Who handgun hunts and what do you use?

[Mako]

Aways had an itch to handgun hunt and am debating between a Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley Hunter (that’s a mouthful) in .454 Casull, or one of the .460 Smith and Wesson‘s. The smith has more versatility since it can shoot the .454 as well as the .460, but I’ve always liked SA revolvers. Deer, black bear, and pig are probably what I’d hunt with it. I’m aware that both can shoot .45 Colt as well, but that’s probably not a round that would see much if any action in either of these guns.

Just curious what you all use and why. Also, do you use a scope or red dot?

 

[Pucky Freak]

Following. I’m interested in handgun hunting w/ a .357 + red dot. However, from the options available I don’t see how to do it without spending at least $1200. Seems to be far less expensive to get something like a Glock 10mm, but I’m less than thrilled about using a semiauto. Much prefer a revolver, but I’m open to ideas. I’d like a 6” or so barrel and shoot off a rest.

 

[ccc23454]

I have a superblackhawk hunter in .44 and is a great gun for hunting. I tried a scope and went back to open sight as i could never get comfortable with the eye relief.

 

[buckbull]

Dad bought me a Smith and Wesson 629 Classic with the 8 3/8" barrel with a burris scope when i graduated high school in 1991. IMO, hard to beat a S&W when it comes to revolvers. I've shot several deer with it. Furthest kill shot was approximately 80 yards. Its a SA/DA so your first shot can be SA and any quick follow up shots you can rely on the DA. Currently shooting hornady XTP 240 grain bullets. Pictured are Dad and I's revolvers.

 

[Addicting]

I tried a 44 Super Redhawk and shot 2 deer with it. Both were from a tree stand and both were not recovered. The XTP didn’t exit and there was no blood trail due to the angle of the shot. Both deer ran into an overgrown Christmas tree farm. Tracking was possible and the deer were found in the neighbors corn a month later, approximately 2-300 yards away.

Long story shorter, paying attention to your setup / shot placement when handgun hunting is a lot more critical than rifle hunting.

I sold it shortly afterwards and went back to a muzzleloader.

 

[timberman56]

TC Encore usually with 243 WSSM 12'' MGM barrel for deer & hogs. its way more accurate than I am, amazingly accurate at the range off a sandbag. shot 3 deer and 4-5 hogs up to 280# with it and none went over 75 yd. currently got the itch for a Python but afraid i'd be disappointed with the new model. sure would like to hear some first-hand accounts

 

[Caseknife]

I have a Ruger Super Redhawk 44 Mag, 8 3/8" barrel with an Aimpoint that I hunted with for a couple years and killed a spike bull. At the time I loaded Hornady 300gr XTP with a full case of H110 or W296 at 1300fps. I had it in a shoulder holster and at times found myself watching the animals like I was out hiking, not hunting. Started carrying it in my hand after that. That was about 30 years ago. Have a scope on it now, but haven't hunted with it recently. If I were to hunt with it now, I would try the Barnes or maybe a Lehigh bullet.

 

[HighDesertSage]

I do. I use a Remington 700 30-06.

 

[Redman]

Ruger SP 100 in .357 mag. T/C Encore in .308 and 22-250. For small game I have a Ruger MKIV .22 rimfire.

 

[Lab]

What has been a max lethal range? I just got a Ruger 45 9 inch barrel and interested as well but want to be humane and ethical.

 

[belshawelk]

I have a Casull .454 and always planned on a hog hunting with it. Haven't yet

 

[buffybr]

I've only shot a couple of black bears with my handguns. One with my Ruger SBH .44 mag., and the other with my Govt model 1911 .45 acp, and both with the factory iron sights, and both shooting my hard cast bullets. Both were solo, DIY, spot and stalk hunts. Both were one shot kills at less than 30 yards, and neither bear ran over 10 yards after being shot.

Those hunts were many years before cell phones and I didn't always carry a camera with me back then, so I only have a picture of one.

 

[Dan O]

Many years ago Bob Milek wrote for Guns & Ammo. He was a handgun hunter and used TC Contenders and Remington XP-100 plus revolvers.

This got me and a buddy interested in Handgun hunting. I bought a TC Contender 14 inch in 7mm TCU. I put a 5x Burris on it and worked up a load with Hornady 120 grain bullets. With this combo I took a number of prairie dogs and several antelope out to 300 yards. All one shot kills.

Then I obtained a XP-100 in 7mm BR. I mounted a 7x Burris on this and again used Hornady's 120 grain bullet. With H-322 I was able to shoot a 3 shot group all touching at 200 yards. This was off sand bags on a bench. I shot a lot of prairie dogs with this combo. I used it for antelope for a number of years. One year I had a antelope doe tag along with a buck tag. I had filled my buck tag and the next day make a stalk on a group of does. I got about 75 yards from the herd there was one doe away from the group and I lined up on her right behind the shoulder a squeezed off the shot. The 7x scope has a small field of view and I didn't see a doe running in a line that put her behind the doe I shot at. Well as I come out of recoil I saw 2 does hit the ground. The second one was right behind the one at shot at when the bullet got there. I was surprised at two hitting the ground. Upon gutting them There was complete penetration on both does. My Dad watched the whole thing through his binoculars and he used his doe tag on the extra one. The longest shot I took on a antelope was around 350 to 400 yards. I was able to use my daypack as a rest. I held over the back and a bit into the wind and scored a DRT hit. It was a shot that some would question but a summer of shooting prairie dogs in the same terrain and conditions gave me the confidence to make the shot.

A few years later I used a Ruger Super Redhawk 7 1/2 barrel in 44 magnum for deer hunting. I mounted a 2x Leupold and loaded it with 300 grain Seirra bullets in front of a maximum load of H-110. This load was just over 1000 fps but accurate. I shot a 5x5 muley at about 100 yards. He just flinched and stood there. I was sure I hit him but looking at him you couldn't tell. So, I cocked the hammer and settled in with the cross hairs just behind the front leg. Just as I started to squeeze the trigger he dropped dead. Upon gutting him the was a 43 caliber entrance wound and a hole through the heart and exit on the offside. There was no sign of expansion. The 300 grain flat point takes more velocity to expand than my load produced.

When the 454 came out in the Super Redhawk I bought a 7 1/2 inch and mounted a 2x Burris on it. I Shot a young muley buck at a lasered 147 yards. I used a 300 grain Hornady HP with a max load of H-110. Again, DRT with full penetration.

I also bought a Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley in 454 when they first came out. With full loads it is not as comfortable to shoot compared to the Super Redhawk. I have backed off the loads for it using 300 Hornady HP and 2400. It still gets around 1300 - 1400 FPS according to the manuals but I have not shot it over my chronograph yet.

Personally, I would go with the Ruger over the S&W 460. I think the Ruger is better if you're going to be carrying it any distance. To me the S&W is big and bulky. But it is a great caliber and fine gun just a tad big in my opinion. Also, if you want to use a scope or red dot the Ruger has a great mount system, and you have irons sights as a backup if you need to take optics off.

Good luck and have fun. Hunting with a handgun is a challenge and a ton of fun.

 

[Boarmaster]

T/C encore 7mm08 & 44 mag pistol barrels. Whitetail and hogs.

 

[std7mag]

I'll be doing some deer hunting with a Ruger Security Six in 357 Magnum this year.
Going with 158gr Missouri lead bullets.

 

[Big Bore]

I handgun hunt exclusively and have for about 20 years now. First, if you ever want to talk, send me a PM and we can exchange numbers.

Secondly, for deer, bear, hogs, a 44 will do everything you want without the excessive recoil. The calibers you mentioned are great and I own each but I’d ask yourself an honest question of how experienced you are with handguns in general. The only time my 454 sees much use is when I’m elk hunting. Otherwise it’s typically 45 colt, 44 mag, and 41 mag.

If you aren’t a hand loader, I’d definitely go with something common like 44 mag.

And I definitely would not buy a 454 and then shoot 45 colt through it. Not extensively anyway. Yes, perfectly safe and compatible but it introduces extra issues when switching to the longer 454 after the cylinder has seen a lot of use from 45 colt.

If you’d like to discuss, let me know. I definitely don’t claim to be an expert but as mentioned this is all I do and have picked up a few things along the way. There is another dedicated handgunner on here named Chris from Wyoming. If he sees this, he really knows his ‘stuff’ on this topic and would be a good one to bounce ideas off as well.

 

[Mako]

I have a superblackhawk hunter in .44 and is a great gun for hunting. I tried a scope and went back to open sight as i could never get comfortable with the eye relief.

I like the spr blkhwk hunter models for that very reason. They give you the option. I wear progressives, and I just turned 50 so vision sucks. Having the hunter model gives you the option using the iron's, scope, and I'm assuming a red dot as well.

 

[bayoublaster7527]

Dad bought me a Smith and Wesson 629 Classic with the 8 3/8" barrel with a burris scope when i graduated high school in 1991. IMO, hard to beat a S&W when it comes to revolvers. I've shot several deer with it. Furthest kill shot was approximately 80 yards. Its a SA/DA so your first shot can be SA and any quick follow up shots you can rely on the DA. Currently shooting hornady XTP 240 grain bullets. Pictured are Dad and I's revolvers.

View attachment 286649

Love those. I bought a similar 629 w bushnell red dot in hopes of hunting with it one day. Haven’t made it happen yet. There is just something about the classic S&W revolvers for me.

 

[Mako]

I handgun hunt exclusively and have for about 20 years now. First, if you ever want to talk, send me a PM and we can exchange numbers.

Secondly, for deer, bear, hogs, a 44 will do everything you want without the excessive recoil. The calibers you mentioned are great and I own each but I’d ask yourself an honest question of how experienced you are with handguns in general. The only time my 454 sees much use is when I’m elk hunting. Otherwise it’s typically 45 colt, 44 mag, and 41 mag.

If you aren’t a hand loader, I’d definitely go with something common like 44 mag.

And I definitely would not buy a 454 and then shoot 45 colt through it. Not extensively anyway. Yes, perfectly safe and compatible but it introduces extra issues when switching to the longer 454 after the cylinder has seen a lot of use from 45 colt.

If you’d like to discuss, let me know. I definitely don’t claim to be an expert but as mentioned this is all I do and have picked up a few things along the way. There is another dedicated handgunner on here named Chris from Wyoming. If he sees this, he really knows his ‘stuff’ on this topic and would be a good one to bounce ideas off as well.

I agree that .44 is more than enough for what I need. I have experience with both .44 and .41 mag, not for hunting, just for plinking. I've always wanted a .454 Casull ever since I read about it in the gun rags, probably more than 20 years ago. I just recently started handloading so rolling my own won't be an issue. I'm going to have to, I live in CA where we are mandated to use lead free. I haven't checked, but lead-free .454 is likely going to be slim pickens, and probably spendy, if you can find it. I really want the Ruger Spr Blk Hwk Bisley Hunter model in .454 Casull. I could've sworn Ruger made that model, but I don't see it on their site anymore, only the .44 mag model. Either they discontinued it, or I was mistaken. They do make a .454 Bisley, but not in the hunter models, so iron sights only.

 

[Bowmannate2000]

Following. I’m interested in handgun hunting w/ a .357 + red dot. However, from the options available I don’t see how to do it without spending at least $1200. Seems to be far less expensive to get something like a Glock 10mm, but I’m less than thrilled about using a semiauto. Much prefer a revolver, but I’m open to ideas. I’d like a 6” or so barrel and shoot off a rest.

I have a Ruger GP100 6" barrel I've thought about using for deer... Now I'm not as interested and am thinking of selling it. You can get into one of those for a decent price. If you're ever in central MN i know where one could be acquired .