Could a .22LR possibly kill a leopard?

[Hoss Delgado]

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.

According to my Granddad , Mr. Karim exclusively used the brain shots on the leopards with his .22 LR BRNO . I don't know if it was an auto or bolt action. But l would think auto , because it makes follow up shots more plausible

 

[leslie hetrick]

if I was forced to hunt mr spots with a .22lr, I would make sure my life insurance was paid up, all pertent papers up to date and maybe saying my last ado,s to loved ones. just in case.

 

[bruce moulds]

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

yes hoss the same place.
if their skulls were too thick the poor little 22 bullet could not get into the brain.
I kept a 22 in the ute as a handy farm gun, but remember shooting a big bull with a broken leg a few times.
it must have had a headache but did not look like going down.
a 6.5 bullet corrected that emphatically.
maybe their skulls got thicker with age?
bruce.

 

[Hoss Delgado]

Update : With a little help from my Grandad , l was able to contact an Indian gentleman who actually hunted with Mr. Karim from 1963 to 1969 . The rifle used by Mr. Karim was a BRNO model 581 semi automatic chambered for .22 Long Rifle. While .22 LR ammo stopped getting imported into India officially in 1999 ( when the Indian Ordinance Factories started locally manufacturing shitty rifles and ammo in this caliber ) and new fire arms including .22s stopped getting imported into the country since 1986 , the truth was that new .22 caliber rifles and ammo were always in short supply already for decades. The only guns in existence were old rifles from British rifle clubs from the colonial era and the occasional rifle brought into India by a private owner and then privately sold. The same applies for ammo. The only Ammunition available was old British surplus ammo from the old colonial rifle clubs or the occasional few boxes of ammo brought into the country by a Traveller or private buyer from abroad who , for some reason , would end up selling it . Mr. Karim bought this gun from a store called " Guncraft " in Bangalore where an American visiting hunter had sold it a few days previously. Old British rifle club ammo was still available everywhere at that time. And as l mentioned above , he also took many ammo boxes from my Granddad.
In regards to how he got the little .22 LR bullet to drop 250 pound leopards , l found out :
He would use only one shot exclusively ; brain shots through the ear hole. Apparently when Mr. Karim first started hunting with that rifle , he would quickly double tap the leopard through the ear hole. But over time , as he grew more confident in his marksmanship , he started using one bullet only to do the job . Apparently , he would sometimes wait up to 3 minutes before the leopard would present the side for an ear shot. He also ( wisely ) never shot a charging leopard . He never used the frontal head shot or a body shot. The man also related a story about how Mr. Karim once shot a mad domestic bull bovine between the eyes with a shot from his .22. The bull went down... Only to start getting up again. The animal was merely stunned. Mr. Karim quickly shot the brute again in the same place and this time, after it went down , a man cut it's throat.

 

[nztimb]

He also ( wisely ) never shot a charging leopard . He never used the frontal head shot or a body shot. .

He was fortunate in always being able to make the choice of the shot and obviously never had to shoot at other than an undisturbed animal.

 

[Hoss Delgado]

He was fortunate in always being able to make the choice of the shot and obviously never had to shoot at other than an undisturbed animal.

I agree wholeheartedly . His hunting companion has been trying to publish a book about their exploits for quite some time . But with the retarded Indian anti hunting sentiment as is it is , he's had some difficulty . His hunting friend ( who disclosed all this ) was 79 year old Mr. Khan who now lives in Bangladesh but used to reside in India until '72 . Mr. Khan in that era owned an IOF 12 Gauge double barrel shotgun ( right barrel cylinder , left barrel choked ) and would often accompany Mr. Karim with one barrel loaded with a spherical ball cartridge and the other barrel loaded with an LG cartridge ( what we Americans call 000 buckshot) . Whenever he would go abroad for foreign trips , Mr. Khan would always buy Winchester 000 buckshot shotgun shells ( 2 3/4 inch of course ) for using in the shotgun.
Interestingly enough , Mr. Khan made a comment about the (in)effectiveness of buckshot on Dangerous game like Leopard. While l often read many books ( especially Those of Peter Capstick ) about using 000 buckshot on Leopard , Mr. Khan recounted how buckshot was really ineffective for those 200 + LB leopards . Apparently it would penetrate their skins , but flatten out on their rock hard muscles and lead to many a hunter getting mauled. The spherical balls too , would penetrate a maximum of six inches . He recommended a rifle for leopards and hogs . Although , he says that modern brenekke slugs in a shotgun MIGHT be effective on Leopard , he is adamant that buckshot is a very poor choice.
Interesting

 

[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!!!

.22 Long or .22 LR ?

 

[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 heard this doesn't work on the larger bulls with thicker skulls ?

 

[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.

Bruce , when you say .22 RF , do you mean .22 LR or .22 Magnum ?

 

[bruce moulds]

22 lr

 

[HWL]

You can kill a leopard with a fly swatter.... hit them hard and at the right spot,...you probably have only one attempt.

Make sure, that a video is taken to entertain us....



HWL

 

[Hoss Delgado]

You can kill a leopard with a fly swatter.... hit them hard and at the right spot,...you probably have only one attempt.

Make sure, that a video is taken to entertain us....



HWL

No , man. I prefer my .375 H&H Magnum

 

[HWL]

Considered in the long term, evolution will sort out those, who do not use enough gun...



HWL

 

[shooter50]

He probably used his 8 x 51 (.315) loaded with 244 grain bullets, never heard of anyone hunting leopards in India with a .22LR. A 12 bore with Buckshot 00 ammunition has often been used, but a 22LR only in an emergency.

 

[Hoss Delgado]

He probably used his 8 x 51 (.315) loaded with 244 grain bullets, never heard of anyone hunting leopards in India with a .22LR. A 12 bore with Buckshot 00 ammunition has often been used, but a 22LR only in an emergency.

But he NEVER owned a .315.
Shotgun , l can believe , even though it's far from appropriate

 

[jeff]

Have dispatched black bear and cougar with a 22, have also butchered beef that weighed a 1000 lbs with a 22, so a 22 would certainly kill a leopard even though it's not the right choice.

 

[Alchemist]

Men can do a lot of stupid things. Like sticking your finger in your own a$$h0le and breaking it or hunt a leopard with a 22 LR. All theoretical possible, but practically a very, very stupid thing to do

 

[WAB]

Hmmm, never heard of that finger trick before, should we be concerned that you actually thought of that?

 

[Alchemist]

Hmmm, never heard of that finger trick before, should we be concerned that you actually thought of that?

I used to train a lot of young people. They remember once you use this ....

While looking for BWB 2 weeks ago, I came over fresh drag marks of a leopard pulling it’s kill. I tracked it for a while. Had a 30-06 with me and it felt mighty small.

 

[Chago]

And here I was hunting with a 300 win mag all this time. Sweet, going to Africa with my 22 and a handful of ammo next time.