Seneca/Sam Yang Dragon claw affective yardage (deer)

Well they're advertisement says 340-ft pounds. That is about equivalent to a 40 Smith & Wesson pistol cartridge. It will be shooting around 900 ft per second.

From that you can calculate the energy remaining at any point along the path...

It's a 50 caliber and that makes it the equivalent of a low-powered black powder rifle. If I were you I'd limit my shots to 75 yards or less.
 
I would use whatever bullet your gun groups good with - More important make sure your dope is right and you're comfortable shooting at what ever distance you deem as your max.
Just last week I had to track a beautiful Axis a moron shot through the gut and hind quarter.
Ahhh, I gotcha. I have shot with multiple different bullets and find the round ball actually groops better for me. I feel pressure range seems to be key in grouping, is ths correct ? I'm new to airgunning and want to make the best and most accurate shot I can. I don't like hiking after deer, especially in southwest Louisiana where it's typically hot first half of the season, lol...
 
i have a sam yang 909s .45 that shoots 190gr NSA slugs about 850fps. I keep it to 50-60 yards. I also have a Texan .457 carbine, it shoots the NSA 240gr slug about 900fps, and I have no problem hitting a baseball sized target at 100 yards with it, and would take a deer at that range with a good angle any day. Heart/lung or a neck shot mainly.

both guns will do 1" at 50 yards easy.

not airgunning but just took a doe this morning with my crossbow, 50 yard heart shot, actually went through the chest from the front, out the side, then clipped the back leg. So I guess I hit 1 deer twice with a single arrow.
 
Ahhh, I gotcha. I have shot with multiple different bullets and find the round ball actually groops better for me. I feel pressure range seems to be key in grouping, is ths correct ? I'm new to airgunning and want to make the best and most accurate shot I can. I don't like hiking after deer, especially in southwest Louisiana where it's typically hot first half of the season, lol...
personally - I don't like round balls for hunting - I think slugs do a better job if you happen to hit some bone
 
i have a sam yang 909s .45 that shoots 190gr NSA slugs about 850fps. I keep it to 50-60 yards. I also have a Texan .457 carbine, it shoots the NSA 240gr slug about 900fps, and I have no problem hitting a baseball sized target at 100 yards with it, and would take a deer at that range with a good angle any day. Heart/lung or a neck shot mainly.

both guns will do 1" at 50 yards easy.

not airgunning but just took a doe this morning with my crossbow, 50 yard heart shot, actually went through the chest from the front, out the side, then clipped the back leg. So I guess I hit 1 deer twice with a single arrow.
thats some Jed Clampett trick shooting right there
 
Ahhh, I gotcha. I have shot with multiple different bullets and find the round ball actually groops better for me. I feel pressure range seems to be key in grouping, is ths correct ? I'm new to airgunning and want to make the best and most accurate shot I can. I don't like hiking after deer, especially in southwest Louisiana where it's typically hot first half of the season, lol...
Would you happen to know anything about trigger upgrades to dragonclaw?
i have a sam yang 909s .45 that shoots 190gr NSA slugs about 850fps. I keep it to 50-60 yards. I also have a Texan .457 carbine, it shoots the NSA 240gr slug about 900fps, and I have no problem hitting a baseball sized target at 100 yards with it, and would take a deer at that range with a good angle any day. Heart/lung or a neck shot mainly.

both guns will do 1" at 50 yards easy.

not airgunning but just took a doe this morning with my crossbow, 50 yard heart shot, actually went through the chest from the front, out the side, then clipped the back leg. So I guess I hit 1 deer twice with a single arrow.
Thank you very much for the information. It is definitely helping. Congrats on shooting 1 deer with a single arrow, lol... I crossbow hunt mainly and just getting into the big bore game!
 
Ahhh, I gotcha. I have shot with multiple different bullets and find the round ball actually groops better for me. I feel pressure range seems to be key in grouping, is ths correct ? I'm new to airgunning and want to make the best and most accurate shot I can. I don't like hiking after deer, especially in southwest Louisiana where it's typically hot first half of the season, lol...
In the beginning before slugs were readily available I used round balls in my 45...
As you already know as a hunter shot placement is the key to success.. when using an air rifle it's more important than ever .. no matter the caliber it's not forgiving as a powder burner.. round balls in an air rifle doesn't leave a good blood trail.. you know how deer are...they can go a long way before giving up the ghost..not leaving much of a blood trail..
Slugs definitely do a lot more internal damage giving a better blood trail..
 
There are lots of different opinions on this just like everything, everyone has one for what it is worth. Some will say you need 2fpe for every pound of deer. Some think 1fpe for each pound. Some say 200+ foot pounds. Some states out west require 250fpe. Some in Florida say 150. It really depends on were you hit it and what size and type bullet you hit it with and the velocity. I think keeping it over 200 foot pounds is probably reasonable. If you use a chronograph, you can find out what your velocity and foot pounds of energy are. Also there is tons of info on utube like from Mr. Hollow point. Chances are there is a video of someone shooting a gun like yours through a chronogragh with different slugs or round balls that can give you the info you need. In the case of Mr. Hollow point you can also see a lot of ballistic jell tests. Then you could use the Element Ballistics app to see how your slug performs at different ranges depending on what range it is zeroed in for in your gun. It will tell you the velocity, energy, and bullet drop at different ranges. Obviously the more it drops the harder it will be to have good shot placement especially off hand and the energy is dropping as well. Then you get different thoughts on having full pass throughs or dumping all the energy in the animal. I have had full pass throughs that left a 3ft spray of blood on the ground at the point of impact just to find myself on my hands and knees 20 yards later following pin head size drops of blood I could hardly see. One time I was tracking a deer like that and literally bumped my head on it. That was with a 30.06 not a airgun. There are also tons of videos of people shooting deer with different guns and slugs were you can actually see what happened. You might notice that larger calibers put them down faster from the bigger holes.
 
Last edited:
I am new to airgun hunting and was wondering the may yds you can humainly shoot a white tail deer. I cannot seem to find any information on this. Thanks in advance for the info!!
@JCarlin2778 Try asking @Cheplicki (aka Michigan Aigunner). He has at least one video up on YouTube taking a deer with a CAP Dragon Claw .357 Recluse. https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/cap-arms-357-recluse-deer-hunt.1294149/
He’s taken many deer with various big bore airguns. He may know. Keith Warren and UpNorthAirgunner have decent YouTube videos showcasing shooting and hunting with the Seneca Dragon Claw.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Chief55
The airbolts are very popular with those airguns as well. I have shot them from my wingshot and they are amazing. You need a very good target to stop them. I have used 2 crossbow targets back to back and still buried them. I need to get one rated for 500fps. Ezana4CE is right, Michigan Airgunner has a lot of great videos on utube shooting deer and there are lot using that gun with airbolts even for african game. To be clear I myself have not yet hunted deer with an airgun but I have been doing a lot of research on it lately. I do have a life time of experience hunting with rifles, pistols, shotguns, bows, crossbows and muzzleloaders in NY, NC, FL, OR and Calf. I was extremely interrest in bullet performance because I liked hunting with hand guns and muzleloaders the best. I quit hunting years ago because of a heart attack and health problems and gave my guns to the kids but I have been doing better and would kind of like to start going again and thought the airguns would be really awesome and they are. People like Chepliski are the experts on hunting with airguns and can help you the most.
 
Last edited:
The airbolts are very popular with those airguns as well. I have shot them from my wingshot and they are amazing. You need a very good target to stop them. I have used 2 crossbow targets back to back and still buried them. I need to get one rated for 500fps. Ezana4CE is right, Michigan Airgunner has a lot of great videos on utube shooting deer and there are lot using that gun with airbolts even for african game.
this one
stops my airbolts at about 6"
my 385fps crossbow only goes in like 2 inches!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chief55