Game birds sometimes come close to a camp in the early morning or evening; and a sitting shot for the pot can be got at them without disturbing the ground, when a shotgun would clear all the ground for miles round.
I find a .22 pistol has not enough stopping power to prevent a wounded rabbit getting to ground and consequently lost. A great proportion of rabbits hit with this bullet are lost.
I use a .44 duelling pistol for rabbit stalking when they are sitting outside their holes. If a rabbit is hit by it he very seldom gets into his hole.
The big bullet does not spoil the rabbit as much as might be thought, the bullet being round and solid it only makes a hole of its own size and goes straight through the rabbit.
A .22 hollow pointed bullet makes much more mess and has the disadvantage often of not stopping the rabbit though it maims it. The duelling pistol would spoil a game bird if hit in the body but it is all right for a head shot.
It makes slightly more noise than a .22 pistol but it is a soft noise and does not travel far.
I think when game for the pot has to be shot that a “.22 short” cartridge out of a rifle with a telescope sight is best.
After all, hitting the bird at forty or fifty yards off with a pistol takes some doing, whereas with a telescopic sighted rifle the shot would be a certainty.
The pistol is very little used for what seems to me to be a very useful function.
When shooting big game there are many occasions when another shot has to be fired at wounded game unable to get away.