Pistol dilema on deer hunting.

[Honda4me]

I own several center fire pistols and have never had the opportunity to shoot at a deer with one when hunting. I have a model 57 S&W .41 Mag. 6" barrel, a Ruger Blackhawk .41 Mag. 4 barrel, a S&W .357 Mag. 5" barrel, Thompson Contender .44 Mag. 14" barrel. All of these are more than capable on the game that I hunt.

I CCW a Glock 30 .45ACP which has a 3.78" barrel and is not legal to hunt deer with in OK. because the barrel has to be at least 4" long. My ability to shoot all of the above pistols accurately is 50 yards so closer is always better.

So I will either get a 5" barrel for the Glock 30 or buy a 5" 10mm conversion barrel (& new magazines & ammo or reloading dies, etc.) for the Glock. Shoud I get the 10mm conversion barrel or just get the standard 5" .45ACP barrel which I can & do reload for?

Again I will only shoot at a deer if I am positive I can make a good clean killing shot on it.

[Daryl]

The .45 will do the job, but the 10mm will do it better.

I'd probably go with the 10mm, but that's just me.

Daryl

[bswiv]

Forgive me if I missed something here but............

Is not a Glock DAO.......?
And as such is it not FAR more dificult to make a truly aimed shot as is called for when hunting?

That being the case, and mind you I've shot quite a few deer and hogs over the last 30 years with a pistol, I would strongly suggest using the Contender or one of the others that has a different trigger set up.

I understand the desire to take a animal with a pistol, it is a challenge. But I think most folks would be just as impressed, and you will have accomplished as much with less chance of wounding a animal, if you do it with something other than the Glock.

[Honda4me]

The Glock pre-cocks with the cycling of the slide so it can have a much lighter trigger than a double action pistol.

[dahermit]

Forgive me if I missed something here but............

Is not a Glock DAO.......?
And as such is it not FAR more dificult to make a truly aimed shot as is called for when hunting?

That being the case, and mind you I've shot quite a few deer and hogs over the last 30 years with a pistol, I would strongly suggest using the Contender or one of the others that has a different trigger set up.

I understand the desire to take a animal with a pistol, it is a challenge. But I think most folks would be just as impressed, and you will have accomplished as much with less chance of wounding a animal, if you do it with something other than the Glock.

I took a deer a few short years ago with my S&W 657 .41 Magnum using double action. It seems that virtually everyone has a double action, but few ever practice double action shooting to the point of even becoming marginally proficient. McGivern, Jerry McKilick (sp), and others have shown that double action shooting is an attainable skill.

[Honda4me]

Congratulations Dashermit on your success with the .41 S&W. They are (at least mine is) terrific revolvers and their double action pull is very smooth. I'm not ready yet to attempt a double action kill on anything yet but would use the single action in a New York minute. Back to my Glock 30 the trigger pull on it is was about 6 LBS when I bought it but I installed a 3 1/2 LB connector so it is very light and I can consistantly shoot 2 1/2" groups at 25 yds. with it.

[GeauxTide]

Your 41s are a much better choice. A 210gr bullet @ an honest 1300fps will penetrate through at most angles up to 75 yards.

[youngunz4life]

It can be difficult to gurantee a kill first shot with a handgun, but that is always the intention.

[JohnKSa]

Sounds like you have several pistols that would be decent picks for deer hunting and one that's not such a great choice--besides being illegal for hunting in your area in its current configuration.

I'm not sure what the dilemma is...

[bcarver]

You have three better guns but you seem to want to use the glock or have to use it. Use the 10 mm conversion, it is about as good as either 41.
The 44 is the better choice. But in truth the best gun is the one that shoots the smallest groups from hunting style positions.

[Honda4me]

Sounds like you have several pistols that would be decent picks for deer hunting and one that's not such a great choice--besides being illegal for hunting in your area in its current configuration.

I'm not sure what the dilemma is...

I have carried at one time or another all of the above pistols when hunting for deer. There isn't any doubt that they are better than the Glock .45ACP but they are heavier to wear & the G30 isn't. A 230 gr. Plus P .45 ACP bullet out of a 5" barrel should kill a whitetail is the shot is placed in the lungs-heart at close range. I won't be hunting with the standard 3.78" barrel that it currently has. NOTHING ILLEGAL ABOUT WHAT I WILL DO. This is for next years hunting season by the way.

Going to order a 5" barrel and wondering should I get the 5" KKM .45ACP barrel or the 5" KKM .10MM barrel & wondering which would work best for close range.

[JohnKSa]

I won't be hunting with the standard 3.78" barrel that it currently has. NOTHING ILLEGAL ABOUT WHAT I WILL DO.

I didn't mean to imply otherwise. You were the one who made it clear that the gun wasn't legal in its current configuration.

What I was saying is that you have several pistols that are decent choices for deer hunting just as they are and one that's not legal in its current configuration. To top it off, the one that isn't legal in its current configuration is also the poorest choice out of the listed arsenal for deer hunting.

That's not a dilemma, that's what I call a real easy decision. It's one of those problems that solves itself once you lay out the facts.

There isn't any doubt that they are better than the Glock .45ACP but they are heavier to wear & the G30 isn't.

This is not a good argument. You're comparing them all to the gun that is the worst choice of the lot for the intended application and then making it sound like they're too heavy because the one that's the worst choice is lighter and easier to carry than any of the rest.

It makes perfect sense that it would be. Out of all the pistols that I own, the one that's the least suitable for deer hunting is also the smallest and lightest and easiest to carry. Why not compare them to a deer rifle instead of to your CCW? Then all of them will look very compact, light and easy to carry in comparison.

Anyway, I see now that you weren't really asking which gun to use--you'd already made up your mind about that part before posting. Because you listed all the guns in your post I incorrectly thought that you were asking which one was the best choice.

At this point I gather that your dilemma is that you don't know whether you want a .45ACP extended barrel or a 10mm extended barrel for the pistol that you've decided you're going to hunt deer with.

I think that most would agree that 10mm is a better deer round than .45ACP. That said, I'd want to get some feedback on from people who have actually tried converting a G30 to 10mm to find out how well the 10mm KKM conversion barrels work in a Glock 30 and what else you might need to make it work reliably. Besides the roughly $200 you're going to spend on a conversion barrel, you'll probably also need a 10mm magazine and the conversion may also require some other minor modifications like extractor/ejector replacement.

[bamaranger]

I would not pour the time and money into converting the Glock, when you have several handguns available that are more than capable.

The .45 ACP is a poor second fiddle to the .41 and the .357 as a hunting ctg as well. The Glock 30/.45 is a great SD pistol. I would not tweak it to try and make it something that it isn't.

If you just really want to Glock a deer, go get a full size Glock 20. They oft can be found affordably as ammo is sometimes not readily available.

[a7mmnut]

Is that conversion the one with the extended muzzle brake? I don't believe power is the argument here, either. The 10mm will do more than the .357 ever thought about, and I've carried a couple of those for a long while. I must admit that while I love to carry my big 1006 S&W most places, when things are serious (bucks are in town) I go for either my Redhawk .41 with 210 gr. Speers or the 14" 7-30 Waters Contender and 130 gr. Sierras=both with optics.

My question for that conversion is, "Does it come with a new long slide and some newfangled guide rod assembly?" If not, I don't see how decent accuracy could be achieved even at 25 yards with over 2" of unsupported barrel hanging off the end unless you reframe the gun on the G20. My 5" pistol normally runs about 3-4" 5 shot groups at 25 yards using old stock Hornady 155's (1410 fps). Add a lot of hold-over.

my10mm.jpg


The other round is a 9mm FMJ for comparison.


-7-

[Doodlebugger45]

It seems like a real easy choice to me. I would opt for the TC .44 mag with the 14" barrel. Of course, that's not an easily carried handgun (although much easier than a rifle, which people have been known to carry while hunting deer). If I decided against that one, I woud opt for the S&W 57 in 41 mag. A 6" barrel is a great compromise length for hunting and those S&W N frames are extremely nice to shoot. I often carry my 629 along even though I have more powerful SA revolvers. It shoots extremely accurate in SA mode, but if for some reason I need DA, it does that quite nicely. Using a Glock for hunting when you have the other revolvers would be like using a crescent wrench on your engine when you have a full set of Craftsman wrenches in the toolbox.

[woodguru]

I have used an 8 inch Python for .357, and S&W 8-3/8 barreled .41 and .44 Mags to shoot multiple deer with each. For some reason, and I'm not sure exactly what it was, the .41 was my clear cut preferred deer pistol. Deer just felt like they were all planted more proficiently for some reason.

The .357 had me feeling like 2" off of the perfect shot had a livelier deer even though they were downed good. With a .41 they were just down and dead even though the shot zone would be wider.

I guess it could have been the bullets being used had the perfect penetration and expansion performance even though I typically used the same bullet types for reloading.

The .357 just felt "flighty" to me like it didn't have the knockdown authority.

With a .44 I admittedly do not shoot full pressure loads as well as I can a .41, I have to put a lot of concentration on not flinching and pulling a shot off.

I have always shot in hunting situations in SA mode, I automatically cock a revolver in any situation.

[MLeake]

... who wonders why you don't just use the .41, which is perfect for the intended use.

Unless you are really just looking for a reason to buy a 10mm conversion package for your Glock....

[Honda4me]

Thanks guys for all your help. My Glock 30 is such a terrific and accurate pistol, I just want to shoot it more than any of the others. I will continue hunting the rest of this season wearing the .41 Mag. or the TC .44 Mag. with the 14" barrel.

Since everyone feels the .10mm will outshine a souped up 230 gr. .45 ACP load, I'll get the longer barrel in the .10mm.

This is how I'll convert my G30 to a 10MM.

Get this KKM conversion barrel.
http://www.kkmprecision.com/custom_p...&cat=27&page=1

and this magazine.
http://www.lonewolfdist.com/Detail.a...OD=459&CAT=135

I've read several threads on another forum where the G30 has the .10mm conversion barrel and I'm not too worried about doing this and I should be able to do it for about $200. Thanks again for everything. Hunt on!
.

[Hog Buster]

You made the right decision for deer hunting, the .41 or .44. Save the Glock for self defense and drive by’s.......

[L_Killkenny]

So you're still gonna convert the Glock for next year? I'm in a quandry as to why. As already stated you already have a couple of the best deer guns out there and you want to carry the Glock why? A couple ounces? Once you do the conversion the weights will be closer and size will be close. And while you may find the glock accurate I'll put my $$ on your other guns in the accuracy department. You want to carry the Glock, fine, I get it. But don't expect it to be as good as your other available sidearms. I can think of a better use for your $$, PM me for my bank info.

LK

P.S. I also accept MO's and bank checks.

[Honda4me]

So you're still gonna convert the Glock for next year? I'm in a quandry as to why. As already stated you already have a couple of the best deer guns out there and you want to carry the Glock why? A couple ounces? Once you do the conversion the weights will be closer and size will be close. And while you may find the glock accurate I'll put my $$ on your other guns in the accuracy department. You want to carry the Glock, fine, I get it. But don't expect it to be as good as your other available sidearms. I can think of a better use for your $$, PM me for my bank info.

LK

P.S. I also accept MO's and bank checks.

Since there is no doubt the Glock 10mm can kill a Whitetail with proper bullet and placement and I want to is why. I will still hunt with the other pistols at times and if I'm not happy with the Glock 10mm I won't use it. Nuff said.

[publius]

If i was going to take just a handgun to hunt with I would take the Contender. If you are also taking a rifle for longer shots I would take the M57 .41 Mag. The Ruger would work too. The long barreled Contender would be a better primary weapon but you can't really tote it and a rifle. Either .41's will work great at your specified 50 yds. Not that they wouldn't work, but I wouldn't even consider your other guns for this task.