Handgun Hunting suggestions

C

Carbon_15

New member
I've been hunting since I was a teen and shooting for even longer. Handguns have always been my love with rifles and shotguns being more of a tool. I think I'm going to try my hand at hunting with a pistol.
Over the years I have owned hundreds of handguns, some great some not so great. I would like to use the experiance of this group to avoid some of the not-so-great hunting style handguns, so I only have to do this once. I want to build a handgun that is easy to pack and ballances well(I'm not that big of a guy, so I want to avoid anything ultra heavy as stability would be an issue). can drop a SC whitetail out to a 100yard max range (typical shots would be inside 70) and is relativly flat to that range.
Here are my questions:
1: What caliber? I'm leaning toward .44 mag because its relativly cheap and easy to find...and compaired to some other heavy magnums is a good ballance between power and recoil.
2: Barrel length? Assuming .44 mag, what is an optimum barrel length to ballance speed and weight. I would like to stay with a 6" barrel...is that to short for a flat 100yard trajectory? (I don't want to be zeroed at 100 and have to guess at a major hold under at 25) 8" would probly be my max.
3: Scope? I have a Neos (well more corectly, my wife has a Neos) with a Red dot that I can easily hit clay birds on the berm at 100yards with a solid rest. One the up side, dots are very fast on target, but you have to turn it on and adjust the brightness. a handgun scope would be more expensive and slower on target, but more precise and is always on. suggestions...
4: Gun? I'm thinking about a Ruger Super Blackhawk (what is the difference in the blackhawk and super blackhawk?) Taurus Raging Bull or Super Blackhawk hunter. How would the accuracy of these 3 compare? I like hte SUper Blackhawk because it is cheap, simple and pretty svelt. I like the Hunter because of its solid scope mounting points with included rings, and I siply like the looks and feel of the Taurus (ergonomicly its my favorite, hands down)

Sorry, for the long post, any input or experiances would be appreciated.
 
My Pop had taken 12 (I think?) deer so far with a Super Blackhawk .44. Nearly all of them dropped on the spot. This particular gun has a 10" barrel and shoots like a rifle, but I'd think 6"-8" would be ideal. .44 mag is a great deer round, in my experience.

I have a Taurus RB in .454 that I *plan* to take a deer with this year, but we'll see what happens. I've been hitting targets well with it out to 150 yards, but that's a different environment altogether. I love my Raging Bull, but you'll probably hear lots of negative feedback for them. All the usual complaints aside, I only have one minor gripe with mine. The big black sights that come on it get VERY hard to see around dusk.

If you're looking to buy a hunting handgun, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better bang-per-buck revolver than a Ruger in .44 Magnum.
 
I think the 44mag is by far the best choice.My M29 has taken a few deer and I find no complaints with performance.Iron sights ? good out to about 75 yds.With scope longer range but I think the scope takes away from the weight and handiness of a handgun.The best barrel length is , I think 6". Do NOT use heavy bullets like a 300 gr, they are not necessary and often don't expand well. Any 240 will do a fine job. Work up a load or pick factory load that is accurate ,no more than 1 1/2" groups at 25 yds. Think ACCURACY and practice , practice, practice !!
 
I love my Taurus raging bull in .44 mag with 8.375" bbl, and agree that its ergos are great, but since you said a heavyweight might not be so desirable, then just get the Taurus model that is just like the raging bull without the full underlug. It's cheaper than the raging bull anyway. Get the 6" model in .44 mag. That is plenty enough power to have a minute-of-deer trajectory out to 100 with dead-on hold, particularly with a 200/210 gr bullet. I'd use the irons or a 1-4/1-5 ish handgun scope. A scope mount is available that fits right on the top vents. My raging bull has an SA trigger that rivals ANY.

The "standard" is the model 44B6 or 44SS6:

http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?model=44SS6&category=Revolver
 
Carbon 15,
I've used a SBH in the 8 inch for many years on whitetail. I put a Leupold/Gilmore reddot on it a few years back after a cheap Tasco failed second day of a hunt in the boonies. Still had a Rem.700 in 30.06 but had failed to bring along iron sights or backup scope, big mistake.
I load up some pretty hot handloads with 240 grain HP's and do limit my shots to around 50 yards as that heavy bullet starts losing energy fast after that and without a real solid rest the reddot get pretty shakey. I usually have a slug barrel shotgun or rifle where allowed along for backup if I expect much longer ranges.
I feel handgun hunting is akin to bowhunting where close is better and more fun and a challenge as well.
I use S&W M-29's and M-57's as well with open sights but restrict myself to even closer range.
It might sound funny but often I'll hunt with two handguns and a longarm. I'm still waiting for that perfect shot with my 3 inch 629 but it'll be 20 yards or less and a perfect setup. Just to say I :) did.
If you really want to reach out there further I'd go with a Contender or Encore in a rifle caliber with a good scope. One good shot is all you need and those are best for that out at the 100-150 yard range.
 
The .44mag is certainly a great handgun cartridge and the Rugers (blackhawks, Redhawks etc.) are great revolvers. I hunt with a T/C Encore in .357maximum (16" barrel, Leupold scope) 2400fps with 140gr JHP. I can break clay pigeons at 200yards all day long. I also have a 7mm-08 barrel for it (thats a whole different story ;-) ).

If I where going to use a revolver, since I reload, I'd get one of the Rugers in .41 Rem mag. Less recoil, flatter trajectory and plenty to take a whitetail at more than 100yrds.

However, if I didn't reload and wanted to use a revolver, I'd get the 44mag.

Good Luck,
AJ
 
i suggest the desert eagle in .44mag. i'm not a big guy at 5'7'' 163lbs and i had no problem what so ever with the desert eagle in .50a.e.
the desert eagle doesn't feel anywhere as heavy as the ruger super redhawk, taurus raging bull or others!
 
I love the .44 mag and have taken several mulies with it, but this season I switched to the S&W M500 with a greatly reduced load consisting of a cast 350 grain gc bullet, CCI-300 primer, and 15.0 grains of Unique. At 1130 fps, this is still a very potent revolver load by any standard, but considering what this revolver/cartridge combo is capable of, it's still just a plinking load. Using bullets sorted by weight, I can consistently put full cylinder, five shot groups into 4" at 100 yards with the stock iron sights, and even using unsorted, out of the bin bullets, groups are still 6" or less at the same range. Recoil is considerably less than a .44 mag, and more on par with mid-range .357's in a Blackhawk, accuracy is superb, and even with the lightweight 350 grain bullet, it's still like hitting them with a sledge hammer. For comparison, I can push a 460 grain cast bullet at 1600 fps, jacketed 325 grainers to over 2000 fps, and jacketed 270 grainers to 2200 fps in this same 8 3/8" revolver.
 
I've hunted with a 7.5" SRH .454, a 7.5" SBH .44 Mag, a 5.5" Vaquero .45 Colt, a 6" 629 DX and a 4" 629.

The .45 Colt, even with stout loads is more pleasant than a .44 magnum, and hits very well.

That being said, I really like the .44 also, and good ammo is a lot cheaper than hot .45 Colt.

The 7.5" barrel does shoot a little flatter, but is more muzzle heavy than I'd like. The 4" is very handy, but a tad more difficult to keep on target for longer range shooting.

Probably the best handling would be a 5.5"-6" barrel. Good choices would be the Blackhawk, Super Blackhawk, Redhawk, or S&W 629 in those barrel lengths. I'd recommend against optics, they really kill the handling, plus, half the fun in handgun hunting is getting close!

But that's just my opinion and worth exactly what you paid for it. :D
 
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