Question about Sig 239, HK USP and ammunition for hunting in VA

[sig_hk_mak]

Hi all,

I live in Virginia and am considering going hunting some boars and maybe whitetail with a local group. I don't want to use a rifle and have good experience with handguns as I shoot regularly at the local range and have a CCW permit. My favorites are the Sig 239 (all calibers) and the HK USP (all calibers). So I was thinking of using one of these for hunting. Well the problem is that state regulation requires using a handgun that could produce at least 350 foot-pounds of energy in order to be legally used for hunting. I've asked some people at the local shooting range for advice but they all gave me conflicting info. So my questions are:

1. Is any of these guns capable of producing the required 350 foot-pounds, regalrdless of ammunition used?
2. If these gun are capable DEPENDING on ammunition, then please tell me ammo brand, specs and if you've had any experience using the ammunition and any of these handguns for hunting.

Thanks a lot.

[Qaz]

 Sig, You have found one of the best places on the net for hunting info. I hope you enjoy it. As a fellow Virginian I know you are used to shots at what our western brethern would call close range. If I am not mistaken, all Sigs and HK are semi-auto which in my opinion equates to mild for caliber hunting ammo. The 45acp should do the trick at 50 yards on deer, but you also metioned wild boar. Nothing  comes out of a semi-auto that I would stake my life on with a wild boar. I have seen how quickly things can turn nasty when the right one is confronted first hand. I don't care what you think you know about them, once you have seen one get someone on the ground and use those cutters, you mind changes fast. Twice, the only thing that saved each person was the catch dog.
 As a general rule when talking hog hunting, 44mag in a pistol is minimum and certainly for a new hunter. Do you need more, No! does it hurt having more, No! There may be some that chime in and say, " The 357SIG or 45acp is plenty, they are either experianced hog hunters or fools. With hogs you want to be prepared for the worst, for me that would be a charge and he is within 15 feet of me. In that senario, I want something that takes the gas out of him fast or my bulldog in front of me!

 Will you be hunting them in Va, if so where? Tennesee is as close as I have found them that it is not a canned hunt.

Qaz 

[Redhawk1]

Not to be a smart guy, but why not invest in a good hunting handgun from 357 Mag and up. I would not go below a 41 Mag myself. In my opinion I don't think any of the semi-auto handguns except the Magnum Research desert eagle 44 Mag or a 45 Win Mag would make a good semi-auto hunting handgun

[sig_hk_mak]

Thanks for the response. I guess I might have to reconsider the boar thing. I've also heard that if you get close to a boar then you better take it down quick or hope to be near a tree:-) Anyways, I'll try the whitetail hunting with a .45ACP and see how that works.
Qaz, I got some friends that go to Virginia Tech down in Blacksburg and they said boars have been spotted in the area recently on a number of occasions. So they'll check it out and if turns out to be true I was thinking of joining them, but now after your responses I'll probably buy a .44 Mag before I go boar hunting. Anyways, thanks for the advice folks.

[Mikey]

sig hk mak:  I'm glad to read you are reconsidering Boar with a semi-auto.  They move very quickly when angered and I wouldn't want to face one on the ground with a semi, period. 

As to you thoughts on whitetail - drop on down to the 1911/45 ACP Forum - there is a thread there on whitetail with the 45 that you may find informative.  HTH.  Mikey.

[Old Griz]

I'm sorry folks. I'm not trying to flame anyone, but I just don't think hunting deer, or anything else, with a .45 ACP is a good idea. It was designed to stop people. Not game animals. Is it possible? Of course. People kill deer with .22s, but that is not a good idea either. There are so many great deer hunting rounds out there, why would you want to use something so questionable? A nice, hot 10mm . . . OK, but I'd really suggest a .41 mag or higher.

[BlkHawk73]

  If one is gonna hunt, why not actually invest in a good hunting firearm.  Sure other types will do it if the shooter does thier part of course within reason but compromise why when there's so many options available to us all.  My advice, get a true hunting handgun.

[pastorp]

OldGriz, If a deer weights 200# and a man weights 200# why would a 45acp be good for one and not the other? Not trying to start and argument just curious what your reasioning is.

Sig, in a semi-auto 10mm is my choice. Regards, Byron 

[Questor]

sig_hk_mak:

I tend to agree with Redhawk1 on this. But if you got to use one, be absolutely certain that you research your bullets as suitable for hunting. I know a guide that guides for hog hunting and he says his worst customers are  cops who insist on using 357 magnums. Performance is poor. The major part of the problem is bad bullet selection.  The hogs just get mad and they require a little centerfire rifle-powered sedation by the guide when they charge at those close ranges.

That said, I use 44 magnum for hunting and consider it merely adequate for the purpose of  hunting deer and hogs. I wouldn't want anything less powerful.

Hunting guns only get to be good hunting guns because good development goes into the bullets and cartridges.  The unfortunate thing about guns in your configuration is that there's not a lot of good data on bullet performance in hunting situations. So few people use them to hunt with.

My approach would be to research the heaviest bullets I can find for the caliber, preferably bullets with good controlled expansion like the Nosler partition handgun bullets. This is probably a reloading proposition. 

[Old Griz]

OldGriz, If a deer weights 200# and a man weights 200# why would a 45acp be good for one and not the other? Not trying to start and argument just curious what your reasioning is.

That's simple. Humans are not deer. If you have ever been hunting then you know a bullet can take out a deer's heart and go through both lungs, and it can take off and run quite a distance. A bear's heart beats once every 18 seconds or so. Shoot it in the heart, and in 18 seconds he can still do quite a lot of damage to you. It's much easier to drop a man. We're not as tough as animals. Weight means nothing. If that were the case we could hunt with .25s, .32s or .380s or any other little handgun round, and use the .45 ACP on dangerous game like cape buffalo, big cats, etc. If someone blew out your heart and/or lungs, you'd be quite dead before you even started falling. Not always the case with game animals. We just ain't the same.