What is the average range shot for a pistol hunter on big game?With scope and without.Is the thompson contender and encore the best for pistol hunting?What about revolvers and semi-autos?i would think inside 50yrds. would be the ticket.Also i got to hunt one time for hogs with 2 hunters who only hunted with thompson center pistols with scopes .They had the best time and loved pistol hunting more than rifle hunting.Does it get in your blood like that?
what is the best power for a pistol scope?
What is a good all round cartridge?
Are the encores pistols better than the contender?
My oldest son had a contender one time in 7-30 waters and it would fail to shot.We didnt like the flip fireing pin very much.It failed to shoot so much he traded it away.
Do they make a 8mm mauser contender?
Thanks in advance!

Lots of questions.
Average range? Your guess is as good as mine.
Contenders and Encores are designed for hunting and are very good at it. The best is highly subjective.
Revolvers and semi-autos, some are good some are not. It's more an issue of caliber and accuracy rather than action type.
I've used both and yes it was fun. Yes, it gets in the blood.
Encores better than Contenders? Bigger stronger, heavier and you can get an Encore in more powerfull cartridges. Different, not better.
I'm not sure if the Contender was malfunctioning or your oldest son, you'll have to be the judge of that.
You can get an Encore barrel in 8mm Mauser from a custom maker, no factory offerings and too much for the Contender frame.

quote:

Originally posted by blackbearhunter:
What is the average range shot for a pistol hunter on big game?With scope and without.Is the thompson contender and encore the best for pistol hunting?What about revolvers and semi-autos?

Greetings! Range is much more specific to the hunter than the weapon, though I do hold that different weapons have a maximum effective range due to cartridge and inherrent accuracy.

My maximum effective range with open sighted handguns, whether Contender, Revolver, or DE semi-auto, is 100yards at the extreme and under ideal field rested conditions, with 75-80 yards being more comfortable expecially if the rest is less stable or I am two handing it. Those with better eyes and better abilities will be able to go longer.

For example, with open sights and this 357 DE 10" pistol and with Win 180grn Partition Golds, I can consistantly hit the kill zone of a whitetail deer at 80-100 yards from stable field rests. WIth a scope, I can do better, but would not choose to with this particular cartridge.



Scope those handguns, and my range is extended considerably, to the point where sometimes the energy and capability of the projectile launched from the straight wall pistol cartridge becomes ineffectual before the shooting platform looses the capability to deliver the projectile to the target.

And sometimes, the potential of the platform and cartridge extend beyond my ability to hit the target, such as with this Pachmayr Dominator in 308 Win. I can hit deer sized game with this platform [3-12 Burris scope] and a stable rest out to 300 yards. The cartridge is capable of more, the platform has the accuracy, but in this case is limited by the ability of the shooter

I have been looking at some and cant figure out how some of the bigbores are shot,especially the 45-70 Govt. The 44magnum full loads is a hand full to me. I thought i had heard of a 8mm and a 30-40 krag before in the contender,custom made. I did shoot the 7x30 waters and really liked the recoil and accuracy.
I got a old big bore pistol hunting book from way back with Mr.Bob milek and Mr.harriet in it.
Some of those old rounds they use to make up were cool.Iwonder what ever happened to the 300whisper? I remember when it came out and i wanted one till i saw corbon was the only sorce of ammo and they wanted like 25.00 a box of 20.
I figured when the store sold the couple boxs they had with the gun, you would play hell finding that round anywhere and declined in buying one.Exactly what happened.I did think it would be really popular with hunters though.
I did run into a old round the other day that was a 351 auto i think it was ,neat little round made for a old auto rifle way back.I couldnt believe no one made a pistol for the little round,I know ammo probley isnt even made for it anymore.....Kinda looked like a 30.cal.carbine round.It was a new one for me.
Anyway i gotta try that pistol hunting with a single shot -short gun,looks like fun to me!
I had a friend that swore by his 35remington contender.I wonder if the 35 would be the ideal deer round with pointed bullets?How is the recoil with that round vs 44magnum?What about the 30-30 with 150gr.spitzers?Recoil mild or heavy?iam not scared of recoil or anything i just shoot much better if recoil is not to excessive with a hand cannon..........seems to me that faster/heavy recoil -is not allways more accurate.?I will take control over flinching & wild speed anyday.......

quote:

What is the average range shot for a pistol hunter on big game?With scope and without.Is the thompson contender and encore the best for pistol hunting?What about revolvers and semi-autos?i would think inside 50yrds. would be the ticket.Also i got to hunt one time for hogs with 2 hunters who only hunted with thompson center pistols with scopes .They had the best time and loved pistol hunting more than rifle hunting.Does it get in your blood like that?
what is the best power for a pistol scope?
What is a good all round cartridge?
Are the encores pistols better than the contender?
My oldest son had a contender one time in 7-30 waters and it would fail to shot.We didnt like the flip fireing pin very much.It failed to shoot so much he traded it away.
Do they make a 8mm mauser contender?

The average is 50-100 yd IMO for shots with .
With out is a little shorter.

I hunt with Encores , Contenders and revolvers, the "best" is personal prefferance .

With my 44 mag or 454 revolvers I will shoot deer and hogs past 100 yds with a scope.

With my Encore in 7-08 and a scope 200 yds is easy with a rest.

Yes it gets in the blood .

For most hunting ( less than 100 yds ) a 2X pistol scope works best IMO

Best round is a matter of the law ( here in Ohio strait wall pistol cart. only for deer) and personal preferance.

Encores are a newer design than the Contender or its replacment the G2.
I prefer the contender because I can work on the trigger and I like the older grips,but the Encore and G2 are stronger.

On the 7-30 ,my bet is he put oil inside the action. There are parts that will not work if you lube it with other than graphite.
The flip thing allows you to shoot rimfire rounds and is a safty.

Fox Ridge (TC custom shop )probely chambers 8 mauser for the Encore

Johnch

Sean vha nice pistols!What power do you set the scope for for the long shots?I tried to shoot more than 4x but didnt like it at all. 4x or under was more to my style with a pistol.But i really didnt practice or try much.i have allways used iron sights and can shoot pretty well,but for hunting /stalking i think a scope would be more pin point accurate,especially since the first shot is about all you will get.I think i will get a 7mm-08 or 260. if i get a encore.saw a picture in a outdoor life mag. were a 10 yr.old girl was shooting one,trecoil must be mild for that,but i think they made the encore heavy to help with recoil.Would love to take a deer or hawg with a 50-75 yard shot!THATS GOTTA BE SPECIAL!

I know the old t/c are accurate,I saw a fellow one day at the range shooting his and you could cover all his shots with a dime and he was using standard open sights!Impressed Me!

quote:

Originally posted by blackbearhunter:
Sean vha nice pistols!What power do you set the scope for for the long shots?

Greetings! I use the 3-12x Burris on 4x for anything but a rested shot. With a reasonably good field rest, 6-9X, and if shooting Woodchucks where I have extra time, 10-12x.

Blackbearhunter, recoil depends on the weight of the gun and boolit being shot. I have the BFR 45-70 which I shoot 317 gr boolits from and the BFR .475 Linebaugh in which I use 400 gr boolits and up. I find the recoil not much worse then the .44 and maybe not as sharp. The 45-70 is actually pleasant to shoot. The Freedom arms guns are a lot lighter and REALLY kick more.
The TC's are a handful and anything from the 30-30 up will kick much harder then a revolver.
I used a lot of single shot pistols for deer over the years and have gone entirely to big revolvers because they are more effective. The rifle loads for the single shots have to have exactly the proper bullet that opens at the reduced velocity of the shorter barrels or you will lose animals. I never had much of a blood trail with them either, unlike the revolvers with big flat nose boolits that leave a blood trail you can run on. Of course, I have never had to look for a deer hit with a revolver because they go down too fast.
If you choose a large bore caliber for a TC, you will really know what recoil is. I would rather shoot 5000 straight rounds from my 45-70 BFR instead of one from a TC. OK for hunting, but I shoot 3 or 4 times a week since I have a range in my woods. I could not shoot a big TC all that much.
I actually enjoy shooting my .475 and all the other guns are left sitting. I must have 2000 rounds through it already. (heavy loads) It has plenty enough recoil but does not hurt. My friend held it too loose and split his head open and he gave himself a huge shiner also where the scope hit his eye. The ring hit his forhead. I do not think I want to shoot this round from a TC and I am not recoil sensitive but have a large knuckle on my middle finger from a lifetime of shooting archery. It can take a beating from the trigger guards.

Forgot to mention that I have killed deer with my .45 Vaquero and BFR 45-70 to 100 yd's, but since I am an archer, most shots would average maybe 20 yd's.

I've used a Contender wearing 10 inch 357 magnum (scoped, 2x) and 44 magnum (irons) barrels and a 45 Colt Ruger Bisley (irons) successfully on deer and deer-sized game. Most of my big game shots have been between 25 and 50 yards; all of them have been under 100. I like the Contender fine. A fellow can train all summer with a 22 barrel then switch to something serious for the big game season. The Encore is a little too large for my mitts even when custom stocked (so it's a rifle these days). If I were shopping for a new hunting pistol these days I'd look long and hard at the Super Blackhawk Hunter, the newer one in stainless on the Bisley frame. It has a nice long sight radius for iron sight work and the scope cuts for those of us running out of excuses not to scope our pistols. Good hunting!