Handgun Hunting suggestions

[Carbon_15]

I've been hunting since I was a teen and shooting for even longer. Handguns have always been my love with rifles and shotguns being more of a tool. I think I'm going to try my hand at hunting with a pistol.
Over the years I have owned hundreds of handguns, some great some not so great. I would like to use the experiance of this group to avoid some of the not-so-great hunting style handguns, so I only have to do this once. I want to build a handgun that is easy to pack and ballances well(I'm not that big of a guy, so I want to avoid anything ultra heavy as stability would be an issue). can drop a SC whitetail out to a 100yard max range (typical shots would be inside 70) and is relativly flat to that range.
Here are my questions:
1: What caliber? I'm leaning toward .44 mag because its relativly cheap and easy to find...and compaired to some other heavy magnums is a good ballance between power and recoil.
2: Barrel length? Assuming .44 mag, what is an optimum barrel length to ballance speed and weight. I would like to stay with a 6" barrel...is that to short for a flat 100yard trajectory? (I don't want to be zeroed at 100 and have to guess at a major hold under at 25) 8" would probly be my max.
3: Scope? I have a Neos (well more corectly, my wife has a Neos) with a Red dot that I can easily hit clay birds on the berm at 100yards with a solid rest. One the up side, dots are very fast on target, but you have to turn it on and adjust the brightness. a handgun scope would be more expensive and slower on target, but more precise and is always on. suggestions...
4: Gun? I'm thinking about a Ruger Super Blackhawk (what is the difference in the blackhawk and super blackhawk?) Taurus Raging Bull or Super Blackhawk hunter. How would the accuracy of these 3 compare? I like hte SUper Blackhawk because it is cheap, simple and pretty svelt. I like the Hunter because of its solid scope mounting points with included rings, and I siply like the looks and feel of the Taurus (ergonomicly its my favorite, hands down)

Sorry, for the long post, any input or experiances would be appreciated.

 

[critter]

I enjoy hunting with a handgun very much indeed. You have several choices.

The T/C Contender or Encore are GREAT hunting handguns, but do not fit your 'carry' specs. They can, however, be comfortably carried if you set up the rig right. Calibers are very effective and varied.

Your next best choices are the wheelguns. The FA's are fantastic but costly. The Rugers are great and cost much less. I have just, within the last 2 weeks, gotten a Ruger Stainless Bisley Hunter in .44 mag. Obviously, I think that is a good choice. A blackhawk in .45 Colt is also a good choice. Either will fit the range requirements you list and, depending on length you pick, are very portable.

I much prefer the scope on the handgun. A little more expensive, but more accurate, always on and no batteries to run down. They can be almost as fast as a dot with practice.

You are embarking on a path that is great fun, challenging and even addictive. That's ALL good! Also, you are on the right path in selecting you gear. Find what you like and what works for you and ENJOY! Best wishes!

 

[Marshall]

For the money, any Ruger can't be beat!

.44 Mag or .45 Colt in a SRH, RH or the BH's. I have a SRH and RH in .44 Mag with Aimpoints, love them. Both are 7 1/2" which I feel is the best "hunting" lenght for bullet performance, accuracy and ease of packing around. My second choice would be a 5 1/2" like the RH offers. Either caliber can be used with strong loads. The integral scope bases are a great thing to have, I wish the RH offered it. I prefer swing-out cylinders.

Good luck!

 

[Yooper]

The .44 mag is a good choice of caliber for the hunting you propose. A good variety of factory ammunition is available just about everywhere. If you handload, the possibilities are endless.

If the handgun is used solely or prmarily for hunting, I would suggest the longer barrel lengths. The advantages are a longer sighting plane with iron sights and a velocity gain in .44 mag of roughly 40 fps per inch of barrel. I use a 6 1/2" 629 Smith and it shoots better than I do!

I have no experience with a scope on a handgun, so I can't offer much here.

If you have the opportunity, try out the various handguns you mentioned. See how you shoot with them, and go with the one you can hit with consistently. I have a Super Blackhawk and it has proven very accurate and reliable.

 

[critter]

Marshall, the Redhawk does (or at least used to) offer the ruger ring mounting system on the barrel. I just sold one I had for a long time that came that way.

 

[Carbon_15]

ok..another question...what power scope??

 

[critter]

ANOTHER good question. I had a 2X on my Redhawk (in actuality, it seemed to be more like a 1X). Not enough. I have a 3-9X on my 14" contender .223 barrel. Good for targets when rested but the high end is too much for hand held or even field rested hunting I think. Besides, the field of view is way small and hard to locate things in the woods. Lower end is ok.

On a contender 30-30, I have a fixed 4X. To me, that seems about right for hunting.

You badly need to give some handgun scopes a try, though, before you decide. You need magnification just like a long gun, BUT 'the shakes' get BAD in a handgun scope and so does the decreasing field of view. Therefore, YOU need to try some to see how much magnification you can tolerate before the 'shakes' get too much for you and before the limited field of view gets too samll for you.

Again, good luck in you quest. The search is also major fun though!

 

[VonFatman]

If you decide to shoot inside 30 yards...

Like I did, then you really do not need a scope...unless you need to amplify light.

I have (actually, it's my wife's gun) a Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44 magnum. I have some good warm (not pushing the power/safety envelope) hunting reloads that move the along averaging 1,350 fps. We are using 240 grain XTP Hornady bullets.

I've decided I will hunt with this gun as if it's a "loud compound bow" and keep my shots inside 30 steps/yards.

I have the gun sighted in at 50 yards, it shoots consistent 3.5" groups from my elbows resting on a table...which is good enough for me. I also prefer the sight picture better at 30 yards. I'm using the stock Ruger sights.

With this load, gun & self-imposed range limitation I have extreme confidence that should I have a clean shot and a decent rest; I will be successful.

By the way, I did spend a few bucks on some springs and a little stone work to get this Blackhawk's trigger fit for hunting.

I also have a T/C Contender and have shot a couple deer with that gun (7-30 Waters caliber). A great gun that will print dime sized groups at 100 yards off a rest. It's no different than my deer rifles in terms of accuracy and capabilities...I think the Ruger is a bit more challenging/limiting for me.
Good luck.


Bob

 

[Marshall]

Marshall, the Redhawk does (or at least used to) offer the ruger ring mounting system on the barrel. I just sold one I had for a long time that came that way.

Wow, I have never seen a Redhawk with integral scope mounts? Mine is a mid 80's vintage and I had to buy a mount. Thanks for the info, I learned something new.

Here they are today, you can see the Redhawk clearly doesn't offer integral mounts now.

 

[taliv]

I have a taurus raging bull in .480 ruger. fantastic gun. I highly recommend it. It's more accurate than any of my other pistols. (and it makes larger holes and more noise too... definite pluses!)

 

[Rembrandt]

I prefer the .44 for Whitetail and Antelope. Been using this 14" barrel, scoped Desert Eagle for long distance shots (200 yards) and the open sighted Performance Center for 100 yards or less

 

[41 Redhawk]

Ummm, might a Redhawk with the scope mounting capablity look like this:

Check out any of the models ending with R

http://www.ruger.com/Firearms/FAProdResults?function=famid&famid=6

 

[fecmech]

Carbon--The .44 mag is pretty flat out to 100yds. a 100 yd zero would probably give you somewhere in the area of a 3 to 4" midrange trajectory. That would be with full charge 240 gr stuff in the 1300/1400fps range. I use dot sights now cause at 62 yrs young irons are kind of fuzzy and I do like the precision they give. To keep things light I would recommend the "J Point" dot, it only weighs 1 oz. and there are adapters for Rugers where you take out the rear sight and put the J point and mount on. The big drawback is cost about $240 for sight and mount. That said,I have one mounted on the slide of my 1911. 45acp and love it. I've been using it for 2 yrs and at least 4k rounds with no problems, it gets slammed back and forth on the slide every time the gun fires and it holds the zero no problem. If the cost does not scare you off take a look .http://www.jprifles.com/index.html

 

[crawfish]

I have all three guns you mention but in .41RemMag. They do just what you require of your hunting handgun with one great difference over the same guns in .44RemMag and that difference is felt recoil. I have Luepold 2X scopes on all three. I enjoy shooting all three and usually have the Reeder Custom RSBH when I hunt. I have had the RSBHH with me every time out this season since it is one of my newest hunting handguns. BTY it kills deer very well, three does so far. Next week I’ll carry my 657-5PC as it hasn’t been hunting yet.

 

[Onmilo]

I use a Smith and Wesson 5" 629 Stainless Classic for handgun deer hunting but you can't go wrong with any of the Ruger products.
I use my Smith single action only when hunting so the double action doesn't figure in as an advantage or disadvantage I just prefer the overall handling qualities of the Smith.
I like the Ruger stainless steel Bisley Hunter single action with the intregal scope ring set-up.
Five, six or seven inch barrels are best for hunting.
Leave the short barrel guns for commandos and guides.
DoctorOptics makes a great red dot optic that works great for hunting to 100 yards and it will stand up to heavy recoil.
If you decide on a magnifying scope choose one that will stand up to the recoil as well, you get what you pay for and Leupold and Burris are my choices in handgun scopes.
You won't go wrong choosing a .44 magnum but then again I have nothing against the .41 magnum, especially if you reload.

 

[valkyrie.rider]

Another vote for Ruger. As a hunting tool. they cant be beat. Practice enough and you dont need a scope either.