I live in Indiana and i am looking to buy a new gun to hunt deer with i was wondering if you guys thought i would be better off buying a new shotgun or a 44mag since you can rifle hunt with only pistol rounds in indiana
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Silence is Acceptance. "To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men." ~ Abraham Lincoln ~ Stand Up and Be Counted !
what do you consider a good slug gun i have read so many reviews my head is spinning lol i was looking at a 77/44 by ruger 44 but now i dont know what i want to buy
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Silence is Acceptance. "To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men." ~ Abraham Lincoln ~ Stand Up and Be Counted !
I recently saw ruger chambers a rifle with pistol ammo....but I think you can get a .454 casull, etc or maybe 460SW which is even faster than the 454 casull
I recently saw ruger chambers a rifle with pistol ammo....but I think you can get a .454 casull, etc or maybe 460SW which is even faster than the 454 casull
I'm also in Indiana. I've had a Model 94 chambered in the 44 mag for a while and I'll admit, I for one like the new law as I've had fun carrying it! Growing up with and still having horses, I've always wanted to head to the deer stand with a good ole lever gun and now I can!!
I've hunted here for 20 years now and I've pretty much carried everything they'll let us carry. Shotguns with vent rib barrels and rifled slugs, rifled barred shotguns with sabots, handguns of various calibers, my Encore muzzle loader, even a brief stint with an Encore 15" barreled hand gun and obviously that model 94.
With that being said, my all time favorite to carry in Indiana, my "go to gun" is my Encore 209X50.
I know you didn't include a smoke pole as an option, so to answer your question specifically I'd have to ask you 2 questions:
On your hunting ground, how far will your shots typically be?
Do you plan on scoping your rifle or shotgun?
If you only have 75-100 yard shots a 44 mag rifle or maybe a single shot 454 or 500 will take very good care of you. The scope questions makes a difference as well. If you do not plan on buying a scope then get one of the above mentioned rifles or you can buy a good ole pump shotgun with a vent rib barrel (I/C choke only) and a $4.00 box of rifled slugs and with some practice you'll kill deer out to 100 yards all day long. I truly believe that spending an extra couple hundred dollars on a rifled slug barrel and spending $2.50 - $3.50 per shot on sabots is a waste of money IF you don't scope a shotgun and you plan on shooting under 100 yards.
A few years ago when the high dollar sabots hit the market by storm I'll admit, they got WAY too much of my money. I was very intrigued with the fact that I can shoot my shotgun and kill a deer at 200 yards. They absolutely will do that with some practice and the right set up, but I simply got tired of spending the money on those damn sabots. I can get the same or better performance out of my Encore for about half the money per trigger pull.
If you go the rifle route, don't buy a 460 S&W rifle, that is one of the few that are actually illegal because of its length. The way the DNR regulates how "big" a round can be is by the case length. The maximum case length is 1.625" or 1 5/8". The 500 S&W is pretty much exactly that but the 460 S&W is longer so it's not considered legal.
I know I said a lot, but I hope some of it helps!
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I've been accused of favortism here are my favorites:
Mathews Z7
T/C Encore 209X50
-Leupold 3-9X40
Winchester Super X3
Winchester Model 94 Big Bore 444 Marlin
Winchester Model 70 300 Win Mag.
-Leupold 4-12X40
Ruger Super Blackhawk 44 mag.
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Silence is Acceptance. "To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men." ~ Abraham Lincoln ~ Stand Up and Be Counted !
Check out the Savage 220F 20ga. bolt action.
The AccuTrigger is the perfect squeeze.
My buddy's 10 year old can put holes in holes at 75 yds.
Still holding on hair at 150 yds.
There are a few guys out there that have developed Indiana legal rifles based on WSSM cases, cut to 1.625" and necked to 35 caliber. They are reporting upwards of 2500-2600 fps with 180 and 200 gr bullets, with very good accuracy. This basically duplicates .358 Win performance.
The way it works is, you buy (or maybe already have) a bolt rifle chambered in a WSSM cartridge. They make you a new barrel for your "donor" action. They lend you the tools to remove your barrel and install the new barrel, adjust headspace, etc. They will also sell you brass so you can load your own. Not sure if they sell cartidges, some may.
They also make barrels for T/C single shot rifles.
Anyway, if I had the money laying around that's the way I would go. Imagine hunting in Indiana with an real deer rifle. Do a search on BFG guns, talk to Brian. There are others out there, but I don't know names off the top of my head.
Another thing to think about. Indiana will most likely allow cases up to 1.8" for next year's season. I'd imagine performance will only be improved.
buying new gun
here are my favorites:
