Best Handgun hunting caliber
 

Here' s the topic:
What do you think is the best handgun hunting round?

My vote goes for the .454 Casull. Sure, this round in factory loadings is a little too much for most people, and its more than necessary for whitetail, but handloads can be very tame. Then you can load hot loads to impress your buddies. Handloading makes this a truely versitile round.

It' s hard to argue against the 44 mag, although a good arguement would be that handloading a 45lc will allow the 45lc to surpass the 44 mag. If handloading is not an option, the 44 mag is tuff to beat.

Don' t forget 22s.

What do y' all think?

RE: Best Handgun hunting caliber
 

I like the .45LC and the .41mag. Granted the only big game animal I' m going to hunt is the whitetail. I know there not the " best" but they are for me ;)

RE: Best Handgun hunting caliber
 

Although I' ve heard a lot about it, I' ve never tried a 41 mag. What advantage does it have over the 45lc? Over the 44 mag? The diameter of the 41 mag is close to that of the 44 mag (.429).

How about autoloaders? 10mm, 45ACP? The 45ACP is deemed by many to be too week for big game hunting. Is anyone using it anyway? Close shots are often available here, so I might try to bag a doe / small buck with mine this year.

RE: Best Handgun hunting caliber
 

I don' t really see any advantage I just like both calibers ;) As a history buff for the .45LC and the .41mag because of a friend who thought it was the only caliber on the earth :eek: He actually got me hooked.

I have never hunted big game with an auto but have doubt that a good 10mm will do the job for whitetail. I was comparing the cor-bon 185 grain loads the other day for the .357mag and the 10mm. The 10mm wins out on velocity and energy though not by much. Granted the .357mag is proably the least one should use according to many of the " experts" ;)

RE: Best Handgun hunting caliber
 

That' s my take on the 10mm also. Ted Nugent has all those videos of hunting big game with it though. I' m not saying that it' s a good idea, but I wouldn' t mind adding a semi-auto kill to my list of weapons used.

I shot a nuisance domestic billy goat with a .40 S&W (basically a 10mm short) once. It didn' t work too well. I was sold on the notion that the .40 S&W was the ultimate self defense (man stopping) round, so it should kill a goat quickly. Not so. At least not with less than a head shot. Before it was over, things got ugly (I prefer the one shot one kill approach). The first shot was your standard, behind the front shoulder shot from 10 yards. It had such little effect that I questioned whether or not I hit the thing (actually my brother in law said I missed) but later we discovered that the bullet hit where aimed. The rest of the story would cause peta to take note, so I' ll refrain. Point being the .40 S&W is definitely not a hunting round! Maybe I should rethink the .45ACP idea.

RE: Best Handgun hunting caliber
 

Here we go with one of those topics with no real answer except whichever handgun cartridge you can shoot the best. Then again are we limited to traditional handgun cartridges or can one include rounds like the 7mm-08 Rem which not only is a fine rifle cartridge, but also shines out of the TC Encore? BTW guys there is no such cartridge as a 45 LC. It' s 45 Colt.

RE: Best Handgun hunting caliber
 

I know frizzellr you have told me that before ;) And I agree with the statment about the topic. BUT like I said in my post I like the .45LC ;) and the .41mag for me. Every person is differn' t and it' s good to see and hear what other people think. Otherwise this would be one boring forum! :D

I say tomato you say.......

RE: Best Handgun hunting caliber
 

Actually frizzellr, it is a 45 long colt. The 45 was introduced in 1873. Colt manufactured the cartridge for the government. S&W also made 45 cartridges for the government at the same time. Their 45 cartridge was shorter. The 45lc can chamber both rounds. O.K. S&W doesn' t manufacture this round anymore but some of the firearms do still exist. http://www.chuckhawks.com/45Colt.htm

I started this topic in an effort to spur some discussion on handgun hunting. If you hunt with rifle cartridges with a pistol platform, tell us about it. I' m thinking about buying one of those TC Encores. Which rifle cartridge becomes too much to handle on a pistol platform?

I' m not trying to " figure out" which gun is best, just trying to start conversation.

Jake

RE: Best Handgun hunting caliber
 

i' ve got a .45lc , a .44 mag , and a .41 mag , and my personal choice would have to be the 41 mag , it' s better for range , it retains more energy , and has better accuracy than the .45 or .44 at longer ranges , now i have to admit , my .45lc is in a vequero , but my .44 is in a super blackhawk , and my .41 in a blackhawk , and i prefer the .41 over the .44 there too as the blackhawk is lighter in weight than the super blackhawk and is easier to carry , and the recoil is lighter than the .44 as well :D:D:D

RE: Best Handgun hunting caliber
 

In " handgun" calibers for me it would be the .44 magnum.
The .44 is probably as much gun as most people could handle comfortly and accurately.