handgun caliber for deer

[Bezoar]

I want to get out and start hunting deer and other critters with a handgun. At the moment im looking at the 45 colt, 44 mag, and 41 mag as calibers to choose from.

I havent had a chance to shoot any of these calibers, so i have no idea how they feel in a handgun. I have a non dominant arm with a titanium plate in it that is giving me issues lately.
Is one of these catridges better for use by someone who would most likely be recoil sensitive? Would a 44 special be enough for humane hunting on deer?

Off hand would just be for supporting the hand with the gun and not really for absorbing recoil. Would it be best to focus on a heavy revolver revolver in the 50 ounce range or is somthign in the 38 ounce range ok?

 

[PotatoJudge]

I'd focus on ergonomics before caliber, then fit the load to the job at hand. I don't imagine the non-dominant hand soaks up much of that recoil. Heck, you could just shoot it one handed with any of those calibers (not bad in a bisley). I'd recommend going to a gun store and seeing what fits your hand best.

I'd lean toward medium range 45 Colt loads. The lower pressures involved may have an effect on felt recoil. I don't know how good a shot you are, but anything from a 357 on up is capable of taking deer cleanly.

 

[dakotasin]

first check rules and regs. 357 mag is not legal for deer here, for example.

i would steer you towards a 41 mag because it is what i like, and no other reason.

fwiw... i have busted deer w/ my 480 ruger srh, and it is an impressive deer-whacker. i find the recoil from it to be a lot more tolerable than the recoil from my 686 in 357 mag.

 

[.38 Special]

The .41 and .44 are fine for deer. The .45 Colt factory loads are marginal, IMO. They will work, but you need to get close and be careful. The handloader can, with a Ruger or Freedom Arms, considerably improve upon the Colt's ballistics for hunting.

The .44 Special is probably my favorite cartridge, but I am unaware of any factory loads that are suitable for hunting. Handloaded to 1000 - 1200 FPS with a 250 grain semiwadcutter you have a fine game cartridge.

I would go with a heavier revolver if recoil will be an issue.

 

[Grumulkin]

What you should do, is go to a range if one is available near you, rent some handguns and test shoot them.

The nondominant hand doesn't have to absorb much recoil at all. All the cartridges you mentioned are quite suitable for deer. If you really wanted to decrease recoil, add a muzzle brake.

My favorite hunting handguns are scoped T/C Encores and Contenders. You can get them in the cartridges you mentioned. Of the cartridges I've used for hunting, the 460 S&W Magnum is my favorite; it has plenty of range and power. The recoil is substantial but none of it is absorbed by the nondominant hand.

 

[Bowhunter57]

Bezoar,
Some of the best advise has already been given. The money you spend at an indoor gun range to try out several different handguns will be money well spent. Both for "felt recoil" and finding a handgun that fits YOUR hand.

Felt recoil varies from person to person. I am not recoil sensitive and can control any handgun that I've fired. I don't care for some of the larger "hand cannons", but can shoot them. To a person that is recoil sensitive, a large caliber with mild loads could work as well as a medium caliber with hot loads.

Some time at the gun range will tell the tale.

Good hunting, Bowhunter57

 

[Matt-J2]

You can on your options a bit if you think like a bowhunter: i.e., restrict your range and go for vitals behind the shoulder, avoiding the big bones. Opens up caliber/load selection, and should help with any recoil issues.

And of course, check local game laws and see what they have to say on matter. It would suck to find your ideal handgun then discover it's not legal.

 

[Shawnee]

The primary role of your "non-dominant hand" is to steady the handgun for the shot rather and help "control" the recoil rather than to "absorb" a lot of the recoil/torque

With the single-action revolvers (a la Ruger Blackhawk and Super Blackhawk) the design intent of the grip is to let the gun ride up in your hand and your hand ride up with the gun, and the challenge is more to control that upward motion - gripping the gun so the motion is straight "up" rather than twisting up and to one side or the other. I happen to hunt with a Super Blackhawk (.44 mag.) with a 7.5" barrel. I'm used to it so it's fine. If I were starting over I would probably opt for a 5.5" barrel for carrying convenience and slightly easier control of the torque. I would never use any less than a 5.5" barrel length though because of the increased noise.

With double-action revolvers (a la the Smith & Wessons) the grip design brings the recoil "back" into your hand and, though it is somewhat more prone to causing a flinch to develop, it eases the torque control a bit.

Some people hunt deer and hogs with semi-autos. I never have and it doesn't appeal to me.

The Thompson Center Contender pistol is a different ball game. It is an excellent hunting weapon even though it is a single shot. But there are some caveats with it too. On the plus side - it is easily scoped, comes in mulitple barrel lengths, the barrels/calibers are interchangable, it is an easy gun to steady, once fired it is completely safe (single shot), it is hefty even in the more compact versions, it can use any bullet you can buy to handload, it actually comes with pretty decent iron sights if you don't wish to scope it, and even better "irons" are commonly available for it. On the "not so plus" side - scope power is best kept to 4x or less, with less being better. But that is true with any hunting handgun. Scopes on handguns require focus and practice and they are not generally as fast with which to acquire the sight picture as irons. Some folks use the new "RedDot" style sights and they work well, at least at .44 magnum ranges. I have a less-expensive model on my G2 .22lr barrel and have shot 1-inch groups at 25yds. with it. Haven't tried paper targets any farther with it though.

The regular Contender frame and the G2 frame will host such calibers as .357 mag., .357 Maximum .41 mag,, .44 mag., .45 LC, the .45/70, the .223 Remington, and the 30/30, and all of those will take deer - the last three at greater range. These two frames fit me best because I have beefy hands and only average length fingers, so I can control the recoil well. The G2 frame is the newer, and better, frame of the two.

The new Encore frame hosts all manner of rifle cartridges including the .243, the .25/06, the .270, the 7mm-08 and others. These cannot be used on the regular and G2 frames. I got all excited about that caliber list until I picked up an Encore frame and found out it is too large to be a good, controllable fit for my hand. With further contemplation I remembered that my effective range would still be limited by the scope magnification regardless of the high-powered calibers.

From revolvers, I would stay with the .41 mag. and the .44 mag. I use .44 Special for practice and absolutely love it. I've never shot a deer with it and would avoid using it on deer unless the range was within about 40-50 yds. at most. No need to use it instead of the .44 mag.

In the Contender and G2, I would use either the 30/30 or the .223 with complete confidence to at least 150yds. The 30/30 - with good bullets in handloads - to 200yds.
In the Encore frame - all the calibers wold do OK but will certainly be a handful even if the frame fits your hand well. I've shot the .243 and the .25/06 and they are "boistrous", to put it politely. And frankly, they would probably never be needed for deer, especially if one had a 30/30 barrel.

The single-shot nature of the Contender might seem like a negative but it really is not much of a liability at all.

Lovers of the .357 mag., and the .357 Maximum certainly take deer and hogs every year. I've shot woodchucks, song-dogs, and a couple hogs (very close) with the .357 mag but never deer and, since I am accustomed to the .44 mag, I probably won't ever try the .357. calibers.


HTH, Good Luck !

 

[Grumulkin]

On the "not so plus" side - scope power is best kept to 4x or less, with less being better. But that is true with any hunting handgun. Scopes on handguns require focus and practice and they are not generally as fast with which to acquire the sight picture as irons.

I agree with part of this and disagree with some of it.

I prefer Leupold 2.5-8X handgun scopes. For longer range hunting (75 yards and over), they're kept on 8X and for shorter ranges in the 4 to 5X range. It's true that there is more difficulty in getting a sight picture through a handgun scope you but it's something you get used to.

For this Klipspringer taken at about 180 yards with an Encore in 460 S&W Magnum, the scope was set to 8X.

 

[mbt2001]

One gun that you might be overlooking is the .480 Ruger... My understanding is that it delivers better performance performance than a .44, but recoil of a .44. So for instance, it would recoil less than the .454 casull, but deliver similar power and be good for the same game. In any event, it might warrant a look.

 

[ArmedBear]

I've shot a .480 Ruger SRH 7.5" and it was not bad to shoot.

It had more recoil than a .44, but it wasn't especially snappy recoil.

That said, I recently bought a Super Blackhawk in 10 1/2", and have shot it a good bit. Haven't hunted with it, though that's my plan for it.

The SBH Dragoon grip doesn't hurt to shoot. The long-barrel gun recoils a good deal as Shawnee says, but the grip rides up in your hand instead of slamming it and forcing your wrist to take the brunt of the recoil like a DA grip would. The gun ends up pointing 45 degrees above horizontal when I pull the trigger, but it doesn't hurt any and it comes down again, ready for the next shot.

Shawnee, note that the 5 1/2" version doesn't have the Dragoon grip; it has a regular Blackhawk grip. I doubt that torque would be subjectively more "controllable" than the 7 1/2", which does have the Dragoon grip.

Anyway, back to the OP's question... My .44 SBH does not have any impact on my non-dominant hand at all. Just remember to keep your thumb away from the hammer spur on any single action with recoil, and it should feel fine.

Again, with a double action revolver, things are different, since they do exert more force on your wrist. Still, your off hand should be okay if you use it for steadying only.

Also, it's not necessary to do all your practice with full-house .44 loads, or any .44 loads. Most of your practice can be with a .22LR like a Single Six, and apart from the cost savings, IMO you learn more about how to shoot accurately by shooting 200 rounds than 20.

Just shoot some .44 also, so you are used to it. But for accuracy-intensive slow-fire shooting, there's little need to practice every shot with full recoil. The idea of practicing with what you shoot comes from defensive and combat shooting, where you need to be able to connect with multiple shots in rapid succession.

 

[Shawnee]

Grumulkin...

I suspect you are much more accomplished, or at the very least muh more practiced, with scoped handguns than the majority of hunters and certainly any newbie to handgun hunting. I'd bet my last brick of .22lr ammo that you are more skilled at it than I am - and I am pretty darned good. As you said - skill at using high magnification on a handgun can be developed over Time but it sure doesn't come in the box with the scope. I would not tell a newbie to get an 8x simply because of the chance that a beginner could get really frustrated and discouraged with such a high-power glass.

I have no experience with either the .460 S&W or the .480 Ruger and am not under the impression the ammo etc. is as commonly available as calibers like the .41 and .44 mags - so I would be in deep water making any comment about them either way. On paper the .460 and .480 sure look like they would "git 'er done". But since the .44 mag is so common, the .460 and .480 seem (to me) to be more specialized than a newbie needs to be concerned with at first. Local opinion may vary.

Armed Bear...

You're right about the grip on the standard Blackhawk - my oversight. It's still usuable, of course, but a newcomer might well find the SBH grip a bit more "user-friendly".

I agree 110% about practice with a .22 !!! My Single-Six has had a kabillion rounds through it and I probably shoot 200 .44 Specials at targets for every shot I fire at deer with the .44 magnum.

Though I shot in formal competition with a Colt Series 70 Gold Cup and a S&W "L-frame", I've shot single-action Rugers since before I was big enough to wear shoes so the semi-autos and DA revolvers really don't even come to mind when it's hunting season.

 

[Bezoar]

Id love to go get some range time in with rented handguns. but the only places that i can find in phone book or online are all around 60-70 miles away. And ive checked some of these places out and unless you enjoy glocks or those really nice SW revolvers i cant really afford right now.. it wouldnt logically be that helpful.