I'm going to throw out some thoughts. How far do you want to apply any type of gear? A handgun is a handgun and a rifle is a rifle. A couple of times I've been sitting on the ground against a tree and had a deer come in from the wrong side. You start down this Mexican Standoff situation. You stare at the deer and the deer stares back at you. If you move much the deer is gone. I've tried to slowly move a rifle so I can shoot "Lefty" but I've never been able to pull it off. Every time the thought has occurred to me that if I had carried a handgun I probably could have shot the deer and made the hit, as the deer are usually close- say 30 feet (10 yards). There have been times I've been stalking through really dense bottom land swamps with lots of cover and thought a handgun would probably be the better weapon.
BUT.......(always a but) some folks want to use only a handgun, they'll put a scope on it, do all kinds of stuff, try 100 yard plus shots, etc.
Well, to each his own, but the way I figure, a handgun is good under a few special situations, normally very close range. The 44 Mag is obviously better than the 357 Mag but then there is the issue of the target, a broadside shoot through the ribs at ten yards ought to be fine with the 357 Mag.
BUT.......(always a but) some folks want to use only a handgun, they'll put a scope on it, do all kinds of stuff, try 100 yard plus shots, etc.
Well, to each his own, but the way I figure, a handgun is good under a few special situations, normally very close range. The 44 Mag is obviously better than the 357 Mag but then there is the issue of the target, a broadside shoot through the ribs at ten yards ought to be fine with the 357 Mag.