Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Your favorite handgun cartridge

Tough choice between 45acp in a 1911 and 38spcl in a k frame size gun for joy to shoot. For hunting though I'd go 44mag every time

41 mag

Revolvers from 24 ounces to 56 ounces

165's at 700 fps

210's from 700 fps to 1400 fps

And when I get to casting this winter, I have a mould for a 255 gr which should prove quite interesting.

Just can't pick one so....
SA - 45LC
Semi - 45ACP

.45 Colt - single action and overall my favorite cartridge.

.45 Super - semi auto, it shoots .45 ACP and can be loaded to 460 Rowland ballistics if you've got a comp on it, and everything in between.

My Blackhawk convertible shoots them all!

38-40 in a Colt, SAA or Bisley...

I am also a fan of the 38 WCF. Of the three I own this one is likely on top.

Ditto.

If I owned that Bisley, it'd go in the casket with me. Gorgeous gun in a very special cartridge.

I own four S&W .357 Magnums. An M60 and three N Frames. I use hand cast wadcutters and semi wadcutters for edible small game, 125 grain JHPs for social use and 180 grain JSPs for deer. These are my best all-round guns.

For range shooting I like the .45 ACP and the 9mm a little more, because the latter uses less powder and lead.

For deer I use the .44 Spl., .44 Magnum and .45 Colt Interchangeably, with a slight nod to the Ruger .44 Spl. Flat Top as being handiest.

Limited to one cartridge it would likely be the .38spl/.357 magnum.

I also like the .38 Special. It's cheap and fun to shoot, superbly accurate and goes well in a small concealed-carry handgun. It's now my go-to handgun caliber.
Bob

S&W 68 in .38 Special; I use it in NRA Distinguished Revolver matches and the Harry Reeves match at Perry. It wears a factory-installed Patridge front sight, polished trigger face and an LAPD Armory-tuned action.


My usual carry gun, for the last 30 years or so. Loaded with 135 grain Gold Dots.


My LAPD-issued 67. It still wears the Pachmayrs I bought for it when I was in the Academy in '84. It now pulls duty as the house and range gun. The wife and kids were all trained on this one, with wadcutters. It's leaning against my old Hoyt duty holster.

I see you like Pachmayr grips. I like them, too, for shooting, but not for carrying. They tend to stick to clothing.

I never had that problem, but I usually carry IWB in the appendix position, under a T-shirt. After a lot of use, Pachmayrs become kind of slick when the rubber wears down.

I used to carry this one a lot in cold weather (in LA that's about 50 degrees). It worked under a light jacket.
Bob




I do like Pachmayrs, but I have a few wood stocks around.

Wow, picking a single favorite handgun cartridge??? I don�t think I can do it.

The first that comes to mind is the .45 ACP. My .45 would probably be the last gun I ever turned loose of.
But then I like the .38 Super so much.
And the .44 Special
Oh and .45 Colt, how can that not be on a favorite list
And .41 magnum
And the auto version of the .41 mag, 10mm auto
And how can you possibly live without a .22lr handgun? Can�t be done.
And 9mm, these days it�s just so damn practical

I give up, I can�t pick.

I hear that all the time, but I have never once personally experienced that. Hogue's are even more grabby than Pachmayr's and I haven't had a problem with Hogues. My J frame wears a Hogue "boot" style grip and is even pocket carried, never hangs up.

And as time goes on, hand oils smooth out and slick up the surface of the rubber grips, making it less and less of an issue.

Personally, I'll always take a nice custom wood grip over rubber, but I find rubber completely acceptable if I don't have the wood. In the field it's hard to beat the durability of rubber. That's why my S&W 617 still wears the original Hogue rubber grips, because I used to squirrel hunt so much with the 617. And the J frame...the rubber makes it much more pleasant to shoot (not that it's ever pleasant), and they're all but indestructable, so they fit my needs quite well.

But all my other handguns wear either wood, elephant ivory, or CTC Laser grips.

What about a CZ52 in 7.62 x 25.
We are talking penetration and the fastest velocity up until the 357 magnum came along.

45 Colt

.38 Spcl +P bump

45 ACP but I've not owned one in a while.

Currently really dig my 45 Colt.

I can't believe how many wrong answers appear on this thread.



Travis

Sorry - have only owned 9mm, 38 Super, 45 ACP and 45 Colt.

Only currently own 9mm and 45 Colt. Of the 2 - the colt wins hands down. 9mm is so boring.

Would LOVE to have a Super again but then I'd need a Dillon to go with it. More cheddar than I can afford to lay....