Could a .22LR possibly kill a leopard?

[mark-hunter]

If 22lr can kill elephant, certainly it can kill a leopard.
I can not now find link on this forum for this article, or thread, but when i was reading it here I downloaded in my computer, it is article published in man magnum magazine.
Attached.

I do not reccomend this, of course. Just for information purposes. Dont try that at home!

 

[HWL]

There was a man who killed a polar bear with a .22 lr ......

But there are more polar bears who killed men with a .22 lr......

HWL

 

[Hoss Delgado]

On this forum, if you search there is a report of elephants being killed (poached) with 22 cal rifle.
It is partly based on court records, mentioning only 22 caliber rifle, but it is not clear is it 22 short, 22 long, 22 LR, or 22-something-else.

That one story , l was lucky to read. It was in the 1930s. The poacher was using a Belgian Auto loader rifle in .22 SHORT ( imagine that ) . What he was doing , was getting within five yards of the elephants until he was able to see area of the elephants where the ribs showed. Then , he would fire repeatedly into that area with the .22 short , until one of the bullets would slip into their heart . He got 5 bull elephants with this method. If anyone is interested , l have a PDF of the original article

 

[Hoss Delgado]

If 22lr can kill elephant, certainly it can kill a leopard.
I can not now find link on this forum for this article, or thread, but when i was reading it here I downloaded in my computer, it is article published in man magnum magazine.
Attached.

I do not reccomend this, of course. Just for information purposes. Dont try that at home!

Oh , wait . You already have it. Yeah , this is the one l was talking about.

 

[Hoss Delgado]

My dad used a 22LR when we butchered a beef bull. Shot in the head right where the hair curls and it floored them. It didn't work on hogs, though. The skull is too thick right between the eyes. He had to shoot them in the ear. A 22LR was all I had growing up and I killed more deer with it than anything else. I'd sit near an apple tree and pop them in the ear when they put their head down to get an apple.

I actually did kill a few feral hogs once with a .22 short Winchester Pump Action rifle ( can't recall the exact model ) when l was young and stupid . It was the first gun in my life . I do remember opening fire on some feral hogs which were being a nuisance in a neighbours land. Like you , l recall popping the hogs in the heads. You could actually hear the " ping " sounds as the bullets connected with the hogs skulls. They all went down .... For about five seconds anyway ! Then , they were leaping back up again and running to and fro. I reloaded the rifle repeatedly ( had a whole box of .22 shorts in my back pack ) and kept frantically shooting them. In the end , l had killed 4 . The rest of the animals got away wounded. I took a look at the ones l had downed. They ALL took as many as six or seven rounds to the head , most of which didn't get through into the brain until it was a soft part of the skull. Now that l look back at those days , l regret trying to dispatch them hogs with such a puny caliber. It was pretty inhumane of me and l felt sad about all those wounded ones which got away .
A .22 LR through a deer's ear hole though will definitely kill a deer. My Granddad grew up during the depression era and recalls a .22 LR J Stevens rifle being used to put plenty of venison on the table

 

[Hoss Delgado]

I still have a leopard skin of a leopard shot by my father with a .22Long.. he was managing a cattle ranch in Rhodesia( Nuanetsi) and often shot Leopards out of trees after being treed by his dogs...mostly at night with a flashlight!!! He was an excellent shot...one shot brainers.
This was before my birth and I'm now 66 yrs old, so that skin has a sacred place in my trophy room!!!

This <3 Settles it spot on .
I contacted Mr. Karim's family later. They sold the BRNO .22 Rifle , but still kept his Indian made 12 gauge side by side shotgun . They told me that for the shotgun , he would use LG cartridges. Does anyone know what size of US buckshot , does LG correspond to ?
00 buck ?

 

[bruce moulds]

I think lg is 000
bruce.

 

[spike.t]

Here is a comparison chart

http://www.hallowellco.com/shot_size_chart.htm

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

A .22 lr bullet in the brain would kill a leopard. As noted above quite a few mountain lions have been killed with them (they are wired very, very differently, but generally the same size cat). However, the shooter, obviously, has zero room for error. Even a very slight miss could angle off the cranium. I doubt if your old family friend attempted a follow-up on one that he didn't hit just right. Quite a few of the post WWII PH's kept a .243 in camp as a leopard rifle - it would be superb on a thin-skinned animal of that size. And though I don't want to be the one to try, I would be confident a Hornet would kill any leopard alive if shot just behind the shoulder. Again, though, the margin for error would be very small.

I agree with Red Leg.

 

[leslie hetrick]

when using a .22 to try and kill anything that may kill you, you will need a safety friend. one that is legaly blind, way over weight and have a very pronounced limp(either leg is acceptable).

 

[bruce moulds]

I have shot many cows and some bulls successfully wit a 22 rf, but some bulls skulls are too thick and you need a bigger gun.
a hornet will do them.
horses are easily killed with a 22rf.
you draw imaginary lines from each eye to the base of the opposite ear, and where they cross you put the bullet.
a leopard's skull would probably be thinner than a cows I would guess.
the problem would come if you failed to place the bullet.
incidentally savage used to promote the m99 lever action in 22 highpower as the best tiger rifle since sliced bread.
wonder how many were killed or maimed believing that advertising.
they also promoted the same gun in 250/3000 as ideal for the great bears of north America.
bruce.

 

[Hoss Delgado]

I have shot many cows and some bulls successfully wit a 22 rf, but some bulls skulls are too thick and you need a bigger gun.
a hornet will do them.
horses are easily killed with a 22rf.
you draw imaginary lines from each eye to the base of the opposite ear, and where they cross you put the bullet.
a leopard's skull would probably be thinner than a cows I would guess.
the problem would come if you failed to place the bullet.
incidentally savage used to promote the m99 lever action in 22 highpower as the best tiger rifle since sliced bread.
wonder how many were killed or maimed believing that advertising.
they also promoted the same gun in 250/3000 as ideal for the great bears of north America.
bruce.

I used to own a .22 Savage Hi Power Model 99 which l foolishly sold. I used to use it with 71 grain Norma soft nose bullets . You could legally take deer with .22 centre fires in Maine back in those days ( maybe you still can. I don't know ) and l successfully took 14 deer with mine. The little bullet dropped 210 pound deer fast with neck shots . However , for body shots , it just wouldn't do the trick . I remember clearly that on all the occasions l tried using a body shot , l would almost end up losing the deer . Heart shots and lung shots were practically useless with this caliber .
Regarding the .22 Rimfire , l have one question. You mentioned that brain shots would work on some bills but not others... Were you aiming at exactly the same place on both occasions ? If so , then that would make the animal's size the only variable

 

[larry4831]

On this forum, if you search there is a report of elephants being killed (poached) with 22 cal rifle.
It is partly based on court records, mentioning only 22 caliber rifle, but it is not clear is it 22 short, 22 long, 22 LR, or 22-something-else.

I read in one of Capsticks books of an ele killed with a 22. Said it was in some thick stuff and a man thought he could sting it with the 22 and get it to run out so his friend could get a shot with his 470, but he hit it in the shoulder and it went 100 yards and fell over dead.

 

[Dr Ray]

Using a 22 on a leopard. Yikes!
Luck in putting the bunker into a vital spot would be hard going.
Personally I’d say that to do that hunting would be a natural selection act.

 

[Hoss Delgado]

Using a 22 on a leopard. Yikes!
Luck in putting the bunker into a vital spot would be hard going.
Personally I’d say that to do that hunting would be a natural selection act.

While l wouldn't ever attempt this act , it should be remembered the time and place Mr. Karim lived in . Good quality arms and Ammunition were not ( and still aren't ) made in India after the British left. The only guns made ( and available ) at that time in India were I ) A 12 gauge Double barrelled side by side shotgun with one choke barrel and one cylinder barrel II ) a .315 caliber Bolt action Lee Enfield based rifle with five round magazines. The shotguns were notorious for misfiring and having ejectors which wouldn't work . The rifles were notorious for misfiring , inaccuracy and short barrel life. The cartridges made weren't exactly something to gloat about either. The largest shot sizes made were #1 birdshot in a 2 3/4 inch shell. And these had a shelf life of officially five years , but often would misfire after being stored for a year . The rifle cartridges were made only with soft nosed round nose 244 grain ammunition. And these were not well constructed at all , for hunting. There are reports of the .315 rifle failing to reliably kills hogs and deer , let alone dangerous game.
Adding to this , these was some kind of Hindu - Muslim feud going on at the time which made it very difficult for Muslims in Darjileeng to have licences for the diminutive .315 rifle . My grandfather said that Mr. Karim thought very poorly of the Indian .315 caliber rifles and stuck to his 12 bore Indian side by side shotgun and his .22 LR BRNO rifle his entire life . He also hated Indian ammunition and always took shotgun shells and .22 LR ammo from my granddad whenever he would visit us. My granddad doubts he used the Indian 12 gauge on Leopards , as He recalls Mr. Karim talking about how much the shotgun would misfire due to weak strikers . This would mean that the guy essentially capped all his leopards using a .22 Long rifle BRNO with ammunition that my Granddad gifted him.
I suppose necessity creates shooters with miraculous skills :/

 

[Von S.]

Though I have heard a tale or two about people shooting all kinds of stuff with a .22lr I assure you that I would not attempt such a feat with a leopard.

I use a .458 diameter bullet that weighs 300 grains , is a hollow point, leaves the barrel at 3000 feet per second and 6000 foot pound and I am proud to say that anything I have ever shot with it........ anything..... has instantaniously looked like a Peterbuilt hauling brick going about 100 miles per hour hit it broadside.

Oh! That would be a big yes to both your questions. Ta- Da!

 

[Red Leg]

I used to own a .22 Savage Hi Power Model 99 which l foolishly sold. I used to use it with 71 grain Norma soft nose bullets . You could legally take deer with .22 centre fires in Maine back in those days ( maybe you still can. I don't know ) and l successfully took 14 deer with mine. The little bullet dropped 210 pound deer fast with neck shots . However , for body shots , it just wouldn't do the trick . I remember clearly that on all the occasions l tried using a body shot , l would almost end up losing the deer . Heart shots and lung shots were practically useless with this caliber .
Regarding the .22 Rimfire , l have one question. You mentioned that brain shots would work on some bills but not others... Were you aiming at exactly the same place on both occasions ? If so , then that would make the animal's size the only variable

I have used the 22 savage Hi-power quite a bit. I have a 99 so chambered, a drilling, and a combination gun (5.6x52R was very popular in Europe and very effective on roe deer). I have killed at least two whitetail with mine - both chest shots and both does - a number of roe deer and quite a few foxes and coyotes. The key is the correct bullet. No deer survives a bullet in the heart or through both lungs.

When first introduced, hunters tried it on just about everything. With the bullet technology of the day, the results were, to put it charitably, inconsistent. Bell wrote that he killed an elephant with one (though I doubt it was frontal brain shot!!), and it was quite popular in Scotland for a time for shooting red stag. Still, it is no more an ideal deer cartridge than the hornet. But both are a whole lot more than a 22lr.

 

[Hoss Delgado]

I have used the 22 savage Hi-power quite a bit. I have a 99 so chambered, a drilling, and a combination gun (5.6x52R was very popular in Europe and very effective on roe deer). I have killed at least two whitetail with mine - both chest shots and both does - a number of roe deer and quite a few foxes and coyotes. The key is the correct bullet. No deer survives a bullet in the heart or through both lungs.

When first introduced, hunters tried it on just about everything. With the bullet technology of the day, the results were, to put it charitably, inconsistent. Bell wrote that he killed an elephant with one (though I doubt it was frontal brain shot!!), and it was quite popular in Scotland for a time for shooting red stag. Still, it is no more an ideal deer cartridge than the hornet. But both are a whole lot more than a 22lr.

Bell killed an elephant with one ? I don't remember reading that in any of his books ( unless l missed something ). The only .22 Hi Power he owned was a Rigby Mauser made in 1929 , long after he retired from Africa. He used this for neck shots on red stag , but sold the gun in 1937 after getting a Winchester Model 70 in .220 swift
He mentions in his article , " The Neck shot " in American Rifleman in 1950 that he SAW ANOTHER SHOOTER use a .22 Savage Hi Power Model 99 loaded with 70 grain soft nose bullets take down a herd of 23 African Forest Buffalo . What the shooter did was wound each of the buffalo with a lung shot . Seeing the wounded buffaloes bloodied , the other buffaloes got mad at the sight of blood and began goring the wounded animals to death. The shooter took all 23 buffalo down with 27 bullets. No doubt , the last ones standing received a couple of extra bullets.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Pres. Reagan was shot with a .22 caliber bullet. The shot taken that resulted in him being wounded was actually a miss. The bullet ricocheted off of his limousine and then hit the president. The bullet managed to penetrate clothing, break a rib and finally penetrate one of his lungs. The president without surgery would have bled out and died.

So yah, I think a direct impact on the heart/lung area of a leopard, particularly if a somewhat quartering away shot is taken where the shoulder would be avoided, would result in a dead leopard. That said, I wouldn't be the one attempting this.

 

[Red Leg]

Bell killed an elephant with one ? I don't remember reading that in any of his books ( unless l missed something ). The only .22 Hi Power he owned was a Rigby Mauser made in 1929 , long after he retired from Africa. He used this for neck shots on red stag , but sold the gun in 1937 after getting a Winchester Model 70 in .220 swift
He mentions in his article , " The Neck shot " in American Rifleman in 1950 that he SAW ANOTHER SHOOTER use a .22 Savage Hi Power Model 99 loaded with 70 grain soft nose bullets take down a herd of 23 African Forest Buffalo . What the shooter did was wound each of the buffalo with a lung shot . Seeing the wounded buffaloes bloodied , the other buffaloes got mad at the sight of blood and began goring the wounded animals to death. The shooter took all 23 buffalo down with 27 bullets. No doubt , the last ones standing received a couple of extra bullets.

You are right and I stand corrected. He was referring to buffalo and may have been this incident.