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Anyone here kill an elk with a shot from a handgun? If so, share the details. Gun, distance, caliber, bullet, effect on elk, etc. It's on the short list to do for me...every year I have a 10mm or 44 mag on me, just never have been close enough or positioned correctly.
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Not an elk, but I’ve killed deer and hogs with a 454 Casull and 44 Magnum The 454 Casull sucked the soul from the whitetail buck. Usually shots are 50 yards or less
Drink and be merry for soldiers die for your freedoms.
Semper Fidelis!
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no Elk but deer, bear with 41 magnum and moose with 454. deer 45 yards with 210g cast. lungs and it ran 50 yards and gave up bear , one at 50 yards heart, went 20 ft and bawled. 210 cast bear, 2 feet , 210 cast, through the bottom jaw and out the top of its head. it fell on top of me. moose 14 ft in the back of its head with 300g cast 454. all four legs went out from under him . took 4 hours to get that big sob in the back of my toyota. wall to wall Moose!
the consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded. Robert E Lee ~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
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I haven't killed an elk, but I shot my moose with my 8 7/8" 44mag Dan Wesson. 30yds 240gr Hornady. I've taken it elk hunting but haven't connected yet.
Last edited by wyowinchester; 06/02/20.
If you hunt with your kids. You should not have to hunt for your kids.
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Among the big game I have taken with a revolver, I took a big lead cow elk in the timber at 30ish yards with my 475 Linebaugh 6 inch custom Ruger. The load was a 400 grain Speer Gold Dot in BBA brass. A max charge of WC820/AA9 ignited by a WLP primer. I placed the 1st shot on the point of her right shoulder. She immediately fell to her knees but managed to rise on three legs and ran towards me going right to left. Though I was certain of my 1st shot, I went ahead and gave her another at about 10 yards. This shot struck her through the shoulder again hitting bone (Dammit). She collapsed in front of me pretty much done, but I gave her one in the back of the head.
Both shots through the shoulders left something like 1 1/2 inch holes through the bone but did not penetrate out the other side. Did not do a necropsy because of there being grizzly in the area, but from the outside the damage was impressive.
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I swage my own bullets and would like to try my hand at some bonded bullets in 429 for my Ruger SRH. It has a 9.5" heavy barrel. They would weight over 300 gr. But I would also like to try to use the 50 AE. Good luck with whatever you choose. Shoot a lot so it is second nature. Good luck, Rustyzipper.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. Winston Churchill.
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Just deer. 44 mag SWC 150yard run, dead.
45 colt 255 rnfp, not much flatpoint Terrible, have probably killed a 10 in a row with less ammo. Enough said, I would quit hunting if that was the normal experience.
Parents who say they have good kids..Usually don't!
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I have taken an Antelope and a Black Bear with a 265 grain SWC cast bullet from my 629 S&W. I took a 28 year hiatus from handgun hunting, but about 2 years ago have once again (though unsuccessfully) started hunting again ....hoping for an elk! If it happens, it will be a 400 grain, wide metplat, cast bullet......from my S&W 460 XVR. memtb
Last edited by memtb; 06/22/20.
You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong." -Bob Hagel
“I’d like to be a good rifleman…..but, I prefer to be a good hunter”! memtb 2024
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I used to carry a Ruger Blackhawk in 41 Mag when I was growing up in CO. I always had it on my hip when I was helping pack meat since it was easier to tote than a rifle while lugging meat. I shot a couple cow elk and several mulies with it while packing game. I used factory Rem loads which I believe had a 210 gr bullet if my memory is correct. It worked well and I don't recall having to shoot one more than once but I kept ranges to 50 yards or less to be sure I could put the bullet where I wanted.
You get out of life what you are willing to accept. If you ain't happy, do something about it!
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I have killed deer, elk, antelope and bear with handguns. Livestock too with some. The type of hunting is identical to what you do with a bow and arrow. But the kills are not much different then many rifle kills. I have used 45 colt, 357 mag, 45 auto and auto rim, 44 mag and 454 Casull and one deer when I was 16 with a Ruger Old Army cap and ball revolver. My closest handgun kill on game was a white tail doe at about 10 feet with a 45 Auto-Rim. My longest shot was a big pronghorn antelope at about 140 yards with a 44 mag. Most others were between 20 and 65 or 70 yards.
45 Colt: I have used 260 grain SWCs with 9 grains of Unique or 37 grains of Black Powder to kill several mule deer and 2 horses. I got my 1st Colt SAA when I was 14 and also used a S&W 25-5 for s a few years in my 20s.
With 357 Mags: I always used 187 grain LBT hand cast gas-checked bullets and between 15.5 to 16.5 gr of H110. I have shot more different 357 bullets at varmints and coyotes then I can easily count, but my kills of big game were ALL with that 187 grain LBT bullet. So far my total is 5 antelope and 2 deer.
With the 45 auto I killed one white-tail l with 230 gr Hardball, 2 with 220 grain FNB-2 LBT bullets and 2 with Hornady 230 grain XTPs. With my S&W Mountain gun I use 45 Auto Rim cases with a 260 grain LBT bullet and a heavy load of 2400 (I'm not listing it here because it's over what the books tell you) Killed 5 deer and 1 antelope as well as polishing off 3 elk ----- but they don't really count because they were already down from hits with rifles, but not dead when I got to them.
44 mag: I have killed enough game that I am unsure of the number exactly, but the bullets I have used were 245 grain 429421 Lyman/Keith flat base, Lyman 429244 Gas Check SWC Keith bullet, one deer with a Sierra 240 grain Hollow cavity, 1 elk with the 429244 Lyman bullets and 3 with 320 grain LBT WFN -GC bullets. One bear with the 429421, one with a 265 grain Hornady and one with a 320 grain LBT I just mentioned. One bison with the same LBT bullet. I used the same LBT 320 gr bullet to kill 4 different antelope and also I killed one with a Speer 225 grain HP bullet. I may have missed a few in this list too. Throw into the list a fair number of horses and cattle on the ranches I lived and worked on. I have been using the 44 mags since I was 16 . That's 48 years of use---- and still going.
454 Casull: All kills with LBT 370 grain WFN -GC bullets and 25 grains of 296 with small rifle primers. 4 deer. 2 elk. 1 buffalo. 10-12 cattle and 1 horse. Remarkably effective, to a point you need to see it done a few times to believe how well it kills. But that load is not for beginners. It kicks to be sure.
To this list I might add cattle I killed with 44 specials. I don't recall ever killing any game animal with a 44 special, but I did kill several cattle and one horse with my SAA Colt 44 Spl and my S&W M24 44 special. All with 8 grains of Unique and Lyman/Keith 429421 bullets. In both my guns that load would shoot all 6 shots touching at 25 yards.
Last edited by szihn; 06/22/20.
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One mule deer, 44 mag, 240 jhp, 30 yard shot with full penetration through lungs, ran 40 yards and dead.
One pronghorn, 357 max in a contender, 180 gr sp, 110 yard shot, full lungs penetration, ran 20 yards and dead.
NRA Patron
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Does this count?
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A few years ago, shot a red deer (close cousin to the elk) with my FA .454 Casull, loaded with Hornady 240 gr. XTP Mag bullets. Range was around 25 yards. A shot behind the shoulder was a pass-through, and the red deer took a few steps and died.
I'd rather be a free man in my grave, than living as a puppet or a slave....
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Always love that picture GSSP...
Too close for irons, switching to scope...
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Ruger Blackhawk 41, 7 1/2” snout, 210 rem factory loads, 75-80 yards, 4 shots, did the ol elk hump and stand. 25-28 years ago. 5 point Roosevelt bull
Ping pong balls for the win. Once you've wrestled everything else in life is easy. Dan Gable I keep my circle small, I’d rather have 4 quarters than 100 pennies.
Ain’t easy havin pals.
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Why on earth would you want to arm an elk? 😁
Well we're Green and we're Gold, and we play better when it's cold. All us Cheese heads have our favorite superstar. We love Brett Favre.
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Always love that picture GSSP... Me too. Some day when I grow up.......
Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it.
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Always love that picture GSSP... Me too. Some day when I grow up....... He recently got hung at work in the office there at the Barnes Bullets Ballistic Lab. Alan
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Almost singed hair distance, but there is a youtube video of one of the TV Faces shooting one with a 45. If it is all in real time, it was over pretty quickly. A search should find it pretty easily.
Some spelling errors can be corrected by a vowel movement. ~ MOLON LABE ~
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Deer stalker, would love to hear the story of the bear dying on top of you. If there's a link to the story I'd appreciate it. Wow is all I can say. GSSP would like to hear the story on the swamp donkey also. Bill out. 🐾👣
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This is on the short list for me too. Planning to take a 45 Blackhawk into the woods this year and kill something with it. After having the Cylinder throats opened up to the proper diameter, I can hit half-liter water bottles at 100 yds with the thing using my cast bullets, a 265gr RNFP cast soft and shooting about 950fps. Have a 300gr WFN mould as well, but haven't cast any yet. I want to kill something big with it, either an elk or a bear. Saw three bears last year while hunting turkeys and elk that were closer than 100 yards, but had no bear tag. That has been rectified this year.
I belong on eroding granite, among the pines.
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Deer stalker, would love to hear the story of the bear dying on top of you. If there's a link to the story I'd appreciate it. Wow is all I can say. GSSP would like to hear the story on the swamp donkey also. Bill out. 🐾👣 Can't believe the story is still there....ask and you shall receive. Alan http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8521043/m/5361004101?r=7221030701#7221030701
Last edited by GSSP; 06/28/20.
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Mornin, hope all is well. GSSP thanks for the story!!! Great hunt, great game. Reads like I was there!!! Thanks for your time!!! Bill out. 🐾👣🇨🇦
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Just deer.
45 colt 255 rnfp, not much flatpoint Terrible, have probably killed a 10 in a row with less ammo. Enough said, I would quit hunting if that was the normal experience. Care to decipher this mumble jumble?
Throttle fixes everything. If it doesn't fix the problem, it’ll end the suspense.
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IMO the 480 Ruger is the best handling big revolver cartridge around. Loaded to 48Kpsi it is a pussycat compared to dealing with the Casull or Linebaugh and kills every bit as well. A 410 grain HC at 1,250 fps is the ticket. I remember a user stating it was the 416 Rigby of handguns. Low pressure, big punch. Certainly well above the 44 Mag in big game revolver ability.
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IMO the 480 Ruger is the best handling big revolver cartridge around. Loaded to 48Kpsi it is a pussycat compared to dealing with the Casull or Linebaugh and kills every bit as well. A 410 grain HC at 1,250 fps is the ticket. I remember a user stating it was the 416 Rigby of handguns. Low pressure, big punch. Certainly well above the 44 Mag in big game revolver ability. That was the outcome I expected but not the one I got. I have owned Ruger Bisleys in .454 and .480. I bought the .454 several years ago and, though I've done a bit of handloading for it, mostly shoot the full power Hornady 300 grain factory load which lists around 1625 fps. It is decidedly a handful. I thought the reputed recoil reduction of the .480 sounded attractive so I bought one. With Hornady 325 grain factory ammo and similar handloads, I found the recoil to be worse, not better, than the .454, so after a couple of months I punted the .480 and kept the .454 .. absolutely NOT what I intended going in. For now I am sticking with near max loads in the .454 with jacketed 300 grain bullets but when I run out of the heavily jacketed Hornady "mag" 300 and Speer gold dot hollow point, I'm going to back the loads down midway between "Ruger only" .45 colt loads and .454 loads and use bullets of a slightly lighter construction. Tom
Anyone who thinks there's two sides to everything hasn't met a M�bius strip.
Here be dragons ...
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I own a FA .454, as well as two Ruger .480's, a SRH and a SBH Bisley. The FA wears a 10" barrel, MagNaPorted, while the SRH has a 7.5" barrel and the SBH is a 4 5/8" model.
Of these three, the SRH, with 425 gr. Grizzly ammo loads at 1200 fps, is by far the easiest shooter in terms of recoil with full-power loads, followed by the SBH and finally the FA .454. Full-power loads out of the FA are just downright painful, and it is difficult to shoot enough to become proficient with it without using reduced-power loads. Using Hornady 240 gr. XTP Mag bullets at 1450 fps, I find the Casull to be somewhat manageable. The .480 Rugers, on the other hand, are routinely shot with my handloads of 410 gr. cast bullets at 1100 fps, and my practice sessions are both painless and productive. I believe the difference in felt recoil between these cartridges has to do with the 60K+ pounds of operating pressure in the .454 Casull, vs. the 40K+ pressures in the .480 Ruger.
I'd rather be a free man in my grave, than living as a puppet or a slave....
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I’ve got a 4 5/8’s 480 SBH and man, it’s not bad at all with 440 grain HC with 10 grains of Unique. I love it. One of my favorite handguns to shoot. Pretty sure it’d take something large to slow it down.
Semper Fi
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10mm Delta Gold Cup, 200 gr Nosler JHP over 800-X. The cow was about 50 yards out. First shot in the lungs she just stood there for a few seconds, then started to walk slowly. I pumped 1 more rounds into the lungs and she fell over. Recovered one bullet under the hide on the far side perfectly mushroomed and retained 182 gr or around 90% of the weight.
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10mm Delta Gold Cup, 200 gr Nosler JHP over 800-X. The cow was about 50 yards out. First shot in the lungs she just stood there for a few seconds, then started to walk slowly. I pumped 1 more rounds into the lungs and she fell over. Recovered one bullet under the hide on the far side perfectly mushroomed and retained 182 gr or around 90% of the weight. Nice job Hardballer! And great choice of pistols.
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Not a wheel gun, but I used a 375 JDJ with a Hornady 270 gr bullet in a Contender. I was comfortable out to 300 yds with a rest but it turned out to be a 30 yd shot. Bang - flop Deer antelope and pigs have fallen to 243s, 44s, 357 Max and a 445 Super mag. The 2 handguns that don't have blood on them are an XP in 338 Federal and a newly acquired Striker that will become a 6.5 CM.
Some is Good---More is Better----Too Much is Just Right
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Most people will either think this a lie or unsportsman like behavior but I have killed a spike bull and a cow with one shot apiece using (I can hear the gasps already) a Colt Woodsman. Both dead before the echo was gone. Both VERY controlled situation with a man with a rifle backing me up ( he wasn't necessary). Both broadside head shots both died instantly. While guiding dozens of clients for deer, elk, and antelope that same Woodsman finished off many down but not dead elk.
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Anyone here kill an elk with a shot from a handgun? If so, share the details. Gun, distance, caliber, bullet, effect on elk, etc. It's on the short list to do for me...every year I have a 10mm or 44 mag on me, just never have been close enough or positioned correctly. Killed two bulls with a M29 S&W and 250 gr cast Keith bullets Both were previously wounded by someone and I just happened to catch up to them to apply the finisher. One was a mess, so was shot at about 6 ft. The other was still quite ambulatory and was shot at 65 yards.
Last edited by ingwe; 07/18/20.
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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i am strongly leaning towards filling my deer tag with my 45 auto this year. i have an opportunity almost daily but the season is still a few weeks away. i have some loads developed using the 230gr Nosler hp. the weight should give me the penetration i need
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If you do take a deer with the 45 please post results. I hunted a few game animals with a 45ACP in the 80's and was unimpressed. Took an antelope, a javalina and finished up a few others with the 45. Bullet technology has come a long way since then.
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Is this an offshoot of the NRA's efforts to support our right to keep and arm bears?
Frankly, if elk and other cervids arm start arming themselves, I'm staying home.
How do they hold a handgun anyway?
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Killed a bul elk at about 30 yards with a 45 colt Blackhawk, 5.5” bbl, 300gr Beartooth WFN hard cast over healthy dose of H110. 1st shot hunched him up, 2nd shot folded him up.
Taken a number of whitetail and hogs with both 44 mag and 45 colt...hard cast 300gr loads are my preference for both. Shot one whitetail with a 1911 45 ACP, 230gr ball, through one shoulder, no exit...ran a bit. Switched up to Underwood 255gr +p, Will hunt deer with it this fall.
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Ruger 5.5” 45 Colt. Buff Bore 325 HC’s, 1325 fps. 40 yard shot. Cow elk took off for about eighty yards until that tree got in her way.. Bison heifer humped up a bit, took a few steps, wavered, then fell. About fifty yards. Both broadside through the lungs and pass-throughs.
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If you do take a deer with the 45 please post results. I hunted a few game animals with a 45ACP in the 80's and was unimpressed. Took an antelope, a javalina and finished up a few others with the 45. Bullet technology has come a long way since then. Done a good bit of killing with the acp and haven’t found it lacking on deer and hogs . Bullet selection and placement matters as I’m sure you know . Here’s a 230gr black talon I recovered in the offside hide of a doe after busting through both shoulders .
Last edited by jmd025; 09/26/20.
Rabid Creedmoorians ring my doorbell ... as I open it a crack they speak : "Do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior , 6.5Creed?"
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Does this count? Yes, it does. Nice!
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9.5 inch SRH in .44 mag is really good for fat hogs on cumberland island, ga.
magnaported, ground & polished, and with a set of Wolff springs.
ambidextrous walnut grips from Herritt.
just got to get the grips checkered.
2X leupold. it's all so easy.
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