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Hunting Handguns-A Beginner's Guide


I am often requested to provide some information on hunting handguns for
beginners since many folks aren't all that familiar with the idea of
handgun hunting and what guns and loads to use.

Since I have no knowledge of what level of experience a new handgun
hunter or new handgunner might have I always recommend the first gun be
a 22LR revolver or semi auto. I prefer to see the first one be a
revolver because there are mighty few semiauto centerfire handguns
suitable for hunting big game and I believe in practicing with a handgun
as close to what you are going to hunt with as possible. Here is a photo
of a good example of a first handgun in 22LR. It is an S&W 617.

 Click Here for a Picture of the S&W 617

Regardless of how much experience you gain in handguns and handgun
hunting I still recommend that a lot of shooting be done each year with
a 22LR handgun to keep your skill level high and your shooting eye
sharp. If you later obtain a TC Contender or Encore or both then you
might also want to get a rimfire barrel for it.

The 22LR and/or 22 magnum are excellent choices for hunting small game
such as squirrels, rabbits, raccoon, opossum, and the various ground
squirrels found across the country. They can be used while on big game
hunts to pot the occasional game bird where legal to add to the larder
for camp and they do a fine job of taking off the head of poisonous
snakes you come across while hunting.

The next step I recommend for new handgunners who haven't yet had the
experience is a .357 Magnum revolver. With this you can begin to
experience recoil and do so at either the mild .38 Special level or at
the full magnum level. A good 6" or longer barrel on a .357 mag is a
good bottomline beginner gun for some big game such as whitetail deer at
ranges up to about 50 yards. I don't like them further off than that. If
you choose to use one on deer I recommend the 158 to 180 grain bullets
for adequate penetration and also recommend keeping to the same shots an
archer would use on game. I believe that penetration is more important
that expansion with this caliber and would recommend the use of cast
bullets over JHPs or JSPs.

The next logical step up the ladder is to a .44 magnum revolver. Yeah a
.41 magnum will do but there are few of them around and fewer still are
the good factory ammo choices. A person new to handguning should not
dally with the .41 yet. Photos of some good choices in the .44 magnum
line are shown below. They are the S&W 629 Classic DX with 8-3/8" barrel
which is my personal choice, S&W Classic, the Ruger Super Redhawk and
the Ruger Redhawk.

Click Here for a Picture of the m629c

Click Here for a Picture of the 629c

Click Here for a Picture of the KSRH7

Click Here for a Picture of the RH445
 

A revolver chambered for the .44  Magnum will and has killed everything
that currently walks the face of the earth or at least those that man
knows about. The 240 grain bullet has become sort of the defacto
standard by which all others are judged. For use on deer and antelope
size game I don't feel it can be beat. A good hardcast bullet of 240 to
320 grains with a wide meplat will do for all hunting with the .44 mag.
If you had to choose just one I'd say make it a 300-320 grain hardcast
with wide meplat. I don't have to choose just one so I prefer a 240 JHP
for deer and antelope size game. I have found both the Hornady XTP and
the Nosler JHPs to be excellent. My powder charge of choice is to use
24.0 grains of W296 with any good 240 grain jacketed or cast bullet.

The 300 XTP is an excellent choice for larger game such as black bear,
elk, moose or big hogs but I really prefer to move to hard casts for
such game. If you cast your own then the Lyman 429640 and 429650 moulds
drop perfect bullets for such game and really for all game. The various
LBT bullets in this weight range are also excellent and are available
ready to load from several bullet casters.

If you are good enough to place your shots in the kill zone the .44 mag
is all the gun any one needs for big game the size of deer to moose out
to 100 yards or a bit more. My tired old eyes require me to scope the
gun for shooting much beyond 50 yards these days. There are several
excellent scopes for this task made by Leupold, Burris and TC. Yeah
there are others but those are my first choices in good quality. I've
had good luck with the Tasco World Class 1.25x4x28 and can also
recommend it and the Bushnell Trophy 2x6 which has also served me well.
Pictured below are the Leupold 2x, 4x and 2.5x8 as well as the excellent
Burris 2x7.

Click Here for a Picture of the 2x

Click Here for a Picture of the 4x

Click Here for a Picture of the 2.5x8

Click Here for a Picture of the 2x7
  


The next step up either can be to a more powerful revolver in .454
Casull or even the .475 or .50 Linebaughs if you are really into recoil.
I have for you photos of the Taurus Raging Bull which is my personal
choice in a .454 Casull and also the excellent but expensive Freedom
Arms.

Click Here for a Picture of the Raging Bull

Click Here for a Picture of the Freedom Arms
  

Ruger claims to have a Super Redhawk in .454 that is a six shot unlike
the RB and FA which are both five shots. No one except a few writers for
the major magazines have seen and held one yet and its fate is currently
unknown. I keep hearing it has hit the shelves but still I personally
know of no one who has actually seen or held a production sample as of
January 2, 2000.


Beyond this level we have the specialty handguns also known as hand
rifles and single shots among other more colorful names given by those
who are revolver purists.

The original of the type is the TC Contender. It has been in continuous
production for a long time. It is or has been chambered in the 22LR to
the .45-70 and lots of rounds in between. JD Jones of SSK as well as a
few others have developed wildcats capable of making it suitable for all
game up to elephant in size. I have a good  discussion of  caliber
choices on my page on handgun calibers. Photo below:

Click Here for a Picture of the TC
  
TC now makes the Encore which looks similar to the Contender but is much
stronger and is chambered even for the powerful belted magnums on the
H&H case. This one for sure is up to the task of taking all the world's
big game animals.  Photo below:

Click Here for a Picture of the Encore
  

The next photo is of the Remington XP-100 bolt action handgun. It is the
oldest of the bolt actions and is typical of the breed. They can be
chambered in most anything your imagination desires. They are a bit
heavy and bulky for my tastes but many serious handgunners swear by
them. Bolt action handguns  are made by Remington, Savage, Weatherby,
and others.

Click Here for a Picture of the XP-100

Here is a photo of a full up custom TC from the Virgin Valley folks.

Click Here for a Picture of the TC
 

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