9mm Doe.....

S

Stephen A. Camp

Staff In Memoriam
Hello. This evening, just before it got too dark to see the sights, I managed to shoot a fairly nice doe (estimated 120lbs on the hoof) with my 9mm STI Trojan Longslide. Distance was about 40 yards and the animal was broadside and standing still. At the shot, she collapsed and her front legs pawed the air for a few seconds. I watched over the sights in case a follow-up shot was needed; it was not as she was down to stay. I waited a few minutes and walked up to her. She barely raised her head, but could not get up. By now, I really couldn't see the sights that well, but pointed and hit her in the spine just below the base of the skull about 4".

Exit wound is on the left shoulder and is the area where the hair's missing in kind of a circular pattern. The entrance wound is positioned in about the same place on the right shoulder. The bullet tore a larger than expected wound channel through the shoulder, slit-shaped and about 2 1/2" long. I could easily put two fingers in it. The bullet also clipped the bottom of the spinal column which explains why her hind legs were motionless and the instant collapse. I easily removed the bloodshot area around the wound with plenty of shoulder left.

I've not chronographed this handload out of the Trojan, but out of the same length bbl in my FN Hi Power Comp, it gets 1308 ft/sec with an extreme spread of 29 ft/sec w/Std Deviation of 12 ft/sec.

Load:

Hornady 124 gr XTP
Starline Cases
Winchester LP Primer
6.0 gr Unique
LOA: 1.11"

fd0422f0.jpg


So, this is 4 with a 9mm using handloads in about 25 or 30 years and the second this season using a handgun. Got another a few days ago using a 250 gr XTP out of an S&W Mountain Gun in .45 Colt.
 
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congrats on the deer.

in s.d., the 9mm and 45 acp aren't legal to hunt deer. i wish the 45 was, as i am very accurate w/ my 1911...

anyway, nice work, and since you're handgunning, i think it is a fair assumption that you're getting pretty close - congrats on that, too.
 
Congradulations and thanks for sharing!

Now if I could just find a factory load with those numbers, I'd be a happy camper.

Stephen, I knew a guy who lived between Copperas Cove and Gatesville who hunted with a 1911 using 200 grain cast SWCs. That also seemed to be an effective loading..
 
Hello and thanks for the kind words. I've never shot a deer or anything bigger than a jackrabbit with the 200 gr CSWC load, but I suspect that in the right place., it'd put a deer down nicely.

Best.
 
In the late 1940s my uncle checked his cattle via an old WW II Harley 45 Signal Corps motorcycle. Carried a 1911 in a GI holster on the handlebar.

He shot the occasional deer, since they were used to the sound of the bike and would pretty much stand around and look at him.

He cast his own bullets, generally pure lead. I questioned him about it one time, and his comment--with a grin--was, "Aw, that ol' soft bullet just sorta reaches out and wraps around'em."

He was a pretty good pistol shot. To show off, he'd spin clothespins from five yards or so with a little .25ACP "Lilliput".

:), Art
 
Stephen helps prove the point...
Tis the skill of the hunter that counts the most, not the tacticality of the gear.

Sam
 
Great job, Steve! What does that make, now? 3 deer you've taken with 9mm?

One is a stunt. (?)

Two is a fluke. (!)

Three is... good hunting. :) (!)
 
4 is... a specific sect of sport hunting well in progress.

The others you took with P-35s, correct? Or did you take another with your Longslide?
 
Next year, Mr. Camp, ya gotta handicap yourself. Between the eyes with a .22.

And I guess the year after that, same deal, but hanging by the other hand from a tree limb!

:D, Art
 
Hello, Art. No, not the .22 thing. Did some of that in my early outlaw days! Straight and narrow for me!

Best.

PS: You know, for years I didn't even know deer came out in daylight! Take care.
 
Hope to see you at DPC's next stop-plate match, Steve. Guest men both shot it last week with Browning High-Powers. (Commercial and Inglis)

I'll just bet that Longslide would be competitive.
 
Hello. I suspect it would. While 9mm's not known for its heavy recoil, hot loads out of the STI Longslide feel like really light ones from by favored HPs.

Best.
 
Stephen,

You are truly an asset to the shooting and hunting sports.

Your firearm reviews are the best. Period.

Now you go and drop a nanny with your longslide 9!

Thanks for sharing and making me practice more...


J Scott
 
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