I’m looking to get another handgun to hunt whitetail I been hunting with a tc but would like something that has follow up shots if needed.
I am looking for suggestions due to being a novice handgun hunter.
I was looking at a sw frame in 460 due to being able to shoot 454 and 45long colt in a 5 inch barrel.
Should I look at a longer barrel?
Open to suggestions on different guns and calibers

Get the barrel length that you prefer

I would think any Ruger Blackhawk in a cartridge that starts with .4 would work for you. Barrel length to preference.

I happen to have one in 480R but would like to get a companion in 45 Colt

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ What Teal said, there's no need for anything more, unless you just can't get closer. If that's the case, you're doing it wrong (I hunt Missouri, too).

357 mag revolver will take deer

Good advice above. I've taken somewhere around 40 deer with the 41 magnum in 5 different states, all with cast bullets. Barrel length is up to you but I like 5" barrels for the most part. The 44 & 45 are just as good or better, it all depends on good bullets & shot placement. The 357 works just fine out to 50 yds or so, again with correct bullets but you have to be very careful with shot placement but it will work. Good luck.

Dick

I do my handgun deer hunting with .41 and .44 magnums. Other than one 7 1/2" Redhawk .44 magnum they are all Smith .41 and .44 Magnum N frames with barrels from 6" to
8 3/8". If I'm just carrying a large frame revolver as a "just in case" or auxiliary gun I tend to go with 4", 5" or 6" depending on circumstances, but if I'm specifically deer hunting with a handgun I like the longer barrels, 6" to 8 3/8" especially if I'm using open sights.

This year, I've chosen (2) .41 magnums to start the season with, a 657 "Classic Hunter" with 6 1/2" barrel and open sights and a Performance Center 657 "Hunter" with a 2X Leupold handgun scope. I will probably transition to rifles in October sometime. (Our season here opened this past Monday and goes until the end of December.)

That's how I do it, take it for what it's worth.

I wouldn't be too concerned about "follow up shots." Deer aren't going to attack you. My philosophy is that I don't take a shot unless I'm very, very certain it will end up in a dead deer. I've not very often seen any good come of blazing away a bunch of Hail Mary shots at a deer running through the woods. I shoot a revolver quite a bit, but I don't pretend to be good enough to make that a likely proposition. Along with muscle mass, some hair and my good looks, I've lost, over the years, any enthusiasm I might have ever had for Charlie Foxtrot, gut-shot goat rodeos. Then again, I've been hunting deer for almost 60 years and have killed a bunch of them and, as I've mentioned, our season here is over 4 months long and we get three buck tags and 2 doe tags to start with, more if we need them. I've got racks on the wall I'l probably never surpass. I do have faint memories of younger times and the near desperation we get to kill a deer, especially if it's a short season with limited opportunities and/or it's been a pretty dry, frustrating season.

Anyway, you do what pleases you, those are my opinions. Sometimes old guys just have to give a lot more advice than they're asked for. Good luck and let us know what you decide to go with.

I haven’t hunted deer with a handgun in years but I used a .41 Magnum 657. Shot it a lot better than the .44. Deer couldn’t tell the difference.

Love the 41 mag, especially in a M-57 S&W

45 LC

Holy big gun batman. A 460 for deer? The uber truthful internet has stories of people taking deer with everything from a .22 on up, 9mm, 40sw, and 45acp. I'm sure a 40/45 would be adequate within 30 yards or so, but I think they are a little light. For me a 357, 10mm, 41mag, 44mag, 45 colt would be where I'd focus my attention. Something with a 3-6 barrel. (A 3" barrel on a revolver is about the same as a 4.5-5" barrel on a semiautomatic). It's handgun hunting not small rifle hunting. If you put a red dot or scope on it, barrel length doesn't matter in terms of accuracy from a longer sight radius.

Freedom Arms in 454 shooting lighter bullets. If distance comes into play, scope it up. Mt FA shot 1 1/2" groups at 100 yards with a Leupold on it. I don't use scopes on handguns any longer. I like the sport of getting "up close and personal".

I recommend a DA 357 magnum with 6" barrel. Or a plain old 1911 45 acp. I've harvested deer with both and they both dropped in their tracks without a step. Open sights too. I really like 45 LC as well as 44 magnum.

X frame revolvers are huge. You could probably carry a scoped Contender on a sling and a back up revolver and have less total weight. My current favorite revolver is a S&W Model 69 with a micro red dot. I can use it as an "always" gun when woods bumming. Crazy accurate and recoil is surprisingly manageable.

The 4 1/4" barrel is not long enough to be legal for hunting in some areas though....

I love my 8 3/8” 460…..but that said, if your Whitetail hunts are in pretty thick stuff and shots are fairly short ( likely 100 and under), the 5” model would be a great choice.

I would really love to have one for general purpose use when I’m not hunting with my present 460! memtb

You can use a lot of stuff .. most is more than you need if you're stopping at deer, not hunting bear or elk or anything else over 300 pounds. I am pretty heavily invested in .44 and .45 components but if I had to start over from scratch with a blank slate I'd grab a 6-1/2" barreled Ruger Blackhawk in .41 magnum and never look back. I could make .357 work. 10mm, too, in a revolver.

You’re overthinking it.

If you’re not killing deer with a TC, then you probably won’t kill them with anything else. But this is the fire, and we never tell anyone to not buy a gun, so here’s your answer:

1. Get a 357, 41, 44 Special, 45 Colt, or 44 Magnum revolver with a barrel that’s four to eight inches long. I like Rugers and Smiths but others will work.

2. Load a relatively heavy bullet (160 in the 357, 210 in the 41, and 250 in the 44s and 45) at about 1,100 fps.

3. Study how deer live and learn how to get close to them.

4. Work on your shooting. The ability to hit a pie plate with every shot at 50 yards will put a lot more meat on the table than buying a revolver that takes several different cartridges.

But that brings us back to the issue of skill. Why not figure out how to cut down your reloading time with the TC?


Okie John

John, there is absolutely nothing arguable with your statement except……maybe he merely wants a 450 S&W! 😉 memtb

What shooting distance are you anticipating?
Are you hunting from a stand?

.357 mag, 10mm, 41 mag, 44 mag, or 45 Colt.

I have hunted and killed whitetails with almost everything from .357 to .500. Depends on your comfort and skill level, and what game you’re hunting, and how long your shots might be. I’d narrow your choices from there. I will shoot a deer inside of 50 yards with a .357 Magnum(and have) but would not have taken the 82 yard or 105 yard shots that my .500 Mag killed 2 bucks with, had I been carrying a .357 or my beloved 610 Classic 10mm.

Good luck finding the right handgun for you…and a .460 would be a hell of a hammer that would work on nearly every nail! 😎

Doc_Holidude

Thanks everyone for there input. I hunt on my family’s cattle farm lots of grass not as many trees. So shots could be 100 and in. I’m pretty good with my tc contender but feel i would like something different to try. Hunting would be a mix of stand and stalking.
I been on a mission to take a deer with a single shot bolt flintlock etc. a revolver is something I haven’t done yet. Thanks for everyone’s input.

Have you fired a .460?

It’s waaaayyyyy past my fun threshold now. I draw the line at .357 and standard-level .45 Colt these days. Used to shoot .44s, but no longer. I don’t know you, so don’t take offense.

I have fired a 460 in an encore pistol and rifle platform. My buddy has one. No offense taken.

The 460 is an awesome cartridge. Very accurate and kills like a lighting bolt. The X frames are HUGE and I got rid of mine because of it. I would vote for the longest barrel you could get. Have you looked at the magnum research BFR? It is more reasonable in size and they are made GREAT.

This

Man, if you want a 460XVR, get ya' one. Like some other posters have said, X-frames are big, big, guns. Not exactly the perfect packin' pistol.

Magnum Research also offers a Lipsey's BFR .460 S&W Mag 5” with black micarta bisley grips which looks fun.

You mentioned shooting .454 and .45 Colt out of it, which is doable, but Max Prasac wrote in one of his books he's never been able to get acceptable accuracy from .454 and .45 out of a .460 revolver due to the throat jump. Most folks agree it's better to load down .460 than shoot .454 and .45.

For shooting white-tailed deer, may as well stick to the standbys, .357, .44Mag., or .45 Colt. They're easy to shoot with readily available off the shelf ammo. Some posters have recommended .41 Magnum, a cool cartridge, but unless you're a reloader, ammunition is hard to come by.

That's just my opinion, and you know what they're worth.

Some good common sense advise here. I’ve killed deer with .357 mag, 41 mag, 44 special, 44 mag, 45 Colt, and even a couple with 45 acp.
All with heavy hard cast bullets at modest velocities.
Most shots were 50 yards or less. A few in the 75 to 80 yard range. And no telling how many feral hogs here at the ranch with the same calibers and handguns. Mostly with Ruger Blackhawks, RedHawks, and S&W N Frame Revolvers. With barrel lengths ranging from 4” to 7.5” And a few with a 1911 in 45 acp and 10mm. Deer aren’t hard to kill with proper shot placement.
I can only remember one deer in all of them I’ve taken over the years that required more than one shot. And that was with a rifle. In a rifle caliber.

You don’t need a .460 to kill deer. But if you want one, buy one. I’ve never owned one, but shot a friends several times. And I’ve also owned a couple of different Freedom Arms Single Actions in 454 casual. If your going to shoot factory ammo, you will soon grow tired of the muzzle blast and high priced ammo.😬

I have killed deer with a .44 magnum revolver and it worked very well.
A .240 grain Hornady XTP at 1250 fps shot completely through the chest. If I hunt deer with a revolver now, it’s my 5 1/2” Bisley Blackhawk.45 Colt loaded with a 280 grain Keith SWC at 1100 fps.

Ron

I will breakout a handgun for WT every few seasons or so to mix things up. I have used a 6” .357, Glock 40 MOS 10mm, 6” .44mag, and .45 ACP.

The 10mm is fun and with the red dot is effective. The .44 is the overall winner. None have been super impressive as far as performance but I like the larger hole the .44 puts through a deer.

A true big-bore cartridge is on my wishlist but if you want an auto, the 10mm works. If you want a moderate wheel gun, a .44 or .45LC will work fine. I have no experience with the .41 but a friend does and likes it but it has to be similar to the 10mm. The .357 worked for me on a nice FL buck I grunted up to 20 yards but it was a very lackluster experience and worked but I would not intentionally choose to do it again. I have taken a few deer with a .45 ACP but were follow up shots while tracking so they were considered backup kills but none the less took deer.

Tough to beat a 44 magnum with a 5-7" barrel.

Bullets? 240 jacketed, or cast (WFN or Keith) 250-265 grains.

Load to "less than max" at 1000-1100 fps for cast bullets- even for jacketed. Don't need max loads. Easy shooting and effective.

Yep. A 250 gr LBT designed WFN hard cast bullet at 1100 fps works very well on deer and feral hogs.
And a very pleasant load to shoot, too.

.44 mag is nice to have as a ‘companion cartridge’ too - shop for an old marlin or win lever to mate your revolver with. Good times.

There is nothing more satisfying than smashing a swimming beaver with .44 mag. Or yotes, or many things for that matter.

The 41 mag is excellent for deet

The .460 will definitely reach out further if your skills are good enough. I have one and it makes extended ranges more feasible. It will be great for stand hunting. Probably not so fun for carrying. Sometimes you can find .460 ammo for about the same price as .44.

I've only used a TC Contender to handgun hunt deer and I don't think you'll find a better gun than a scoped TC for this purpose, and followup shots are not normally going to be needed. That being said, if you just want to try a revolver for a change go for it! Anything from 44 Special, 44 Mag., 45 Colt would be ideal.

Explain how the "460 reaches out further"?

I killed an article Caribou at about 150 yards and and pig at a layered 218 yards with a 6" barreled Ruger Bisley and 325 grain flat point hard cast at about 1400 FPS.

The flatter trajectory simply makes longer shots a bit easier……it doesn’t kill any better! The longer shots are only possible “if” the shooter is skilled/practiced! memtb

Skilled and practiced evens the playing field.

Until it doesn’t! Properly scoped, proper cartridge combination easily makes the 460 (from a revolver) a 200 to 250 yard handgun for Whitetail with a skilled shooter……which is well beyond my capabilities. However, an elk sized kill zone and my 3 moa dot gives me a 150 yard handgun. I would not feel comfortable taking a 150 yard shot on an elk or moose at 150 with a 44 mag. But, that’s just me!

A shooter would need to be extremely skilled to bring the 44 mag or the 45 LC into play at 200 to 250 yards. Not saying it can’t be done…..merely exponentially adds to the degree of difficulty! JMO memtb

BS, al you need is practice, we shot open sites to 200 meters in metallic silhouette was very high percentage of hits.

I don't see the 460 as "reaching out further" for skilled shooters.

You’re not the only one that shot metallic silhouette! I reiterate ……not impossible with a lower velocity handgun, just a bit more difficult! A rangefinder, needed as the bullet drop from lower velocity cartridges gets problematic with the additional range, in addition to the additional bullet flight time all add to shot difficulty. Though, a very capable shooter can make it happen.

As usual, we have differing opinions on yet another matter! Have a nice day! memtb

The Fling 460 S&W weighs as much as some rifles fir a supposed advantage in killing range that is dubious in reality

Never said I was the only one to shoot silhouette, was simply using the sport to make a point

I have several revolvers that I carry hunting, a S&W 629 classic 5” with a Leupold DPP, Ruger Bisley 44 special 5.5” and a Ruger Bisley 480 6”. Hunting in the woods in these hills they will handle any shot I would take at a game animal. A coyote might get hazed around the hillside at longer distances because wounding them wouldn’t bother my conscience any. 50-60 yards on deer is about my comfort limit. I carry them when rifle hunting and consider them secondary if the opportunity presents itself.

I have a TC contender looking for a new home. Great pistol in 4 different calibers 22 lr.22 hornet 223 Remington and 44 mag all barrels are 14 inches long and drilled and tapped. it comes with 2 pistol scopes as well

A little late here and many good recommendations - just one comment on the above post……”simply” hitting a 200m ram (which is not easy to do - thus the quotations) with a “high percentage” of hits does not necessarily mean you hit the vital zone on a live animal (with a cold bore and under field conditions). Again not saying can’t be done - have seen some very good pistol shots make some fantastic shots but have seen a lot more misses than hits (both in the field and on the silhouette range). Just wanted to make that distinction as it is an important one.

PennDog

.357 on up on revolver
Figure 6mm TCU or more in a Specialty Pistol.

IHMSA.....center of ram was thw goal.
Center of deer proly means coyotes finish the job later that night.

Still looking for a .35 rem bbl for my TC. Stainless, came w a braked version. Dumped tbat bbl. Want a blued reg 14.

Gunshow guy hasnt made last couple. Aint payin Ebay nonsense. Need to make a loop of small mom n pop shops some Saturday and see whats available.

Run a .35 rem pump rifle as main rig. Like the cartridge.
All my handgun deer have been w revolvers. Suppose I could just get a 12 " .357 mag bbl and call.it good enough.

Back when I was playing the IHMSA game, 200 meter shots with a .44 mag revolver got to be a casual affair. I usually competed with a Dan Wesson 8 3/8" barrel. Just for kicks I would sometimes use a 5.5" Ruger Blawkhawk .44 mag using Elmer's load of 22 grains of 2400 and a hardcast Lyman 429421 that I made from quenched cast straight wheelwright alloy.

Offhand, it's a pretty good trick to place shots beyond 100 yards with a .44 mag revolver. But if you play with one enough for Zen to get involved, 200 yard shots can get very ordinary if there's something nearby to rest the revolver on.

One suggestion. Take the grip frame screws out one at a time, clean everything up with acetone, then reinstall them with red lock tight. Those grip frame screws will loosen up and accuracy goes to schitt as a result.

A two pound trigger helps quite a bit too..

I've used a .44 mag for most of my handgun deer. In my youthful ignorance and lack of judgment, i once shot a running deer at 160 yards with one (through the heart and was dead when stopped sliding across the snow). The .44 mags will certainly do the job. I bought a .460 and scoped it simply for the extra range I felt comfortable shooting a deer with it. I had wrist surgery after getting it though and haven't shot one with it yet.

My perspective based on your situation is a bit different. That TC should be all you need for the long shots on stand; but not great for stalking / walking. I'd be tempted to put a sling on your TC and get a 5" .44 mag or so with holster for the closer shots. That way you're covering both options well.

After reading all the posts here, I’m convinced my 4” 625MG and 5.5” Bisley both in .45 Colt are all I would need for WT, especially when shooting Keith 270g SWC from MacKay_Sagebrush.

I hunt deer every fall with a pistol in one flavor or another. I have killed deer with .357s, .44 mags and 10mm. There are lots of options out there for weapon platforms. Find a platform that fits you and start there. Practice, practice, practice. Shot placement is more important then knockdown power. You don't need a 460 or .500 to kill a deer. I could see using the larger 460 X Frame and using .45 LC to take the recoil until you get some practice under your belt, but keep in mind that the .454 is no slouch.
A .44 mag is a good middle of the road starting point if you like wheel guns and can utilize .44 specials for low recoil practice. If you are into autos check out the 10mm. But keep in mind that all 10mm ammo is not created equally. I have really enjoyed hunting with my 10mms the last few years and have to say that the round itself is my favorite pistol round.

I don’t recall “need” being in the question. That said…..you are absolutely correct in everything else you stated! Though, the S&W with their factory brake system are far more pleasant to shoot than most non-ported 44 magnums or the .454’s…..however, much louder also! memtb

You can talk about how well these smaller cartridges like the 41 mag and 44 mag work on deer, but how much fun are you really having if that is all you shoot? This is the second shot my wife made with my sons 4" 500 S&W. She was having a good time!



For some reason these revolvers can be bought slightly used at very reasonable prices...

I'm a 41 Rem Mag fan, but have used 460, 454, 44 Rem Mag and 10mm Auto. Big fan of hard cast lead too for hunting WT. Whatever you decide on, get as good as you can with it and enjoy!

I would pick what serious handgun hunter would use ie Taurus Raging Hunter 6,75 inch barrel .44 Magnum. They also offer .454 and .460 where longer barrel would help with muzzle blast.

Tell us one of your hunting stories , Slavek .....

LMAO. Fugking Taurus for the serious hunter.

Years ago I won a Taurus Raging Bull in 454C at a SCI dinner. I was heavily into handgun hunting at the time and was happy about this! Until I shot it! Brand new, right out of the box, the timing was so bad it spit like crazy and you almost needed a face shield to use it. Off to the gunsmith to get taken care of and then used very little and then down the road it went. The gunsmith fixed it, but I was prejudiced against it now and it didn't matter. But it introduced me to 454C and I then got one of the nicest hunting handguns, a D-Max Sidewinder in 454C. So there's that...

41 or 45...44's are boring although I have several