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Old September 2, 2012, 09:15 PM   #26
Hook686
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S&W 629 6-1/2" barrel is my pick.
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Old September 2, 2012, 09:28 PM   #27
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I think a Desert Eagle in .357 magnum, or .44 magnum might be an option. Get a 10", or 14" barrel for it and you can shoot off hand, or from a rest simply by changing the barrel. I bought the ,44 magnum XIX and a .357 barrel/bolt kit, plus a 10" barrel. The Desert Eagle I find to be a fine hunting handgun.
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Old September 3, 2012, 12:21 PM   #28
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My personal preference is a Ruger Super RedHawk equipped with a 30mm UltraDot sight. To date I have had 2 each in 44 Magnum, and currently have 2 each in 480 Ruger.
Super RedHawks come with Integral Scope Mounting Points, and Rings.
If you buy a Super RedHawk and the 1" Rings that come with it are still New and Unmounted, you can contact Ruger and swap the 1" rings for 30mm. You can also buy 30mm Rings new for it.
The best source on the 30mm UltraDot is UltraDot West. A search should find them.
Note: I have both a 1" UltraDot and the 30mm UltraDot sights. No Comparison in the field of view. Go with 30mm even if you have to BUY New 30mm Rings.
For a Rest I use a Monopod from Wal-Mart. Get a Rubber Cane Tip and a tube of epoxy putty and install the cane tip on the bottom of the monopod. This keeps it from making noise on rocks. It also keeps it from making noise and going through the expanded metal on your Ladder Stand floor.

For ammo reloading is much preferred. You can shoot much cheaper, and also Custom Tailor your ammo to your needs. My preference in 44 Magnum is a 310 grain Wide Flat Point Cast Bullet with Gas Check.
In the 480 Ruger I load between 355 grain and 400 grain Wide Flat Point Cast Bullets.
What most Handgun Hunters want from a Revolver is a Large Hole in, and a Large Hole Out from any reasonable angle. My idea of Reasonable is Broadside, or Quartering shots.

For sight in with an UltraDot I like to shoot on Bright White Paper Plates, or Circles. You can center the Red Dot on the Round White Target fairly easily. I also cut targets to different sizes from White Poster Paper, and use Contact Cement to glue them to a contrasting back board such as card board, or dark poster board. You need a White Halo around your Red Dot at whatever distance you are shooting.

I normally add Hogue Tamer Grips to my Super RedHawks. They have the Smurf Blue Sorbothane strip down the inside back of the grips to soak up recoil. They are standard on Alaskans. I also add a Green Marble Fiber Optic front sight for back up use. They are Great in the woods.

I tagged an 11 Point Buck on my Missouri Anydeer Tag last year, as well as a Full Size Doe on my Antlerless Only Tag. Both deer were at 50 - 55 yards from a Doublewide Ladder Stand covered in Camo Burlap. All shots were text book behind the shoulder shots, and both deer went down inside of 50 yards.

Bob
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Old September 3, 2012, 03:03 PM   #29
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What about a 10mm?
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Old September 3, 2012, 04:14 PM   #30
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Clean shot with 1,000 plus ft lbs in .41 or .45 Colt (Ruger Only Level) or .44 mag, or .454, or .460, or .475 or .500 revolver will smoke anything on earth. .357 or 10 mm with 700 plus ft lbs would be lowest I would go as a last resort.
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Old September 4, 2012, 12:57 AM   #31
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RUGER SUPER BLACK OR RED HAWK,both will do a fine job.I'm a big fan of the 454 myself but the 44 is a good choice also. With alittle range time 100 yds aint a big deal.
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Old September 4, 2012, 04:30 PM   #32
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Quote:
deer hunting with a pistol ?
Id am no expert but one clean rifle shot is more humaine
than a maybe kill with a 44MAG
Bad shot with a rifle isn't very humane either. Those of us who handgun hunt put in the work to get competent. Most of us will not take the shot unless we have a good shot.
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Old September 4, 2012, 04:41 PM   #33
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Quote:
deer hunting with a pistol ?
Id am no expert but one clean rifle shot is more humaine
than a maybe kill with a 44MAG
Is a 44 or 45 cal bullet in the vitals ever a maybe? 44's and 45's, even at pistol velocities will exit.

In my book, that is much better than a 243 Win which might explode. Still, I think a 243 Win is a good deer caliber with good bullets.

Most rifles are generally overkill x 5, especially those people in deer camp with a 300 Win mag because they might shoot 250 or 300 yards. I mean, a good shot will kill. A bad shot with a 50, is still a bad shot.
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Old September 4, 2012, 10:08 PM   #34
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During his last hunting years, my Father took two whitetail bucks, each with a single shot from a stock 6.5" S&W model 29-2 .44 Magnum. Ammo was the regular Remington 240gr JHP. Knowing him, the shots would have been under 60yds and were heart/lung shots. He asked me later if there was a .44Mag load (factory, he didn't do handloads) that wouldn't penetrate all the way through and exit. I suggested he try the 180 grs, but as fate would have it, he never got the chance again.

His standard was the paper plate. If he could hit close to the center of a paper plate, he was sure of a clean kill at that range. He hunted the woods of the Adirondaks, and that was plenty good enough accuracy on several occassions.

There is no doubt in my mind that regular .44 mag is powerful enough to cleanly take deer at any range the shooter can make a clean hit. Even big muleys.

As to the T/C Contender class, I find the 14" barrels to be both very muzzle heavy, and the upper limit of what I can shoot offhand. The 10" barrels, however balance much better and can be shot well offhand (and you CAN use both hands) or off a rest.

Quote:
People that can hit a target at 100 yards with a 4" barrel only exist on the internet. Olympic shooters can't do it.
I would say that would depend on the size of the target, and the shooter. I don't know any Olympic shooters, so I can't say if they could hit a small target at that range, after all, its not what they practice. But I think any of them could learn how.

I have hit the 200yd gong on the rifle range with a friend's .357 Sig. Took me 3 shots to get the range down, but once I got it, it wasn't all that tough. With a gun I had never shot before.

I can regularly ring that gong with my 7.5" .45 Colt Blackhawk, offhand, one handed. Its all just a matter of learning your gun and load well enough.

Note that is slow aimed fire. I won't claim to be able to do it on the run, from the hip like they can in the movies, but then there are a lot of things they do in the movies I can't do (or do anymore)

And I can assure you that I, and others with even more skill don't only exist on the Internet.
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Old September 5, 2012, 12:15 PM   #35
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Old_Crow

I have killed several deer with a pistol. The pistol was never my primary weapon. I have a Dan Wesson with a 10" barrel. It's not a 100 yard gun. It was designed for silhouette shooting. People that can hit a target at 100 yards with a 4" barrel only exist on the internet. Olympic shooters can't do it.
Better back up a couple of steps there before you say something silly. A lot of us can do it, there is no magic involved, just a good gun, basic application of good marksmanship and lots of practice.

This is a 5 shot group on a 6" bullseye target at 100 yards with a S&W M58 41 magnum. That is a 5"x7" group.



I have similar targets shot with my Colt 1911A1 45 ACP and my Dan Wesson .357 mag with 4" barrel. Just because you haven't done it does not mean that there aren't a lot of people out there not doing it. It helps that I do not have a scope because then I am not tempted to take a shot at a target I cannot see clearly and I have to pay attention to the fundamentals.

Ruby Fox won the silver in 1984 at 25 meters in sporting pistol, you did not want her shooting any pistol at you at 200 yards, she would have ruined your whole day. I'm not even close to her in skill level, the only thing I have in common with her is our age.
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Old September 5, 2012, 06:06 PM   #36
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You would be surprised how a Super Redhawk .454 7 1/2 is not muzzle heavy.



Now my two 629 4 inch .44s here are handy and my SRH .454 at the back is not bad at all. In fact you get used to the .454 and you start thinking the .44 S&Ws are light guns!

I use handloaded 250gr hard cast SWC 250s at 1200 or so with 21 grns of 2400 powder in my SRH and a 240gr SWC at 1000 fps in my .44s. Easy on the gun and easy on me.

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Old September 7, 2012, 11:09 AM   #37
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Quote:
There are a lot of accurate long barrel pistols for hunting, but most of them are essentially made for a rest.
........and as a Sportsman, you owe it to your quarry to use some kind of rest when using a handgun, regardless of barrel length. Also, to those that don't shoot, or shoot very little handgun, most any handgun feels awkward when held out at arms length for more than a few seconds. By the time one has practiced enough with handguns to justify using one for hunting, their wrist and arm strength has increased and they are much more comfortable with the weight of their gun. There's a reason handguns designed specifically for hunting have longer pipes. Think about it.
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Old September 7, 2012, 01:01 PM   #38
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Super Blackhawk
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Old September 7, 2012, 01:37 PM   #39
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Quote:
Quote:
There are a lot of accurate long barrel pistols for hunting, but most of them are essentially made for a rest.
........and as a Sportsman, you owe it to your quarry to use some kind of rest when using a handgun, regardless of barrel length.



This is a very true statement. Whether your rest is a tree,knee or whatever, a rest should be used. Don't think I've ever shot a deer with a handgun without some kind of rest.
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Old September 7, 2012, 02:54 PM   #40
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This is a very true statement. Whether your rest is a tree,knee or whatever, a rest should be used. Don't think I've ever shot a deer with a handgun without some kind of rest.
Is true, I may practice off hand but in the field I use whatever support I can get from my walking stick to fence post to the side of a tree. Only one deer was ever taken without a rest and it was a snap shot at about 35 yards with the Dan Wesson .357, yep, 4" barrel, so much easier to cart around in a holster.
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Old September 7, 2012, 05:41 PM   #41
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That's the thing. If I know I'm gonna use a rest, I might as well get a 14" .460 Encore.

At less than 30-40yrds, I'd probably hate it. That's when I'd want to be able to shoot free hand.

Which brings me back to the 2 gun idea....
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Old September 10, 2012, 06:24 AM   #42
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Hmmm

Five shots. 100 yards. Five inch barrel.


And I ain't even a great shot.
Pete
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Old September 10, 2012, 05:47 PM   #43
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Nice shooting darkgael, what gun and what ammo were you using?

The hard part is getting people to take those first shots at long distance and they are hooked once they realize the bullet will get there just fine. The biggest block to shooting beyond 25 yards is between the ears.
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Old September 10, 2012, 06:15 PM   #44
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I have a Super Redhawk in 480 Ruger with an Ultradot on it. It's a joy to shoot and very accurate.

I recently picked up this Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley Hunter in .45 LC. I put a Leupold 2x Handgun scope on it, and it is very accurate at 50 yards. I think I prefer a red dot sight though, and will try that next.

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Old September 11, 2012, 06:39 AM   #45
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It's my personal belief that cal. is not as important as being competent with what hand gun you use,deer are not that hard to kill shot placement and
the willingness to let them walk if the right shot is not presented is key.
for me I hunt heavy cover (think bow hunting).30 yds and in.I'll use my s&w 586 4" or my 5'' 1911 Springfield.beyond this a 45 lc.or 44. If there out past 50 I use the ever preasent long gun,Use what you shoot the best.
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Old September 11, 2012, 07:29 AM   #46
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Here's what I'm going with this year if I don't get one with my bow first. It doesn't really meet the non-front heavy requirement though.
The Redhawks, Super RH, and Super Blackhawks all balance nicely.
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Old September 11, 2012, 01:16 PM   #47
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Best value and performance = Ruger Super Blackhawk. I've had Blue and SS, but have kept the SS. Ruger SS revolvers are smooth as silk. The 7.5" barrel is what you want. I've owned several Smith 44s and the recoil impulse for my hand was uncomfortable compared to the SBH.
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Old September 13, 2012, 03:58 PM   #48
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Fn

Old Grump :
Quote:
Nice shooting darkgael, what gun and what ammo were you using?
It was an FN FiveSeven....certainly not a deer gun.
My hand loads.
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Old September 20, 2012, 05:42 PM   #49
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Like a couple posters advised, it’s not the gun so much as it’s the shooter that limits the killing distance. As for well-balanced pistols/revolvers – that’s an individual thing depending upon ones arm and wrist strength. A SW model 25 is well balanced for most while the Ruger Redhawk is heavy for some.

As for foot pounds of energy, it doesn’t have much to do relative to killing power, and should be completely disregarded but certain States with ballistic idiots at the helm have established a minimum energy level for handguns as well as caliber and barrel length, so you have to know your State laws, as to handgun restrictions.

When it comes to ease of shooting a handgun in a hunting situation you’ll be hard pressed to do better than a heads-up display red dot – the red dot takes away the sight alignment requirements/problems when making long range shots (over 50 yards). They are light weight, usually less than 0.7 oz and are easily mounted. The scope type red dots are heavier and uglier but just as effective and regular scopes are used mainly if magnification is required.

The 45ACP will match the killing power of the 45 Colt and 44 Magnum to a point and that point is usually up to a 260 grain bullet at 1,050fps and that particular load has killed about everything that ever walked on North America during the past 150 years. If you convert to 45 ACP Super or 460 Rowland you can push to 1,200fps and that will allow you to take racking shots on elk sized game animals.

Here’s what a good set-up with a heads-up red dot looks like both on a revolver and pistol.
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Old September 20, 2012, 09:02 PM   #50
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For me it's a S&W 629 Classic .44Mag with an 8 3/8" barrel. Handles very well, and the extra barrel length REALLY helps out with the recoil. I traded into this cannon about a year ago. It will remain in my possession until I go to meet the Lord.
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