will a 9mm stop a mountain lion?

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Skillet

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so i go hunting deer in an area with alot of cats(mountain lions, cougars, pumas) and i use my cz 75b as my sidearm for up there, which i hope we all know, shoots at 9mm. my standard ammo right now (it's the only stuff i can find) is blazer brass 115 grain fmj. and i was wondering if that would stop a cat in a self defense situation. if not, what would? 125 grains? hollow point?
or should i just keep with what i have?
by the way, for those who know, i hunt in unit 40 Idaho by reynolds creek area with waypoints of 43deg 08' 45.23"N by 116deg 52' 06.41"W
in that general area.
look it up on google earth
 
Thread summary:

- yes it would!

- no it wouldn't!

- it might, but I would want something bigger if a charging lion was going to eat my face!

- it's all about shot placement!

------------------------------------------------------------

Every response will most likely be a deviation of one of the above. Personally, I would be packing a .357 or .44 mag. As per your sig line, you may think about carrying your PT1911 with some 230 grain JHP.
 
You can kill a Mt Lion with a .22 yup you tree it with dogs shoot it in the lung and wait for it to fall from the tree.
 
Don't know for sure where I'm at they call em panthers and they are endagered.
A 9mm would proably do the job but good shot placment would be key, however if one shot doesn't do the trick keep shooting till it croacks.
 
Yeah it would. But, people rarely see a mountain lion before it attacks them. They are really sneaky!
 
I have heard of a polar bear being killed with a .22 LR when the victim inserted the muzzle of the rifle into the bear's maw, and fired upwards through the upper pallet, and into the bear's brain. So, yes if you inserted the 9mm handgun muzzle into the ML's mouth, and fired, you'd probably kill it or scare it off. Would you want to get that close?

LD
 
that's the problem, if a cat jumped at me (usually from the side or from behind) and a had time to react, i could react quicker with a pistol rather than a savage 110 .243, it is almost impossible to wheel a rifle around fast enough if the situation arises. and where i'm at, they call them cats, and they are everywhere, but you don't know that they are everywhere.
for instance-
we passed some guys that were cat hunting up where we hunt deer. they told us a bone-chilling story from a while back in 1997.
they shot 2 deer, and strung em up in a tree so they could dress and skin them, and took a group picture of thier accomplishment (now remember, they used film) and went inside the campers to eat and get some rest so they could let the carcass (gutted already of course) freeze overnight and they could do skinning the next day. when they woke up, they noticed that one deer was on the ground and had two hind legs ripped off of it. they knew it had to be some sort of animal, but they weren't quite sure. so they skinned the animals and took them both home to see what they could salvage.
everything went fine and they soon forgot about it.
until the film got developed. they looked through the pictures, and found the group picture with the two deer hanging from the tree. and they looked even further up into the tree.
there was a big cat, looking down on all of them, like it was about to pounce, with it's tail curled to the left like it was swinging it back and forth (had motion blur) which means, it was very irritated. they did not have a clue, because the cat stayed perfectly still except for the tail.
makes hair raise up from your spine.

and that is why i want to carry a sidearm up there this year.
 
My personal preference for a handgun in cat country would be a big-bore revolver loaded with JHP.

It's hard to clear a jam, or even get off a shot at muzzle contact range with a semi-auto while a cat is gnawing on one arm.

rc
 
Wearing a t-shirt from that general vicinity right now...

Much as I like the things, a CZ 75 is an awfully heavy trail carry gun, to shoot 9mm.

I think my .44 weighs about the same, and I have a .357 that comes in at a pound less.

What about your 1911?
 
i'm not concerned with wieght, i will be loaded down as it is, and when on as a hip or on the chest holster it will be no problem. what i have got is my 3 layers, underarmor, shirt, sweatshirt, and outside jacket surplus military jacket, i carry some extra 9mm ammo (other clip) and some extra rifle ammo (.243) i also carry a pair of binocs, and have some steel toed boots, since i won't be on a trail all the time, because we use a four wheeler to get around more, (miles and miles and miles of terrain that would be impossible to cover at speed on foot) it is not much of a weight problem. and, i am an indurance runner so i can take alot before i get weighed down to much
1911 is gonna be carried by my dad.
 
In that case...

If he's going to carry the .45, then I'd get some hot 9mm +P and call it good.:) 147 grain bullets, not much expansion. From what I understand (never had to kill one) a cat's muscle is dense, and your greatest challenge is to get through it. 9mm should be able to do that just fine.

WRT weight, it's the unbalanced weight on my hips that matters more to me than a pound overall. With a chest holster, on an ATV, etc., that's not an issue.

Steel toed boots, though? Hell, might as well put some dried peas in 'em too! Doing penance? (Or are they ATV boots?)

Good hunting!

I'll be in unit 40 for antelope.
 
Thread summary:

- yes it would!

- no it wouldn't!

- it might, but I would want something bigger if a charging lion was going to eat my face!

- it's all about shot placement!
Click to expand...

Love it! Mod should have closed the thread there ...
 
You can kill a Mt Lion with a .22 yup you tree it with dogs shoot it in the lung and wait for it to fall from the tree.
Click to expand...

My father once told me about an article written in the 1930's by a professional hunter and trapper that was printed in one of the gun magazines..... possibly the American Rifleman. This man claimed that his sidearm was a Colt Woodsman and that he'd killed many Mountain Lions with it after they'd been treed by his dogs. He'd once tried the .38 Super Colt pistol but didn't like the weight or the relative inaccuracy so he returned to the Woodsman.

A charging cat would be a different story and I'd want a 12 gauge shotgun to stop it.
 
If it works on bi-pedal aggressors it will work on a lion.

9mm will work, but there are rounds I like better. .357 Magnum is my preferred caliber when I'm in cat country, as it gives a little more oomph if you have to deal with an attacking lion.

Lions are thin skinned and easy to kill. I'd use what I use on the street for lions. For me that would be a 115 Grain +P+ JHP in 9mm. For the .357 Magnum it would be a 125 Grain SJHP by Remington.

Take care, stay safe and have fun.

BikerRN
 
Yes it will do the job fine. People have used .22 LR to kill lions before. No, I dont have a source but it's been done in the past on a few rare occasions. However, they are ferocious fighters and those cats can have a lot of lives. You would want to keep shooting.
 
You can kill a Mt Lion with a .22 yup you tree it with dogs shoot it in the lung and wait for it to fall from the tree.
Click to expand...

Similarly, the .22 is a great gun to murder someone with, but not a very good self defense weapon. A cat treed by dogs isn't charging you. Your shot can be made patiently after consideration and careful aim. It's quite different when one suddenly attacks.
 
If you're hunting, you should have your rifle in your hands; how are you going to put that down, reach your pistol, draw and get on target faster than just using the rifle?
 
back in the early 80's my friend from Utah killed the WORLD RECORD bOONE AND cROCKETT BLACK BEAR WITH A RUGER 22 MAGNUM.

No doubt you can kill a mt lion with a 22. Its all about placement..
 
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