[Joe Meyer]

I have a Remington 1858 .44 with a 8 in. barrel. I load it with 40 grains of fffg. Is it powerful enough for Whitetail deer ?

[Oldnamvet]

Under some conditions (up close and personal), maybe. As a general rule, no. I put its power in the same class as the .38 spl. My opinion only. But then I consider a .357 minimal for deer.

[mainmech48]

FWIW, I seriously doubt that you can cram 40 grs (by volume) into the chamber of a Remington replica and still seat a ball. Even supposing that you could, that ball only weighs about 146 grs and your velocity still would put it just barely into the lowest .38 Spl. "+P" area ( a bit < 900 f/s).

With a perfectly placed shot, at very close range, it would be possible. The ethical ramifications of trying it are yours to decide. The legality of it in your state can be determined from the game laws which should be posted on the DNR, Conservation Dept., or whatever it's called there's web site.

Here in Indiana, as with the neighboring states where I've hunted, it would not be a legal weapon for deer. Even the C&B "magnums" of revolvers, the Walker and the Ruger Old Army, which are capable of taking much heavier charges would not.

While I will admit to having used my C&B revolvers to take small game and varmints at very close ranges upon rare occasion, my personal assessment of their relative effectiveness along with acknowledgement of my limitations as a Marksman and stalker would keep me from hunting deer with any C&B revolver.

[mec]

Nobody much recommends the percussion revolvers for deer but quite a few people kill deer with them. Very likely quite a few fail to kill them too but you don't hear about that. Jim Taylor the writer with GunWeek has stuffed 37 grains of fffg in under a ball- probably because he couldn't get 40 grains to fit. I've use 35 grains and gotten velocities up in the mid to high 1,000 fps range with Swiss and Pyrodex P. These are pretty close to the old Hi Speed .38 Special loads from the 30s and the +p 158 loads they use now.

Taylor told of a man whom he saw accidently shot with a Colt Army and a ball. The ball went through him, a cabinet door and lodged in a loaf of bread. The guy lived but Jim never found out if he ever really got well.

[CARRY'IN]

I would say carry an appropriate hunting pistol and also your remington. If you get really close, like bow hunting range, use the remington. If you hunt someplace like Kodiak Island, where I used to live, you can get that close with just a little luck. I shot a half-dozen deer with an SKS (worst trigger pull of any weapon I have ever shot) shooting ball ammo and never lost one. It's all about shot placement, which to me is all about getting close (and knowing basic deer anatomy- I am always surprised how many deerhunters dont even know where the heart actually is).

[Oldnamvet]

The heart? Isn't it usually found in the plastic ziplock bag along with the liver?? :D

[Zeke/PA]

I have killed several deer with various pistols but when pistol hunting, I personally use a bowhunting disapline.
Shoot from a treestand, limit your shots to no more than 20 yards and be real sure of your shot placement.
I've killed A deer with a Ruger Old Army, several with a Super Blackhawk in .44Mag, one with a.38 special and another with a .357 Mag.
Once on a winter trapline, I shot a small doe with a K-22 as I really needed the meat and the deer was a target of opportunity.(three yards, behind the ear).
My only advice is to treat pistol hunting with the same disaplines as bow hunting and try for a head/neck shot.
No one wants to cripple an animal beyond recovery so to attempt a pistol kill with ANY hand gun ,certain personal things must be in order.
Respectfully, Zeke