With a handgun it really depends on your ability to hit at distance. People bandy the .44 magnum about these days like it�s a .22 and it�s just assumed that everyone can shoot �like the gun writers� do in the magazines. Unless you�re experienced with the .44 mag, a 50 yard shot will be a tough shot because you�ll be fighting that flinch, and that flinch grows exponentially as distance increases. The .44 magnum is pretty flat shooting where magnum revolver rounds are concerned. A .44 sighted in at 25 yards is only off about 3� or so at 100 (check a ballistics chart, I�m pulling that from memory). If you can honestly make a 100 yard shot, then a 50 yard zero makes some sense. I don�t recall ever shooting a .44 mag at game beyond 100 yards, and even then only once at a Coyote that was trotting slowly across the meadow. I was shooting on a meadow that was at the top of a hill, so the whole thing had this gentle slope, which made the Yote look farther away than he actually was. I missed that Yote 4 times, shooting right over his back. I didn�t see a bullet strike until the last shot, and then I dialed him in and ruined his day. Had it been a deer, I surely would have missed that shot, and the funny thing is, I do most of my handgun shooting at 150 yards. But that�s the challenge of handgun hunting. It�s very satisfying when it all comes together. I don�t mind the misses because then you get to learn a lesson about why you missed.
