[wannabehunter]

hi,

I've been offered an armalon pistol carbine sort of as a gift, but i have no idea about the caliber for the weapon i should choose. I've been thinking about taking up hunting for some time and this seems like a good moment to start. (once i actually have the rifle and taken a good hunting course!)

i have never hunted before so i am a bit clueless about what i need but i can tell you what i want to do with it, and that's hunting small game, varmints and possibly deer. I'm not just interested in what is legal but i also think the gun should be able to kill an animal without making it suffer needlessly and it should leave the animal in an edible state (not grind beef)

my options are:
9mm, .38 Super, .40 S&W, 10mm Auto, .45 ACP; also .357 Mag, .44 Mag and .50 AE

i'm thinking about the .357 because I've heard it's good for dear (correct me if this isn't true) and about the 9mm because it's the same caliber as my handgun but i doubt it's hunting capabilities. (again, please tell me if i'm wrong!)

please help me with this.

[Marlin 45 carbine]

any of those will take a deer but the 10mm, .357, .44mag and .50 are the best for the job IMO with the .44mag and .50 the better choices.
shot placement is critical with any caliber.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

.44 mag is definitely best for hunting large game. No doubt. You gotta decide what it's going to hunt, and what it's not going to hunt.

[wannabehunter]

i will start with rabbit and varmints for starters. if i enjoy it enough i will save up for a large caliber rifle that's more apropriate for bigger game or maybe a shotgun to hunt birds. but right now i'm taking it one step at a time.

[JoeDanger]

I gotta say, if you took that money towards a pistol-caliber carbine, you could get an inexpensive pump shotgun, and shoot slugs, buck, and birdshot, for any reasonable beginning hunts.