I hunt in a management area that limits handguns barrels to a maxium of 9 inches. I have a Encore and I am considering getting a handgun barrel. What caliber would work best on deer and hog in a 9 inch barrell?

If you are going to be limited to a 9" barrel there is no real need for any long range calibers, I'd go with a .44 or .454!

7mm-08 is a great bottleneckcaliber for the Encore pistol on whitetails, but I don'tknow whatthe exterior ballisticdifference would be from a 15" to9" barrel. It would be worth looking into if your shots will be more than 100 yards. I would also double check to make sure there is not a straight wallcase requirement along with the 9" barrel.

For a straight wall case I use a .44 mag Ruger SRH on whitetails as welland itget's the job done.

don't think T/C makes anything shorter than 10 inch but you could cut one off to that size. Fox ridge makes custom barrels that they would shorten. I would go 44 Mag as well.

44mag is always a solid choice. I would only consider 454 if you reload. (Really, I think reloading greatly benefits the 44 shooter too, but it doesn't near the 'necassary' level like a 454 would). This way you can either load very hot 45 Colts or mild 454. I'd go KISS principle and just get a 44mag. In a handgun its only starts to lose its potency shortly after most people lose accuracy. The perfect fit.

.500 S&W. Good luck.

I've used a .30 Herrett in a 9 1/2" barrel and it works quite well. It was supposed to be a 10" barrel, but Fox Ridge miscut it and gave me a discount because of that. But then I have a real love for wildcats and some people don't care for that kind of thing.

Robert