1st timer's 12 gauge and revolver choices

Unless you've got a lot of experience with magnum handguns, and money to burn you'd be better off with a standard 5-6" 629 or Redhawk and spending the difference on range time and ammo.

Also if you're not hunting things like large bears (or handload your own ammo) I'd skip the 480.

And I'll add start with .44 Specials when you familiarize yourself with that .44, after learning the fundamentals on a .22 as noted below.

There's a reason 'beginner guns' are so. Have a friend who has a .22 rifle, a .22 revolver, and a 20 gauge shotgun bring you to the range after you have taken whatever propaganda NJ calls "Hunter Safety". Go over the Four Rules, learn the fundamentals (Shooting postitons, breath control, trigger control, etc), then work up to the bigger bore stuff. Starting with a 12 ga with slugs and a .44 Magnum right off will almost guarantee you will develop flinching, resulting in poor accuracy. Hunting game is all about shot placement. You need to know where you need to shoot at on any particular animal you are hunting, and you have to be able to place the projectile there without much error. It honors the animal with a quick death, it ruins less meat, and reduces having to track the animal after it is hit. (Another skill to learn.) You can't place the round where needed if you flinch.

If you are using your shotgun for slug only hunting then do yourself a favor and get a 20 ga. I would get the Savage 220.

Or don’t. In that case I would get the Rem 870. Even though their future is uncertain, there is still plenty of support out their for it. If you plan to use it for anything other than slug shooting, extra barrels are easy to acquire for the 870.

Ruger Redhawk or Blackhawk or Smith 629in 44. 5-8” barrel.

entropy said:

And I'll add start with .44 Specials...

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Honestly, depending on what you're hunting you might as well stop there too.

A good 250gr WFN at 900FPS will flatten Bambi at most reasonable handgun distances. Hotter magnums mostly just buy you extra range.

From experience I can tell you that 250@900 load will be much easier to practice with than a 240@1300. The more practice the better.

I'll also second the recommending for a 20ga slug gun. You're not giving up much compared to a 12ga.

'Round where I hunt in Southern Ohio it's all hills and thick brush, smooth bore 18" riot barrels with plain rifled lead 2 3/4" slugs are the most common thing you see. Mostly beat up Mossberg 500's, they're nice and light which is good for humping through the hills and thick stuff over the all steel 870's.

Can you not use a pistol caliber rifle like a Martin in 44 mag for hunting? More accurate (IMO) than a slug gun, less recoil

Is NJ is shotgun only for deer? If so I agree with others that a 20 gauge is a better choice. 12 gauge slugs are just plain unpleasant to shoot and offer no advantage over a 20 for deer. I lost count of how many deer I've killed with 12 gauge slugs long ago but every one of them would have been just as dead if shot with a 20. If NJ allows strait walled cartridges, 45-70, 450 BM, etc. forget about shotguns for deer and go that route.
For handguns you will be well served with a 44 mag and a 22 LR for practice. The .22 will pay for itself in ammo savings and you will develop better shooting habits and technique when you aren't getting beat up by recoil.

If money is no object go for the Performance Center Magnum Hunter, those are some very nice handguns. I've been using a Performance Center for years deer hunting, these have excellent triggers and action work not found on the average model.

1More said:

Yup. NJ is a shotgun and muzzle loader state. I would LOVE a rifle, but I can't tote one here.

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Then why not get an inline rifle? Hard to call them a muzzleloader as they only thing traditional about most of them is that they load from the front. They are quite easy to learn and are far more accurate than any shotgun I have ever seen. 200 yards is doable with a modern inline muzzle loading rifle, and there are a bunch of good choices anywhere from a couple hundred bucks up. Realistically a $300ish blister pack starter kit will do what you need and then some. Plenty to read and learn, video tutorials, and us to help you get done whatever needs done. I admit I would buy a shotgun for hunting myself but only because I would hunt more than just medium/large game with it, but for the purposes you have mentioned a muzzleloader is the cheapest, most accurate option.

I would highly suggest starting with a Mossberg 500 or Remington 870 with a 22-24" smooth barrel with screw in chokes.

I'd pop in the "open" choke, throw a reddot on top grab a box of each 2&3/4" rifled slugs you can get locally and see which shoots best. After you identify which shoots best, apply the old adage BA/UU/R.

The reddot will make sighting MUCH easier than the bead and will let you hunt as early and as late as legally possible.

Handguning is a whole challenge unto itself. Keeping a handgun steady when "buck fever" sets in can be a challenge. Don't get me wrong, I'm for it, but it's an order of magnitude more challenging.

A 44 magnum should be enough gun for anything you are going to run into in the lower 48. The Ruger 480 is a neat round but I don't see it as very practical for anything around here. If I were to own a Ruger .480 I would definitely want to reload for it so I could choose a power level to suite my purpose.

I would suggest looking at a Dan Wesson 744 in 44 magnum. What barrel length in a 44 mag is going to work best for you? With a Dan Wesson you can change the barrel to a different length in under a minute.

1More said:

I have no experience, so I'm prepared to be a bad shot.

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Cure that before you ever step out into the woods to hunt. Reread post # 3, towards the end. Especially being in NJ, you need to be able to get the animal down as quick as possible. You will not be alone in those woods, and if it goes any distance at all, someone else will finish it off and claim it, and rightly so.

1More said:

I'm finally moving hunting out of my bucket list. I just got my NJ permits and I could use a little help.
I'm a complete newbie and I'm mainly interested in larger game. I know these are not beginner guns, but I'm willing to put in the work at the range to master a better firearm. Iv'e been looking at these 3 slug guns

• Remington 870 SPS
• Savage 212
• Winchester SX4 Cantilever Buck

and these 3 revolvers

• Ruger Super Redhawk 480
• Smith & Wesson Performance Center 629 44. Magnum Hunter
• Smith & Wesson Performance Center 629 Competitor 6" weighted barrel

I'll be buying a 12 gauge and a revolver. Does anyone want to weight in on which combination they recommend and why? Feel free to add a choice or 2. I'm really trying to learn what I can.

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Of the shotguns, if you are sure you will only want to shoot slugs, then the Savage 212 would be my choice. As others have said, a 20 gauge would be just as good for deer as a 12 gauge. Personally, I don't think the recoil of either is that bad.

Of the handguns I would go with one of them (no preference on which one) in 44 Remington Magnum. You will have a better choice of ammunition and components with it and for deer hunting it will work just as well as the Redhawk 480.

The super redhawk in 480 is a great gun, ammo isn't cheap but it will do everything you want . but I've got no love for a 44 mag and not much love for a S&W- not bad guns but they're not robust and qc over there is done by Helen Keller .

Shotgun, pick whichever . I prefer Mossberg but I'm not much of a shotgun guy.

1More said:

I'm finally moving hunting out of my bucket list. I just got my NJ permits and I could use a little help.
I'm a complete newbie and I'm mainly interested in larger game. I know these are not beginner guns, but I'm willing to put in the work at the range to master a better firearm. Iv'e been looking at these 3 slug guns

• Remington 870 SPS
• Savage 212
• Winchester SX4 Cantilever Buck

and these 3 revolvers

• Ruger Super Redhawk 480
• Smith & Wesson Performance Center 629 44. Magnum Hunter
• Smith & Wesson Performance Center 629 Competitor 6" weighted barrel

I'll be buying a 12 gauge and a revolver. Does anyone want to weight in on which combination they recommend and why? Feel free to add a choice or 2. I'm really trying to learn what I can.

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Well...

The thing about First guns is... they are a gateway drug to more guns.

My first Centerfire guns?

1. Remington 870 Wingmaster 12. Ga./2-3/4" Pump, 28" Mod. Bbl.
2. Ruger Blackhawk .357 Magnum Single-action, 6-1/2" Bbl.

Still have both, and they have both killed a lot of game.

Start with Good Quality basic firearms, and spend the money on Ammo for a few years, Both at the range and in the field.

If you "Bow-hunt" with either of those or similar firearms?

You will have no problem fillin' freezers.


My $0.02. (valued slightly above the acquisition cost)






GR

I had a 5.5” Redhawk and still have 6” 629 classic hunter. Neither of them are as accurate as my contender in the same caliber or can achieve the same energy levels down range but I still have 44 mag revolvers because that’s not always important, I suppose I prefer the Blackhawk myself because when I am trying for the most accuracy I am not DA shooting anyway and with optics with much magnification, it’s a non starter anyway.

As far as slugs go, it’s a weight, speed and action calculation. A semiauto 12 with slugs is more comfortable to me than a 20ga single shot but a 20ga semi is a kitten.

I would suggest either mastering the shotgun or the handgun. Once you get one down, the other will come more quickly.
I agree with the people that suggested a 20 ga with a rifled barrel.
If you use a scope. You will need one that can handle the recoil of a shotgun.
If you use a rifled barrel. Sabot slugs make it much more accurate than a shotgun gets credit for.
On the hunting handgun side. I prefer a super Blackhawk to any other revolver. I have no input on the options you listed.

Many ranges offer guns for rent so you can "take a test drive" so to speak; see if that is available where you live.

This is a long shot. But you might go on one of the New Jersey hunting forums and post on there.
If you be polite like you have here. You might find a local that would be willing to help mentor you.
Offer to pay for range fees and ammo or something like that.
Hunters and 2A people usually are happy to help.

1More said:

Thanks for all of the input folks.
I'm leaning toward the Remington 870 20 ga. because of the ability to switch out barrels. Turkey hunting is starting to look interesting to me too.

That said, I'm gonna test a Mossberg and Savage 220 to see what feels best.

I'll think a Ruger Super Redhawk 44. is in my future too. I'm gonna give the Super Blackhawk and their non-super counterparts a test as well.

Wish I had such a friend. I'm stepping outside of the norms where I live, so that kind of access does not exist for me. I can, however, spend a heap of time at the range to do some catching up. I think your advice is solid, so I may even sit this coming season out and learn how to shoot my guns instead.

Happy hunting, All!

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Bfh_auto said:

This is a long shot. But you might go on one of the New Jersey hunting forums and post on there.
If you be polite like you have here. You might find a local that would be willing to help mentor you.
Offer to pay for range fees and ammo or something like that.
Hunters and 2A people usually are happy to help.

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I'd sure lend a hand if the distance wasn't what it is!
Eta I don't know the northeastern geography perfectly, but you might touch base with a few members here and see if there's anything/anyone we know of around your area, @troy fairweather pops into my head quickly for the north east but past that I'm uncertain......

Bfh_auto said:

This is a long shot. But you might go on one of the New Jersey hunting forums and post on there.
If you be polite like you have here. You might find a local that would be willing to help mentor you.
Offer to pay for range fees and ammo or something like that.
Hunters and 2A people usually are happy to help.

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M&M in South NJ is run by the Matarese family; fantastic clay target facility as well as ducks, etc.
http://mmhunting.com/