Fellas, I don't have much experience shooting large handguns. None shooting handguns suitable for hunting. I found out defense gun, a 357 Python w/ a 3in barrel pretty easy to handle. What should I start out with for hunting? Most of my shots at deer are w/i 100 yds. Hopefully, I'll get a shot at bear next season. Any suggestions on the make of hangun? I'm thinking a Tarus. Probably 44 Mag, but maybe 454 if it's resonable.
If you're going after bear, you might look at the new Ruger .480 in a 7 1/2" bbl. I've never seen one, but the talk is that it has more power and less recoil than the .44 mag.
Posts: 2281 | Location: Layton, UT USA | Registered: 09 February 2001
First I don't like them but for someone who wants to start, think about a .44RemMag. If you don't reload you can shoot .44Special as a tune-up and pratice. Now if you are a reloader think .41RemMag (my baby). Will do anything you ask of it and won't beat you up while it does it. Been shooting the .41RemMag since '93. Have killed animals from 67lb does to 1500lb feral cattle with equel ease. Ranges have been as long as 187 measured yards. I load hot but the .41 still is pleasent to shoot. Have fun chooseing. LOVE THOSE .41s'
Good afternoon, I started years ago with a Ruger Blackhawk 44 mag. It felt enormous in the beginning. Today, I would start with a 45 Colt, either Ruger Bisley for SA or Redhawk for DA. Factory ammo is like shooting .38's in your .357. +P factory ammo or reloads will take this round to 44 mag velocities with 50 grains more bullet.
For both the starting handgun, and your hunting handgun, I highly recommend the Taurus Raging Bull. You can use .45 Colt in it to get acclimated. It has a factory ported barrel, and it is actually quite pleasant to shoot, believe it or not! I had occasion to fire one at our range. I do not remember the powder weight, but I know it was H110, under a 300 grain hard cast, gas-checked bullet. To me, it kicked about as much as a .44 Mag. Muzzle flip was easily controlled--even with one hand! And, with the red dot sight that was mounted on the gun, I had no problems hitting a 100 yard gong, five out of five, from a standing position. As soon as I can save enough money, I will buy one myself.
------------------ Happiness is a 200 yard bughole.
I started with a Colt Anaconda, but they are getting hard to find. The Raging Bull, Super Redhawk, and Ruger Bisley all have more than enough power. The best thing is they also give you a lot of handle to hang onto. The Bisley can be outfitted with a 5 shot cylinder(.475 &.500 mag)very easily in the future if you want.
Ruger in a 44 mag. Which Ruger? I can't tell you, you'll have to see which one you like. A 454 Casull? I don't know about the taurus raging bull and don't want to. I like my Ruger Superredhawk. With full house loads, it's not for someone not used to recoil. I'm 23, and I have been shooting a 44 mag since I was 11. I even catch myself flinching with full house loads on the 454 at times. Not that I do it all the time, but at least once a session, come on, everyone flinches once in a while!!! At least I can admit it Plus, you can take anything you want with a 44 mag. Recoil is easy to manage, and while it is loud, it doesn't bark and bite at all like a full house casull.
Crawfish may just be the only guy I know who loves 41s more than I do. There has been some great advise given here, and I would not argue it. Heres my 2 cents The 41rem. mag is awsome! You can load it down, or you can load it up. It will do every thing a 44 spec. will do. It will (in my eyes) out perform the 44mag. Its faster and flatter, and if your on the wrong end you won't know the differance between the two when it gets there. All with alot less felt recoil. The only draw back at this point is finding a good pistol chambered in 41. Tarus is probly the biggest producer at this time. I think Ruger still has one modle & S&W have the 657. Yep make mine a 41! X-Ring
------------------ Freedom wasn't free. Today they want our guns. What will they want tommorow?
I like seein' .41 mag and .45 colt in these posts. Most people just don't realize what they can really do. They should get a lot more attention in my opinion.
I have to chime in my 2 cents worth on the 41 Mag. It is an absolutely marvelous round. When I got mine, I was looking for a 6" .357, but ran across a mint SS Redhawk 41 in 7 1/2"... just had to have it. It shoots 'lights out' for accuracy, and is very well mannered with a target load. With 19.2 grains of AA9 and 210 JHC bullets, it gives me 1450 fps at the muzzle which is ample for most any critter. The only problem is that there are so few made anymore.
Posts: 2281 | Location: Layton, UT USA | Registered: 09 February 2001
In your shoes I would buy a Ruger 44 Magnum, 45 Colt or 454 Casull. I don't know if you handload, but in these calibers you have the option of shooting factory 45 Colt or 44 Special ammunition and moving up when you are ready. I find that full-blown 454 Casull recoil and noise are objectionable, and that for deer/hog hunting even the 44 Magnum's power is wasted.
For HUNTING I'd go with the Rem 44 Mag in a Ruger Super Blackhawk with a 10.5" bbl. You can scope this rig if you want.
The long bbl. gives you better velocity and accuracy. The Blackhawk is designed for silhouette shooting, and it's built to manage hot loads. I have a shoulder holster and a belt holster for this gun. Barrel hangs WAY down from the belt. Basically this gun is a hand-held carbine.
Gotta admit that the sights are crappy -- too much air between the rear notch and the front sight pix.
------------------ PowderBurns Black Powder / Muzzle Loading Forum:
If you are used to the muzzle blast of a 3" .357 with full power loads, then a .41, .44 and .45's shouldn't bother you. I can't say about a .454 though, but since it is a 65,000 psi round, I will assume the blast to be severe. Reloading is the way to go for these calibers. You can make exellent plinking/practice ammo using full size cases and reduced loads. This is a better option than using the .44 special/.44 mag combo, because you have to clean the chambers when you switch from the special to the magnum case or the magnums probably won't chamber. In these large bores, cast bullets are the ticket, no need to worry about expansion, they just punch a full size hole right on through taget. If you decide to reload and if you want the maximum power available, a .454 would be a good bet. You can load reduced power ammo and work your way up to full power. If you find that full power is not for you, just back the load down and keep shooting. It is much better to do this with a .454 as opposed to trying to push a .44 mag up to the .454's level.
Posts: 694 | Location: Des Moines, Iowa, USA | Registered: 09 January 2001
Are you looking for an iron sighted sixgun, or scoped gun? Do you want something light and compact, for use closer up, or do you contemplate longer shots?
Ideally you should see if you can fire a few different styles of revolvers to see what fits your hands best, and feels best to you. Some folks sware by single actions, others are fans of the double action.
I think taurus makes fine guns, but find the raging bull to be an unduly large and bulky gun, same comments go for the ruger Super Redhawk. This is primarily due to my desire of having a handgun that is compact enough to carry on the hip all day w/o poking me or trying to pull my pants down. The guns that fit that bill have barrels 4-6" long, and the ruger sbh or bisley really fit the bill. I much prefer the rotating recoil to the jab in the web of ones hand produced by a double action frame.
As far as caliber, I agree with the 41, 44 or 45/454 suggestions. The 44 mag is still the most popular, and common, so getting ammo is no problem. The 454 is a fine round, but full patch loads are difficult to master. There are very few species that one gains any benefit in using a 454 over a 44, and the bigger gun is harder to master.
Posts: 7213 | Location: Alaska | Registered: 27 February 2001
Good afternoon, here's a practical twist to your question for California residents. Post 1/1/01, your choices are limited to those handguns in current production that have been submitted by the manufacturer for testing and gained acceptance on the state's "safe handgun" list. To date, folks like Freedom Arms haven't sacrificed valuable samples of their product or incurred the costs. A S&W mod 29, 44 mag, will never make the list, although 629's may, but currently aren't on it. Those fine, out of production Colts will never be there. You may get lucky and find a used gun for sale by a state resident, but will have to do the deal at a common FFL. I live in Northern CA and have found guns on GunsAmerica in the LA area. A 4" mod 29-2 will cost twice its value with travel and fees. This may finally be the action that forces me to leave this crazy state, my home.
I'm with PowderBurns. I recently obtained another SBH stainless with the 10 1/2-inch barrel, having hunted with one that I put a scope and sling on about 10 years ago. I've fooled with a lot of sixguns, and the long-barreled SBH is simply the easiest for me to shoot well, especially with factory irons. It is long and muzzle heavy, but it also gives superior ballistics, and the recoil is relatively mild, say, compared with a 5 1/2-inch Redhawk shooting the same load. Last time at the range, I shot up some handloades with the 325-grain cast flat point over a hefty charge of H110, and recoil never intruded on my concentration. And when I shot up some 295-grain gas checks over 9 grains of Universal Clays, I thought I had found plinker heaven -- accurate AND very mild. The SBH begs to be shot Elmer Keith-style, from sitting or the back position, and targets "way the heck out there" are in fairly serious trouble with this gun. Another good point is you can take an inch or two off the barrel and still have a "custom" gun; this is the model that MagnaPort turns into its popular "Stalker." I guess if I were hunting thick brush or from a tree stand, and expected shots at 50 yards or less, I would go with a shorter barrel. But the long-tubed SBH extracts the maximum in power and accuracy from the .44 Magnum case, and is a very shootable handgun, which makes it well suited for hunting in more open country for mulies and such out to 100 yards, assuming plenty of practice.
Posts: 16676 | Location: Las Cruces, NM | Registered: 03 June 2000
First (or last) hunting handgun caliber for me is easy. If you don't reload than it's the .44 mag...if you do reload than it's the .45 Colt.
Actions are another subject but if you like DA than S&W, Dan Wesson, Taurus, Colt Anaconda or Ruger are all great guns with different qualities. SA's include Freedom Arms & Rugers.
Choose the type of action you're comfortable with, pick your caliber, and then practice! You can travel the world with either caliber or action choice.
Posts: 4168 | Location: Texas | Registered: 18 June 2001
I would say the 44 mag. You can start with 44spl to get a feel for the gun then go up to the 44 mag. My gun would be a RUGER SUPER REDHAWk it will hold the hot loads if you need them. I can push a 240gr XTP at 1650fps out of my 9 1/2 RUGER. This is with 22.5gr of VIHTAVUORI-OY N110 and a 300gr lead bullet at 1492fps with 19.2gr of N110. DO NOT USE THESE LOADS WITH OUT REDUCING 15% AND WORK YOUR WAY UP.
Quick I find myself recomending the 44 mag to those guy's "just starting out" into handgun hunting.
Im a .454 guy but there is no doubt the 44 mag will do all its asked to, and , it will be an easier round to start out with.
If you have any "specialty" hunting, or need a "specialty" handgun let us know. I'd prefer the 45 Colt myself but to a new handgun hunter, especially someone that doesnt reload, you just cant beat the ole standby, the 44 mag.......good shooting.........10
quote:Originally posted by quickdraw: Fellas, I don't have much experience shooting large handguns. None shooting handguns suitable for hunting. I found out defense gun, a 357 Python w/ a 3in barrel pretty easy to handle. What should I start out with for hunting? Most of my shots at deer are w/i 100 yds. Hopefully, I'll get a shot at bear next season. Any suggestions on the make of hangun? I'm thinking a Tarus. Probably 44 Mag, but maybe 454 if it's resonable.
Thanks, QD
well at my house we have about five xp-100s withsome having more than one barrel. if your shots are going to be within that range i would highly recommend something in 7mm-08 or even .308. if your worried about the kicksearch around and look at www.eabco.com for JP muzzlebreaks. it looks like something off star trek but it eliminates about 95% of the recoil - we have them on any XP that needs it - 7-08 and 308 included.
------------------ A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed !!
