Pistol caliber rifles

[tomtom 0]

Has anyone had any experience with deer and pistol caliber rifles?

[Bobber Down 921]

I visited this over 30 years ago when I owned 357 handguns and thought owning a rifle in the same caliber would be fun and convenient. As most deer kills are under 100 yards and many around 50 yards the 357 and or 44 mag will be plenty good enough. Not sure is the downfield velocity/hitting power of the bullet would be sufficient for a "clean kill" farther out like 200 yards or more. I guess it would depend on how good a shot you are, whether you load your own or use factory ammo, the barrel length, twist and design your going to use. In the end though I stuck with a rifle with a scope so I could reach out and drop that trophy of a lifetime standing broadside at the edge of a field 300 yards away. If you have a need to purchase a rifle in handgun calibers for deer go for it. If your not happy with it for hunting you will still have a fun gun. Winchester, Ruger and Marlin I believe still make rifles in the above calibers. You can never have too many guns.

[tomtom 0]

Yes I got a marlin 44 rem, pretty much it’s for 50 yards or less. I was using a 45-70 for this but found for30-50 yard shots it was kinda overkill 

[Garbie 7]

I have a 44 mag. Never shot a deer with it, but would expect it to be quite capable within reasonable range. Its a super fun gun. Even if you don't reload, you can get a broad range of loads for from mild to wild. Just watch overall length in them, mine won't cycle long ones and I have to single load. If you consider 45-70 pistol caliber it too is a fun shooter that can be loaded down to a pee shooter. It is more than capable with correct loads/projectiles for the task.