Just wondering if any of you writers hunt, on occaision, with a pistol. What would it be and what do you hunt with it etc...

Thanks

Long

I've used several handguns (both pistols and revolvers) from .22 Long Rifle to .44 Magnum, on critters from prairie dogs, groundhogs, and rock chucks to wild boar and moose. I no longer have my old favorites, alas, but do enjoy several current favorites in the same range of calibers. I hope soon to be calling coyotes and possibly a cougar into handgun range. I'd want a rifle � big-bore � for bear.

I used to a lot more than I have lately, but I almost always carry a revolver even when a rifle is my primary arm.

I've taken game with .22 LR & WMR, .38 Special, .357 Mag, .41 Special, .44 Special, .45 Colt (all revolvers); when I specialized in the T/C Contender, I used a .17 Bee, .22 K-Hornet, .218 Bee, .219 Zipper, .221 Fireball, .223, .256 Win Mag, 7-30 Waters, .30 Herrett, .300 Bellm, and a .375 Win.

My only pistols have been a sweet Hungarian PA-63 in 9 Mak, a few .22 Rugers and a 9mm KelTec that I really bought for a daughter as her house gun.

My list would be remarkably similar to Rocky�s list. Most of my hunting has been for small game, yotes, black bear, and hogs. These days, I live in some of the best squirrel hunting woods I�ve ever seen, and I can simply walk a few hundred yards out my front door and start hunting. I very much enjoy hunting squirrel with my K-22, or one of my carry guns in 9mm, .32 mag or .45 ACP.

Squirrel hunting with a handgun has consistently been the biggest challenge for me. I always go for the head shot, and that�s just a small target�sure is fun.

Interesting all the calibers you guys have shot critters with.

Rocky, would you tell me what you had the best luck with using the 7-30 Waters?

Long

FWIW, the hawg leg that you see over there (<--- ) in my avatar is a Taurus .22 Long Rifle with 12-inch barrel. I love it! But the prairie dogs don't. Its high-speed hollow-points scare the pee out of any p-dog inside a hundred yards or so that they don't kill. Some dead + some scared spitless = fun for The Ol' Man.

Those Ken Howell cross-sticks really help the shaky ol' coot hold that lovely ordnance pretty steady.

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I know you didn't ask me the question but I have a great deal of experience with the 7-30 Waters and 7-30 JDJ on deer size game. Both work wonders in a Contender. In fact, I think the only way to hunt Antelope is with a handgun if you really want a hunt. It is no great trick to take a goat with almost any rifle but try crawling around the prairie for a few days on your knees with a Contender. It will give you a whole different perspective on Antelope hunting.

Ain't that a fact-- that's also my specialty, handgun hunting/shooting with the specialty pistols. This last antelope season i crawled about 150 yds. before I was within range of them. What's really fun is to go to one of the long-range tactical matches and compete against military and police sniper teams with a SP.

Kevin,

I've considered adding a K-22 to my .22 collection. How well does yours group at, say - 25 yds or even 50 yds?

Thanks.

Long;

I routinely take squirrel and rabbit with both .22lr and cap and ball pistols. I have a couple of guns I hunt deer with, one an original .44 Flattop and the other a specialty pistol in .45-70, it's the 14" hunter model. (I hesitate to call it handgun hunting as for the life of me, I've never been able to equate a 14" scoped single shot as a true "handgun")

Dan

I don't hunt with a handgun as much as some, but do regularly hunt varmints and small game (including mountain grouse) with .22's, primarily my dad's Colt Frontier Scout and a "slab-side" Ruger Mark II semi-auto that is scary accurate.

Have also taken bigger game, from coyotes to deer, with my S&W 66 .357 Magnum and Ruger Blackhawk Bisley 7-1/2" in .45 Colt. Have shot the specialty pistols some, mostly at prairie dogs, but did hunt antelope once with a T/C in .41 Magnum. I tend to prefer "traditional" handguns, though, perhaps because I grew up in Montana where a handgun was a sidearm, not a hand carbine.

John Barsness

�06
Mine is one of the newer ones (about 5 years old). 617 4� with a 10 shot cylinder and it�s one heckuva fun gun to shoot. The new ones are not as accurate as the older ones, but with Winchester T-22 or CCI Mini-Mag�s, it will keep them under 1.5� at 25 yards. I regularly shoot at clay pigeons at 100yards offhand and I typically hit about 4 or 5, so it�s accurate enough. A 25 yard head shot on a squirrel is very challenging, especially if it�s at a high angle.

What would you say you would be accurate too insofar as distance goes with the 7-30? Maybe 200 yds off of a good rest?

Long

200 off a good rest, with the right load, in the 7-30, is pretty standard.

The Waters is a fantastic little round out of the Contender.

A 14" tube gets plenty out of the 7-30, and some of the lighter bullets in .284" are designed around this round, in fact, it's about THE reason for the SSP bullets in .284".

Try it; it's about the best there is in long-range deer cartridges in the Contender.

Thanks, Kevin.

I'm guessing then, the K-22's are not made anymore? It's a shame. I was hoping for a VERY accurate .22 revolver.

06

While I've not hunted that much with a handgun as a primary weapon.......I never venture out of the house without some type hanging on my hip. For that reason, I've taken quite a few deer and hogs with both revolvers as well as pistols and an uncounted number of small game as well.......basically "targets of opportunity" or being in the right place at the right time.

For years I habitually carried a Mark I Ruger Target Pistol (5 1/2" bull barrel) and found it to be more accurate than any revolver I ever owned. Perfect for the odd rabbit or squirrel that happened along. A Ciener .22 LR conversion unit for the 1911 also got a lot of holster time.

However, in recent years my neck of the woods has been "invaded" by hogs......always a few around, but now so common they are a real possibility any time you venture outside. for that reason I tend to carry something a bit bigger......such as a .44 mag (Ruger Flattop), .45 LC (SAA) or 10mm (EAA Witness) when in "hog country". These are a bit much for small game unless head shots only are taken, so when rabbits and such are the main target I normally carry something like a .357 (.38 spl is a great small game round and a 173 gr. hard cast .357 can do good work on a hog if you're careful). My favorite "walk-a-bout" gun however is an oddball......the .32-20 in a SAA. Great for rabbit / squirrel and a hard cast bullet can take a hog if pressed into service for such work.

In all honesty though, I like all guns and tend to carry whatever tickles my fancy that day.......so have taken deer and hogs that wandered by with a number of different rounds (.22 LR, .32-20, .38 spl, .357, 10mm, .41 mag, .44 mag, .45 LC and .45 ACP). They will all work in the range is close and the shot is placed right.

I really need to dust off that 7-30 again and warm it up. It's been languishing a long time - solely due to the need to shoot other stuff.

The best bullet in it (for Contender use) is the 120 Ballistic Tip, but any standard 120 softpoint works almost as well. I had great luck with RL-12, if memory serves. Alas, RL-12 is gone. I'd try Benchmark first if I were to develop new loads, and I suspect that TAC would shine as well.

Other than sponsored hunts where I use the manufacturer's rifle, all my hunting - big game, small game, varmints - is with handguns. I use T/Cs, both Contender and Encore, as well as big bore revolvers and .22 rimfires.

Rocky, I have been reloading for a few years but never did anything with powders that have no resources concerning specific calibers.

How would you go about getting started using Tac?

Long

Well, the long-practiced method is to look at powders that are about the same burn rate in that cartridge and begin with the start loads. Comparing results with those of the known powder(s) tells you if the unknown powder is a bit faster or slower in that cartridge. And you adjust from there. In the 7-30 Waters, there are published loads for powders like W748 and H335 (it's important to compare ball to ball and stick to stick powders only), so it shouldn't be too hard.

I understand the practice of comparing powders but have not seen any powder burn lists that have Tac on them. Guess I need to look harder. thanks.

Long

Long

Go to Western Powders/Ramshot website. They have a current burn rate chart there. I couldn't live without their powders. Tac and Big Game are two of my favorites.

Their tech staff is one of the best. They always answer any questions you might have, no BS, just the facts. Great folks to work with.

Best Wishes, Bill

Stinger, thanks for the heads up.

Long

A better question, for writers and anyone else who hunts with a handgun:

Why do you hunt with a handgun?

� � because the handgun is more appropriate than a rifle for the particular game or situation?

� � for the challenge to your skill as a hunter or shooter?

� � to be different from other hunters?

� � to explore the practical potential of the handgun?

� � because the handgun brings into play an interest that has waned after years of hunting with rifles?

� � because the handgun is easier to carry afield than a rifle is?

� or � ?

Ken,

I hunted almost exclusively with a pistol of some sort for 3 years. Why? For the extra challenge and secondly a pistol is a lot lighter/handier than a rifle. I live/hunt in Pa and in the pre-QDM days the odds of seeing, let alone shooting a big buck were quite rare. So to make the game much mo' interesting, we started hunting with pistols. Hunted with hand made recurves the previous 10 years with alot of success on 6-8 point bucks - none of which would impress anyone.

Killed most of my deer with an 06 Encore pistol, a few with a 308 Bellm and 30-30 in the Contender, a few with my Ruger Blackhawk 44 mag, and 1-2 with my Smith 357. Hunting with a pistol is great fun - especially if you ain't overly concerned with horn size.

I even had a 350 Rem mag barrel built for my Encore to take Elk hunting. Still haven't toted it for Elk but did kill a doe with it 4-5 years ago.

Between Dad and I, we have an arsenal of interesting pistols that we hunt with. We usually designate a doe day and establish rules accordingly. Mostly its no rifles allowed - any pistol will do but we've had some interesting rules, most of which anyone can assign to another. I assigned my dad his 45-70 Trapdoor with bayonet affixed, SS german stalking rifle, a 8.65789 x 46 or some such designation, 7.65 Argentine Mauser, 416 Rigby for particular hunts. I get lucky because I don't have the extensive arsenal he has, although hunting with a flintlock has proven interesting at times for me.

Anyway, the main reason is added sport with alot of fun thrown in for good measure.