with his 86 in 40-65.
I heard a first hand account of Canadian Indian shooting a bull moose with a .22. he tracked it a couple days.
There was a huge brown bear shot with .22 short killed by a native woman.
Karamojo Bell shot a few elephants with a 7Mauser, he pulled the bullets with his teeth, put them pointy end into the case and shot them base first.
A bullet in the right place as we know will kill.
I don't condone these actions but it will work.
Speaking of the 10mm, saw a hunting show and the host shot a couple cape buffalo with a Glock 10mm, they died just fine.

[Scott Tschirhart]

A little heavier bullet helps a bunch. The RCBS 45 270SAA bullet at 850 to 950 fps will shoot right through a full size cow and does a credible job even out of a short barrel Colt sixgun.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I’m pretty sure that a plain Foster slug in a 12 gauge shotgun will kill anything that walks. Not terribly impressive on paper, but deadly in practice.

[GunnyMack]

Scott, having shot untold many whitetail deer with slugs, foster and sabot types i feel a 1 oz hunk of lead does kill beyond its means. However I dislike the copper slugs. I once shot a really nice buck 3 times and it never reacted like it was hit. All 3 went through the lungs, from about 75 yards away. He never ran, twitched his tail , just kept walking.
A lead round ball also kills very well! I gotta hunt my .54 this year!