Handgun hunters?

[Vance in AK]

I'm new here & just wondered how many other handgun hunters there are here, & if you are a handgun hunter, what are your tools?
I currently have Contenders in .444 Marlin, .358 x 444, & .358 Bellm (along with a .22 Hornet for plinking), & the trusty model 29 in .44 mag with 8&3/8 barrel & red dot sight.
Unfortunately, I'm yet to take big game with any of them. But come spring time, ......

[dimrod]

Vance,

I use revolvers in 41 Rem mag, 44 rem mag, and 454 Casull. To date I have taken 8 bull moose, a muskox, and one grizzly boar. They all seem to work equally well for me. The placement of the initial shot is key. With the exception of the bear (of all critters), I have always used multiple shots to anchor the animal.

Of course, the smaller rounds from 22LR to 9mm can be used on parka squirrels and other small varmints.

I enjoy hunting with handguns.

[AlleninAlaska]

My 2 favorites are a Ruger Blackhawk in 41 Magnum and a Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt. Both have taken several head of game. Will never part with these 2. The 41 Magnum I have had since 1976.


I have done the T/C Contender thing and the SSP91. These 2 had barrels in 358 Winchester, 223, 430 JDJ, 411 JDJ, 30-30, 45-70, 45 Colt/410, 35 Remington and a couple of others that I can't remember right off the top of my head.

Never owned a 44 Magnum handgun.

Owned a Taurus Raging Bull chambered in 454 Casull but the only loads that were put through it were some of my specially produced 45 Colt loads.

Have been the 480 Ruger route.

All of the above mentioned have been used for taking animals from big game to varmint.

Presently have both a 460 S&W and 500 S&W.

[375JDJ]

I use a 375 JDJ Contender. In Alaska, its been used to shoot half a dozen caribou, a couple deer, a black bear, and moose. I also carry a 44 Mag at times but haven't used it on game in Alaska. It has taken a few critters in Texas.

[Longhunter7]

I use sw 44, srd hawk 44,sbl hawk 44 ,contender / encore 45 70, 7 mm 08, 375 jdj. I bowhunt as well, so it seems to make handgun hunting a pice of cake. Any excuse to be out and about in Gods creation is a great reason to hunt. If I were limited to one it would be my ruger super blackhawk 4 5/8 th;s barrel stainless steel. I backpack hunt, what a joy to carry!! try 300 grain hard cast bullets at about 12- 1300 fps, and you have got a killing machine. Enjoy Bill.

[mikenkel]

460 S&w

Vance,

I currently have a 460 S&W with a Leupold 2.5 - 8 X 32 handgun scope on it. It is a sweet shooting handgun and I have used it to take an Elk, whitetail, and an antelope. I am looking forward to taking a moose and brown bear with it next year.

[RANGER RICK]

Hey Vance
Welcome to the forum .

I mostly use my 500 smith and 460 and I have retired my 44 for now .I have a couple hunts this upcoming year that I will be using them on .I mostly use my handguns anymore .I have not used my rifles for the last three years ,all handgun hunting .

RR

[BRWNBR]

i know i'm outside the box on this one, but i hunt with a colt 1911 10mm on a six in barrel that my brother built, at the range it'll hold on a paper plate at 100 yards with irons and i have taken grizz, sheep and mt goat with it. what an underrated round in my opinion, shooting 200 grain hornady XTP and have had great penetration on my game.
I did guide a client this spring to two black bears with his 460 smith, was impressed by that round as well. into the hindquarter on a mature blackie and out the front of the chest at 60 yards. killed it needless to say.
welcome to the forum

[alaska bush man]

10mm

I too use a !0mm a Glock 20 with 190 Sierra FPJ here in AK.....you are not along!

[Snyd]

Resurection time for this thread...

I am going to be reloading for my 44mag and doing some handgun hunting this fall. Maybe spring blackies if I can find time.

I like the idea of iron sights but have read that a 1x or 2x scope can help with target aquistion with old eyes. I don't really care about using a scope to try and turn it into a long range weapon. Seems that balistically 100yds is max anyway for moose. More like 50 would be ideal. What are your opinions and experiences on different sites/scopes, etc? My ruger has a black front sight which is hard to see. I put some orange paint on it and that helps some but it gets wore off. I have seen the sights on the redhawks and like them. What about changing out my current iron sites?

I'm shooting a Stainless Ruger new model SuperBlackHawk 44mag, 7.5 inch barrel with Pachmeyer grips. Not the Hunter model. Sounds like 300 grain cast bullets are the way to go. Going to be hooking up with Murphy next week to get going on the re-loading and will start hitting the local indoor range this winter. Over the years I haven't shot it as much as I would like too but that's about to change. I've read that mag-na-port on these ruger 44's is pretty sweet deal. Anyone have a handgun mag-na-ported?

If there are enough handgun hunters around here maybe we can get a handgun forum up and going. Any thoughts? Maybe I'll start a poll.

Perry

[Tony G]

I currently use a 7-08 in a 15" encore. Burris 2x7 scope. Have been using a hundgun for hunting since '93. It was sure nice using it last fall on a sheep hunt where the gun could be left in the pack when climbing in the steep stuff. With practice this cal. has plenty of range- if you get a solid rest.

[Vance in AK]

Hey Snyd.
I use my S&W mod. 29 for hunting. Haven't killed any big critters with it so this is all theoretical on my part. I use 300-320 gr hard-cast bullets with wide meplats loaded to around 1325 fps.
I had my gun Mag-na-ported with heir 4 port rifle setup & it did make pretty good difference in muzzle-flip.
My 46 yr old eyes don't like iron much anymore so I'm using an "UltraDot 4" red dot sight & love it. Like you I wasn't looking for magnification, but for quick & precise sight acquisition & good field of view.
Going to check my bait this past spring a big brownie & I met at around 12 yds & the sight pic was all I could have hoped for. Had the dot size turned up to 16 moa anticipating this encounter & when I brought the gun up with both eyes open there was a BIG red dot right where I wanted it. He & I reached an understanding & he let me walk away, so thankfully I can't tell you how the .44 works on brown bears. Felt kinda small though!!!! I think a .458 would have felt small at the moment.

[Bullwinkle50]

Pistonl hunting

I have carried a Ruger Superblackhawk since 1979. Shot several dear, an antelope, more than several elk, and quite a few grouse with it while living in Colorado. Since I moved to Alaska, I upgraded to the 454 Casull. I shoot mostly my own handloads and worked up a load for it when I bought it and it shot great. After several years of shooting, I noticed it wasn't grouping as good as it was so I worked up some different loads. Started with 22.5 grains of IMR 4227 and a 240 grain HP. After breaking it in, the best groups were with 24.5 grains of IMR4227. I recommend working with the powder charges as it made a lot of difference with mine. The groups were okay but not great until I hit the right load. The right load put the group at about 2" at 50 yards off a rest and with open sights. I have never shot a scope on my pistol but might have to start. Like Snyd said, it gets harder to focus on back sight, front sight, and target as you get older.

Bullwinkle

[Daveinthebush]

A few

I started with a Ruger 22/22.mag. revolver. Colt Woodsman Target match for frog hunting. Then bought a Contender with a 10" 30/30 barrel.(only 2 deer with that) Found out it was illegal in NY so bought a .44 barrel for it. Probably took 15-18 deer with that. Also bought a AMT .22 semi for small stuff. Bought a 6" 629 .44 before moving here and have taken a moose with that. I now have Contender barrels in .44, 30/30, .357 Max., .445 Supermag and am Encore in 7mm/08 (no harvests yet with that). The 1911 .45 is for two legged game.

Best way to become a good handgunner is to leave the other toys at home.

[Snowwolfe]

I use a couple of S&W 500's and one 460. Used to use a FA 454.