44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

What pistol should I get for deer?

What barrel length?

What is the range on deer under 200 lbs. with a scope?

thanks,
ths78

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

ths78,
I' d recommend the Ruger Super Redhawk, if you are looking for a great .44 revolver. Either the 7 1/2 or 9 1/2 inch barrel, with a good scope and plenty of practice, will be good to 75 to 100 yards. Right now I limit myself to 75 yards.
If you were to go with one of the good singleshot guns like the Contender you could get more distance. Especially if you go with one of the flatter shooting calibers, such as the 7MM-08. You could get a gun well capable of 200 yard shots!
Good luck!

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

Which pistol is pretty much a personal decision. For a hunting 44 mag., I' m a big fan of the Ruger Super Balckhawk, but any brand or model would work.

If your barrel length is super short, you end up with excessive flash and more recoil. A barrel too long just ads weight and makes the pistol less " handy" . I like a barrel in the 6" to 7 1/2" range in a hunting revolver.

Range? That can be a big source of dissagreement. A lot depends upon your individual skills, the accuracy of your handgun, and what kind of rest (if any) is available. With my unscoped 44 mag and 45 colts I feel pretty comfortable out to 100 yards with an improvised rest against a tree. A scoped handgun maybe a little more.

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

I personally recommend any cartridge .41 Magnum and bigger in muzzle energy.

Smith and Wesson, Taurus, and Ruger all make peretty good guns. Take your pick.

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

i love my smith&wesson 629 classic. it has a 6 1/2" barrel and i had it magna ported. shoots very smooth. i had a red dot on it but to me was no where near as accurate as a 2 or 4 power fixed pistol scope. didnt like scopes with 20mm objectives ( too small) the 28 and 33 lens objective by 2 or 4 power are easier to get the target on site without too much shadow interfering. my brother has the 8 inch barrel 629 and it feels very well balanced and should be a great hunting gun. love the ruger stuff especially the price but i was told that if your only gonna own one 44 mag revolver to get a 629. :eek: i reload for it also using hornady 300 gr. xtp bullets and i have a ruger model 96/44 mag. lever action rifle that shoots the same ammo as well. great on deer and bear under 100 yards. they complement each other in that way. good luck in your decision there are quite a few to choose from!

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

Ruger Super Redhawk .44 Rem. Mag.

7.5" Barrel

100 ydrs.

Good luck.

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

The Ruger Redhawk, SRH or Super Blackhawk are all good choices. Go with the SRH in 454 Casull and you can shoot 45 Colt in it. Like having two guns in one.Or you can shoot the 44 Special in the 44 mag.All are excellent cartridges capable taking whitetails well.

Ruger Redhawk

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

A .44 Mag. is fine, as is a heavy-loaded .45 Colt or a .454 Casull. The range depends on how far you can consistently hit the vital area of the game you are seeking. I used to limit myself to around 75 yards or less, but now my limit is 50 yards, regardless of type of sights!

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

I OWN AND HAVE KILLED QUIT A FEW DEER THE 629 CLASSIC HUNTER. I LOVE THE GUN. AS FAR AS RANGE IT DEPENDS ON YOU AND WHAT TYPE OF SIGTHS. I SHOOT IRON SIGTHS AND HAVE NO PROBLEM AT OVER 50 YDS. I HAD A RUGER BLACK HAWK AND COULDNT HIT ANYTHING WITH IT. IF YOU RELOAD I WOULD THINK ABOUT THE 41 MAG, YOU COULD LOAD THAT UP PRETTY GOOD AND HAVE A LITTLE LESS RECOIL. GOOD LUCK ITS YOUR CHOICE.
HAPPY HUNTING

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

Handloader 1....you certainly are a man of few words!!

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

Vapodog:

Some people say I am not user friendly they may have a point. :D Good luck.

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

Colt Anaconda

8 3/8" ported barrel

Red Dot sight

Houge Grips

Federal Castcore 300gr or Reload using Nosler 240 JHP

50yds

God help' em[>:]

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

I recommend a .44mag Ruger Super Blackhawk hunter 7.5" bbl.

I like red dot scopes for handguns if you think you must glass them (fan of open sights). With my best SBH, I would be capable of taking a deer at 100-125yrds open sights supported, it' s terribly accurate, in my hands at least...off hand I' d probably cull it down to 50-75 yrds and great conditions.

The way you' re asking, it kind of seems like this will be your first handgun? In that case, the .44mag is pretty stout, but not uncontrollable, just get some .44spcl rounds to feed it until you get used to the gun (truth be told they' re probably stout enough to hunt with too, as long as you place them well). You couldn' t go wrong with a .357 or .41 mag either though, they recoil much less, but are still adequate deer rounds (the .41 much moreso than the .357, glassed and in the most skilled hands the .41' s a 100-125yrd max gun, the .357 is lucky to get 75yrds).

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

for someone buying a deer handgun i would stay reccomend a .41 or bigger, (and i am persoanlly happy using my .357 because that is what i have). i like single actions so id go with a SBH hunter models and stick a 2x scope on there and be happy out to 100-125 depending on bullet construction

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

I would go with a Ruger or if you can Find a Dan Wesson 44 or 41 Mag. The Smith and Wesson 44 Mags will not stand up to full power 44 mag loads for very long. I shot Hand Gun Steel silhoutte for ten years and saw many S&W shoot apart. You can,t hurt a Ruger Black Hawk, Red Hawk or Dan Wessons unless you really try hard. The Smith is a smoother gun and shoot great as long as they last but that ain,t long. I have had a lot of Smiths and I shoot reduced loads 95 percent of the time. I would go with a good 2x7 power scope and after some practice a 100 yard shot should be doable.

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

I bought a .44 mag as my first deer hunting handgun. S&W 629 6" open sights. Used it several times never got to take a shot. I have replaced it with a .454 Casull. It has at least three times the loading options. I would recomend the Super Redhawk in .44 mag.

RE: 44 mag deer hunting questions?
 

Try a 500 S&W Mag. That thing is nuts. I got one and it shoots way smoother than my Redhawk, and trust me, I am a fan of the Redhawks, so I was biased to start. Love the large slugs.