Is a scope on a hunting revolver worth the money? If so what would be a good choice

[Old colt]

I just bought my first hunting revolver and was wondering what everyone's thoughts on scope choices or if it was worth the extra dollars. The load is a 300 grain gas checked cast boolit over 27.5 or 28 gr of h110. This would be on a 6.5 inch barreled taurus in 454 casull. Any advice is appreciated on this.

[Outpost75]

What are you planning to hunt with it?

How well do you shoot a powerful handgun, compared to one of adequate, legal, but more moderate power?

How far away can you depend upon hitting a 9 inch dinner plate with the first round, consistently, from a field position?

I find that putting optics on a handgun defeats its portability and ease of carry.

If I need big game capability at 100 yards or more I will carry a rifle.

I don't hunt animals larger than deer anymore, and almost never shoot beyond 50 yards at game, though I am tempted to try farther with varmints like coyotes, and occasionally connect out to 100,
but I wouldn't shoot at a deer with a handgun that far.

Since cataract surgery I see iron sights like a 20-year-old again and I don't feel handicapped by them.

I don't feel the need for a hand cannon. Standard pressure .45 Colt and "medium velocity" .44-40 and .44 Magnum loads firing 200-260 grain, soft, flatnosed, suitably large meplat bullets at subsonic velocity will quite adequately do the work.

[rintinglen]

I concur with Outpost on this one. I have a Ruger SBH Hunter that is scoped with a Simmons 2-7. From a bench, it halves my group size at a hundred. Off hand, groups are no better, and it is harder to use than Irons. It adds 3/4's of a pound to an already heavy gun without much benefit.

If you hunt from a blind or other stationary position where you can brace the gun, and where you can see far enough to make the increase in distance that you can shoot useful, then I would consider it.
If so, I would figure on spending 200-400 dollars, depending on the sale price. I have only lightly used the afore-mentioned Simmons and a similar Leupold that I had mounted on a Ruger Redhawk years ago, so I can not speak with personal authority, but my friend Rick has shot a lot of hard-kicking rounds through scoped contenders, and he swears by the Leupold line.

Others with more experience may chime in with more-informed preferences. I know 44man likes his scoped BFR's and Rugers.164479

[Lead Fred]

When the 44 mag custom came here, it had a scope on it. Found out it was easier to hit the 200 yard gong with out the scope, so we sold it.

and we only using 23gr of H110 and 300 gr Barnes solids outta this fotee fo.

[Baja_Traveler]

I went through the same thing years ago - got the first Redhawk to hit San Diego, then several years later messing around in the machine shop did this to it:

164371

I fully intended to both hunt with it, and also shoot metallic silhouette but soon discovered that using the scope was more of a hindrance than a benefit. In fact, it is such an issue that it just sits in the safe as a queen now and I use my Colt New Frontier 44 special instead. I'm going to pull the scope and base, my custom 10" fluted barrel may stay, and I'll cut a dovetail in it for a front sight - or just put the original 7 1/2" barrel back on...

[Old colt]

Thank you for the insite. Still fairly new to hunting with a handgun, I live in Iowa so hunting distances are never over 100 since I'm limited to a shotgun for deer. I don't feel handicapped by the iron sights, just have seen alot of the larger revolvers wearing scopes.

[44man]

Pistol scopes lose light badly in the mornings and evenings. You can see the animals but you will have a BLACK HOLE through a scope. You need 5 mm exit pupil but the long eye relief disperses it.
Get a red dot, I like Ultra Dots best. Can't break them. Don't fall for adjustable ones, get a plain Jane one. Many heads up displays have poor mounts that break unless you spend many hundreds.
Then you will see every jitter with a scope and miss when you yank the trigger as the cross hairs pass the aim point. You need a rest with them as well as full daylight.

[tazman]

With my eyes I need all the help I can get. I have a red dot on my Blackhawk 357 mag that serves quite well. I can actually see through it in poor light and it gives me a consistent aiming point. I shake enough that I need a rest to shoot any distance beyond 25 yards anyway so the red dot is not a hindrance. When I go hunting, I am in a blind or carrying a shooting stick of some sort to use for a rest.
When I went to the red dot, my groups shrunk by over 50% at all distances, even when rested solidly. The red dot I use has no magnification so it doesn't show my shakes as badly as a scope would.

[DougGuy]

The 454 is overkill for whitetail, even in the corn belt. Not that it isn't a fine killer of whitetail, it's just a lot more boolit than what is needed. 44man has it right. Use a red dot, with no magnification. I used a 4x dot on an air rifle and it was just as troublesome as a scope. I would have been better off with an ultra dot.

I have irons on my SBH that takes more whitetail than any two arms added together an I never missed having optics on it. I wouldn't know how to act with a good ultra dot on it. I would get so lazy I would forget how to use iron sights.

[Outpost75]

Good feedback on the non-magnifying red dot and reflex sights. They make some very small, light, compact ones now. I do not own one, but have used one on a friend's Buckmark .22 and if they stand up to recoil,theywould be a viable choice for those who have trouble seeing iron sights.

[pietro]

.


IME, for a hunting handgun scope, power is not your friend. :popcorn:


A lot depends upon the shooter's ability - after many range sessions & hunting experiences, I limit my handgun hunting to shots @ 100yds or less.

YMMV.

Hunting successfully with a handgun also depends upon the speed of the sight picture acquisition (as the scope power goes up, the speed of acquisition goes down) - unless the hunting shots are taken from a rest (like a tree stand rail)

My .454 Ruger SRH & I got along very well, in both group size and hunting results, using a 1x red dot sight with a finer/smaller dot.

The Tasco ProPoint red dot I used held up w/o issues on my .454 SRH.

For longer shots, or shots off a rest, a 2x, 3x or 4x handgun scope with a prominent reticle can work well, with practice.


.

[NSB]

I hunted white tails exclusively with handguns from 1980 right through 2010 (still use them but also added single shot rifles to the mix). I've shot over fifty deer with the .357mag alone and quite a few others with 44mag, 7tcu, 30-30, and 38Super. I found any scope on a handgun to be an actual hindrance unless it was on a long barreled single shot being shot off a rest (something I don't use). You end up "chasing" cross hairs, find blank spots when the scope isn't faced right, and lose light early and late. I shot quite a few with irons and then about twenty years ago I started using red dots. Red dots are absolutely the best thing I ever put on a hand gun to hunt with. If they have a down side I don't know what it is. They even work well with a rifle if you don't plan on shooting 150+ yards with something like a 45-70. Put a quality red dot on your gun and you'll be ahead of the game. One final thought...unless you shoot a LOT, and I mean a LOT, you're going to have problems using the caliber you've selected. It takes a lot more than just selecting the right caliber to use on deer, the shooter needs to be comfortable with it and proficient with it. I think you could have made a better choice not only to start with, but if just for deer to finish with. It's going to be a handful for anyone other than a very proficient handgun shooter. Good luck with what ever you decide.

[jhalcott]

I find a2x handgun scope makes the target Look smaller. I use a 4x Leupold on my super black hawk 44mag. I did try a red dot but the 4 minute dot covered to much of the target at 100yards. It takes lots of practice to be really good with a scoped revolver. It seems to take less with a Contender or other single shot pistol.

[Old colt]

Ok, I shoot alot when I'm not in the field. Recoil on that load is not much worse than a 44 mag. Plus most practice is a couple groups of my hunting loads followed buy 45 LC loads for the remainder. Im not new to shooting, just hunting with a handgun. I do like the red dot sight thought though. Thanks for all the help, a little advise from someone who has done it for a while is always appreciated. Doug after last deer season it's not the size but I swear they started wearing body armor, lol, I plan to do more than just hunt deer with it.

[NSB]

Here's a couple of groups shot with my Win 1886 45-70 using a Burris FastFire3 red dot. Tell me again you can't shoot good groups with a red dot. These five shot groups were fired at a measured 114yds (my deck to the backstop).164387164388

[OS OK]

Simple answer to this question…"Try a scoped pistol before you buy, anyone can shoot one fairly well 'off the bags'…try one 'freehand' in any stance you want…it ain't easy!
How much would that fact 'handicap' you in the field where there are no 'shooting benches and bags' available? Shoot the scoped pistol at the range in the exact manor you expect to use it in the field. You will make up your mind in the first 6 shots!"

OS OK

[cainttype]

Hunting with handguns can cover a lot of areas, no different than rifles. Good choices for deep thickets are not going to be the best for longer open field ranges.
A scope "might" be an advantage, but the choice has to closely match field conditions to be optimal.

Using a scope on a hundgun requires practice. Using scoped handguns really well in the field takes LOTS of practice.
After using scoped handguns frequently for almost 40 years I have definite opinions. My choice for a best all-around revolver or semi-auto, that is primarly intended as a close-to-moderate range tool... the Leupold 2x.

[M-Tecs]

I have been handgun hunting big game since 1976. All my hunting Contenders and XP 100's are scoped. Some of my hunting revolvers wear scopes or red dots.

For scopes it's mostly 2.5 x 8 Leupolds. Other than being bulkier I have no issues with scopes on hunting revolvers.

I hunt with irons, red dot or scopes depending on applicant but I prefer scopes.

[Dale53]

I have taken a number of deer with a scoped handgun (in fact, ALL of my deer have been taken with scoped handguns). My Model 29 (8 3/8" barrel with a large dot Burris 2 power scope) and Ruger Red Hawk with 7 1/2" barrel and a Leupold 2 power scope with duplex reticule have been very effective. I carry them in a Bianchi Hush System across the chest holster with no effort even in rough country.

Here's the Smith Model 29:
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/DalesPistolsRevolvers5Selects-2.jpg (http://s269.photobucket.com/user/Dale53/media/DalesPistolsRevolvers5Selects-2.jpg.html)

Here is the Ruger Red Hawk:
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/DalesPistolsRevolvers5Selects-2-3.jpg (http://s269.photobucket.com/user/Dale53/media/DalesPistolsRevolvers5Selects-2-3.jpg.html)

I and my shooting buddy shot a LOT (several hundred rounds in the weeks leading up to opening day), mostly offhand. I set my distance limit at 125 yards for 100% on a pie plate from field positions. However, in actual hunting conditions, the furthest I actually took a deer was a 85 yards. I rather made a practice of getting as close as possible (my record was ten yards:bigsmyl2:).

If I were doing this all over today, tho' I admit that my choice today would be a Red Dot sight. Here's my Smith "Light Hunter" fitted with an Ultra Dot:
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/QDalesRevolversandPistols-1728.jpg (http://s269.photobucket.com/user/Dale53/media/QDalesRevolversandPistols-1728.jpg.html)


I agree 100% with the gentleman that stated that you need to shoot a hunting handgun a LOT. Animal silhouette targets can be a help as well as adding a bit of fun to the equation. Use of a pie plate to judge YOUR maximum range with YOUR handgun is an excellent idea. Then, stick to your self imposed range limit.

FWIW
Dale53

[44man]

My Ultra Dots have 4 minute dots but do not cover that much at 100. They cover much less and can be held on a pop can easy. I have a Loopy that works until light gets dim and a Tasco that is tough as nails but the cross hairs cover half a deer at 25. Two power is actually too much off hand.
I love my Loopy for precise shooting from the bench and it will take .500 recoil forever but it plain sucks for deer. It is OLD with a target elevation turret. Must be 50 to 60 years old and still going strong but not for deer.
Be careful with mounting systems on revolvers, Reflex sights are the worst. They will work on a .223 rifle but a revolver is another ball game.
I have blown the front glass prism out of cheap red dots, Bushnell and Millet's with just a .44. I had to steel bed them back in. Chinese glue sucks but Ultra Dot is made in Japan.
Seen mount screws break with reflex sights.
I called Bushnell about their reflex on my .475 and they said "NO."
Nothing has stood the test of time better then the plain 30mm Ultra Dot with loads that will crack your skull. I tested the Match Dot to find a change in the picture also changed POI BAD. Here is the result. 164392

[tdoyka]

my ruger super redhawk had horrible sights. i bought a warren's one ragged hole sight(aperture sight) and a marbles green fiber optic front sight, and i haven't looked back since.
i have thought about putting a red dot on it, but i didn't and probably never will.

[bobthenailer]

I currently have Aimpoint Micro's on my two FA 454 revolvers the 3ed has a 1.5x4 Burris, before that I had Aimpoint comps . been using them for hunting for 25 years with excellent results ! I prefer a red dot over a scope. if you decide to scope don't go over 2x power and go with a Leupold or possibly a Burris scope. they are available at great savings buying used, both come with a lifetime warranty.
For a good less expensive red dot sight try a single dot size 30mm Ultradot, lifetime warranty, if possible use 3 rings with a red dot or a scope.

[Blammer]

I like a scope on my handgun. I hunt the woods, long shots are 100yds and if I can see that far a scope helps me put it on the game. With out it, I'm just observing not hunting.

I personally like the simmons 2x6 on mine, 44mag RSRH. It stand up to my shooting and works well for me. Lots of other handgun scopes I can't even see through.

My old eyes need a scope to help pickout the game from the woods. Without a scope for me, I may as well take a camera cause that's all I could do to shoot them.

I say, go to a shop and LOOK through a BUNCH of handgun scopes, of course at arms length, like you'd hold a handgun, try the different power settings, see how well you can see through them how well you can hold it, etc.... This will give you an idea of what you like and where to start.

Red dots are good too, without magnification, but that is provided you can SEE your game first. Me, I cannot, the magnification is a must for me. Target shooting I'm sure they are splendid, verdict is out for me on them for hunting.

[cainttype]

Things to consider with scopes...
1) Brightness, clarity, and durability... You generally get what you pay for.
2) Size... Fixed powers can be smaller, less cumbersome, than variables. Lower powers can be smaller than higher (Leupold's 2x versus the 4x, for example).
3) Weight... Aluminum versus steel is a biggie to some (Leupold versus Burris. Both quality made, excellent warranties, but Burris is a heavier steel tube).
4) Field of view... Lower power=wider fields of view, in general.

I've got my reasons for considering the Leupold 2x as the best all-around hunting handgun scope, others have their own reasons for their choices.
I've never had any unexpected problems with "dim light" using the 2x Leupold, but moving up in magnification could cause issues. The truth is, I've never had any issues when there was enough light to see open sights with the low magnification.
The extremely light aluminum tubed M8 2x is actually more like 1.5x so the field of view is large, allowing very fast target aquisition (if you are proficient).
I like Burris a lot, but I have busted 2. Burris repaired them at no charge, and it was after years of use... I have never broken a Leupold, and I have put several through much more than any other pistol scopes I own.

Red dots are great, sometimes perfect, but I would never hesitate to put a 2x Leupold on any handgun I intended to use for small game to at least 50-75 yards, medium game up to at least 150 yds, and larger game to as far as your pistol is capable.
Is it "The Best"?... No, nothing is... but it would be very difficult to convince me that anything is less cumbersome, more durable, and more versatile than the M8 2x EER.

I would suggest trying to find examples to handle if possible. If shooting them was possible, it would be even better.
Handling a scoped handgun off-hand, in the field, is totally different than practicing at a range. Any off-hand practice will immediately bring home the important advantages of lower power and wide fields of view.

Good luck... Enjoy your quest... You'll find what suits you best by matching your combo to your hunting conditions.

[RG1911]

I'm going to add my recommendation for a red/green dot sight. I had scopes on a Ruger SA 44 Mag and on a target .22 pistol. I felt the scopes really threw off the balance and, shooting offhand, magnified the wobble.

My old eyes being what they are, I do better with optics on my rifles and pistols. Currently have a red dot on my Ruger Mk II and love it. There's a new Carry Optic class in IPSC shooting with dots being mounted on slides. I've been thinking of that so I could get back into the game.

I'm not sure how well any of the dot sights would hold up to a .454. Vortex has or is coming out with a nice small dot sight. I'd suggest asking them about how recoil-proof it is.

Cheers,
Richard