Revolver deer hunting
 

I picked up a Ruger Superblackhawk earlier this year. Finally got around to sighting it in. I'm going to try to take a deer with it this year.

I plan to treat it like archery and limit myself to 30 yards, and will set up and hunt spots that give me close shots.

Here's the Ruger.



It has these oversized grips on it, which after running 50 rds through it I do not care for. So I've ordered a set to take it back to the original grip profile.


I sighted it in then shot two shots at 10, 15,20& 30 yards. The 10s are centered, 15 a little higher, 20&30 each a little higher. But "good enough" for me to take a deer with. I'll keep practicing over the next month and those should improve. I think the other grip will help a little as well.



Any revolver hunters? Any tips for improving?

-Jake

Practice, practice and more practice. Buy a target with a deer on it and aim for the sweet spot instead of a bullseye.

nice ruger there jake. will be hunting deer gun season with a ruger also but mine will be scoped . & looking foward to be getting together out in lorain county.

I hunted many years with a Super Blackhawk. Took several deer, the farthest at 55 Yards.I used Sierra 210 Jacketed HP bullets at about 1400FPS. No deer that I shot withthat gun went more than 25 yards after being hit. I think you will enjoy handgun hunting, just practice and practice more. I now hunt with a Freedom Arms 353, 357 mag. It drops deer just as fast with 180 grain bullets. I limit my shooting to no more than 75 yards.

What caliber is it?

Make sure you're using a consistent grip. Whether its firm, loose, or somewhere in between, just make sure you hold it the exact same each time.

.44 mag.

Hoping my new grips get here next week and I can try it out with those.

-Jake

Just thought of another topic I thought I should mention:

This is the "proper" grip for shooting handguns:



That said, with a heavily recoiling hunting revolver, I've found that this is a better grip:


The "proper" left-thumb-forward grip is the standard taught to most handgun shooters, and for good reason, but I find it lacking when it comes to firing hunting handguns. You see, with the "proper" grip, you have three points of pressure controlling the grip of the handgun: the fingers of the dominant hand, the thumb of the dominant hand, and the fingers of the non-dominant hand. However, with the "thumbs-crossed" grip, the non-dominant thumb crossing adds another point of pressure to help control the revolver or single shot. Obviously, you wouldn't want to use this grip on a semi-auto pistol because you run the risk of having the slide impacting or scraping the thumb on the non-dominant hand, leading to injury. But on a revolver or single shot handgun, this isn't an issue, and in my opinion it gives you a bit more control over your handgun, especially during recoil.

That's just my 2 cents.

jake what bullet or ammo will you be using ? i'm going to use the winchester 250 . looks like the old talons that were outlawed at one time. or will be using my buddies 300 gr xtp's reloads . can't wait to get out & practice.

Have not decided on ammo yet. I have a few different brands on the shelf here. Honestly, at my self imposed thirty yard limit ammo probably won't matter much :confused0024:

The fifty I ran through it was a box of blazer aluminum cased 240gr hp cheap stuff. I've got some federal I'm going to try that I've used in my marlin before to take deer and it performed well.

-Jake

Try 44 special.
Try to find as many different brands, and bullet weights.
If you know someone with a reloader, or if you have one .
Load some at half powder charge what the book says, then little at a time untile your gun starts shooting better.
starting mid way of the powder charge, and increasing a little at a time will give you that sweet spot.
Clean it real good, then shoot it again.
That is how I used to work up a good shooting load.
Good luck.
jrbsr

Come on Oldtimr. Don't the deer you hunt have bulls eyes on them? LOL
I'm sure Jake knows how to shoot a handgun. He's pretty proficient now but just needs to build up his confidence with the big boomer.
I've taken a couple deer with handguns over the years. Sure is easier to drag them out without that long gun getting in your way. I would usually put mine in my backpack while dragging.
I'm currently trying to find myself a nice Ruger Super Redhawk at a fair price since I went and sold my S&W 29 for a price offer I couldn't resist.

It's allot different than shooting my duty pistol, that's for sure. I am pretty good with a Ruger single six I have, I used to shoot that one allot. Including squirrel and rabbit. So I'm trying to transfer those skills over to the .44 mag..

Got some more rounds in today shooting milk jugs out to 50 yards. Deer are in trouble if I get one in range.

-Jake

i've taken deer out to 100 yrds with my t/c encore. but that was back a few years ago. now with my medical condition i'm limiting myself to no more than 30 yards.

Thirty yards is my limit as well. The closer the better.

-jake

Jake, if I remember correctly you reload. If you can find them, and I have found at times it is really hard, load up some speer deep curl 240 grain. They are deadly accurate out of my blackhawk and they are very deep penetrating doing excellent damage. I myself have taken several whitetail with them and the old man took quite a few himself. Next was the gold dots, But if you do find some deep curls, you need to load them down a bit under normal as the pressure on them seems to spike a bit quicker. The gold dots are fine pressure wise. The hornady interlock 265gr was a fantastic hitter but it's been discontinued. I have no clue why.
Now as to your yardage limitation, I am assuming that is for your own ability limits because I and the old man both have taken whitetail with .44 mags out to a little over 75 yards with no issue of penetration power. Now granted, on longer shots, we went for lung shots avoiding the shoulder. So if it is the power you are worried about in limiting yourself to 30 yards, you can double that. But if it is you limiting yourself to a skill level, never shoot beyond your confidence because wounding an animal is heartbreaking to any true hunter.

It's skill level. I've taken a handful of deer with a marlin .44mag. thirty yards is just what I'm comfortable shooting at game with the revolver right now.

​​​​​​Thanks for the loading advice. I do handload. And plan on starting for the .44 but it won't be for this fall. I'll keep those in mind though.

-Jake

Got the new grips on it. It looks MUCH better and feels better. Hoping the shooting improves as well.





-Jake

those are some really nice grips there jake. the grips on the 44 i will are pacmar. i have narrowed down the ammo i will be using. it comes down to 3 factory loads 1 is the platnium winchester 250 gr #2 will be the hornady 300 gr xtp's & just got some of the 44 handgun hunter ammo in the 200 grain weight. will shoot all 3 & see which groups & performs best

i have a Ruger Redhawk in 44 mag and a Blackhawk in 41 mag. both of then have Pachmyr grips on them. make them both more enjoyable to shoot. especially on the web between the thumb and fore finger.

I've take one deer with a Ruger BH, it did a great job, lots of power, DRT. It's a great up close gun. As I get older and my eyes get older I lean towards the scoped long guns.

Shot on Friday a little. Feels good. Ready for season!

-Jake

shot some more yesterday & am i ever ready. can't wait 2 weeks from today is opening day. like a kid waiting for christmas . hopefully i shoot a birthday buck on tuesday dec 1

Good luck!

good to see you back on the site mr. slim. how have you been?