38 Special for Small Game - anyone actually done it?

[Tudenom]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever hunted small game (rabbit and grouse) with a mild 38 special load out of a rifle?

I'm thinking of a hard cast 158 grain bullet moving less than 900fps.

My instincts tell me that you would end up with very little recoverable meat, but sometimes gun shot wounds don't turn out as expected. Would a hard cast bullet moving slowly going through a small bodied animal see much expansion?

Has anyone actually done it? What were the results?

 

[tiriaq]

I have seen the results when a ptarmigan was shot through the body with a 9mm fmj; a wound from a .22 is more dramatic.

Have a H&R single shot with 12ga and .357 Maximum barrels. Shoots .38Sp wadcutters accurately with negligible recoil and modest noise. Don't recall ever shooting a ptarmigan or hare with it. I do know that if .30 carbine is used, headshots are the only way to go.

 

[Hank44]

Ive used 44 special for years on snowshoe hare out of a winchester '94. The odd grouse too. Zero expansion using a 240 gr hard cast bullet, yes not a 38 but im sure it would perform similarly. I try to take head shots if possible, it can waste meat on their small shoulders.

 

[mbogo3]

Shoot them through the back of the wing butts........no meat dead.I shot many with a .32ACP adapter in a 30-30........Harold

 

[Uplandguy]

Shot a snowshoe hare with a 30-30 at 77 yards once through the head, no expansion.

 

[GMC403]

Not 38 special, but I've used 158gr light 357 mag loads (1000fps) on a couple grouse and a bunny out of my 77/357.

Head shots, worked great.

 

[45CAT]

I have used a scoped marlin 38/357 for the dinner pot. Head shot or no shot

 

[Northman999]

Shot small game with 9mm and 45 acp. Works fine with head and neck shots.

 

[Longwalker]

Yes, I have hunted both grouse and rabbit successfully with my Rossi carbine and with a Savage combo gun and .38 special ammunition. The best bullet for that job is the "standard" old 158 grain round nose lead. Less destructive than the flat nose wadcutter or semi wadcutter types. I would never use a hollow point. Body shots with the RN are about as destructive as a .22 LR high speed hollow point. = not too bad. Keep loads subsonic, well under 1200 fps. With wadcutters you will blow up a lot of meat unless you take head shots. I'd use my Rossi M92 more but can only legally do so for grouse at my BC camp, Saskatchewan does not allow centerfire rifles for grouse hunting. I have also tried my .38/.357 barrel in my savage M24 O/U with the plastic Speer shot capsules for hunting grouse in SK, pathetic performance crappy patterns and high proportion of wounding even on sitting grouse at very close range. Not recommended.

 

[Tudenom]

Thanks for the tips guys!

 

[Brutus]

Yep. Once had an english rook rifle in 360 #5. Rechambered it to 38 Special and used excluselively 148 grain lead HB full WC. (3 point something grains of pistol powder?)
Superb rabbit rifle, and quiet beyond quiet. One American gun writer says this kind of ammunition in full length rifle barrel (20-26 inches) actually quieter than 9mm MP5 suppressed.