That's a pretty good question. Why did I choose the 460?

I've been enamored with the idea of handgun hunting since I learned about it during my hunter safety course, but due to Tennessee state law I couldn't try it until I turned 18. Being the inquisitive type, I would look up hunting handguns and calibers online, read forum posts about them, that kind of thing. That's how I learned about the 460. I learned that people had been using this revolver to hunt at relatively long range for a revolver, 100 to 200 yards. I figured such a gun would kick, but then I learned that you could easily load 45 Colt and 454 Casull rounds for lesser recoil practice. To young me, that sounded like the coolest hunting handgun. I also felt that it would be the jack-of-all-trades hunting pistol, one with the power and range to take game out to 200 yards like a specialty pistol, but with the multiple rounds and packability of a revolver. So when I finally saved up enough, I bought one, an 8 3/8" Model 460 XVR.

Well, reality was . . . somewhat different. The gun's recoil and blast was intense, and due to developing a flinch I couldn't shoot it accurately past about 50 yards. As it turns out, those super short 45 and 454 rounds are quite inaccurate due to the bullets having to jump quite a ways into the forcing cone, so that option was out. It was also much heavier and more cumbersome than I thought, especially when scoped.

After a few seasons with no handgun kills under my belt, I decided to reevaluate what I was doing. I'd had many deer just outside of my comfortable shooting range that I had to pass on. Our most successful location is a 14 acre hay field we dub "the killing field" because of how many deer have fallen in it, let alone the dozens more we see there in a given season. The biggest drawback is there's no way to predict where the deer will be in the field, making the act of trying to set up a blind for a close shot a crapshoot. If you want to kill a deer there, you'd better be ready for a 200 yard, maybe even 300 yard shot. I decided to try a new type of hunting handgun, the Thompson/Center Encore. I built a 243 Winchester pistol on my dad's Encore muzzleloader frame. It was much easier to shoot than the 460, and soon I was making 1.5" groups at 100 yards. I bought my 300 Win Mag barrel that summer, and quickly got proficient enough that I would take a 200 yard shot off a good rest. Having put the 460's scope on my 300 barrel, I decided to just use the 460 with its open sights in case a close shot presented itself. I finally began taking deer with the Encore, but never had an opportunity with the 460. Despite the trouble I had with it, I really grew to love the 460 cartridge. It was what got me into reloading, and it was clear the round had a lot of potential if I had it in a platform I was more comfortable with.

One day, I went to my local gun store just to browse, when I heard two of the guys calling my name. They had someone trade in a 14" Performance Center Model 460, arguably the ultimate model. After mulling it over for a few days, I traded in my 460 and my long unused 12 gauge, and bought the PC version. I had a few teething issues with it, but soon got it shooting pretty well. How well? It can shoot as well as my Encore - sub-MOA. More importantly than that, I can shoot it much better than the XVR. The extra weight, especially towards the barrel, helps soak up recoil, and having an extra 5+ inches of barrel really improved the performance, on the order of 400 fps increase with the 200 grain bullets.

In short, I guess the reason I prefer the 460 is because I bought it having built it up in my mind as being capable of so much, when the reality turned out to be different, but through a lot of practice and changing some things up, I managed to reach the point where I can utilize the cartridge to its full potential. I'm 100% confident that I could take a deer at 200 yards should the need arise. As for having a belt gun, I've got far more appropriate revolvers for that now.



To address some of your other points. Yes, the 14" 460 is big, heavy, and bulky - but not nearly as big, heavy, or bulky as the 24" barreled, 10 pound Weatherby Vanguard I used to haul everywhere. I don't have to trek very far to my hunting locations, so weight just isn't a problem regardless. I'm trying to get better with open sights so I can finally take a deer with an iron-sighted revolver. However, there are very few places on the farm where I would pack just my 41 Mag. I've been frustrated with having deer, including decent bucks, meander around just outside my comfortable shooting ranges, only to later wind up killed by a family member or neighbor, so it's always a comfort knowing that while I'm challenging myself to connect with a new type of weapon, I still have a handgun I can fall back on for those longer shots, whether that handgun is the 460 or my Encore.