I am curious as to what are the practical range limitations we impose upon ourselves and with what caliber/cartridge we hunt. For myself I use a S&W .44 Mag, handloaded and scoped with a 2X Leupold and limit myself to about 100 yards. The revolver will hold under 3" at that range and has worked for me.

I have always been partial to the paper plate theory, maximum distance that I can consistantly hit an 8" plate, standing with no rest. For me that's about 60 yards. My handgun is unscoped and is a secondary arm. As far as the cartridge, revolver rounds depend on penetration and blood loss to secure game. The maximum range should be at a point where either accuracy or penetration falls off for the intended target.
Just my $.02.

For an iron sighted sixgun, I consider 50 yds max for big game, based on my skills, or rather lack thereof. For my scoped single shot contenders, the range is based on the trajectory and terminal velocity on the round, which is 150-200 yds depending on the round.

With my Contenders out to 200-250 for the rifle rounds and 125-150 for the pistol rounds. All my Contenders are scoped.

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Handgun Hunter

Hey!

That "paper plate" (International Red-Neck Regulation Target) is 9" not 8" . . .

Generally, the flat--off the rim--in the center is 6". I look for sales on these things, 100 ct. for about a buck.

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PowderBurns Black Powder / Muzzle Loading Forum:

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I subscribe to the paper plate theory as well. But mine do measure and are advertised as 8". For me in the spring (today) it was 60 yards. Last fall it was 100. Sean

Well Sako308
This coming year will be my first with a scoped hundgun. I have always hunted with a S&W 57 41 mag W/factory sights. My personal best shot was a confirmed 70 yd shot on a deer. That beeing said I will admit I normaly would not have taken that shot, but she was in her bed and had no idea I was there. Giving me a lot of time to judge and make the shot good.
With no rest or a moving target(walking not running) I would say my range would be more like 50yds with that gun. I'm not as steady as some guys are with hundguns.
With my new scope I can already out shoot the heck out of that.
I think Dave C has a good idea. limit your self by knowing your limitations. And that will be done with practice.
I'm glad spring is here so I can shoot the crap out of that gun and get ready for this season.

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Freedom wasn't free. Today they want our guns. What will they want tommorow?

I have a limit of 150yds with my Lone eagle in 7mmBR. It wears a 2-7 LER Burris. I have it sighted in for 100yds. But so far I've only shot it to about 80 yds at game.

Steve

I hunt with scoped Contenders with relatively flat shooting rounds. The key for me is the rest. If I have a good one I wouldn't hesitate to take a 250 yard shot although my longest to date on game is about 200. Over 250, bullet drop starts getting critical, and expansion of the bullet becomes more problematic.

The limiting factor is the nut behind the trigger. non rested unscoped for me is 60 yds. with a rest 100 yds or so. with a scope offhand 75 yds with a rest it depends on the cartredge. the more you prectice the longer one can shoot. if you shoot a lot of silouet 500 yds is nothing to sweat, if you never shoot over 100 yds then 500 yds is something to think about.

For my Super Redhawk with iron sights I limit myself to about 50 yards off hand. With a rest I will go a bit longer. For the scoped Encore 200 yards is no problem, again depending on the rest. After the load has been developed it is time to get off the bench and work on hunting positions, unless of course it is a benchrest firearm. I try to keep my shots in a 4" circle. I would rather go hungry than loose an animal. I like shooting a clay pigeons. At $3.97 here at my local Wal Mart they are a steal SlimL

Yes the limiting factor is the person pulling the trigger. with a good lung shot the 44 well kell deer a lot farther then 100yds. Throuble is makeing the good lung shot. THe more you partice the better you get. I shot coyote with my 3913 in 9mm at 50yds I would be afraid to shoot one at 100yds. The more you shoot the better you get. have fun

When determining the Maximum Effective Range of my Handguns, there are a lot of things I take into consideration. First and foremost is the Handgun/Cartridge/Sights being used, and what kind of Accuracy can be achieved with it.

All things being equal, if Accuracy isn't a factor (as the Scoped Single Shots seem to equalize this to a degree, and even more so with Rifle Cartridges) then I also rely on either retained Velocity, and or Energy. With Rifle Cartridges in the Single Shot Handguns, most Spitzer Type Bullets will not expand at impact velocities much below 1800 FPS, and some designs will not expand at much below 2000 FPS. I have found that the Nosler Ballistic Tips give good expansion at about 1800 FPS. This also depends on the Accuracy of the load at the range at which the velocity has fallen to this predetermined number.

With conventional Straight Walled Handgun Cartridges, for Deer sized game, I consider a retained Impact Energy level of 500 Ft.Lbs. as minimum, provided the accuracy requirements are met at that distance.

With Scope Singel Shot Handguns chambered for Rifle Cartridges, I have cleanly taken White Tail Deer at ranges in excess of 300 yards, however the shot presentation was perfect, as was the shooting position/rest. On a recent Prairie Dog Shoot, shooting from a portable bench with the aid of a Bypod, and Sandbags, I managed to take 4 Prairie Dogs off of a single mound with 20 rounds at 450 measured yards.

I have been Handgun Hunting since 1982 with Single Shot Handguns, and couldn't even begin to count the number of rounds I have fired in Practice, and at Varmints in preperation each for the upcoming Deer Season. But then that is half of the fun of it, at least for me. I generally practice at 200 & 300 yards quite regularly.

Larry

I equate handgun hunting to bowhunting and place the range limitations more so on the challenge of stalking game as opposed to the capability of the weapon. My longest handgun kill was about 45 yards. I don't see any reason to shoot much further, especially with traditional hangun calibers and open sights. There are a lot of guys way more talented with me with a handgun and I'm sure they can probably stretch that to nearly 100 yards.

Don Martin.