# which calliber



## purepower (Sep 11, 2004)

im looking into getting a pistol for fun and for deer hunting i cant decide between a .357 mag, .44 mag, or a .45.....any opinions would help.


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## Militant_Tiger (Feb 23, 2004)

.44 would be the best for deer out of the three.


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## mr.trooper (Aug 3, 2004)

Ok, those who wish to hunt with a handgun should answer these four questions first:

1) do you reload?

2) how experience are you at shooting handguns? (BE HONEST!)

3) how much recoil can you handle?

4) Whats your hunting area like?

If you would answer these four quesiton, it would be alot easyer for people to make recomendations. Yo ucant just make a blanket statement about this topic.


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## purepower (Sep 11, 2004)

i dont reload but my grandfather does reload but he just reloads target loads for him self. but he will reload if i buy him the powder and stuff. he reloads both the 45 and the 357 mag.

i have had quite a bit for not owning one my self we usually make it a tradition to go out at least once every other week if not sometimes every week and i have shot all calibers that i am thinking about. I can also handle the recoil of all the guns.

i do most of my deer hunting in the James River overflow between bath and tacoma. since we have land up to the river. so it is almost all close range and its not to easy to haul a rifle down there.


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## mr.trooper (Aug 3, 2004)

understood.

SOunds like any of the three your thinking about would do just fine, but personaly id be leaning mre tword the .45 if you can get some good loads from your relatives. This being said, id lean a little more tword the 44 or 45 than the .357.

Factory ammo is one thing to consider though. the .44 will probablybe more avalible localy as factory ammo, and would probably be a little cheaper

With all these things being considered, any o them will do for your purposes. Just pick the one that you like the best of the three!
:beer:


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## purepower (Sep 11, 2004)

thanks guys


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## Whelen35 (Mar 9, 2004)

If you don't reload, I would say go 44 mag. there is many factory loadings, as well as 44 special and lite loads for practice/plinking. If you do reload, than I would say the 44, or 45 would be both good choices with my vote going to the 45 because it can handle heaver bullets, and can match 44 mag performance at lower pressure. While the 357 will work for deer, I still feel that animals fo this size are at its very upper range. The others can handle much larger game if you ever decide to do that.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

Ruger 45 cal Blackhawk.


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## OneShotOneKill (Feb 13, 2004)

*Buy a Ruger single action revolver with a 7 ½' barrel; don't use a double action for a hunting firearm. The 45 Colt is my fist choice over the 44 Magnum then the 357 Magnum. I currently use hard cast LBT bullets for all three. Deer are very easy to kill if you have the proper bullet construction, load and keep it inside an ethical range. Have fun!*


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## sdeprie (May 1, 2004)

I assume you are talking about wheelguns suitable for hunting vs dedicated hunting handguns, such as the encore, or others. I also assume you are talking about the 45 Long Colt, not the 45 ACP. I would agree on the 45, especially if you reload, and I suggest you do. The 44 can handle much higher pressures and gets a little more speed, but you don't really need it, especially with the heavier bullets available in 45 cal. I know, you can get heavy bullets in 44, but it is harder to get them up to speed.


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## OneShotOneKill (Feb 13, 2004)

*The 45 Long Colt is a false inaccurate name; the true name is 45 Colt. Think about it, I would certainly hope no one would think of using a 45 Schofield or 45 ACP cartridges for any big game hunting!

The 45 Colt, 44 Magnum, or 357 Magnum are all suitable big game cartridges in revolvers but single actions are the best or single shot pistols (which are also silhouette guns not just dedicated for hunting) within the proper ethical boundaries.*


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## The Norseman (Jan 8, 2005)

What is all boils down to is Marksmanship with a Handgun/Pistol.

If you have not shot handguns very much you need to practice.
I suggest with start with cartridges round 900fps for reduced recoil.
Once you are comfortable with these move on to the full house loads,
now I'm not saying shot a bunch of these but at least know what to 
expect when they go off. You only need one shot to kill that deer.

The 44 Mag is just fine. I shot a deer one year with mine. Deer was
about 30 yards out. Aimed for the heart/chest area. The deer started
to run, and then just fell to the ground.

The load was with the Remington 240 gr lead hollow point bulk packaged bullets. I was able to recover the bullet and it was mushroomed
beautifully opened and left a nicely opened blood letting wound, not
destoring much meat.

Bear in mind that I am very confident with this S&W revolver and a very
accompleased marksman.

Good luck.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

purepower

I had about three four 357, and still have a couple, but have not been happy with the way they take down deer. I would perhaps been ok with it if I hadn't shot one with a 44 mag. I have two S&W, a 4 inch and a 8 3/8 inch.

I have three loads I like in the 44
A 240 gr lead round nose flat point with 9 gr Unique that gives me 1157 fps. A very pleasant load and I use it for cottontail, to coyote.

A 240 Hornady XTP at 1450 fps

And a 300 Hornady XTP. A few years ago in Shooting Times a fellow had a load he called the 10.91mm mag. The 300 XTP has two cannelures, and if your cylinder is long enough you can seat to the bottom cannelure an add more powder than with other 300 gr bullets. The 300 gr comes out of my longer barrel 44 at 1425 pfs.

I like the S&W. The Ruger on average will shoot a little faster with the same length barrel, but if you shoot a lot of lead the Ruger leads up much faster. I had a Super Redhawk for about two weeks, and a Super Blackhawk for about a month. They were not as accurate and I was always working to get lead out. They are good strong handguns. Picky I guess, I owned a Colt Python once for two days.

The 45 colt is ok if you reload. There are some companies that make hot loads for the 45 colt, but it will cost you an arm and a leg.


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## OneShotOneKill (Feb 13, 2004)

*When you are using lead bullets it all depends on slugging your firearms barrel to determine the proper bullet size, and select the perfect alloy for the cast, plus the correct lube. Bore leading doesn't have anything to do with the manufacture of the firearm. I have shot hard cast bullet in all my revolvers (Rugers and Freedom Arms), T/C Encore barrels, and I have encountered no leading when you do everything properly.

I shoot hard cast bullet for all my handgun hunting, because my desire is to receive a complete pass-thru for Antelope, Deer, Caribou, Elk, Moose or Black & Brown bear/Grizzly.

My Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt using 300 grain LBT design bullets and Freedom Arms & T/C Encore in 454 Casull using 360 grain LBT design bullets are my preferred cartridges for handgun hunting for any animal in North America.*


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

I like S&W, but feel no loyalty to them, after all they are just tools. Saying that a Ruger doesn't lead up more than a S&W is blind loyalty to a manufacture. I have shot booth extensively, and Ruger doesn't have the internal finish that S&W does. Same with their rifles, the bore is more like the Savage, and not the Remington or the Winchester. Tough firearms, dependable, never let you down, but lead up and not as accurate on the average.

I slug my bore for dimensions, but will shoot the bullet that gives me the best accuracy. Rugers shoot the .429 better. Every one I have owned or shot liked .429. On the other hand I have shot many S&W and they all like .430 diameter. I get very little lead in my S&W. In the Rugers a .430 lead builds up in as little as a box of shells. It is better with .429, and when I size my own cast to .428 they are much better.

I still have a couple thousand BullX, but have recently purchased some Oregon Trails laser cast and they are doing just about as well.

OSOK sometimes you impress me, but you do not influence me. I'll keep doing what works best for me.


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

I would have to suggest the .44 Magnum. IMHO it is one of the more veratile Handgun Cartridges out there. As to the Single Action vs Double Action Revolver for hunting, either one is fine and perfectly adequate provided the chambering is not more than the design can handle. If it were me I would buy the one that felt the absolute best in my hands and go from there. While I am sure Single Action Revolvers are great guns (and I have had a few) I personally shoot a Double Action Revolver better. They just feel better in my hands, and in regards to handgun shooting that is a very important consideration.

In regards to the .44 Magnum, I have loaded 190gr. Bull X Hard Cast SWC's to 750 FPS for indoor target shooting at our local indoor shooting range. Recoil with this load was minimal and this load is super accurate in the .44 Magnums I have used it in (used a 5" S&W 629 Classic for Bullseye competition for a few years). (Yes this load was loaded in .44 Magnum Brass and not .44 Special Brass.)

In addition I have loaded the 180gr. Remington BULK JHP's to velocities from 1350 FPS (using Unique Powder in a 5" S&W 629 Classic) to 1900 FPS (using W-296 powder in a 7 1/2" Ruger Redhawk). In addition you can load 240gr. up to over 300gr. Bullets in the .44 Magnum.

However the real beauty of the .44 Magnum is you can buy Hunting Ammo just about anywhere if the need arises.

The .45 Colt is an excellent cartridge, and will hold it's own with many. However Loading the .45 Colt to it's full potential is not for everyone. I think the .357 Magnum is a little light for Whiteails, but I have not tried it with the new Nosler Partition Handgun Bullets available. IMHO with the .357 Magnum extra care must be taken in the choice of bullets.

Larry


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## black bear84 (Jan 28, 2005)

Why so many of you guys recommend the Ruger single action for hunting, over the double action?
I have boths, a Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44 Magnum and a Redhawk also in .44 Magnun.
I like both of them equal, perhaps the trigger of the Redhawk is a tad harder to pull in single action mode, but both of them are rugged guns that will take a lot of rounds.
For defensive purposes from bears, I think that I prefer to carry the Redhawk, its double action will perhaps let me to shoot quicker for the second and third shot.
Besides my Redhawk is stainless and the Blackhawk is not, so it will shrug the moisture better than the blue gun.
In accuracy I haven't note any difference, and I really like the better visibility sights of the Redhawk.


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## Whelen35 (Mar 9, 2004)

I like the red hawks, but for weight the single action black hawk is lighter. The SW 29 and variants tend to not take a steady diet of heavy loads, but I loave my 629 for plinking and deer hunting. I think a person should use what feel right to them. A single action tends to roll more when fired, and to me feels like it kicks less, or at least not strait back into my nerve dammaged hands, and thusly it feel better to me. The red hawk is one of a very few double action pistols that can handle a steady diet of heavy loads and take it in stride. It even has the length to handle heavy bullets which several of the double action pistole in 44 and 45 can't. But for my hands, I still like the singles better. Besides, I need to save the abuse for my contender in 45-70, now that is a thumper.


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## black bear84 (Jan 28, 2005)

Whelen 35,
I agree with you that the rolling action of a single action in recoil is more pleasant than the straight back recoil of certain double actions. For me the S&W Model 29 have too much grip area, and the sharp cheqering of the panels hurt more my hand in prolonged shooting. than say the Ruger Redhawk.
Also I have equiped my Redhawk with a pistol scope (Leupold 2x) in the Ruger mounts that seats on the barrel, with that weight up front in the barrel, the pistol is very easy to control and don't jump high at all. Matter of fact it is more pleasant to shoot than the Super Redhawk with scope.
That is because the Super Redhawk seats the scope back, over the frame.
Also the stock panels in the Redhawk are smooth without any chekering, and it behaves as good as the Super Blackhawk (for me)
black bear84


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## Whelen35 (Mar 9, 2004)

Black Bear84
Its all about what feels best in your hands. My dad for example can shoot a glock 17 very well. It does not "feel" right in my hands, so I don't shoot is as well as my 19. I even had a colt 80 series combat comander that I had to get inside the barn to hit a wall at one time, I had one of those farm accidents that opened my hand up like the way you clean a fish, and after 57 or so stiches and some time to heal, I can now hit with that gun like no other 1911 I have. It changed my grip surface and hold, and not it "fits". I think how a handgun fits your hand and grip is of may more importance than the stock feel of a rifle. You can still crawl a stock, but your hand fit takes a lot of shooting to make it hit where you point. I shot the heck out of a red hawk back about 10 years ago, and after about 8000 rounds down the tube, I traded it off for something else. Its just now after a few mishaps to my hands that i am really liking the single actions more and more. I may do somethig to them again and that will change, but we all tend to shoot better with what fits our hands. Handgun huntng is ablast, and I wish more would try it. I never thought of it untill the mid-80's when handgun controll made the statement that handguns were not used for anything but shooting people. That was the day that I decided to do most of my huntingwith a handgun. I am glad that I did, it has been more fun than I can rember.


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## black bear84 (Jan 28, 2005)

Whelen 35:
Very right you are that we shoot best when the gun fit the hand (or in your case when the hand fit the gun)
My first two gun with adjustable sights were a S&W model 27 and a Colt Tropper Mk III.
I never didi very good with them, because the big flare on the end of the grips, where I get not much support.
Things changed when I started using revolvers with reverse grips, (where the grips get smaller in the botton)
This is a new development of about the last 18 years, I will say that now revolvers are better stocked, or in modern parlance, have better ergonomics.
I use handguns now for hunting part of the season (the other part is bow hunting) and I also hunt with blackpowder rifles.
One of this days I am going to cast some 230 grains conical for my Uberty Colt Walker with about 50 grains or so of triple F, and see what happens.


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## ProtectionAgainstElements (Oct 2, 2005)

I would pick the .45 then the .44 then the .357


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## dlip (May 16, 2004)

44 mag, 45 Colt, 357 Mag


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