Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns have you used a handgun and had mixed results on game?

I'm reminded I need to load some .480 Rugers. Thinking 275gr Gold Dots at ~1300 fps or so. Hopefully knock over a doe with it.

I wondered if it was the power or my skill so after a few decades I started using the 357 mag revolver on hog hunts occasionally, and quickly realized that the 357 was very effective compared to what I used to be able to do with it,in that I now get a good many quick kills, and shooting its very easy, but its not a 44 mag, and its obvious its not hitting as hard.

back in the early 70s I purchased a S&W mod 27 with a 8 3/8" barrel and loaded it with factory loads to go deer hunting. I was not the worlds best shot, and knowing that I only hunted the areas where I knew the brush to be too thick for there to be much of a chance of even seeing deer past about 50 yards.
Now I found an area where HOGS were fairly easy to find but deer were a bit less common but still available.
I had initially loaded that revolver with 158 grain hollow point factory ammo, and over the first several years I found that the most frequent result, was that once I made a shot, Id spend the next 30 minutes getting down from a tree stand and slowly following a blood trail, but I always found the deer or hog within about 50-80 yards, from the place they were hit!
I didn,t blame this lack or perceived lack of effectiveness on the revolvers power as the bullets, Id used,because they usually zipped thru, the game and obviously produced a fatal wound.
I got into hand-loading because I knew I needed a great deal more practice and hand loads could be made for 1/4 the cost of factory ammo.
I did some research and changed to 170 grain cast bullets,
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/bullet-casting/mould-details.php?entryID=13
this resulted in me shooting a great deal more and with that practice I gained a good deal of experience and accuracy improved dramatically, I blamed my lack of accuracy,with the factory loads in the first couple years on lack of practice , as the retrieved game was seldom hit exactly where I had aimed.
now my brother-in-law owned a 45 acp govt model and he frequently hunted with me with very similar results, but he got very few exits and at times longer trailing jobs.
we both decided to upgrade,as we both felt the pistols we used were not idea, but we went at the problem in a different way,
we both eventually decided that neither my revolver or the 45 acp pistol he used was the ideal deer hunting tool, but surprisingly my brother-in-law purchased a marlin in 357 mag lever action carbine because he had watched the results I got, with most shots being pass thru and exits, and concluded power was not the problem, and he concluded it was an accuracy issue and had nothing to do with power,
(plus since I was loading 357 mag, he could get FREE AMMO)
and he has used that 357 mag carbine for at least 3 decades with zero complaints.
I figured I might not be hitting exactly where I wanted too but with more practice that would be cured, so I started practicing a great deal more , which eventually got me into bullet casting and reloading, but I also realized that a revolver with a bit more punch would also help, so I purchased a 8 3/8" barrel S&W 44 mag.
the result might be predictable,to most of you guys, in that it took me about two more years to get really effective and accurate with the revolver , while my brother-in-law who purchased a marlin in 357 mag lever action, was instantly much more effective, as his accuracy went from 8"-10" 50 yard groups with the 45acp pistol, to 2" 50 yard groups shot with a 4x scope on his marlin carbine.
he had decided that a hand gun cartridge had plenty of power but its use in a revolver lacked accuracy and control, I decided to stick with the hand gun , and force myself to master the skill required,,but master its use took a great deal of practice and I also decided too hedge my bet by adding a bit more power.
now 35-40 plus years later I look back and its obvious we both made the correct decisions, as he still hunts with that 357 marlin carbine and I still have a 44 mag revolver, but I upgraded to a 10 5/8" barrel version with better sights.
and swapped to a 310 grain bullet, in the 44 mag and started to get consistently better results with a good many DRT kills.
I wondered if it was the power or my skill so after a few decades I started using the 357 mag revolver on hog hunts occasionally, and quickly realized that the 357 was very effective compared to what I used to be able to do with it,in that I now get a good many quick kills, and shooting its very easy, but its not a 44 mag, and its obvious its not hitting as hard.

T&C, you might be loading those a tad light for our huge Texas whitetail does...