36 caliber rifle penetration.

Today I thought I’d get out my squirrel rifle for a little fun. I had been shooting my fowler, or 50 caliber for the last few months because of deer season. Now deer season is over in Georgia, I thought I’d get out the little guy of the bunch. I had always told myself I could take a deer with it if it was absolutely necessary, but didn’t know exactly how close I’d have to be. I got out some 3/4 plywood squares and laid three of them back to back. First three shots I fired at 60 yards. My fourth shot I fired from 15. The three from 60 went through the first two boards before wedging themselves in the back of the third. The shot from 15 blew through all three but left at least half of itself throughout all that it passed through. I pulled out two of the balls fired from 60 to find them pretty deformed, but one of them from 60, and the one from 15 were too deformed to find.
From this little experiment; I’d say if your survival depended on your taking deer with a 36 cal rifle, keep it close as you can. 15 yards might take one but I’d avoid it all together if other options are available.
All shots consisted of 30gr. Swis FFFg, pushing a patched .350 rb out of a 42” barrel. That being said I suppose one could increase your powder charge, but from what I’ve learned, the ball at higher velocities doesn’t maintain its form upon impact enough to deliver desired penetration.
I’m sure many people will argue with me, and if your go-to deer rifle is a 36, more power to you. This is just what I’ve learned to expect, and shot placement is of more value than plywood ballistics…

How thick is your plywood ? Just curious, when i had my .40 cal using prb's i killed some tick toters with it. Would blow through a 2 x 4 like it wasn't there. Now i am not telling anyone a .40 is a great deer killer. Accuracy wins in the end. I do n will use my .45 every chance i get for tick toter hunting

Thanks for presenting your experiment. It certainly was informative.
I dare suggest that when shooting flesh (a deer or other animal) , the ball will not shed its weight as quickly as with the plywood or other wood for that matter. However, If the ball hits a bone, that will cause a different reaction of the ball to mushroom or shed weight. When impacting a bone, the reaction of shedding weight should not be as drastic as penetrating wood but more than flesh alone.

There is a book from the first half of the 19th century: "40 years in the life of a hunter" by Meshak Browning in which on several occasions he (Browning) shot deer and/or bear with around a .40 cal rifle then tracked the deer/bear and shot it again for a finishing shot or used his Knife to save powder and ball (A real man!).

The .36 is certainly capable with proper shot placement and/or one's willingness/need to track the animal if it doesn't go immediately down. In our modern frame of mind with current game laws, etc., we simply view these matters differently.

Roundballs of pure lead do some interesting and various things in an animals body when shot.
I once shot a buck with a .50 roundball from an elevated stand. The deer was coming straight towards me. At 25 yards, I aimed just to the right of the spine where the neck turns into back. The deer ran about 30 yards and collapsed. Upon cleaning the deer, the internals were as if one pureed a tomato in a blender. I found the ball completely flattened stuck in the oft (belly) hide. Upon examination, the ball had struck a rib, flattened out and at high speed fluttered through the deer's body (like a feather drifting down in the air) pureeing the guts like a high speed blender. The ball expended all its energy in the deer's body.

I have killed many deer with a .40 roundball. It is legal in my home state. A .36 is not that much different. Of course one wants all the umph one can get when humanely shooting deer or other critters.

This was just an example of roundball activity. A .36 is certainly capable but not necessarily one's first choice for larger animals. Just carry a large knife for the finishing touch like Mr. Browning did in the book .

Tick toter, ain’t that the truth

smokepolehall said:

How thick is your plywood ? Just curious, when i had my .40 cal using prb's i killed some tick toters with it. Would blow through a 2 x 4 like it wasn't there. Now i am not telling anyone a .40 is a great deer killer. Accuracy wins in the end. I do n will use my .45 every chance i get for tick toter hunting

Click to expand...

What is a tick toter?

smoothshooter said:

What is a tick toter?

Click to expand...

Deer, cause they tote a bunch of them ticks with them every where they go

I think it depends on the size of the deer. The little white tails we have around here aren’t much larger than dogs. So a .36 ought to work just fine. As long as you aren’t taking long shots though. For my hunting I really haven’t shot much game beyond 25 yards. Usually it is more close.

If more penetration is the target then alloyed lead ball or ball from old tire weights is just the ticket. The .45 is the smallest I've used on deer and it performs way above its weight class. A .45 flintlock was my go-to most all deer I killed and that number is large.

A .36 can kill a deer with an accurate shot but is seldom legal in the various states. The .40 does as well. In fact the .40 is a closer match to the .45 than to the .36. I've had a .36 for many years and shoot it a lot. But IMHO the .32 and .36 are for small game and varmints maybe up to coyote size. I owned and fired a .40 for years but never hunted with it.