Hunting give me the scoup!

[coop2564]

Just bought a Taurus 416 6.5'' ss .41 mag with Bushnell trophy multi red/green dot.  I need some education?  What bullets for deer and hogs?(Dont handload) What distants to sight in?  How far will it kill? I have hunted w/Contender 30-30 pistol but it was like hunting with a rifle for the most part, I'm thinking this revolver is going to be a little more difficult.  I have a bi pod 62'' do they help? I know a lot of it will depend on how accurate the gun is hope to shoot it this weekend. Will be hog hunting the following weekend I hope.

[Lloyd Smale]

its your bussiness but i think you ought to spend more then a week shooting that gun before you go after live game with it. Heck it would take me a couple weeks just to work a good load up for it.

[coop2564]

Thats why I said I hope. If I dont feel like I'm accurate enough I wont be.

[klong]

I would think 30 to 50 yards would be a good sight in distance. I do not shoot a 41 cal, but if you can find any of the XTP type bullets in 200 to 220 gr weight, they would work as for as bullet performance goes. Regarding the bi pod,  you should try it at the range. How you do with it there should tell you more than any of us . If it helps steady the shot, use it. In experienced hands, it should be able to take game to 100 yards or a little farther. Since this set up is new to you, you may want to impose a 25 to 50 yard limit, depending upon your range performance and practice time. Good luck.

[ccoker]

I have a smith 657 with a 7.5" barrel
I got it on a Friday, grabbed a few boxes of shells and stopped by the range, adjusted the sights, and picked the load that was the best grouping (winchester 240g platinum tips, the reviews on Midway all comment on the accuracy of this round)

the next morning I shot a doe at pushing 50 yards through both shoulders..
ran about 30 yards

I am doing an upcoming hog hunt and will shoot Federal 250g castcores
I have since that first hunt tried some at the range, same thing as the Win 240s, one ragged hole at 25 yards, though a slighlty different POI

I bought several boxes of the Federals and plan to dial in the red dot I put on it... for 50 yards and then that's my hunting round for everything, deer or pigs..( I live in Texas)

I searched everywhere for affordable practice ammo and two places serve em up..

cnc cartrdidge does a 215 SWC at 1025 fps for about 18 a box of 50 and georgia arms does an 850fps for the same load/price

neither are as tight of a group as the two premium loads of course..


have fun

[Graybeard]

I DO NOT consider the .41 Magnum with JHPs a hog gun. Been there done that and ain't gonna do it again. I used 210 XTPs. Get hard cast or don't use it on hogs is my personal advice. If Federal makes a Cast Core load for it that would be a good one to use, but I'm not sure they do. Otherwise look to folks like Buffalo Bore or COR-BON for your ammo. The one possible bright spot in jacket ammo is the new 240 grain  from Winchester. It's the ONLY jacketed load I'd be willing to use on decent trophy size hogs.

I would also agree with Lloyd on taking a LOT more time to get ready. I spent more time than that and no doubt fired a LOT more ammo than you're thinking about doing getting ready for a Handgun Hunt at White Oak Plantation last December and that's after having been doing this for almost 40 years. I hadn't been doing much handgun shooting lately tho so I went into an intensive get ready mode and it paid off with a one shot kill on the only deer I had a chance to be sure was a legal one to shoot under their rules.

I've handgun hunted since I was in my 20s and done it on a lot of game in a lot of states and I'd prepare more for a hunt than you're talking about doing.

Personally I'm of the opinion the ONLY first handgun for someone is a .22 rimfire and that until you've gone thru a case of ammo (that's 5000 rounds) you don't need another one. Then move up to a .38/.357 Magnum and use it a year before moving into hunting unless it's small game hunting with that rimfire. That's the way I did it and the way I recommend to you.

[Lloyd Smale]

I agree with everything Greaybeard said. Jacketed bullets .41 and hogs dont mix. I once witnessed a 240 lb hog shot in the sholder with a 210 jacketed bullet run off wounded we chased it down and the guy that put it down did it with a 357 with a hard cast bullet. The 41 jhp blew up on the shoulder and put a nasty wound about the size of your fist on the pig. Deer and jacketed arent bad (but i still prefer cast) but when you get into pigs and blackbear i wouldnt go with anything but hardcast. Shooting a deer after taking a couple shots would never fly at my camp id root you in the ass. Im sure it could be done but ive seen people who bought handguns and for that matter ill throw in bows because range limitations are simular with open sights that could sit and shoot an exceptable group with there weapon fail when the pressure of the hunt is involved. You might get away with it if your sitting in a blind with a good rest hunting over a bait pile but theres not one man in a thousand that can shoot two boxes of ammo through a mag handgun and be good enough with it standing on his own to feet to make an off hand shot a 25 yards every single time under hunting situations. You may do it 80 percent of the time but your eventually going to make a mistake, jerk a shot and wound an animal which is totaly unexceptablem. I give the same advise to beginning handgun hunters as i do bow hunters. Buy your weapon and spend the first season practicing. LIke greybeard said put at least a few thousand rounds through a 22 in mock hunting situations then sit at the bench and put a couple thousand more learning proper trigger control then repeat the first couple thousand and see how much you have improved. Then step up to a mild centerfire and practice till you shoot it as well as you did that 22 then go out knowing that when you make a shot an animal will have a humane death.

I DO NOT consider the .41 Magnum with JHPs a hog gun. Been there done that and ain't gonna do it again. I used 210 XTPs. Get hard cast or don't use it on hogs is my personal advice. If Federal makes a Cast Core load for it that would be a good one to use, but I'm not sure they do. Otherwise look to folks like Buffalo Bore or COR-BON for your ammo. The one possible bright spot in jacket ammo is the new 240 or 250 grain (forget which) from Winchester. It's the ONLY jacketed load I'd be willing to use on decent trophy size hogs.

I would also agree with Lloyd on taking a LOT more time to get ready. I spent more time than that and no doubt fired a LOT more ammo than you're thinking about doing getting ready for a Handgun Hunt at White Oak Plantation last December and that's after having been doing this for almost 40 years. I hadn't been doing much handgun shooting lately tho so I went into an intensive get ready mode and it paid off with a one shot kill on the only deer I had a chance to be sure was a legal one to shoot under their rules.

I've handgun hunted since I was in my 20s and done it on a lot of game in a lot of states and I'd prepare more for a hunt than you're talking about doing.

Personally I'm of the opinion the ONLY first handgun for someone is a .22 rimfire and that until you've gone thru a case of ammo (that's 5000 rounds) you don't need another one. Then move up to a .38/.357 Magnum and use it a year before moving into hunting unless it's small game hunting with that rimfire. That's the way I did it and the way I recommend to you.

[Redhawk1]

I have to agree with others here. Use a good cast bullet, that is all I use in my hunting handguns.  Deer, bear, and hogs.  All three taken cleanly with cast bullets.
I am also a firm believer that one should practice a lot with a handgun before going out hunting with one. I put in thousands of rounds a year to stay proficient with my handgun. I know it is a lot of practice but I also enjoy shooting my handguns. 

[fatercat]

thousands of rounds my butt. 40 or more years ago we killed hogs with 22's. just wait till you had a between the eyes shot. they were whats for dinner.. i can sit down with a pistol or rifle or shot gun for a hour or two and tell if i'm going to take it hunting. this guy told you he's hunted and killed with hand gun before. if it takes you guys that long you ain't hunting much.

[coop2564]

Thanks for the advice.  I'm not new to shooting pistols just trying to hunt with a revolver.  I have a Browning buckmark .22 and a taurus .38 2'' barrel that I have shot a lot over the years.  And have killed several deer, hogs, Javalina and few coyotes  w/contender.  So sounds like if I can find some cast core bullets thats the load to use. The hog hunt will be with dogs in the mornings and feeders in the eveings 25yd shots or closer.

[ccoker]

I am new to handgun hunting but not new to hunting...
been doing it since I was about 5...
I have shot thousands and thousands of rounds with handguns, IPSC, IDPA, target for tiny groups, etc..

try a box of 250g Fed Cast Cores at 1250 fps
if they group well and you can shoot them well (in my gun they are very accurate and the recoil is easy) then they would be a great choice
buffalo bore makes some cast loads that are hotter
I don't feel the need for more velocity and would much rather have something I can shoot very accurately and consistently

[Redhawk1]

thousands of rounds my butt. 40 or more years ago we killed hogs with 22's. just wait till you had a between the eyes shot. they were whats for dinner.. i can sit down with a pistol or rifle or shot gun for a hour or two and tell if i'm going to take it hunting. this guy told you he's hunted and killed with hand gun before. if it takes you guys that long you ain't hunting much.

I guess we all do things differently, I take pride in my shooting, also I enjoy shooting my handguns. I just don't go out shooting right before hunting season. I hunt a lot, but I also shoot a lot.

I gave my own personal experience and what I do. I also believe people should practice more than just an hour or two each year. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.  

[Redhawk1]

Thanks for the advice.  I'm not new to shooting pistols just trying to hunt with a revolver.  I have a Browning buckmark .22 and a taurus .38 2'' barrel that I have shot a lot over the years.  And have killed several deer, hogs, Javalina and few coyotes  w/contender.  So sounds like if I can find some cast core bullets thats the load to use. The hog hunt will be with dogs in the mornings and feeders in the eveings 25yd shots or closer.

coop2564, you are on the right track, glad to here you have experience with handguns, it always helps.  I love a good cast bullet for hunting.

[Lloyd Smale]

Dammed your talented. Do you have some handgun training program i can sign up for!

thousands of rounds my butt. 40 or more years ago we killed hogs with 22's. just wait till you had a between the eyes shot. they were whats for dinner.. i can sit down with a pistol or rifle or shot gun for a hour or two and tell if i'm going to take it hunting. this guy told you he's hunted and killed with hand gun before. if it takes you guys that long you ain't hunting much.

[Redhawk1]

Lloyd are you looking for some quick schooling? I think I read how to shoot handguns in a book once. Does that qualify me as a handgun hunter. LOL 

[myronman3]

i try not to take myself all too seriously

[Lloyd Smale]

hell i heard you could become an expert with just a keyboard! Reading gives me a headache and shooting has permantely damaged my knuckle and has given me lead poisoning twice so maybe i should have stopped after a couple hundred rounds

Lloyd are you looking for some quick schooling? I think I read how to shoot handguns in a book once. Does that qualify me as a handgun hunter. LOL 

[fatercat]

Personal attack deleted by Graybeard.

[fatercat]

PERSONAL ATTACK deleted by Graybeard. If you want to be ejected from this site let me see you do that again. I'll be happy to help you out the door. GB

[The Old Redneck]

The older I get the more patients I have with other shooters. I have a private range at home and when I have time enjoy teaching and coaching friends and those refered to me. I have watched people shoot little groups from a bench that couldn't hit a 3 foot square steel plate off hand at 50 yards. Have also watched good shots miss standing game at less than 50 yards when Buck fever hits. Have watched dogs bring deer by so fast that it was missed several times with a shotgun. I'm also from the south where people put a 22 to a hogs head and killed it so they could butcher it. Yes you can kill a hog with a 22, but a wild hog or any game deserves to be hunted and taken right. To me that means have enough gun to do the job and be good enough to do your part. I agree with the advice to shoot as much as possible. That way your know your strengths and weakness with the gun your using. Shoot the way you will hunt, if from a rest in a shooting house then a rest is O.K., but you still need to learn to shoot offhand. Shooting sticks are great if you have shot enough from them to make full use of them. Squirrel season with a 22 hand gun and set of shooting sticks is great practice for larger game. Bottom line when you change guns you need to shoot it enough to know the gun and how well you can use it. Revolvers are different than Contenders in the field, you become painfully aware of that the first time you put you hand next to the front of the cylinder, on a set of shooting sticks. Think you wont forget and do something that stupid, swap gun types a few times, you will be amazed at what you can do when your focused on game instead of what your doing. Practice is the key to not doing dumb things, and helps prevent dumb accidents.

[jhalcott]

 Yes redneck, I have seen that trick about steadying the revolver on sticks, I use the sticks when I carry a Contender.With the revolvers I use either a sling or a natural rest. I don't hunt with a gun that I haven't used at least a month preferring 2 months to familiarize myself with it. Coop has used handguns before to take game. ASSUMING he is reasonably accurate AND using a good bullet for the job,such as Corbon 250 grain hard cast.(sold by Midway)He should be able to kill a hog at say 50-75 yards. Possibly more.! THAT is where the practice comes into the picture.Just where is HIS limit as to accurately placing the shot ,no matter what he uses for a rest. At 25 yards EVEN I would not have too much trouble shooting a hog with HIS new 41 mag with those corbon's
  Mr ? coop2564 I wish you the best of luck on your hunt and wouldn't mind sharing some of that up coming BAR B CUE.

[blhof]

I shot a 22 and shotgun as a kid, an uncle turned me onto pistols with an old 3220 revolver.  I wasn't very good with it.  Later I tried my brother's DW 357mag, new out of the box; 30 yds and kept cans jumping until we were out of ammo.  I've since graduated to a 357max and contender with many barrels.  Both proven in the field against an assortment of game.  Practice and finding what your gun likes, as they do have preferences; my DW will drive tacks with 200gr cast, but lighter bullets have poorer performance so I keep it heavy.  The contender seems to be a little more forgiving except for a slightly different point of impact it seems to group well with a variety of loads.  Bring a few different loads and check grouping.  You have to burn some ammo to know consistant placement.

[coop2564]

Well I have got 2 boxes of corbon 250 HC and 2 boxes of win Plat tip 240 gr for now going to shoot in few minutes, that was all they had in cast got the win 240s because the dog handler requests bullets with jackets to keep from shooting through and hitting dogs.  Dealer has ordered some of the fed cast and some more of the corbon said they should be here wed  Thanks again for the tips.

[Lloyd Smale]

coop for the price of 5 boxes of shells you could have everything you need to start reloading your own. Hell id even send you a box of bullet for free to get going with.

[Zeus]

I've killed deer with the 240 platinum tip from a 7.5" 41 mag.  Performance was outstanding and the load was VERY accurate from my gun.  I have a picture of the mushroomed bullet at work, I'll post it on Monday for you.  It entered just behind the shoulder and broke everything in the offside shoulder/leg joint area before lodging just inside the hide.  the distance was about 85 yards.  For deer and a factory load, its going to be hard to beat that one.  Take care.  GS

[Lloyd Smale]

Zeus not to be critical but a hog or bear is a tougher animal then a deer. If you look closely at your bullet peformace youll see that although it did the job and killed the animal a small change could have changed things drasticaly. You said the bullet entered behind the front sholder and penetrated and broke the off side shoulder and came to rest under the skin. What that tells me is that hitting that shoulder bone just about stopped that bullet. What if it would have had to penetrate though the near side shoulder bone first? Would it have made the vitals maybe maybe not. Now swap that out for bones about twice that size and youll see why i dont care for a jacketed bullet. Even a 220 hardcast swc out of a 41 would have no doubt broke both shoulders of a deer and probably of a hog or bear and blew right out the off side. Ive shot deer with 44 and hardcast in the chest and had them come out the back and have broke both shoulders of hogs with guns as mild as a 44 special shooting 250 cast at 1000 fps.  I personaly witnessed a miserable failure of a 41 jhp on hog twice and once the animal was put down with a 44 cast and once it was dropped by a little 41 special smith using a 210 at 900 fps. The jacketed bullet broke the shoulder both times and stopped. It just goes back to the fact that no matter how powerful your load is if the bullet wont penetrate into the vitals EVERYTIME its useless and nothing does that better then a good hardcast bullet

I've killed deer with the 240 platinum tip from a 7.5" 41 mag.  Performance was outstanding and the load was VERY accurate from my gun.  I have a picture of the mushroomed bullet at work, I'll post it on Monday for you.  It entered just behind the shoulder and broke everything in the offside shoulder/leg joint area before lodging just inside the hide.  the distance was about 85 yards.  For deer and a factory load, its going to be hard to beat that one.  Take care.  GS

[redhawk500]

I am fully in favor of being up to your ankles in .22 brass as a starting point.  Having said that, a handgun hunt is a challenging even, but not as difficult as small game hunt with a .22 RF.  I personally want to use my hunting gun for lots of off hand shooting with a reduced load at 50 yards.  All of my big game shots have been at less than this distance.  I have no idea of a source of cheap, accurate, ammunition for the .41 Magnum that doesn't involve reloading.  The good news in that the same bullet you practice with can be used for hunting, any good cast bullet, properly shaped for the purpose, of proper diameter, with a plain base to cut costs, will work.  I like 10 grains of Unique for practice with a 215 grain SWC and 18 grains of 2400 for hunting.  The Federal Cast Core bullets are a good factory choice, I'd guess, but I've never seen them "in the flesh".  I think they use Cast Performance bullets.  If you want factory for final zeroing before your hunt, Buffalo Bore offers:
Item No. Heavy .41 Magnum
16A 265 gr. LWN-GC 1350 fps
1072 ft. lbs. Per Box of 50
$60.99
 16B 230 gr. SWC (Keith-type)
 1450 fps
1074 ft. lbs. Per Box of 50
$60.99

[Dusty Miller]

I don't buy into the notion that the ONLY gun for a new handgun shooter is a .22.  Sure, MOST of the time that is the case but let's face it, a 38 spec. is not big shaker as handguns go and many people would be well served with buying a .357 mag and putting a few hundred 38 spec. thru it and then moving on to the magnum.  In the meantime a lot of dry firing would be in order too.  My first handgun was a little Berreta tilt barrel .22 and I bet I didn't put 200 rounds thru it (wish I still had it though!) and then I moved right on to a .357 mag. (just about ruined my ears in the process) and after that a Colt .45 ACP and loved it to death, still do.  A .44 mag followed and then an FA 454 Casull in quick succession.  Some people just LOVE the buck of a heavy big bore and some people spook at the recoil of a 38 spec.  People are different and one size most emphatically does not fit all.  That's my most unprofessional opinion!

[ccoker]

I have learned a lot here and definitely take the advice of the more experienced handgun hunters...

it's pretty overwhelming the voice for hardcast here...
so, while the one deer I shot with the win 240 platinum tip blew a nice hole all the way through at 50 yards.. I am going with 250g hc for all hunting...

I think it's time to get back into reloading too..
haven't done it in a long time, we did all our own growing up but dad got rid of it all..

so, time to reinvest as I know I can have exactly what I want and save money in the long run and get to shoot more!

I LOVE to shoot.. not just a box before hunting season, but I love to burn through ammo

[Lloyd Smale]

Dusty believe it or not my handgunning more mirrored yours then what i preach. i think my first .500 was like the fifth pistol i owned. I shot my buddys and just had to have one and had to load it stiff all the time. I paid the price for it and truely believe it slowed down my learning to shoot alot. I probably picked up more bad habbits at that time in my life then skill. Trigger control is what its all about and to learn it like learning anything else it requires repetition. Nothing wrong with a .38 if you can afford the ammo but at probably 10-15 bucks a box compared to 10-15 for 500 rounds of .22 it just makes more sense to start with a .22 especially if your not casting and loading your own and i have yet to meet a guy that was what i consider a good shot with a handgun that doesnt at least load there own ammo its just a nesscisary eviil if you really want to shoot alot and become competant unless your income is in the 6 figure bracket. I shoot cometitively a little and just go to a local match one day and observe who is taking the trophys home and see how many of them are doing it with factory ammo. Granted i take it to more of an extreme that most. Ive spend 1500 bucks in the last week on just lead and primers but shooting a handgun for the most part is my life its what id rather do then go to Jamaica or buy a new motorcyle or eat steak at the resturant and thankfully i have a women that understands that.  Your advise on dry firing is very good and is probably the most overlooked and best practice there is. To many people still think there going to break there guns dry firing them. Ive got guns that have been dry fired thousands of times and have yet to break any gun doing it.

I don't buy into the notion that the ONLY gun for a new handgun shooter is a .22.  Sure, MOST of the time that is the case but let's face it, a 38 spec. is not big shaker as handguns go and many people would be well served with buying a .357 mag and putting a few hundred 38 spec. thru it and then moving on to the magnum.  In the meantime a lot of dry firing would be in order too.  My first handgun was a little Berreta tilt barrel .22 and I bet I didn't put 200 rounds thru it (wish I still had it though!) and then I moved right on to a .357 mag. (just about ruined my ears in the process) and after that a Colt .45 ACP and loved it to death, still do.  A .44 mag followed and then an FA 454 Casull in quick succession.  Some people just LOVE the buck of a heavy big bore and some people spook at the recoil of a 38 spec.  People are different and one size most emphatically does not fit all.  That's my most unprofessional opinion!