lookin for best deer handgun

[Clever User Name]

I came to these forums hopfully to get some advice. I have been contemplating getting a handgun for Ohio's deer shotgun season. I am not very familiar with handguns though. My shotgun doesnt shoot for crap and I so far have only carried my muzzleloader, but am seriously thining about a handgun atleast for certain hunts (would still carry my front end loader for going on watch).

Ohio requires handguns to be straight-walled cartridges .357 caliber or larger with 5" minimum barrel length. So what would be a good choice? The only handgun I am familiar with for hunting deer would be what my dad used - a TC Contender single shot 357 Rem Maximum. It seemed to be quite effective but no longer in production although I do se them pop up from time to time.

It seems the 'straight-walled cartridges' eliminates most of the more popular handgun options that I see discussed.

Any thoughts?

Oh, and one last thing... does a buttstock attachment make it no longer legally a 'pistol'? Like how you can get a buttstock on a TC Contender?

[HogHuntingChik]

Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Mag

[DANTHEHUNTER]

Ruger super redhawk .44mag 7.5 in barrel.

[James B]

The 7 1/2 inch Ruger 44 Mag is about ideal. Pick your style, the Blackhawk is a single action and the Redhawk is double action. I have the Super Blackhawk Bisley Hunter. I think the Ruger 44 Mag is the best value out there and second to none for strength.

[Chris W.]

The ruger super redhawk or super blackhawk are excellent pistols. The TC G2 contender and encore pistols are top of the line single shots. Personally, I'd lean towards the encore or contender in 44 Rem mag with a 12" barrel configuration.

[HeavyDutyWonk]

The 44mag is great but don't discount the 357, my dad and I have put a lot of dear in the freezer with it. As a plus its real cheap to target shoot as you can use 38s in it. Good luck choosing.

[Pickerel]

If you've read all the fine print and you don't see anything about a buttstock in the definition for a handgun it should be fine. In New York the only thing that defines a handgun is a barrel length of less than 16" I think. If they make no mention of it than it should be fine to use one. If they go so far as to state that you can't use explosive arrows, I think they would have already considered something relatively simple such as a buttstock.

[Nomercy]

Putting a buttstock on a pistol makes it fall under the "Short barreled rifle" classification, so it becomes a Class III weapon instantly.

[Clever User Name]

Thanks for all the responses. I am unsure of the 44 mag though sinceI am honestly not sureI could take the recoil, I am pretty scrawny dude lol. Not that the .357 Max I mentionedhas much less though. I could be wrong but can a 7.5" revolver compare to a 12"-14" single shot like the contender G2? I have never shot the redhawk or blackhawk but the few revolvers I have shotI sucked at lol. I wish I had the chance to shoot my dads contender but he got rid of that a long time ago when he injured his wrist. This is just an idea anyhow, not sure if I am going to go out and get a handgun but definately givin it a thought and doing some research.

I have emailed Ohio DNR questioning the specefics behind the legal definition of a handgun. To be honest, I can see why they said straight jacketed casings so you cant buy a contender with a 30-06 chamber or something that gives you the advantage of a riffle round, but as long as your shooting a handgun round, the butstock would just give you a slight edge on accuracy which would mean more human kills and less wounded deer, a good thing in my book. If anyone wants to look the deer season regs are at http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/regs/deer.htmbtw under 'legal definitions' tab thier is no mention of handguns there. I cant seem to find anything more than what I mentioned already about hangun definition.

If you get a good handgun, that has a little heft with it, recoil is far from an issue. I recently got a 460S&W from the performance center, and I was astonished to find it recoils less than my Mod29-2 44 mag. But it hasa break on it and wieghs twice as much. Taking out all this week but not optimistic. I haven't seen a deer since Monday.