Which handgun to hunt with

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CommanderPoopyduX

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I am thinking of getting a revolver to use while White Tail hunting and I am trying to decide what would be a good choice. My dad uses his Smith and Wesson .44 mag and has killed several deer with it. I don't know that I want a .357, preferring to go with something in the .40s. a .44 mag would be fine, as well as a .41 (I know NOTHING about this round) or a 45 LC. I am familar with S&Ws but here people like Rugers and even Taurus as well. I think an 8" barrel seems a little bit too long for me, as I want to be able to shoot one handed, and those seem like they would be a bit front heavy. I will have a 30-06 with me, so shots over about 40 yards will be done with it.

Thanks for the input, and if anyone wants to show me pics of what they have, that will only excite me more.
 
I have a S&W M57-1 .41 mag revolver with a 6" barrel.

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It's been good to me so far on deer and hogs. Significantly more powerful than .357, flatter shooting than .44 and not quite as bad on the recoil. I like it a lot. The only problem with it is that ammo for it is very, very expensive.

I don't have any experience with shooting deer with .357 or .44, so I won't comment on them.
 
Hey CommanderPOOPYDUX! Love that name.

I personally have just purchased a Ruger Blackhawk .41 Magnum. (I mention that so much on here I bet everyone gets tired of hearing it!) I chose this caliber expecially for big game hunting in my area, black bear being the largest animal I would be taking. Before I bought it, I had never even shot a big magnum gun, and though I am a good sized fellow, wasn't sure if a .44 mag would be too much for me or not. I heard that .357 wasn't a real good choice for big game, so that eliminated that. I found out that one could reload the .41 mag and make it pretty tame, or could even load it to the equivilant of a .44 mag. So I went with the .41 because it seemed to be the best all round, and if I couldn't handle the big loads, I wouldn't be wishing I bought something else. Another fact that nudged me toward the .41 is it flatter shooting and has more penetration than a .44 mag. I also chose a 6 1/2" barrel as most people consider that the minimum length for hunting.

Now the thing you might consider a down side is in order to have a decent load with this gun, you need to reload or know someone who does. .41 mag ammo is fairly scarce in my neck of the woods, and there is not much of a selection either. The only factory ammo around here is Win. 170 gr. and boy, is it expensive compared to even the .44 mag. But I knew all that before I made my purchase and also bought a reloading kit, and have been happily reloading and shooting like crazy. I did a "poor boy trigger job" on it which brought the trigger pull down, but I still have about a 1/32" or so creep. I am used to it now though ,and can shoot it pretty good. From a rest I am shooting good groups at 90 yards with the factory sights.
I'm not trying to influence you to get one, because you need to get what makes you happy. THis is just like what my Dad always says to me about advice: "Advice is like tools in a toolbox. I show you what I got, and you make the decision if it is what you want to use or not." :)

I may take a picture of my gun and put it on here. I can't excite my wife, so it will be nice to excite somebody!
 
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I HATE to say T/C Arms following my very unsatisfactory experience with my UNprofessional Hunter, but Contenders and Encores usually are excellent.
 
I use/have used a variety of 357s & 44 mags in the past. Now I use a S&W Model 57 41 mag. All have had 6" or longer barrels and efficiently dispatched deer with no problem.
 
I've used the .41 Mag in a 5.5 inch Bisley Blackhawk to take deer, coyotes, and hogs. Before that, had an Old Model Blackhawk (6.5 in.) that I really liked, but it went to live with a collector, and the Bisley took it's place. Since I reload, the .41 Mag is a terrific caliber that will do anything the .44 Mag will, and do it with less recoil and flatter trajectory. Breaking 4" clay pigeons at 100 yards is a walk in the park.

Right now, though, my backup gun for hunting (deer and hogs) is a Bisley Vaquero in .45 Colt. With my handloads of 300 gr. heat-treated cast bullets, and a generous helping of H-110, it will handle just about anything, and it's really fun to shoot, besides!

All this is strictly opinion, and as such is worth about what you paid for it.

JWB
 
I use a Ruger Redhawk (44 mag) with a 4" barrel and a Ruger Blackhawk (.41 mag) with a 4 5/8" barrel for deer hunting.

I've used a T/C Contender with some success in the past. I found the 14" barrel a hindrance in the type of terrain I hunt. It was the most accurate handgun I've ever shot, just too long.

A lot of people have killed a lot of deer with the .357 magnum. I prefer the .41 and .44 magnums. I think they give me a little bit of leeway in shot selection.

.41 magnum man nailed it with his post, .41 mag ammo is expensive. I bought mine, bought a couple boxes of ammo then decided I needed to start reloading. I haven't really saved any money, but I've been able to shoot a bunch more compared to factory ammo. You can occasionally find reasonable priced ammo on the 'net.

.44 mag is not as pricey as .41 mag. It's not cheap by any means, just less expensive. There is a wide variety of components available for reloading the .44. Those big cases are easy to work with too.

I don't have any experience with the really big boomers. From what I've seen, factory ammo is real expensive.
 
.41 mag ammo is expensive

Ah, but after I recovered from losing a wife & a Daughter, who went "on her own," I gained a GUN ROOM (and guns, more guns, more reloading gear, etc.). Among other things, I load beaucoup 41 mag rounds. But you're right, if I had to buy it, my 57 would be a safe queen.
 
I reload for my .41, too - I've been shooting Berry's plated bullets 210gr flat point bullets over 8 grains of Unique as a "plinking" load. I did spend about $125 at gunshop prices to get 5 boxes of ammo, but then I reloaded all 250 cases for about $25-30 in supplies.

When I reload them all one more time, I'll have paid for my reloading equipment (Lee classic turret press, lee 4 die set, primers, bullets, powder).

I have been shooting the Federal CastCore 250gr cartridges at deer and pigs, but they're $30 for a box of 20 so I ONLY shoot them at deer and pigs.
 
My choice would be a 41 mag in your shoes. I have a Ruger Blackhawk 41 on layaway. May just pick it up this weekend. Many complain about the cost of ammo for the 41 mag. Just plan ahead a bit and keep a bit of a supply on hand. Really just depends on how much you are likely to shoot. If you shoot a lot, I'd get a 44 mag revolver.

My whitetail handgun these days is a scoped 480 Ruger SRH as the primary gun. It will definitely put a deer down and it increases the flexibility for future hunts (different and larger species). Have not used the 41 mags in a couple years. But it would be my choice if I were carrying both a rifle and a handgun...Model 57 Smith Mountain Gun (4").
 
Picture of my Ruger .41 Mag with Hogue grips

So, Commander, are you excited? I know it isn't the best picture. I have another picture of the gun on a deer hide that shows up real good, but I can't get it to upload on here for some reason.
 

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My out of the box hunting revolver is a Ruger Redhawk .44 mag with the 4& 5/8th barrel.

They are strong enough and the cylinder is long enough to take the 330 grain hammerheads with no problem. This makes the .44 mag as potent as possible.

The Redhawk is in my opinion about as good a mix of strength and usability for hunitng as can be had in a factory pistol.
 
I hunted with a Ruger Super Blackhawk in 44 Magnum for a couple years. I had it topped with a Bushnell Holosight. It was a very accurate shooter. I never did get a chance to harvest a deer with it.

I ran across a chance to pick up a TC Contender (old model) for next to nothing (it was .223). I obtained said gun and bought a 10 inch bull barrel in 44 Magnum. I have hunted with it in several different formats, scoped, iron sights, holosight.

This thing is a absolute tac driver - I consistantly cloverleaf with this at multipule ranges. I took my fist deer with it a couple years ago - shot him a 42 yrds with open sights. He went down like a rock in his tracks and never moved.

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As far as my experience with revolvers - you can't go wrong with S&W and Ruger. I guess you first need to decide if you want to go with a Single or Double Action. Once you have that figured out you can decide won what model/brand etc.

I personally see no purpose in a Double Action if its simply for hunting. Your only going to pay more for Double Action when you can for all intensive purposes re-cock a single just as fast. IF your thinking of this as a self defense tool, as well, due to the area you may be hunting - then thats something you'll need mull over as well.

Lets us know what you decide on and PICS PICS PICS!
 
TC Contender

Nice job, Half! Great choice (or "choices" since caliber options are seemingly endless). Superb accuracy . . . my G2 happens to favor long barrels. I have never hunted deer with a TC in the handgun configuration, however such would be an excellent & very practical selection. I'll have to try that someday, but for the present, carrying/using either of these just suits my fancy at the moment (and has done so for quite some time.).

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My wife just bought a Taurus Raging Bull in 454 for hunting. Recoil is surpringly light. Of course it is a very larg handgun.

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