Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer...Handguns?? JB

JB,
I spent last week loading up a bunch of various handgun calibers to feed my assortment. As I do when reloading my mind wanders and I think about stuff. Whether I am loading rifle or handgun, and especially if for a cartridge I've not loaded before, or its been awhile, I grab my " Pet Loads" by Mr Waters as a refresher and guide. I know some of the data is "out-dated", with powders and bullets no longer available. Also some of Kens loads are pretty stout, but for me its a good guide to look further and verify thru other sources. If I am loading rifle cartridges, I look to see if I have anything you have written on a particular round, and then various manuals including "Propellant Profiles".
Well, as I said my mind was wandering as I'm loading for these handguns, and I got to thinking, What if any kind of handgun does JB shoot? I've read a lot of your articles, but don't recall any about handguns or handgun cartridges. I do remember a few shotgun articles, but don't recall any about handguns.
So John, do you shoot handguns at all? Any favorite guns or cartridges? I'm curious.

He did one some years ago on the 41 Mag. I sent him some heavy cast bullets used in his load development.

Yep, JB doesn't to my knowledge and readings do much in the handgun department. I bet he has few however.

Yeah, I have a few--and my wife does too. Wrote about them some, but not for a while now. There's just too much demand for rifle (and occasional shotgun) articles. We have some, among them these:

.22 Long Rifle Colt Frontier Scout early production duo-tone, inherited from my father. I was standing beside him at age 5 when he bought it at The Powder Horn in Bozeman, Montana.

.22 Long Rifle Colt Woodsman, also early production. This one's Eileen's--she just fell in love with it one day, can't remember where.

.22 Long Rifle/.22 Magnum Ruger Single-Six, the one with the 9-1/2" barrel. This one's also Eileen's, but know she bought it at Whittaker Guns in Kentucky when we visited a few years ago.

.30 Nagant Russian revolver, with issue holster. Meant to do an article on handloading this one, but the project kept getting shoved to the back burner--and now probably never will do it.

.32 ACP Beretta Tomcat--another of the handguns Eileenfell in love with, but dunno if she's ever fired it! I used it for an article on handloading the .32 a while ago, among other things working up a practice load with slightly resized 00 buckshot.

9mm Parabellum Springfield XD-M. One of my carry guns.

.357 Magnum S&W Model 66. Perhaps my favorite carry gun, both in "civilization" and the field, with Crimson Trace grips. Only thing I've killed with it, however, is a coyote one of my hunting partners wounded, which stopped in front of me.

.357 Maximum T/C Contender handgun, 14" custom barrel. This is a new one of Eileen's, which she'll use for hunting deer in the archery/shotgun, muzzleloader/handgun Wildlife Management Area near town. Do have an assignment for a handloading article on it.

.40 S&W H&K USP Compact. Another of Eileen's, which she sometimes carries during fishing season in bear country.

.45 Colt Ruger Blackhawk Bisley, 7-1/2" barrel. The custom Gaboon ebony grips were a gift from a friend. Very accurate (once killed a prairie dog at 97 yards offhand with it, which was pretty lucky) and my primary hunting handgun. Have only used it on meat deer, but might be what I choose if I ever draw a local moose tag. There are quite a few in the Wildlife Management area, where Eileen drew her second Montana moose tag a decade or so ago, taking a cow with a slug gun. I hope to Bisley a Bullwinkle, but have never been very lucky in drawing special tags--unlike Eileen.

.

Ed,

Thanks again for the .41 bullets! They worked well.

Thanks John, I figured ya had to have a few. I didn't think you were a .475 Wildley guy.
I have a super 14 Contender in 357 Max and have taken a few whitetails with it. Great cartridge and I cannot believe the penetration.
My aim was off on a buck and hit the shoulder instead of just behind it, broke both shoulders and bullet not found.
I use Hornady 180gr Interlock with 21-22 of 296, if I may be so bold to suggest you look at that combo.
Thanks for satisfying my curiosity.

Thanks for the suggestion!

The .41 Mag is a great cartridge. Too bad it never caught on like the .357 Mag and the .44 Mag did. A S&W 57 or 657 with a 6" barrel is just about perfection in a wheel gun.

I put a 6” Model 57 (no dash, for you purists) in his hands a couple years ago, and he was pretty clever with it. Rang steel out to about 100 yards. He knows his way around a handgun.