harvesting farm sheep...subsonic ideas?

If you want a quieter 22, get the longest barrel you can. The higher the volume, the lower the pressure, the less sound.
Subsonic .223 is quite a bit more powerful than subsonic 22LR, 169.9 ft/lbs with 75 grains at 1010 fps. Double the bullet weight is double the energy. Although you shouldn't need it if placement is correct. If you rev your engine, it will camouflage a 22 short from a rifle well enough.
 
357_fan said:
Or just go all Joe Pesci on them with a ball peen hammer
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This, bricks also work but aren't as durable, for those extended 'lamb to the slaughter' sessions, a nice 20 Oz estwing will serve you well. If it's that hard to catch them, rope and hog tie it first. You could also try an air framing nailer with some 3.5" spikes, sounds creepy but it works. Or some subsonic .38 spc, .44 mag, .45 lc rounds from a rifle would be discreet and effective at a longer range than a hammer. I had a buddy back home who fancied himself a Samurai, used to slaughter cows via decapitation with a Katana. They never knew what hit them, the cow would stand there for almost a minute before collapsing sometimes. One of those things you can't unsee.
 
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I once put down a neighbours horse with a cowboy load from my 45 colt rifle. It did its job, didn't spook the other horses too bad and didn't make a mess.

A 22lr has been used forever to dispatch farm animals though.
 
Killed a lot of hogs with a solid 40gr bullet from a 22lr to the skull. Pigs are WAY tougher than sheep. And a lot of guys use 22 shorts or subsonic's from 22's for killing hogs over dogs in the states.

To do it with a lack of noise, a CCI Quiet from a 22lr will kill sheep all day long.
 
None of this 22LR little stuff for me.

I reload so would have fun working down a load in what ever pistol or rifle round with the fastest burn rate powder I had on hand until the shot is so quiet the hammer hitting is louder than the shot.

I have done this for years with a 45-70 loaded with 3grs TiteGroup gently held in place with styrofoam, bullet is a 405gr cast loaded into the case backwards the loaded round looks like a wadcutter velocity is appr 280 - 300fps.
 
To dispatch Sheep, Hogs or even Beef, any livestock with a centerfire gun is stupid and especially wasteful if the animal is being butchered for the meat.
If you want to ruin the meat for consumption then go ahead, I know a lot of farmers that wouldn't tolerate it.
 
I would say that 32 S&W Long is ideal. The Remington commercial stuff is 720 fps with a 98 grain lead round nose bullet.

Use it with a 30-06 SPRG rifle chamber insert for 32 ACP, 32 S&W Long, 32 H&R Mag... that is readily available on eBay for ~ $30. It sounds like a pop gun out of a 20 inch barrel Sako or Tikka. Ethical and effective at close range. No need for a pipe wrench or ball peen hammer.
 
ffs guys .22 short and like somebody else said cross between eyes and ears loud snap and they go down hard and dead. We did hundreds of hogs and beef with .22 short.
 
I've killed a bunch of cattle and pigs using a 22lr solid just above the eyes. We used to put a rag over the cows eyes or give it some oats in a bucket to keep the head still. Goats on the other hand seemed to have tougher skulls and we used a blindfold and a heavy hammer. A reminder , the 22 doesn't always kill the larger animals but stuns them long enough to humanely cut their throat before regaining consciousness .
 
Kevan said:
To dispatch Sheep, Hogs or even Beef, any livestock with a centerfire gun is stupid and especially wasteful if the animal is being butchered for the meat.
If you want to ruin the meat for consumption then go ahead, I know a lot of farmers that wouldn't tolerate it.
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Are you referring to my post?

If you are did you obviously didn't read it right?

I have done this for years with a 45-70 loaded with 3grs TiteGroup gently held in place with styrofoam, bullet is a 405gr cast loaded into the case backwards the loaded round looks like a wadcutter velocity is appr 280 - 300fps.
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These loads are so quiet that the hammer hitting is louder than the shot which is the concern of the OP and the velocities are so low that there is no damage of any kind other than it kills.
 
skokie said:
This.... I had a buddy back home who fancied himself a Samurai, used to slaughter cows via decapitation with a Katana. They never knew what hit them, the cow would stand there for almost a minute before collapsing sometimes. One of those things you can't unsee.
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This post is useless without video... ;)
 
Kevan said:
To dispatch Sheep, Hogs or even Beef, any livestock with a centerfire gun is stupid and especially wasteful if the animal is being butchered for the meat.
If you want to ruin the meat for consumption then go ahead, I know a lot of farmers that wouldn't tolerate it.
Click to expand...

Camp Cook said:
Are you referring to my post?

If you are did you obviously didn't read it right?



These loads are so quiet that the hammer hitting is louder than the shot which is the concern of the OP and the velocities are so low that there is no damage of any kind other than it kills.
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I'm curious to know what "meat" he is worried about wasting using a centerfire to dispatch livestock, is there really that much meat in an eyelid?
 
I was always told that you should use a 22 short between the eyes because you do not want the animal to drop stone dead on the spot. You want the animals heart to keep beating so that after you cut its jugular the heart will pump all the blood out of the animal which makes for better tasting meet.
 
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