Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Deer/Elk Pistol

Looking at carrying a pistol for the big game hunt this year...

What are you using?

Thanks...

Revolver..41 mag Ruger 4 5/8 in 240 cast at 1100 fps
Single Shot..T/C Contender 14 inch 30-30AI 150 NBT at 2300 fps.
or 14 in 7x30 waters 120 NBT at 2450fps or 14 in ,45 win mag 260 gr HP at 1500 or Encore 13 in .300 savage 150 NBT at 2250 fps. or...well one of them outta work

As a sidearm or to actually kill the animal?

I bow hunt elk and deer all over the rockies. I've settled on a glock 29 as my favorite firearm for the kind of hunting I do. You get 10+1 shots of 10mm, and it's light and compact.

Many will say a revolver in 357 or 44, but I tried that and didn't like it. I had the scandium .44, the 329pd, and sold it. It was bigger, only had six shots, and it sucked to shoot.

*this is for a sidearm. To kill the thing, I defer to others who have done so.

I dont hunt Elk, I live in the northeast so It is deer for me. Recommendation would be a .41 mag or greater. Longer barrel length's have a better site radius for accuracy and tend to help with recoil.

That being said, I have an Encore 7mm-08 with a 10" barrel. I also use Ruger single action revolvers for hunting. I most often reach for a 5.5" barreled .44 special.

If I were to hunt elk, which I would like to do some day I would probably use my Freedom Arms .454 Casull with 5.5" barrel. I hate the recoil so handload my own rounds more to .45 long colt type pressures. But if Elk hunting I would ask around and handload for that game to be sure I had proper penetration for the game I was after.

I killed my big cow elk with a Ruger Blackhawk in 41 magnum. I was running 250 grain WFN hard cast over a big dose of W296.
My shot was just over 60 yards, and hit her through the shoulders. You couldn't have asked for a deader elk...

The original Gary Reeder Alaskan Hunter in 475L, and a S&W 657. Thomas, Is that the Cast Performance bullet? That's what I use, and it's top's in my book!

For hunting or carry/backup?

I've killed 9, I think, deer with a revolver. 4 were with a .32 H&R mag in a Ruger single six, 5 were with Ruger .44 magnums. The last of those was with a stubby Vaquero.

I'm in the process of getting rid of most of my "average" guns so I can fund fewer but better, more accurate guns.

Mostly likely, I'll wind up with a FA .44 mag or .454 Casull, probably 7-1/2 inch barrel. The smaller framed .41 is pretty tempting too.

I don't hunt elk, but I do hunt deer with a handgun. This year I'll be mainly toting my pet XP-100 in 7 BR, along with a Pachmayr Dominator in 30/30 and a S&W Model 27 in 357/44 Bain&Davis.

Brian.

Byron it sure is the cast performance bullet.
I think those things are damned near unstoppable.

This year I intend to use my Encore Pistol in .30-06.

If you are just wanting to carry a sidearm during your elk hunt, then a Glock 20 with full power 10mm loads would carry nice, as would the 329PD from S&W.
If you're wanting to hunt with a handgun, then I prefer the SRH in either .44 mag. or .454 Casull.

I like my 5" 629. It carries easy and shoots well. Standard 240 gr JHP ammo works fine on deer at about 1250 fps from the revolver. In grizzly country I carry it loaded with 300 gr bullets, just in case. I've never shot an elk with a handgun. Buddy of mine has taken at least a couple with his .454 Freedom Arms revolver. Beautiful, accurate and powerful sidearm.

240 gr JHP Federal American Eagle, recovered during testing. They can completely penetrate a deer on broadside shots:


The .500 S&W is something worth considering if it's the only gun you're going to be carrying. I've had mine for years, since they were first introduced, but have never bothered hunting with it. Powerful and accurate, but big and heavy. From the power level, 440 gr bullets at up to 1600 fps, I can only imagine that it would be effective on pretty much anything in North America. Generally though, I hunt with a rifle, and the revolver is more of a belt gun, just for the heck of it.





If I was carrying the revolver as a primary, I'd be more inclined to hunt with the .500 S&W. It's a hoot at the range!

Regards, Guy

Looks like the 500 would handle anything. Would those bullets shoot out of a 50 cal Hawken ?

Damned few based a Ruger BH .45LC won't cover. You don't even have to push it hard; 250-280 WFNs at 1000-1100 will go through anything you hit with them at wheelgun ranges, and do so without trying to break your wrists.

I've killed deer with the 10mm; 175 grain Winchester SilverTip JHPs - work well at 50 yards and less (all I've done with them).

Elk are bigger critters; never taken one. But, as much as I dote on the 10mm, I'd want more than that for purposefully hunting elk. A hot .41Mag would be my base, with the .44Mag and the .45LC being about where I'd settle in a handgun. DAMNED few people can realistically handle a .454 or up from a handcannon. Damned few... But, the .45LC and .44Magnum can be mastered with practice by most folks, and at wheelgun ranges, they'll work just fine.

Now, hand-rifles are different. The Contender, Encore, XP-100, etc, are completely different critters.

From my .454, I shoot 300's at 1650 fps...and it's a sumb!tch. I can't imagine 440's at 1600 fps. Sounds 'bout as fun as gettin' your scrotum slammed in a pickup door.

ruger bisley in 475 linebaugh or 500 linebaugh built on a srh

I've had a 10mm with me on the past few deer hunts, in case a snake or hog wanders up. I expect with the smallish deer in West Texas, the 10mm is fine at close ranges.

I've got a couple of 44 mags, and a .480 Ruger Super Redhawk. I've also shot a SRH in .454 Casull, that was running 300's at 1600+ fps and it was all I wanted to shoot without getting out my PAST gloves. The same is true with the .480 - which I have only shot with factory loads. The 44 mag 629 Classics don't bother me with full power 240 grain loads, but the 480 and bigger do get my attention. Hodgdon reports the .480 launching 370's at over 1500 fps, with max loads from a pressure barrel.

Unless you're planning to shoot expanding bullets,or at extended ranges, I don't see the point of the uber-revolvers like the .500 and the .460. With non-expanding hardcast bullets most favor, a .44 or .45 Colt is going to launch a good bullet fast enough to shoot through a deer, and probably through an elk, too. The .480 SRH makes a little bigger hole, but still holds six shots, which I find about as big as I want.

Now a Freedom Arms, of course, you also would buy for the cool factor of having a 3 pound Swiss Watch. There's a used Premier model locally in .475 Linebaugh. Ruger also had a run of #1's in .475, which is kinda tempting.

I also have used the model 29 with 8&3/8ths barrel in .44mag hunting deer with a pistol on several hunts. It works just great and plenty of power for bull elk too!

I have used my Glock 10mm using Winchester 175 grainers on goats and whitetail deer in Missouri, most of which were around 170 to 190 on the hoof. Now problem at all out to 60 yards and perhaps one could push out to 75 with the 180 Double Tap loads.

"From my .454, I shoot 300's at 1650 fps...and it's a sumb!tch. I can't imagine 440's at 1600 fps. Sounds 'bout as fun as gettin' your scrotum slammed in a pickup door."

Laughing! That's pretty good. Actually the .500 S&W isn't all that bad to shoot. Has a port to cut down on muzzle flip, heavy as all get out, and has decent padded grips. I generally handload it with the 440's loaded to a more modest 1400 fps too. Those all help with the shooting. Agree about your .454 - the only one I've shot is a Freedom Arms that belongs to a buddy. Wonderful revolver, but a cylinder of his max loads and I'd had enough fun.

Big powerful handguns are addicting.

Regards, Guy

I would use my 480R and not look back