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Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

Title:The Hunting Notesfile
Notice:Registry #7, For Sale #15, Success #270
Moderator:SALEM::PAPPALARDO
Created:Wed Sep 02 1987
Last Modified:Tue Jun 03 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1561
Total number of notes:17784

82.0. "Handgun Hunters" by FLYSQD::NIEMI (44 Magnum Mania) Fri Nov 13 1987 12:30

    Just though I'd start an entry on handgun hunting. Back when I used
    to practice every week I toted around a Ruger super blackhawk on
    a couple of deer hunting trips. Once I even carried a S&W model
    28 (357 mag) on a deer hunt. I really don't consider anything less
    than a 41 mag suitable for deer, but there are those gun scribes
    out there that claim the 357 is best for whitetail. I have my doubts.
    But if the shot placement is there and the range is under 70 yards
    I imagine it would do a good job. 
       Lets hear from you handgun hunters. Put all your stroies here....
    
    sjn
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82.1.357... excellent for chucksOLDMAN::DAYOTTEFri Nov 13 1987 14:1214
    I use a .44 Ruger SuperBlackhawk with a 10.5" barrel for bucks-only
    N.H. hunting.  I bowhunt during this period but the .44 gives me
    the ability to "reach out there" if I happen upon a buck beyond
    the range of my bow.  I have never taken a deer with a handgun but
    I have seen a deer that was killed with a .357.  My overall impression
    of the .357 was that I wouldn't use it because you probably won't
    "drop" a deer with it because there just isn't enough energy.  I
    feel that this is too risky in the states that I hunt in because
    someone else might end up with my deer. 
      What's the "best" load for .44 and/or .357.  I am particularly
    interested in .44/180gr (anyone worked up a good hunting load?)
    
    -Dave
    
82.2cast bullets in the 44 are greatELMO::HOLLENTue Nov 17 1987 08:5712
    
      I'll put a plug in here for cast bullets in the 44mag. You really
    don't need (though some prefer to use them) jacketed bullets in
    the 44mag. Heck, it's already .429 caliber coming out of that muzzle.
    A good cast bullet made of wheelweight metal or harder is just as
    effective. Generally speaking, cast bullets penetrate better than
    jacketed. Expansion isn't nessasary...
    
      But, in the 357 I'd use a jacketed bullet...
    
    
    Joe
82.330-30 THOMPSON CONTENDERDUNCAN::SILKTue Nov 17 1987 13:2121
     
     I've got a Thompson Contender with a 14" 30-30 barrel.I can usually
    hit just as good at 100yrds with my pistol as i can with my rifle.
    I've got a 2 power Leupold so at 100yrds the cross hairs pretty
    much cover a three inch circle.It would be a long shot @ 150 I would
    say.
      Never had the opportunity to shoot a deer yet with it.Seems every
    year I decide to hunt with my rifle,I end up shooting one 50 yards
    or under.Every year i hunt with my pistol,I never see anything.
    
     STILL LOOKING.
    Deer hunting in vermont just started this weekend.Not using my pistol
    in vermont,but I am going to PA. in two weeks and plan on using
    it there.
    
           SEEMS LIKE A 170 GRAIN HOLLOW SHOULD DO THE JOB
    
    
    
                                                        RED EYE STILL
                                                    LOOKING IN VT.
82.4ARMORY::CHARBONND7mm-08 Rem. - 1, Spikehorn - 0Thu Nov 19 1987 10:446
    Used my 44, with midrange LSWC_HP, to dispatch the deer i dropped
    saturday. Through the neck, deer stopped thrashing immediately.
    6" Dan Wesson is not the lightest carry gun made, though. Would
    like to use it as primary gun sometime. Maybe next year.
    
    Dana
82.5SSDEVO::OAKEYI left my heart in... LanaiThu Nov 19 1987 12:285
    Any of you have any idea what velocity your bullets are stepping
    out at?  Please state whether you're stating "book velocity" or
    measured velocity.
    
                              Roak
82.6SPMFG1::CHARBONNDMon Nov 23 1987 05:545
    Book velocity (hey I like that) of my SWC loads is 1075 fps. This
    was extrapolated using Hornady handbook and Hercules reloading data.
    No access to chronograph.
    
    Dana
82.7Two QuestionsDEPOT::BROWNMon Oct 23 1989 10:558
    
    I have a question regarding hunting with a handgun in NH. 
    
    Can you carry a handgun while hunting with a rifle?
    How many rounds permitted in the handgun with and without the rifle?
    
    Thanks,
    		-Kendall
82.8Sidearm law NHDISCVR::FERRAROMon Oct 23 1989 17:0615
    Kendall,
    
    You can carry a handgun while you hunt with a rifle.  If you
    don't have a carry permit it must be TOTALLY visiable.
    
    Number of rounds in the handgun is limited to the magazine 
    capacity.
    
    A word of caution, if you plan to carry a .22 make sure your
    first shot on larger game comes from the rifle.  The F&G people
    have ways of telling which shot took the game down and which
    shot dispatched it.
    
    Happy hunting,
    Greg
82.10Mule Deer with a 10" Scoped T/C in .41 MagPEAKS::OAKEYSave the Bill of Rights-Defend the IIThu Oct 11 1990 03:1027
I figured I'd jump over here from FIREARMS since I'm about to take the hunting
plunge this weekend (Buck Muledeer)...  I've had a scoped T/C (4x, 10" in .41
Magnum) waiting in the wings for literally *years*.  Finished both my load
development (see below) and sighting in at 25 yards tonight.  Tomorrow at lunch
I take a long lunch and try it out at 50 and 75 yards.  I've placed my limit at
75 yards from a steady rest this year; depending on how things go I'll see what
I can do next year...

I'll follow up this note with the actual velocity when I get a chance to chrono
my load, probably the weekend of the 20th.

.41 Magnum for T/C only:
Primer:		WW LP
Case:		WW
Powder:		20.5 gr. WW 296
Bullet:		Sierra Bullet 210 gr. JHC .410"
OAL:		1.635"
Book velocity:	1550-1600 fps from a 10" Contender

Note: this OAL is too long for revolvers -- this length seats the bullet just
against the rifling.  Note the optimum OAL will vary from gun to gun.  There is
no crimp applied to the case, merely the belling is removed.  The cannilure
(sp?) is well beyond the end of the case.

As with all loading data, reduce the charge by 10% and work up in your gun.

                            Roak
82.11Published not accurate in my experienceREDHWK::FULTONA man has to know his limitations!Thu Mar 19 1992 12:5119
    
    Just a comment about published velocities.  I've been chronographing
    loads for quite a few years as a standard practice in load
    development.  What I've found is that most of my guns produce
    velocities nowhere near the published data (assuming off by more than
    50 fps is nowhere near) when using the exact components as listed.
    
    If you're a jacketed bullet fan, for your handguns, this difference in
    expected velocity could mean the difference in the way the bullet
    performs.  Mushrooming of jacketed bullets at handgun speeds is a hit
    or miss proposition anyhow.  This is why I would much rather stick with
    a "hard cast","heavy" (high sectional density), "flat-nosed" bullet,
    trucking at as high a velocity as I can safely work out of the
    cartridge. 
    
    Roy...