Encore .270 for Whitetail

[whitfang]

My son and I started hunting whitetail deer in Indiana about 3 years ago, and we're having a blast.  We hunt archery, muzzleloader (rifle and pistol) and shotgun.  Since I have an Encore pistol, I thought we could use a .270 Winchester pistol barrel with scope and start taking some longer shots at deer.

Well, a .270 pistol is just too much gun for us to be shooting.  Neither one of us can control it very well, and we can't get any kind of shot grouping.

My questions are:

How much $$$ does it take to modify a .270 pistol barrel to bring the recoil down?  Can you have a good muzzle brake installed for $100 or less?  Are brakes effective?

Or,  what other calibers will permit long-range deer hunting with a lot less recoil?  For deer, Indiana requires a .243 caliber or greater, and the case must be 1.16 inches long.  Some allowed calibers are 357 magnum, 41 magnum, 44 magnum, 44 special, 45 colt - but I never thought of these as long-range calibers.

[Lone Star]

Muzzle brakes can be quite effective, but they are limited by the physics of the particular cartridge.  A good one should be able to reduce total recoil by 15-20% on a .270, but best is one which vents most of the gas upwards, to reduce muzzle flip.  T/C makes their own brake which works pretty well and is probably the least expensive brake installed.

However, a better method might be to handload, reducing the velocity and recoil to manageable levels.  But if you don't handload then the brake is probably the best option, just don't expect miracles.