Looking for Experienced Revolver Hunters.

[sixshot]

  Going big is an advantage if you can handle it, its a disadvantage if you can't.  A 357 in a good place is much better than a 44 or 454 in a bad place. I shoot nothing but cast & I cast them as soft as I can get away with. Why do you need a hard cast slug? I've shot game for 40 years with cast, I don't ever remember losing an animal & I've used everything from the 357 to the 475 FA. Took 11 animals last year (hogs, elk, 3 deer & my best bear) I've never recovered a cast bullet, what up with the hard slugs I'll never know. Remember, if they are shooting well then softer is better. Shot my moose with a Ruger 480 & 370 gr softnose cast, complete penetration, african game, many elk, deer & bear, it still boils down to putting a good bullet in a good place. Game animals aren't impressed with misses, you have to hit them good, so placement is #1.
  Those big flatnose cast slugs at 1100 fps or so will penetrate beyond belief, you don't need expansion, those big slugs are already around 1/2" in diameter.

Dick

[nockhunter]

 I killed two deer with a 10.5" Super Blackhawk. 300g XTP"s. The doe "bang flop" high through both shoulders. The buck a little back in the lungs, he went about 25-30 yards and tipped over. I also killed a 200lb hog with a Bisley 45 Colt with a 300g Speer. The shot was angling away through the near side shoulder and out behind the opposite ear "bang flop". All shots between 40-60 yards. I mostly like to hunt with a bow, but I will try to get some more kills with the hand guns, and cast bullets.

Mike

[Tonk]

I have watched some of the younger crowd at my gunclub over the past few years and they seem to be on a trip, with who can hunt with the biggest revolver made. The funny thing about all this pistol noise, is that most can NOT hit a watermellon at 50 yds with their handcannons...Fact!!!

I would give you the advice of starting with a .357 mag and then after learning how to shoot the pistol accurately, move on up to the .44 mag and so on. I have a .460 Smith & Wesson but it is NOT fun to shoot at the range, not near as much fun as the .357mag or the .44mag. The .44mag makes a perfect deer hunting tool in our hardwoods of the Ozarks.

[jmabrey]

Since you reload and own a 357 mag-look into the 357 maximum. This requires a tc single shot, a non factory barrel for reasons better explained elsewhere on the web. I have a Match Grade Machine 357 max on an encore frame.

Here is information on this round-357 maximum is used for handgun silhouette and hunting-200 yards range, very accurate at long ranges, low recoil, easy to reload and fun to shoot.
Look here for web pages to explore.
http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php?action=search2

[S.B.]

Since you reload and own a 357 mag-look into the 357 maximum. This requires a tc single shot, a non factory barrel for reasons better explained elsewhere on the web. I have a Match Grade Machine 357 max on an encore frame.

Here is information on this round-357 maximum is used for handgun silhouette and hunting-200 yards range, very accurate at long ranges, low recoil, easy to reload and fun to shoot.
Look here for web pages to explore.
http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php?action=search2

I thought his question was about revolver hunting???
Steve

[jmabrey]

true that is what he asked for.  I have a New Model blackhawk in 357 and a SRH 91/2" barrel scoped. Just like everyone else here I would use the 357 for close in hunting and the 44 for a little more distancey. My bad. I have become so infatuated with my TC 44 MGM and 357 max MGM barrels I forgot the main gist of his question.


 However all would not be lost if he wanted to look at the 357 max. It still exists in revolvers and is used for hunting and silhouette shooting. People still find and buy them.
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell357Max.htm

And since there was so much advice about calibers, looking at another another option may be the way to go.

[Sweetwater]

Since this thread is still active, I'll throw out a question to the OP - have you made a choice? Report?

Having fired 22's and 38's of various flavors as a kid, I wanted a real revolver. That was my thinking 30 years ago. At 30, I bought a Model 19 S&W 357mag. 6", nickel plated, the works. Loved it so much, I gave it to my 2nd wife when we divorced.

During the 13years I had that revolver, I also had a USArms Abilene 45Colt 71/2" and a USArms Abilene 44Mag 45/8". I sold the 44Mag right off. The 45Colt would shoot cloverleafs. I should have kept it, but I didn't. I also bought my first Ruger Blackhawk, a 41Mag in 1980, after reading several articles and having shot a couple different 44mags. I've never been sorry and have had a dozen different new and old model blackhawks, all in 41Mag. Also have a companion Marlin rifle, and that rifle is way too much fun!!

My present love is a 51/2" SS Bisley Blackhawk 41Mag. A couple years ago I got a deal on a 71/2" Bisley Blackhawk in 45Colt. My present wife also likes to shoot, but never cared for the 41mag even when lightly load. I think it's the name "magnum". Anyway, she fell in love with the 45Colt and is a dead shot with it. I load her 260gr lymans and lees at 900fps+/- and she shoots round after round. It's pleasant for her and not really a wimpy load. YUP, it's her's. I even had her initials put on the custom holster I had made in Thompson Falls, Montana. I never dreamed she would like it and it does what is is suppossed to do without a lot of bang and crash. She likes that! I like that she likes that! Makes my life simpler....

If you haven't made a choice, or even if you have - hang out at an IHMSA shooting match or other similar scenerio. When I was running matches 20 years ago, we always had extra ammo available for "after the match" shooting and sharing. No better way to get a person into a shooting match than to provide the pathway with gun and ammo and guidance. I was already a member, but it afforded me the opportunity to shoot stuff like the FA83 in 454Casull in the early 90's that I will never forget and probably never be able to afford. I shot several matches with a borrowed 6TCU RemXP100 with a 2oz set trigger! Memories....

Summary: I've never been sorry to have been consumed by the 41Mag, but I do wish I had kept that first 45Colt and never purchased the 357Mag. For me, the 45 would have been a better choice for what I was going to use it for. I shot rabbits and porcupines with the 357 - and I have worn hearing aids for the last 17 years. Took me 13 years to admit I was near deaf. The 41Mag was my "match gun" for most of my production class shooting and all my "big game hunting" if a handgun was being used. Took several deer and untold numbers of antelope at ranges from "up close and personal" to "unreportable", translated no one would believe it anyway.... I was shooting a lot back then and 200 yard sillouete targets were no chore at all with that Blackhawk. Anything that will knock those targets over will take down an antelope. Today, I don't shoot that often and don't see that well anymore. (though we are making an offer on a house that we looked at yesterday near Naples with a 250yd shooting range in the yard and a great sand hill for a backstop). I may get my touch back, but I'd have to start using a scope for any serious distances. It's all choices and ethics, but they are your choices and you are allowed to change your mind at any point along the way. ENJOY!!

Regards,
Sweetwater

[iunderpressure]

I still haven't bought anything.  For the longest time everyone around me was sold out of everything I wanted to see.  I really like how the S&W DAs feel and look, but I really like that the Rugers are built strong.  I'm leaning towards a Bisley or some other Blackhawk in 45Colt (or maybe a 41 or 44 mag).  Still looking at barrel lengths.  Shorter barrels are easier to carry but you lose velocity.  I shot a 454 Cassull lately in a 3 or 4" barrel Ruger DA and didn't think it was all that bad.  I don't think my 308 encore pistol is that bad.  I don't think handgun recoil in general is all that bad.  My 357 with the small grips and heavy loads hurts my hand when shooting more than any other handgun I have shot.  Handguns don't beat you up or put a scope through you eye like a rifle can.  I just say all this because some are warning me about recoil.  I'm not too worried about recoil.

[iunderpressure]

What would be the velocity difference between a blackhawk with a 5.5" barrel and one with a 7.5"?  Would recoil be that different between the two?

[S.B.]

Not much, depends your gun. Every gun is different. Looks like you've narrowed the choices down to the best of the breed?
Steve

[SHOOTALL]

5.5 vs 7.5 nither you or the deer would feel much difference from shooting . The 5.5 carries better and the 7.5 sights better with iron sights .

[Sweetwater]

Shootall +1

My wife likes the 7 1/2" Bisley 45Colt. So do I.

I also like my 5 1/2" Bisley 41Mag. She does not.

Wild game does not like either one, nor my son's 4 5/8" 41Mag. Or is it 4 1/2", don't know, can't remember, don't care. It packs nice and shoots like the rest of them. CHOICES....

As to recoil. You handload. You control it. End of story. Any velocity difference will not be noticed, except on paper...
Read what has been done in the field with 44Specials and standard 45Colts and understand that you can do it. It just takes practice and patience.
The difference in range you will not notice because you won't be able to use the effective range of the heavier calibers until you've mastered shooting the revolver in the first place, in which case the standard calibers have adequate range. By then, you will have found that the standard calibers have all the effective range you "need" as a "hunter". If you are a hunter, you don't need to be able to shoot over the horizon. Just hunt; all else will fall into place - and practice...

Enjoy!!!

Regards,
Sweetwater