Humane dispatch pistol

[Penyard]

Joining this post a little late.

I have a 2 shot .38 Spl which gets a reasonable amount of use for HD of horses and farm stock and is fine for this purpose. Also carry it when boar stalking and have had rare occasion to use it but coming to the conclusion that a .357 mag would be better for that task with the jacketed hollow points srvet refers to as wounded and mobile boar are not good news!

Never bother taking it deer stalking but have no Sika to contend with.

These are are not precision instruments at any range (not in my hands anyway!) and there are better tools for RTA and following up wounded deer in my opinion. A semi auto 12 bore being hard to beat.

 

[THE STALKER]

When i worked as a Knackerman for the bigger stuff i always used a Bell Gun and for smaller a .22 Pistol.

 

[sikamalc]

Your pistol above was exactly the one I described. Norman Clark the gunsmith in rugby dropped a 32 calibre slug into the chamber and it fell out the muzzle on my gun!! I suspect proper obturation would never be possible so the power may be a fraction of what was intended. I accept many do cope with a 32 as stalkers do with a 243, however it would not be my choice, particularly at any sort of range. Out of interest have you ever tried shooting your Cash at a target

I have had a dispatch pistol for some considerable time now. It is a Colt Lawman in 357, but I mostly use 38 special when needed. I have used it on several occasions wit my dog when tracking wounded deer, in particular Sika in forestry in Scotland. Sika can be particularly aggressive when wounded and I have had 2 very close and uncomfortable encounters in very dense cover with stags. Both times I was very glad to have the revolver with me and was used to great effect.

A 410 in these situations would have been as much use as a chocolate fire guard to be honest. And trying to see through a scope of a rifle and get it to the shoulder would have been impossible. There are a number of people who always make noises about carrying a dispatch pistol, why I do not know. Certainly if you are in an area with high RTA, or a Vet such as Apache then it is a tool for the job and I know quite a number of full time stalkers that have a dispatch pistol and have had good reason to use it in one or two sticky situations with wounded beasts.

 

[Akeld]

I have had a dispatch pistol for some considerable time now. It is a Colt Lawman in 357, but I mostly use 38 special when needed. I have used it on several occasions wit my dog when tracking wounded deer, in particular Sika in forestry in Scotland. Sika can be particularly aggressive when wounded and I have had 2 very close and uncomfortable encounters in very dense cover with stags. Both times I was very glad to have the revolver with me and was used to great effect.

A 410 in these situations would have been as much use as a chocolate fire guard to be honest. And trying to see through a scope of a rifle and get it to the shoulder would have been impossible. There are a number of people who always make noises about carrying a dispatch pistol, why I do not know. Certainly if you are in an area with high RTA, or a Vet such as Apache then it is a tool for the job and I know quite a number of full time stalkers that have a dispatch pistol and have had good reason to use it in one or two sticky situations with wounded beasts.

My recommendation for a .410 is based purely on a close range shot to the back/side of the head direct to the brain, not the situation you describe which I agree it would be unsuitable for