Novelty Threshold: where does the practicality end?

Sneakshot92 said:

Before rifles were legal in my local area dad used a contender pistol in 7-30 waters for whitetails out to 200yds. When the fun of the contender wore off he found a used longer barreled Redhawk and worked up loads to shoot out to 150 with the irons. He never put a scope on it and still carries it as a backup to his 280.

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I just read up on the specs of 7-30 as I honestly wasnt too familiar with it. Sounds like a great load for a Contender alright. I admire people who play have the wherewithal to put wildcats to practical use. I am not set up to reload yet and I will probably start with 45ACP, 45LC., maybe .257 Roberts or something. Is there a more common caliber in production than 7-30 with similar specs and ballistics and good for that type of platform? I really like the quarterbore family or close cousins thereof.

Offhand McFlan said:

I just read up on the specs of 7-30 as I honestly wasnt too familiar with it. Sounds like a great load for a Contender alright. I admire people who play have the wherewithal to put wildcats to practical use. I am not set up to reload yet and I will probably start with 45ACP, 45LC., maybe .257 Roberts or something. Is there a more common caliber in production than 7-30 with similar specs and ballistics and good for that type of platform? I really like the quarterbore family or close cousins thereof.

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If i'm not mistaken the 7-30 waters was developed as a 200 meter metallic silhouette cartridge. I'm trying to talk dad into letting me carry his contender this fall. After 3 years of trying I might be getting close.

Offhand McFlan said:

Is there a more common caliber in production than 7-30 with similar specs and ballistics and good for that type of platform?

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If I'm not mistaken, Thompson Contenders have been chambered in 7mm08, and I'm sure XP-100s have. My own XP-100 is a 7mm IHMSA. Of course the 7mm IHMSA, while quite "common" in the metallic silhouette games, might not be the kind of "common" you're talking about.

.308 Norma said:

If I'm not mistaken, Thompson Contenders have been chambered in 7mm08, and I'm sure XP-100s have. My own XP-100 is a 7mm IHMSA. Of course the 7mm IHMSA, while quite "common" in the metallic silhouette games, might not be the kind of "common" you're talking about.

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Theres a few xp-100s in 7-08 running around the forums, they were/are a standard chambering for that handrifle.

I had a contender in 7-30, and that was a really entertaining gun. If i ever thought id USE it, id find a xp or striker in .260 or 7-08.

For me, in hand guns, .357 is my practical limit. I don't use wheel guns for anything but fun anyway, and don't find bigger calibers fun to shoot. Sold my last .44 a few years back and don't regret it. Also got rid of my DA .357s because SAA clones or near enough are more fun for me to shoot. So that's my opinion on it, others vary and that's fine.

As for hunting? I'm a pure meat hunter. Between me and the wife we just want to put down 1-3 whitetail to fill the freezer and canned shelf and call it a day. If I can drop them all opening morning one hour in, great! If I have to hunt more, so be it. Bow, black powder give more time if needed.

So I use a rifle, usually a .308 and move on.

I'd honestly rather be at the range then in the deer stand most falls.

*Caveat: I do enjoy upland bird hunting with my buddies a few times a year, and never keep any birds I shoot. Really don't need to take a shotgun most days, just enjoy the time with "the boys".

Not a hunter so my opinion is nill, but everytime people talk about X frame smiths im reminded how bad I want a 10 shot one in 22 mag for fun.

Peyronie Kid said:

There are much better choices for handgun hunting than 44 mag and “old-timer” 45 Colt. Time and technology has not stood still.

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Better choices? For the hunting most people are doing with handguns, there are none better.

To me a handgun is what you can carry. Anything that weighs so much, that a holster, belt or shoulder, won’t allow you to carry it and be comfortable, is too much. I don’t care for the 460 or 500 S&W magnums. They are above what a practical handgun is for me. I like the 44 magnum, 454 Casual, 480 Ruger and some of the others, but there is a point where a rifle would be a better choice. To me a handgun is carried, in the field, for backup to a rifle or when one doesn’t want the weight of a rifle, either way, it should not be over bulky, too heavy or get in the way.

Gary W. Strange said:

To me a handgun is what you can carry. ...

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That’s a relevant distinction.

To you, once a handgun reaches a certain size you might as well carry a rifle. For other people, carrying a rifle would be about as useful to what they are doing as carrying a lacrosse stick. Nothing against lacrosse but it’s a different sport.

If you are hunting for meat, it doesn’t really matter what you use. Archery, rifle, handgun, muzzleloader are all just tools to accomplish the same goal: meat for the freezer. For other people, the goal is more nuanced. They like the meat, but they also like getting it in a specific way. Any handgun, no matter how large, is infinitely better than a rifle if a rifle can’t accomplish your goal (because your goal specifically includes “...with a handgun.”), the same way a bow can be infinitely better than a rifle in some cases, even though rifles are objectively more capable.

Gary W. Strange said:

To me a handgun is what you can carry. Anything that weighs so much, that a holster, belt or shoulder, won’t allow you to carry it and be comfortable, is too much. I don’t care for the 460 or 500 S&W magnums. They are above what a practical handgun is for me. I like the 44 magnum, 454 Casual, 480 Ruger and some of the others, but there is a point where a rifle would be a better choice. To me a handgun is carried, in the field, for backup to a rifle or when one doesn’t want the weight of a rifle, either way, it should not be over bulky, too heavy or get in the way.

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I carry my .460, .500 and .45/70 BFRs in cheat and shoulder rigs and there is nothing uncomfortable about it. If there is, you need a better rig. That said, even the bigger revolvers are way more convenient than a rifle in my experience.

MaxP said:

I carry my .460, .500 and .45/70 BFRs in cheat and shoulder rigs and there is nothing uncomfortable about it. If there is, you need a better rig. That said, even the bigger revolvers are way more convenient than a rifle in my experience.

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Yeah, even a big revolver carries pretty well in a good holster and will be easier & faster to bring into action than a slung rifle. In my mind the practical upper limit for handguns is probably the X-frames, except for hunting where any many portable handgun is useful. For protection against big bears the .44 Mag is really on the weak side of adequate and most guides [used to] carry bigger. But nowadays it appears that even in Alaska the guide are going for the vastly weaker 10mm and making up for the deficiency in power with volume of fire. Maybe 15 rounds of 10mm is easier to deliver quickly and accurately than 6 rounds of .44 Mag.

MaxP said:

I carry my .460, .500 and .45/70 BFRs in cheat and shoulder rigs and there is nothing uncomfortable about it. If there is, you need a better rig. That said, even the bigger revolvers are way more convenient than a rifle in my experience.

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I agree with that. I was speaking from personal preference only and meant no disrespect to anyone who uses and likes the super big bores. I hunt with a FA 6" 454 and a Ruger 6" Super Blackhawk in 480 Ruger. I have found for the hunting I do, where I live, a 44 mag is plenty and for the most part now, I use a 44 Special loaded to about 1100 fps and that is plenty. I would have no problem finding away to carry a bigger larger revolver and caliber, if I was in a place where the game required more caliber. I own and and shoot a TC encore and also a Remington XP100. The XP is 221 Fireball and is fun for small stuff, stretching it out a bit. I see them as specitaly pistols. I have shot some of the big bore hand cannons and they are fine, if that is what one wants. Hunters wanting to hunt some of the really big stuff, should do it with the biggest caliber they can handle. Just as a range gun, a few rounds of the big stuff, ends the fun pretty quick, and becomes punishment.