Need some words of experience...

[ShortRange]

This seems to be the place to go for answers so here it goes...

I recently bought an Encore pistol frame. The original plan was to get a flextech stock and rifle barrel for it and use it that way and to put the pistol grip and forend away and maybe add a pistol barrel at a later date.

Looks like it's gonna be the other way around, get a pistol barrel in a pistol cartridge, for hunting Black Bear mostly with some Deer and maybe some Coyotes as well and do the rifle later.

I am leaning towards a .44 mag barrel as my brother loads for it and has LOTS of components for it. I handload for rifles and have a .357 revolver but want something a little more powerful for bear hunting than my .357 and I've read .44 mags work nicely.

I was looking at the 454 Casull .480 Ruger and 460 S&W too but they might be a bit much as other than shootin my brothers .44 SRH and my .357  my large bore pistol experience is nil.

I looked around for load data and have seen some very impressive velocities out of 12 and 15 inch barrels. From what I read the .44 mag just about becomes a .445 supermag when shot from a long barrel!

Any opinions on the .44 mag out of a long barreled Encore pistol for Black Bear hunting? I have a Red Dot sight from my 12 ga. slug gun or a 2x20 Nikon Monarch pistol scope I got thru a trade a while back, will those work?

Would a 12 or 15 inch barrel be best?

I don't really want a brake on it, do I need one? I shoot my bros .44 SRH just fine.

Thanks for any feedback...

[teamnelson]

A 12" barreled 44 Encore is going to weigh a bit more than a Ruger so I wouldn't see a need for a brake. I like the balance better on a 12" scoped barrel too.

[Grumulkin]

Many have used 44 Remington Magnum handguns successfully on bear.  I would go with a 10 or 12 inch barrel and, in my opinion, a brake isn't needed but, it's your hand.  An Encore with a scope is a bit heavier than other 44 Magnum handguns which tames recoil a bit.

I don't know what ranges you'll likely be shooting at.  A 44 Magnum would probably not be the best choice if you plan to shoot at much over 100 yards.  Also, though I have mine (a T/C Contender) shooting into about 1.5 inches for 3 shots at 100 yards, it took quite a bit of load fiddling to do that.  It is easier to get cartridges like the 7mm/08 Remington and 308 Winchester to shoot well at 100 yard and above ranges.

[ShortRange]

I guess I should have stated ranges.

 The area I'll use it for is a "firearm restricted zone" where bows, muzzleloaders, slug guns and revolver cartridge pistols are required.

 For where I'm gonna hunt with it ranges are most likely in the 25 to 75 yard range. It's mostly dense forest with logging roads criss crossing it and relatively small clearings here and there. I'll use it from treestands and ground blinds overlooking food sources mostly and calling them with predator calls with some walking around the logging roads still hunting. I'll carry my .357 as a belt gun.
 
I'll use a rifle for other areas that are more open (clearcuts) for shots that might be over 100 yards where rifles are legal.

[Ladobe]

Opinions will vary on using the 44MAG for black bear maybe.   But I did most of my handgun bear hunting with a Herter's 401 Power Mag and it was always more than enough gun for them.   Did quite a bit of mule deer hunting with 44MAG Ruger SB's (7.5" & 10" open sights) and they were plenty good too.   I took several with 357MAG revolvers as well.   Most bucks were taken under 100 yards, but a couple were taken a ways past.   But since I wasn't limited to the straight wall pistol cartridges at all the places where I hunted BG, when I used my TC Contenders for big game (especially elk) I mostly used the mid to large JDJ and Bower wildcats.   With them range really didn't matter (a good thing here in the open spaces of the west where shots can be long).

If you don't want to deal with reloading something new, the 44MAG ought to serve you well enough.   At the ranges you wrote you'd be shooting, a 12" is plenty long enough.   Personally I like the hang of a scoped 14"/15" in my hands better than one with a shorter barrel when hunting, but that's just me.

[jhalcott]

 a break will increase the noise to YOUR ears,making ear protection mandatory.It SHOULD be worn any time your are near any gun fire. The .44 mag is enough for 90 per cent of the hunting MOST of us do. A 14" barrel on a stand or ground blind where it CAN be rested is not a problem, for an off hand shot it might be.. I have used a Ruger SBH to kill several deer and a couple black bears with factory 240 grain ammo. Ranges to 125 yards are easy IF you are familiar with the gun/load.