Picked up a pretty good deal on a Taurus 44 today with the 6in barrel.

What is practical hunting (whitetail deer) range of the "average" shooter with some practice with iron sights with this pistol?

Red dot or scope??

bullet & weight? I am thinking 250 gr Nolser Partition-HG

thanks

I've shot a few deer and deer-sized antelope with the 44 magnum and the very similar 45 Colt. I expect they will kill deer-sized game quite neatly as far away as you can get a solid hit. I figure a hunter's maximum effective range is the farthest he or she can put a cylinder full of hunting ammo into an 8 inch diameter target from field positions. The "average shooter" might only scare deer at archery distances. A serious pistolero who shoots a lot could become a hazard to the deer herd out to 75 yards with irons, maybe a little farther with optics. I'm not sure you need a Partition slug for the average whitetail (if your deer are above average, congratulations!) but using a Nosler certainly takes the guesswork out of the terminal performance question. $0.02 Good hunting!

Practical hunting range, whatever range you honestly believe you can make a good hit on the animal. For some it's 50 yards and under; others it is further. Practice and your individual ability mixed with some common sense will dictate yours. Some people determine their effective range by the distance they are able to keep all the
er shots on a 9 inch paper plate while using field shooting positions.

As far as red dot or scope, you need to look through both and shoot revolvers with each type sight mounted on them if possible. Then it will be a personal preference. I prefer scopes, but that's just me.

I recommend bullets weighing 240 grains or heavier for the .44 magnum. Your choice of the 250 Partition should serve you well. I have had good results with the 240 grain XTP, Sierra, Remington SJHP, and various cast bullets.

Hope this helps.

Duck - I'm going to stray from the path here and tell you that you do NOT need to shoot the big heavy bullets for deer at all. Hit a deer where it should be hit, with any of the 44Mag bullets, and it will go home with you. It's that simple.

I would use a 215gr cast SWC or any similar jacketed bullet with blunt nose or even a hollow point.

By going for a lighter bullet, you'll pick up good bit of velocity, level out your trajectory AND reduce your recoil. All worthwhile goals that outweigh any insignificant advantage of heavier projectiles.

Deer are built for SPEED and agility...not combat. It's rare to find a deer shot thru the chest where the bullet didn't penetrate both sides regardless of what he was shot with. Deer just don't stop bullets very well.

On a personal note, I have killed 5 deer with 38 Special and 170 gr cast and 4 using 357 Mag, also with 170gr cast SWC. All these deer were shot under 50-60 yds. All were shot thru the chest. And not a one of them stopped the bullet.

So you can imagine how much more effective your 44 will be using a 215 gr bullet. Get close and hit him where he lives and he will go down. Simple.

David, were you using a scope when you shot those deer at 105 and 115 yd?

Oh, if it's the stainless 7-1/2" bbl SBH you posted on the other page, I guess it was iron sights. Silly me.

sputster,
yes, it was with the SBH on the other page with open sights.

Also, I "smoke" my front sight with a cigarette lighter to get rid of any glare and provide a 100% Jet Black front sight. I do that before every hunt and refresh it when necessary. It wears off easy but it really boosts my accuracy.

David

Excellent, thanks. I appreciate the advice about the scoped pistols, too. Good excuse to get another 44.

Pecos, you are not straying very far and you are correct. Boolit design is what counts, not so much the weight. I use the heavy boolits because I get better accuracy and more penetration from them then I do with the lightweights.
However, I have shot several deer with the 240 XTP's and neither fully penetrated on broadside chest hits. I quit using them because a quartering shot might not reach the vitals. With the heavy, hard cast, there is no stopping the boolits even end to end on deer. I have never recovered an LBT style no matter where the deer was hit.
Flatter trajectory is not needed at deer hunting ranges. The heavy boolit actually carries better at long range and has more energy anyway and I will put them up against any other boolit out past 200 yds. Recoil means nothing, why worry about it, never notice it when hunting.

BFR - thanks for your comments. I have only shot varmits with the XTP and it did some serious damage. It's not hard to visualize it not totally penetrating a deer, but I think on a broadside shot it would be like a lightening strike. But I agree one would lose some "shooting options" with this bullet.

Bottom line is you just can't beat a good lead flat nosed slug from a pistol. Too many of us are conditioned by our rifles to believe for a bullet to be deadly, it must create a wound that you can stick your head into.

Not so. A .357 with cast bullet will leave an exit wound on a deer about the size of a 50 cent piece. But the deer will go down like he walked into a 375 H&H.

All a pistol shooter need do is stay cool and deliver the bullet where it belongs. Anyone who can do that will eat venison this year.