pistols for deer

[tdoyka]

most of you know that i'm a disabled hunter(stroke). so i had to give up my compound and take a crossbow. not to mention all the tree stands that i can no longer use. anyway, last year i was at a corner of an real old field. to get there i had to use my polaris ranger utv. the old guy that owns it, he took a couple of passes with his brush hog a couple of times for me. i get up to the corner and begin hunting. i have a 3 legged stand that i use for my crossbow, so i put it up. then i take the crossbow and crank it up so i can put the bolt on it. i put the crossbow on the 3 legger and put the shoulder on the utv. and then i crawl into the utv and sit sideways. i there sitting there for about 1 1/2 and i decide i HAVE to take a leak. i get off and go about 5 yards(boy its tuff to go that far without your cane) and i relieve myself. i go back to the utv and climb in again.

now i'm dressed up in a 1/2 camo shirt and 1/2 jeans. i used to use a earth type scent(little brother made it) that i don't use anymore. but i do wash my clothes in a no uv/no scent detergent. i'm a big believer in no uv. now i'm not saying you can wave your arms in the air when a deer comes, but you can do a little movement and not get caught by the deer. i used to have bucks and does that go under my tree stand using a no uv/ ne scent detergent. anyway back to my story...

about 10 or so minutes since i HAD to relieve myself, i'm sitting there and then i hear the bushes rattle. and then a buck steps out of woods, not ten yards from me, and 5 yards to the relief site. its there to my right, just standing around like he owns the place. i know the rut has not kicked in yet(it took about 3 weeks to kick in). he goes down the trail and then stops in front of me broadside, about 20 yards away. now i've had the crossbow up and the safety off, but my finger is not on the trigger. i count him up and discover he is a 8pt. anyone would have shot him. i should have shot him. but there is a 10pt that is out there('nother story). i let him go. if he survives bow and then gun season, this year i will definitly shoot him.

but the 8pt did not know that i was there. not once did he ever look at me. and i'm sitting there with a big old black utv, with a camo top and wearing jeans. and he never looked at me. well people say, "its private ground and your the only one that hunting, so what do you expect." the guy that owns it, lets everybody hunt it. not even a posted sign is up. there wasn't much wind that day, but it was coming, if at all, across his back to me. i don't know, but i'll take it.

[DougGuy]

I just had one of the medium framed Ruger Blackhawk Flattops in my hands and I gotta admit, I was VERY impressed with the build quality. .45 caliber of course. A 5 1/2" .45 Colt loaded to 23,000psi with almost any of the 250 to 270 grain boolits would sure keep meat in the freezer and not hurt your arms doing it nor hurt your shoulder packing it.

As far as the noise, once on stand I always hunt with the hammer back and 100% blocked with my hand.

[Greg]

TexasbyGd

tell me about turkey hunting with handguns, especially type of load/bullet used and amount of trauma ?

So far (44yrs hunting) I've killed two deer with a handgun. The first was with a Lyman .54 plains pistol with rb and 60 grs fffg-DRT @44 FEET. The other was with a Ruger 6.5" .41 mag 210 Sierra hp 1400 fps DRT @65 yds. I want to try my .357 45/8" Blackhawk with 158 jhp this year. Lots of turkeys and feral hogs with handguns but those are my only deer/handgun kills. Best, Thomas.

[Viper225]

I have lots of choices to hunt with. I have a 480 SRH with 9.5 Inch Barrel. It has a 30mm UltraDot on a Weigand Base. Load is a 375 WFN-GC cast from a custom Mountain Mold.

Next would be my 14" Contender in 35 Bullberry. That is basically a 35 Remington Rimmed made from 375 Winchester Brass. I have a good supply of 375 Winchester Brass, but I still picked up some Starline 38-55 Long brass to try out in it. The 35 Bullberry is a great cartridge, and if the 38-55 Long Starline Brass will work well in it. This will again be a good chambering to deer hunt with. It is only limited now by 375 brass being a little hard to come by. Bullets for 2016 will be 180 XTP's. My sight is a 30mm MatchDot.

Next would be my 13" MGM 357 Maximum Contender. At the moment I have a 2.5 - 7 Burris scope on it. It will probably have a 30mm MatchDot on it for Deer Season. My load will probably be a NOE 360-180 WFN-GC or a 180 XTP.

I took my buck a couple years back with a 6.5 X 30 JDJ contender with 14" barrel. The bullet was a 129 Hornady Spiral Point. The wife was not going out that evening, and a grabbed her Contender instead of getting mine out of the safe. It had a 30mm MatchDot for a sight.

I really like hunting with my 480 SRH. I have taken several deer with it.

My brother took a nice buck with his 44 magnum SRH last year at 135 yards. He hit him high behind the shoulder the first shot, and then put 3 more on him. The second shot was a text book double lung shot. He has a 30mm MatchDot Red Dot sight on it mounted on a Weigand Base. Bullets are 310 Grain cast from a custom Mountain Mold.

So many good choices to hunt with. I have not had a rifle in the woods in years.

Bob R

[Lonegun1894]

For deer handguns, I have mostly used a 4" Ruger Security Six .357, a 6" Ruger GP100 .357, a 7.5" Ruger BH .45 Colt, and a 5.5" Ruger SBH .44 Mag, but started using a TC Contender with a 10" .357 Mag and a 10" .44 Mag for hogs, and need to take a deer with this soon.

[44man]

It has gotten harder but I have not used a rifle for years. Can't hold a rifle or pull a bow anymore from shoulder injuries. I can hold a revolver but now prefer to rest at least my fore arms on knees or something. I shake more. It is why I show old targets because it is harder now and a cataract in my right eye is like looking through a blizzard.
The red dot on deer is still OK. Opens grew wings! Need to adjust with age.
Doug does different but I won't do that, not with my triggers or dozing off on stand. I use a sling so a gun can't fall if I doze. Deer don't bother me after so many and being an old archer, I still like under 20 yards. Yes, made crazy long shots too but to hold steady now is harder. Not good, they walk.
Maybe why I depend on accuracy so much, if I paint 6" at 100, the boolit must go where the dot was, not 6" farther. Many say 6" at 100 is good enough but your movement can make it a foot or more. You need to take it into account. If you had an expensive rifle you might gripe about 2" at 100 but 6" with a revolver is fine. I don't believe that.
Long ago, nobody shot 1" at 100 with a revolver but today it can be done. Not all the time but it is usually just you. We are the broken chain but who would ever think a cast could shoot like that? Working some revolvers I was out of sorts with 3/4". I actually got to 1/2" at 100. Easy to go over 6" with shakes.
Many use short barrels, OK until ranges get longer. Opens are fussy. You can't align sights as close as you want. I talk within thousandths. My SBH with a 10-1/2" barrel moved POI 1-2-3-4", 50 to 200 meters per click. A short barrel can take you one side of a target to the other with 1 click. Get real short and the light gap will be in 10 thousandths of an inch. Is the top of the front sight withing 10,000 inch above or below? Better to use a scope or dot with short barrels. They can work but a 2" snubby with opens is still a 7 yard gun.

[Texas by God]

Greg a PB swc is my preference in pistols and revolvers for turkey. .45acp 230 fmj is ok but I prefer a 200 swc as it tracks straight through. No meat damage unless bone splinters count. These are called in toms 50 yds max. Round balls in cap n ball and pistols are very effective also. Best, Thomas.

[Greg]

Thomas

thank you.

here it's all shot gun only, so the question.

[35 Whelen]

while i'm sitting here waiting for a ruger super blackhawk, i was wondering what everybody else will use this year.

my sbh will have a 4 5/8" barrel in 44 mag that will use 250gr mihek hollow points(40:1) and unique that goes roughly 900-1000fps. my shots on deer will be 50 yards or less. i haven't decided on 44 mag or the 44 special yet. i'll see what they say when the sbh arrives.

Hard to say what I'll use. Two years ago, my first try at handgun hunting, I used my very favorite Uberti 4 3/4" .44 Special running a 260 gr. SWC a little under 950 fps.







Year before last a New Vaquero 4 3/4" 45 Colt. That revolver was such a pain to shoot accurately and I missed a couple.

Last year I used a new Uberti 5 1/2" 45 Colt, such an accurate revolver! a 260-something gr. SWCHP running somewhere a little north of 1000 fps worked twice. The buck at 48 yds. and the javelina a couple of yards less.







A couple of months ago I was roaming the ranch next to my property and slipped up on a couple of sows. The old 4 3/4" Uberti .44 Special, loaded with a 247 gr.. SWCHP running 1000 fps, got the call again and poleaxed one of the ol' girls.



I have a 5 1/2" Flat Top Blackhawk .44 Special that's crazy accurate that I'd like to use, but I have a thing about fixed-sighted, utility type revolvers, so I'm not sure yet. I have a 5 1/2" Cimarron .44 Special that is likewise way, way more accurate than it should be that I may use. Either way, I'll probably use a .44 Special again.

35W

[harley45]

Probably my 10MM with cast 200gr WFN now that it is legal in Indiana!

[44man]

Nice pictures! Amazing how effective a handgun is. .44 special boolits shown are correct too, nothing I would use in the mag though, too destructive. Penetration is not enhanced with more speed either.
All you need is for the boolit to work.
I think a 10mm would make a fine hunter.
I never liked the .357 or .41 long ago because of bullet choices, people stuff. Had a friend that could not handle a .44 so he shot deer with a .357 and lost most of them. He used factory loads. He had a very accurate SRH but feared it. I shot it and it was deadly accurate. We had a group buy and his was the most accurate out of 5 guns. I shot them all.
Is the .357 or .41 bad? NO, not with what we know today. Is a .44 special too slow? Why 1500 fps? You can make it work but it will always be what you shoot and cast will do it all.

[oldcanadice]

Hey Viper225 -- what speed are you pushing the hdy 180 XTP to?

[Texas by God]

Greg-You're welcome. Some counties in East Texas are shotgun or BP only- as is the National Grasslands. And if you are canoeing in any river its shotgun only regardless. We hunt pigs along the Trinity River this way. Get out of Illinois-Texas wants you anyway. Best, Thomas.

[rodwha]

Nice pictures! Amazing how effective a handgun is. .44 special boolits shown are correct too, nothing I would use in the mag though, too destructive. Penetration is not enhanced with more speed either.
All you need is for the boolit to work.
I think a 10mm would make a fine hunter.
I never liked the .357 or .41 long ago because of bullet choices, people stuff. Had a friend that could not handle a .44 so he shot deer with a .357 and lost most of them. He used factory loads. He had a very accurate SRH but feared it. I shot it and it was deadly accurate. We had a group buy and his was the most accurate out of 5 guns. I shot them all.
Is the .357 or .41 bad? NO, not with what we know today. Is a .44 special too slow? Why 1500 fps? You can make it work but it will always be what you shoot and cast will do it all.

I've seen the evidence on traditional muzzleloading forums where even a ball from a percussion revolver will give complete passthroughs or be found on the offside under the hide.

I had Accurate Molds create a few designs of mine with a wide meplat just for this. Haven't used them yet but want to give it a try once everything is worked out.

[tdoyka]

Hard to say what I'll use. Two years ago, my first try at handgun hunting, I used my very favorite Uberti 4 3/4" .44 Special running a 260 gr. SWC a little under 950 fps.







Year before last a New Vaquero 4 3/4" 45 Colt. That revolver was such a pain to shoot accurately and I missed a couple.

Last year I used a new Uberti 5 1/2" 45 Colt, such an accurate revolver! a 260-something gr. SWCHP running somewhere a little north of 1000 fps worked twice. The buck at 48 yds. and the javelina a couple of yards less.







A couple of months ago I was roaming the ranch next to my property and slipped up on a couple of sows. The old 4 3/4" Uberti .44 Special, loaded with a 247 gr.. SWCHP running 1000 fps, got the call again and poleaxed one of the ol' girls.



I have a 5 1/2" Flat Top Blackhawk .44 Special that's crazy accurate that I'd like to use, but I have a thing about fixed-sighted, utility type revolvers, so I'm not sure yet. I have a 5 1/2" Cimarron .44 Special that is likewise way, way more accurate than it should be that I may use. Either way, I'll probably use a .44 Special again.

35W

i would def. use the 44 sp. what sort of alloy in the hp's did you use?

[35 Whelen]

The HP's were cast from 70/30 lead/COWW.

I'll probably use the .44 Special again if for no other reason than I'm very familiar with it and therefore tend to shoot it much better.

35W

[44man]

I can attest to the C&B. My friend has a .44 Rem and I have the Old Army. We have both shot more then a few deer with them and RB's.
After seeing results I wonder how anyone in the old west survived.

[rodwha]

I admit that once I became interested in BP arms and began seeking information such as the BC and SD along with typical velocities I didn't understand how these could perform well at all and so I asked a lot of questions. After seeing plenty of game with the typical complete passthroughs or found on the offside I quit doubting.

However I admit I still prefer the idea of a WFN boolit to a ball in my ROA or Remington NMA. And using Olde E or T7 my Ruger is likely producing around 500 ft/lbs and my Remington around 400. Not bad!

[BigMagShooter]

if you want a flat nose on a MZ loader, just keep pounding the ram rod a few more times with a hammer. You'll get your flat nose projectile.

[rodwha]

if you want a flat nose on a MZ loader, just keep pounding the ram rod a few more times with a hammer. You'll get your flat nose projectile.

Mine are for my percussion revolvers, but have thought about modifying my Lee REAL mold, but then I like knowing the BC value. But then pounding would be much easier and cheaper.