Why are people skeptical about the idea of hunting with a handgun?

jmorris said:

I don’t think so. That 6” 357 in the bottom right of post #38 has done the job with 158gn JHP’s. I don’t think the deer could have felt the difference it if were two inches shorter.

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Yep, not to mention depending gun a particular 4" may shoot the same speed or even faster than a 6".

This photo silenced my critics for a short time....

Their memories are short so I have to keep upping my game.

People can believe what they want. They're not going to change what I hunt with or how I think about it. .357 magnum has been a favorite of mine for a long, long time. I know my .45 Colt shooting a 300 grain XTP at 1200 fps has a lot more energy/bullet weight/frontal area, but that don't mean my .357 can't stop a deer or hog. I've done it.

The nifty thing about .357s, medium frame guns, is how light they are on the hip when moving in rough country. I used to, when I COULD hike, carry a medium frame .357 in black bear country with a 165 grain Keith style SWC load. I never had to use it, but it was there, so I took it. Frankly, in bear country I was in (southern New Mexico mountains, I worried more about people than bears. But, I shoot the .357 quite well and trust it. The caliber has proved itself on medium game for me. I never shot a deer with the .357 revolver, but did take a 150 lb boar hog with it at 60 yards. I have taken a deer with that load at 80 yards with my .357 Rossi 20" carbine. At 80 yards that bullet is below 1000 ft lbs, around 800 without looking at old computer generated ballistics tables.

Notice I didn't talk about Alaska. The thread is about deer hunting, after all.

300-grain .357? Figuring on cartridge overall length, where ya gonna put the powder?

I used to load 158s with 2400. Dirty! Then they came out with H110. Clean!

I shot one deer w a .357 revolver, running wimp Hornady LeveReveolution 140gr.
Of course where I shot the deer a .22 rf probably worked (facing away- spined, on purpose).

Watched some TV show, hippie w a 10mm spines a deer and says "what power".

LOL, cut the wiring harness and they drop. Doesn't take much power to do that.

Art Eatman said:

300-grain .357? Figuring on cartridge overall length, where ya gonna put the powder?

I used to load 158s with 2400. Dirty! Then they came out with H110. Clean!

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If I can get a 200 gr bullet in a 38 S&W I am sure we can get a 300gr bullet in 357 Mag. Probably won't be going much faster than my 38/200 but we can do it. OAL is only a suggestion in a revolver. As long as the cylinder rotates we are good to go!

ETA: oomph. Never mind I made a theoretical bullet based on my 200gr hemispherical round nose I use in my 38/200 load. A lead 300 gr hemispherical round nose would be ~1.25 inch long and even loaded at an N-frame cylinder length ~1.65 inch OAL I can't seem to get it going faster than about 400 fps in Quickloads.

Have killed maybe a dozen or so deer with revolvers.
None w specialty pistol (yet)
Lots of small game.

Must say, with today's electronic ear protection, handgunning should be seen as something favorable.

Tinnitus sucks. Blasting chucks as a kid w .22 mag and .357 mag revolvers.........plus some deer w .44 mag when older.
Was tolerable, isn't pulsative or painful yet............but last yr or so it noticeably got worse.

Music...............yup, I can't hear certain notes now.
And at night the constant ring, like a watch alarm...........low level, never stops.
Shift in hearing (maybe due to tinnitus or ?) has low freq sounds being more noticed. I hear every friggin' truck or MC going down the road. My bedroom on outer wall. Move to inner bedroom and can't hear em.

Sleep is not overrated.

mcb said:

Are we saying a quality 158gr JHP from a 4 inch 357 Magnum would not work on deer assuming the shooter does his part?

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It would work on the ones in my back yard.

What year did the Python Hunter come out?
IIRC there was an ad for it, guy shot a bull moose.

mcb said:

Are we saying a quality 158gr JHP from a 4 inch 357 Magnum would not work on deer assuming the shooter does his part?

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I took 3 with a 4" Security Six and one was with 140gr Speer, but that was years ago. You need to check if your revolver can chamber a 180 gr. Some cylinders are too short. The Ruger GP can handle them. It can also handle a hotter load than some of the other makes. One needs to do some research before loading full powerhouse loads.

Here's a 300gr .357 bullet. Good luck getting it somewhere out of a .357Mag handgun though.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2046438654

Yep, i own several handguns capable of killing deer and hogs. Don't like to hunt with handguns: i prefer to hunt with muzzle loading rifles.

Tinnitus sucks.

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Only thing it’s good for is not hearing children whine. It will teach them to be vocal, if they want to get their message across though.

Sometime in the late 1940s/early 1950s my father went to a ranch for a deer hunt. There was a one-armed guy there with an S&W K-38. The rancher expressed concern about crippled deer. So, a quick demonstration on a 100-yard target: A six-shot five-inch group. Grins all around and the rancher nodded, no longer worried about cripples.

Them that can, do.

I never have killed a deer with a handgun, only because I didn't own one I would consider a hunting pistol. however, I now own a super redhawk in .44 mag, and several of the deer I killed with a rifle or shotgun, could easily have been done with this pistol. I took a long break from deer hunting, but the next lease I am on, I most likely will.

Jeb Stuart said:

Wondering why all the focus just on Deer. Hasn't anyone ever taken a squirrel with a handgun in 22.cal? Not to mention all the other Varmits and calibers.

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rodwha said:

At the range I shot at monthly back in San Antonio I noticed quite often that those with bottom feeders had larger groups at 7 yds than my black powder revolver groups at 15. But those who brought revolvers generally did better than me. I’m no pistolero by any means. The guys with autoloaders were generally in their 20’s.

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From the seat of moving tractor while mowing.

jmorris said:

Only thing it’s good for is not hearing children whine. It will teach them to be vocal, if they want to get their message across though.

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Mine is getting me out of household chores. If I can't hear her how can I possibly know she wants the trash taken out right NOW?

jmorris said:

Only thing it’s good for is not hearing children whine. It will teach them to be vocal, if they want to get their message across though.

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3 daughters and an ol lady.
While tinnitus does mask most of their blabber, it isn't 100%.

SNL Hartman as Stockdale flashed in my mind LOL

I can't hear all the top notes or squelch (some but chunks missing) on the Machine Head "Descend the Shades of Night" now.
Had CD blasting at home and I was "WTH?" ........a neat snippet was just gone.

Always wore ear protection on range. Just not hunting.
Didn't have the electronic stuff back then.

Sucks.

Electronic ear pro or no to handgun hunting. What I tell anybody that wants to try to pop a deer w handgun.

Hookeye said:

Electronic ear pro or no to handgun hunting. What I tell anybody that wants to try to pop a deer w handgun.

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Very good advice. Here is a pic of my pig pistol in .300 BLK (yes my bench is kind of dusty). Let's just say it's loud and leave it at that. Yes I know, I should get a suppressor but one of my boys needs to graduate from college first and get off my payroll.

I just always took my muffs and pulled 'em down over my ears before taking a shot. Of course, I only stand hunt with handguns.