I have two choices for dear, my mini 30, which shoots a 7.62 X 39mm cartridge, which was developed by the russians, common rifles chambered in the caliber are ak-47's and sks's. but i feel that the .45 is a fine cartridge for deer, it has plenty of power, at a moderate speed, and a decent chunk of lead on top of the rest, i think that it is good for forested areas, if you hunt in thick woods like myself, and all of your shots are going to be withing 50 yards, unless you have a scope, i shoot a lever action rossi, with iron sights, and i am sure that if you reload, that you could get better ballistics out of this round, just by using a polymer tip, which hornady currently has out for lever avtion rifles specifically, call leverevolution. becuase you should never have pointed bulletes in a tubular magizine.
