So many choices .44 Mag, 45LC, .454 Casull, 460 S&W, 45-70 ,480 Ruger, 500 S&W??

[northkid]

So many choices to choose from .44 Mag, 45LC, .454 Casull, 460 S&W, 45-70, 480 Ruger, 500 S&W.

I am looking for ONE big game hunting gun (Encore or Revolver) for deer, hogs, bear. Or keep the 44 Mag revolver and get one of the bigger bore guns?
What would you choose? I have been reading on the Ruger Super Redhawk .480 Ruger a bit and it seems like and all around gun.

[Keith L]

There is a current thread on the Single Action forum about the 480.  We talk about TCs here.

[luckydawg13]

well the 460 is three of them in one 45lc 454 460 i got the 454 shoots darn good

[mcwoodduck]

I have had a 44 mag revolver for a number of years.
A few years ago I bought a T/C contender with a 14" 223 barrel.
I like the changability of the Contender and now have 6 barrels.
One is a 14" 44 Mag.
I look at my revolver as a side arm.  Yes I can and have hunted with it.
But the T/C is a hunting handgun. 
i do not think you can go wrong with a 44Mag as a hunting round.
You just have to limit your shots.
With the T/C Contender you can presto chango and make it anything from a 22LR to a 45-70 in barrel lengths from 6" to 23"
With all kinds of neat wild cats like 7MM TCU or 375 JDJ.
With the T/C Encore you can go up to 375 H&H and 12 ga shotgun . In addition to 44 Mag, 460, or 500 S&W. 
As I said I have a 223 for varmints and 44 mag for big game.  (and a few more)
OH the lack of a gap in the T/C and the added barrel length boost velocity over what your revolver is tossing.
One last reason for 44 Mag.  almost anywhere you go a gun shop will have a box or two of 44 Mag but few are going to have 460 or
454 cas.  And any 45 colt ammo is going to be cowboy type loads.
If you go somewhere to hunt you could loose your ammo and go nuts trying to locate some.

[northkid]

There is a current thread on the Single Action forum about the 480.  We talk about TCs here.

I didn't know where to post it as I included the Encore in the choice.

[northkid]

I have had a 44 mag revolver for a number of years.
A few years ago I bought a T/C contender with a 14" 223 barrel.
I like the changability of the Contender and now have 6 barrels.
One is a 14" 44 Mag.
I look at my revolver as a side arm.  Yes I can and have hunted with it.
But the T/C is a hunting handgun. 
i do not think you can go wrong with a 44Mag as a hunting round.
You just have to limit your shots.
With the T/C Contender you can presto chango and make it anything from a 22LR to a 45-70 in barrel lengths from 6" to 23"
With all kinds of neat wild cats like 7MM TCU or 375 JDJ.
With the T/C Encore you can go up to 375 H&H and 12 ga shotgun . In addition to 44 Mag, 460, or 500 S&W. 
As I said I have a 223 for varmints and 44 mag for big game.  (and a few more)
OH the lack of a gap in the T/C and the added barrel length boost velocity over what your revolver is tossing.
One last reason for 44 Mag.  almost anywhere you go a gun shop will have a box or two of 44 Mag but few are going to have 460 or
454 cas.  And any 45 colt ammo is going to be cowboy type loads.
If you go somewhere to hunt you could loose your ammo and go nuts trying to locate some.

The 44 mag is a great round and will take anything in North America. I would like to thin the heard down a bit (to 2) instead of having 15 handgun barrels and reloading for them. The 45LC is a great round, the 460 and 454 in the Encore have a bit of a bite with no breaks. I am not a fan of LOUD breaks. I been looking to get a .480 Ruger barrel and give it a shot.

[mcwoodduck]

I have 3- 44 mags.
6" revolver
14' T/C
and Ruger Deer field Carbine.

I have three loads.
180 grain plated or JHP ammo I load at about 1,000 FPS out of the revolver.  about 1,200 FPS  out of the T/C. The load is a Hot special that I use for targets and bowling pins loaded in the mag case. 
Next is a Load to equal the Factory JSP/ JHP at 1,600 FPS  That is perfect for Deer, Hogs, coyote, and Javilina.
The last is 240 Grain 1250 FPS load. that works for Deer, Hogs and larger.
Not to mention plain old 44 Specials that are equal to 45 Colt for plinking.
One neat thing is the Same load I have for the Hot Special gets a 240 grain bullet moving at 1200+ FPS.  So to go from target to hunting load all I have to do is change projectile.

[P.A. Myers]

It is still hard to beat the 30-30. The dirt cheap 170g factory loads work just dandy. If you want pointy or lite bullets, you will need to load them yourself.

[Grumulkin]

So many choices to choose from .44 Mag, 45LC, .454 Casull, 460 S&W, 45-70, 480 Ruger, 500 S&W.

I am looking for ONE big game hunting gun (Encore or Revolver) for deer, hogs, bear. Or keep the 44 Mag revolver and get one of the bigger bore guns?
What would you choose? I have been reading on the Ruger Super Redhawk .480 Ruger a bit and it seems like and all around gun.

For ONE big game hunting handgun, it should be an Encore.  Unless you're going to be hunting places that mandates a straight walled cartridge, you should consider one chambered for a bottlenecked rifle cartridge which will give you better range and probably better accuracy.  If you're going with a straight walled cartridge, then in my opinion the 460 or 500 S&W are the way to go.

[SlowLeadBullets]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but no one has mentioned the 45-70.  Why not?  I don't have experience with any of these calibers in an Encore pistol, but the 45-70 is one of my favorites in a rifle.

Rob

[mcwoodduck]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but no one has mentioned the 45-70.  Why not?  I don't have experience with any of these calibers in an Encore pistol, but the 45-70 is one of my favorites in a rifle.

Rob

I have played with both rifle and handguns in 45-70.
Rifles and handguns act the opposite ways with the 45-70.
The Factory 300 grain JHP loads that are stout out of my No3 Ruger carbine are a pussy cat load in the handgun
The 405 cowboy loads that are fun loads out of the little carbine kick like a mule out of the BFR's i have played with.
I think it is the powder charge.  The 300 grain is loaded with a propellent and needs longer barrels lengths to build up speed and the 405's are loaded with Black Powder or one of the black equivalant powders and get up to speed quickly.
Either load would be good for hunting or target shooting.