Deer handguns

[Marlin32]

Requesting experience on hunting handguns. My father who turns 80, had his pacemaker moved and will no longer be able to shoot a rifle. He has a 6" barrel 357 Ruger SP101, which will work at close distances. Worried about him using the sights though.
I have no experience with the Thompson Center type or other rifle caliber type handguns. I am thinking a 30/30 set off in a handgun would not be what an 80 year old would need. But I see the contender comes in 45 colt and 357 mag too, and at least one could put a scope on it.

Maybe a Ruger Redhawk or Blackhawk with some sort of sight or scope?

I can get him set up to where shots will be 40 yards and under.

[piller]

Wouldn't the .357 out of a 10 inch barrel on a Contender be plenty for deer? I have never shot one, but the ballistics look very good out to 100 yards.

[Mescalero]

I have a S&W 586 with an 8 3/8 " barrel.
It will do what you want and much more.

[BrentD]

Requesting experience on hunting handguns. My father who turns 80, had his pacemaker moved and will no longer be able to shoot a rifle. He has a 6" barrel 357 Ruger SP101, which will work at close distances. Worried about him using the sights though.
I have no experience with the Thompson Center type or other rifle caliber type handguns. I am thinking a 30/30 set off in a handgun would not be what an 80 year old would need. But I see the contender comes in 45 colt and 357 mag too, and at least one could put a scope on it.

Maybe a Ruger Redhawk or Blackhawk with some sort of sight or scope?

I can get him set up to where shots will be 40 yards and under.

If you are interested in a good deal on a .44 mag barrel for a Contender, let me know.

Brent

[Pisgah]

piller's got a good idea. 10" Contender in .357 and a low-power scope or, maybe even better, a red dot sight. With a bit of practice, plenty for deer to 100 yards.

[Blaine]

piller's got a good idea. 10" Contender in .357 and a low-power scope or, maybe even better, a red dot sight. With a bit of practice, plenty for deer to 100 yards.

Good combination....I wonder if he has the strength to hold it in front of him?....a rest would be great.
I wonder if something like a 25-20, or a reloaded 30WCF with a light pill at handgun velocity would kick too much?

[Pete44ru]

.

At 40yds or so, a 6" (or longer) .357 JHP or JSP, with a red dot sight, should make any deer walking DRT.

An ear-ache will do it every time; a vitals shot less so (the deer will run off, needing to be tracked - usually)


.

[Sixgun]

What's the matter with a 44 mag/Spl. loaded with a 250 SWC to 1000 fps? Or a 45 Colt? You don't need much for deer at close range. Even your 357 loaded with 160 gr. SWC at 1100 fps would be plenty. Dad could easily handle any of those loads.

Why bother him with a long barrel that's cumbersome? Most old timers I know prefer a shorter 5-6" gun. Elmer Keith even said that himself.

A Ruger single action 44 mag with a 250 gr. Keith with 9-10 grains of Unique will kill anything in North America......easily-------6

[Marlin32]

I agree with all.

Likely will have him set up in a make shift blind, will have shooting stix and possibly have the ability for a small sandbag or rest.

My thoughts now are on the sights. I don't think the SP 101 is set up for any kind of scope mount for scope or dot type sight.

He is old timer, and would prefer the Blackhawk or such is my guess. He aint going to be wanting to buy new gun either.
He has essentially hunted his adult life with a browning superposed, a Marlin 336 in 30/30 and a Marlin 39A.

I may have to buy one for him to use, Blackhawk most likely, and 357, 44's or the 45 colt will do okay.

Thanks gentlemen. Any suggestions on scopes and dot type sights for a handgun would be most appreciated.

[jhrosier]

.....
Maybe a Ruger Redhawk or Blackhawk with some sort of sight or scope?

I can get him set up to where shots will be 40 yards and under.

A 6.5" Ruger Blackhawk in .357 Magnum would be my first choice for this kind of hunting.
I have several vision challenges and have found the Burris Speeddot 135 with the 5moa dot works well for me.
I think that the Blackhawk is easier to handle than the Contender and way faster for a follow up shot.

BTW, My Independence Day festivities included popping some clay birds at 50 yards with my .357 Blackhawk. ( from a rest these days, 30 years ago I could do it pretty easy offhand.)

Jack

[BenT]

Blackhawk Hunter with a Red Dot and 44 special loads would do the trick.

My experience with 357 on deer is don't use hollow points, use soft points.

[Pete44ru]

.

The SP-101 can have a red dot sight mounted, but it'll take a bit of work: a blank Weaver-type base would need to be mounted after the gun's D/T'd for it.



Alternatively, the SP-101 can be fitted with a set of bright fibre-optic front/rear sights.

http://www.amazon.com/Meprolight-Ruger- ... B005AUEN9O






.

[Old Ironsights]

Read your State Regs, Train to them.

If a 6" .357 is Kosher, then make the best of it.

Or, if you have the scratch, jump to any good Single Shot.

Whatever.

Or, if you want to get fancy, go with a .50 C&B/ML (12") like the old Traditions Deer Hunter.

Hard to argue with a 320gr Minnieball in front of 80gr of 3F.

Regardless, at the ranges you are talking, your #1 deal is Accuracy. #2 is Bullet Mass, #3 is Bullet Diameter.

Run with that and have fun. (bring sandbags and a good rest for the Blind...)

[Chuck 100 yd]

The .357 is just fine if you can hit the vitals.
25 yd target.

Shoot a lot and know your limitations and stick to them.
Like Joe said, Sneak up close and snap a cap. Then get yer knife out.

[AJMD429]

One HUGE advantage the Contender (or Encore) has over other handguns is that it is no big deal to put a BIPOD on one to steady the aim. Just replace the front forend screw with an Uncle Mike's threaded swivel stud (get the long one and cut to the needed length), or if you want to get 'fancy', drill and install it like you would a rifle. Works GREAT for the 'Super-14' barrel forends.

MANY calibers are available, and should work great. Some suggestions:

• 357 Mag - out to 75 yards easily (farther with good ranging and practice)
  357 Maximum (can use heavier bullets, but lower velocities, if recoil a worry)
  44 Magnum (again, can 'download' if needed)
  45 Colt (a classic, and no need to hotrod it)
  
  300 Blk (newbie, but wide variety of loads. Get your barrel from MatchGradeMachine, and have it threaded so you can add a suppressor later if desired).
  
  35 Remington (also easily suppressed with a Mystic, if you decide to).
  
  500 S&W - you don't have to load those big slugs 'hot' at all

[vancelw]

I've killed plenty of deer with Encores (scoped), Freedom Arms, Redhawk, Super Redhawk...
....but the most fun was with my SAA .45 Colt (not +P loads)

Scope or red-dot the SP101 and let him use that. Lighter weight. IF he can shoot it one or two handed.

An Encore or Contender needs to be supported, especially if arm/hand strength is an issue. The SP101 would be hard to support, given it's short length, and you don't want to put an ungloved hand in front of the cylinder.

[jmiller]

I've shot over fifty whitetail with the 357mag over the last forty years. I've also shot a few with the 44mag, 30-30 (TC), 7TCU, and a couple of others I had in the TC. The 357mag will kill any whitetail in North America if the shot is place in the vital. The only deer I ever lost with a handgun was shot with the 44mag and I made a bad shot. Even the largest caliber won't kill if you don't hit the vitals. Put a red dot on the gun you have by putting a Weaver style base on the gun as shown in an above response. I did that to several guns and it works very well. Just keep the shots at a range your father is comfortable with. Nothing wrong with using a rest or sticks if it helps either. Most of the deer I shot with the 357mag were shot with Hornady 158g XTP HPs. I have found they give the best balance between penetration and expansion. Here's a pic of two 158grain bullets taken out of the same buck and each hit a rib going in and stopped under the hide on the opposite side. First shot at around 90 yards. Second shot at around 35 yards. Big difference in expansion. With the 180grain the expansion at 35 yds. looks like the bullet on the left. Just not enough velocity to get it expanded as well as I like. FYI, after the first shot the deer ran toward me. The first shot was fatal, it hit the lungs. Good luck.

[stretch]

Buy him a new Blackhawk in 41 Mag with a scope!

Seriously, it's hard to argue with the 357 he already has,
except for the scope mounting issue.

If ya don't handload, it's harder still to argue with the 357 Mag
approach - a Ruger single action, or the above-mentioned S&W
686 with the 8 3/8" silhouette barrel. The 6" barrel would be
plenty adequate at 40 yards, methinks.

Used Ruger single actions in 357 needn't be all that spendy, either.

-Stretch

[86er]

I'm voting for the pistol he already has with a scope or red dot. You can have a weaver base installed or some gunsmiths can cut the Ruger intergral dovetails in it.

[BrentD]

A nice combination might be Contender with a .22 barrel for practice and fun and a second, similar barrel of similar dimensions and sights for deer season. I have always planned to do this myself but never get around to doing much pistol shooting, though one year I was good enough to hunt squirrels with it, but never got around to the deer part and a flintlock is so much more fun.

But the two-barrel Contender set up would have a lot going for it in the way of fun, easy fringe benefits.

[J Miller]

Smart butt reply: The darn Dr put the pacemaker in the wrong place, make him move it.

Smarter answer, see if your dad can shoot left handed with a rifle. It's not that hard to do, it just takes retraining yourself.

Or since full house magnum loads are ear splitting and painful for me to shoot, do what I did, get one of these:

Ruger BH in .45 Colt:

CLCyellowedAMHollygrips12-23-06b_we.jpg

And feed it these:

Joes Keiths.jpg

This Keith bullets weighs 265 grs when cast from wheel weights. No need to make it much harder.
I size them at .454" as that is what my guns prefer.
I use two loads with it depending on my mood or intended use. 9.0 grs Unique or 18.5grs 2400.
The 2400 loads is super accurate and clean from my guns. The Unique load is good as well.

That gun / load will smack any deer if you simple do the below \/

Joe

[Tactical Lever]

Good suggestions on pistols here from the other guys, but without knowing how he shoots and what he likes, I am not able to contribute much.

About the pacemaker; can it be moved, as mentioned?

And if having a rifle on the shoulder is a no-no, why not a hook stock? A lever action would be a perfect candidate for this. I would imagine he would be overjoyed being able to use a favoured rifle still.

[6pt-sika]

Only "handgun" I ever killed a deer with was in essence a "handrifle" . Had a Savage Stryker in 7mm-08 I killed one with .

Also had Strykers in 260 REM and 300 WSM as well as a Remington XP-100R in 260 REM .

[AJMD429]

A nice combination might be Contender with a .22 barrel for practice and fun and a second, similar barrel of similar dimensions and sights for deer season. I have always planned to do this myself but never get around to doing much pistol shooting, though one year I was good enough to hunt squirrels with it, but never got around to the deer part and a flintlock is so much more fun.

But the two-barrel Contender set up would have a lot going for it in the way of fun, easy fringe benefits.

Are you related to vancelw...???

That's exactly what he has up for sale here - viewtopic.php?f=2&t=59978

[BrentD]

Are you related to vancelw...???

That's exactly what he has up for sale here - viewtopic.php?f=2&t=59978

You know, you probably just killed the man with that comment. I'm sure he is suicidal now.

[vancelw]

No Doc, I'msure I'm not related to BrentD. Everyone in my family was raised with manners.

[BrentD]

No Doc, I'msure I'm not related to BrentD. Everyone in my family was raised with manners.

Given your innuendo, you didn't take to the lessons.

[vancelw]

No Doc, I'msure I'm not related to BrentD. Everyone in my family was raised with manners.

Given your innuendo, you didn't take to the lessons.

I've invited you to coffee/lunch (on my dime) more than once. No response from you.....

Offer still stands.

[BrentD]

SE Montana being just down the street from Iowa, I reckon it was a pretty safe offer.

[gcs]

That's what the surgeons told me 35 years ago, they mean well and i'm not advocating ignoring medical advice, but.... I'm still shooting rifles and shotguns, mostly 30-30 and 3" waterfowl loads, I'm on my 4th PM and have had them on both sides. I did buy a semi auto gas gun for all shotgunning, but that was my only concession. Pacemakers and the associated wires have come a long way since my first, they are pretty well shielded and rugged, once the wire has healed in it ain't coming out. I've never had an issue, and don't expect any, but you have to be comfortable in whatever decision you make.
Tell pops I wish him well, and whatever he decides, let him heal up good before testing the waters.

[RustyJr]

If he doesn't want to get a new gun stick with what you got and go with a minimum of 158 grain load. If he doesn't mind getting a new revolver or wants a new revolver, I'd suggest something in 44 mag/spl or 45 colt. A 250 grain bullet at 1100 fps would do fine and to me they have less recoil than a hot 357 magnum (really snappy).

RustyJr