Quick handgun hunting question

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kermit315

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A question was asked to me, and I didnt have the answer, so I thought I would ask you guys.

Illinois allows for hunting with a handgun that is either a centerfire revolver or a single shot, with a caliber of greater than .30, and a ME of 500.

If you had a semi auto, could you put a sled magazine into it, then qualifying it as a single shot for the purposes of hunting?

I would say that you wouldnt use a magazine at all, but some guns require one to fire, so I figure this would cover all bases.

As I said, I dont know the answer, but it is an interesting question.

Thanks,

Jamie
 
A semiauto is a semiauto whether or not there is only one round in it so the answer would be no; you can't use it.
 
get a contender and you will be safe and besides they are a lot of fun to shoot and
so far after 3 different barrels im verry im pressed with there accuracy.
but do your self a faver and pratice,pratice and when you think your good enough pratice some more. a rule of thumb is when you cand put all 6 in a paper plate that is you max range not just once but every time.. i have a SBH and my max range is 50 yds
for my contender its 100 with one barrel and 50 with another.
 
eh, its not for me, I prefer shotgun and bow, but like I said, the question was asked of me, and I didnt have an answer.
 
You could call the ILL DNR, or go to their website. If you had in your possesion a nonblocked magazine you would for sure be non-compliant. There aren't many autos that qualify (a 10mm, and .45 super?). Unless you already have the auto, IMHO you really should think of a Contender or a six-gun.
 
I only use single shot or revolvers for hunting where I am at but not all are .30+ anyway.

hunting.jpg

If you have a 1911 you might see if you can find one of the pachmyar dominator conversions, they could be had in .308 and would turn a semi auto into a single shot.

204Dominator.gif
 
springfield also made a single shot conversion for the 1911 called S.A.S.S. but I can't dig up a photo. EAA makes one that looks to be 1911 like called the Thor but I don't think it's a conversion. FWIW The conversions cost too much because they are so rare.
 
What possible advantage does a semi-automatic pistol have over a revolver? Another example of a stupid law. If they wanted to limit you to a certain number of shots, then just write the law to limit you to X number of shots! Much like the 3 shot limit on shotguns used for waterfowl.

Sorry, rant over.

Assuming you could find ammo with ME over 500 you could use a Ruger P85 with no magazine. It is specifically designed to allow you to use it as a single shot if you loose/damage your magazines. (Some sort of selling point when they were trying to market it to the military.) It has a nice, large opening to allow you to drop the round right in. It does not have a magazine disconnect.

-Jim
 
yeah, I have a P89, they are great guns. We were sitting around one day, and one of the guys commented on using his M&P .40 if he could find the right ammo, thats how this all came up. Like I said, I dont really have a dog in the fight other than curiosity.
 
Probably, if it had the right amount of energy. The way I read it, it has to be a pistol, says nothing about it has to be a pistol cartridge. I could just see somebody using a .308 pistol.
 
with a caliber of greater than .30
Click to expand...

I think that's the part MCGunner was referring to. The .30-30, .308, or even a .300 magnum, is not greater than 30 caliber. They may have some stipulation of it being a rifle cartridge, and thus being legal, but that IDK.

As far as the sled magazine in the OP question. They would probably find it too easy to change out rather quickly, and fairly little movement.

The plugs in shotguns have to be where the gun must be dismantled to remove them. This is done to assure that it's not easily changed when you see the man coming.

Wyman
 
I honestly think that the reason some game laws are written the way that they are is to pursue a anti-gun bias. For instance, a lot of folks that do not know better start saying that:

"That gun is an assault rifle, it is illegal to use hunting because it is just designed to kill people in a brutal fashion..."

Or something of that stripe.
 
I don’t think the Illinois regs are written to exclude “thirty cals”. A .308 Win is greater than 0.30" by 0.008". It's not much, but it is easily measurable. All the cartridges we commonly refer to as "thirty cals" are really larger than three tenths of an inch. Otherwise, you could just load them with some 0.309” or 0.310” lead bullets and beat the reg that way.
 
"30 caliber" refers to the fact that the largest diameter of the barrel has to have a diameter equal to or greater then .30 .308 does meet that standard in most states.
 
Just so we are all on the same page, this is the paragraph from the DNR Regulations handbook for 2009.

Centerfire revolvers or centerfire single-shot
handguns of .30 caliber or larger with a minimum
barrel length of 4 inches.
Click to expand...
 
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