What are you shooting?

[JD338]

What are you guys shooting for your hand gun hnting?

I am shooting a S&W 629 44 Mag for my backyard WT Deer hunting. Using the 250 gr Nosler PT which does an excellent job. Blood trails are short and heavy.

I also have a T/C Contender with a T/C barrel in 7x30 Waters. Using the Nosler 120 gr BT and getting well under moa accuracy.

My second barrel is a SSK in 6.5JDJ. I am loading the 120 gr BT and will give her a try on WT Deer this season.

My next barrel will most likely be a 375JDJ just for grins.

JD338

[Varmint Hunter]

I've worked up a new load for my Ruger SRH in 44mag. The gun seems to like the 300gr Hornady XTP bullet much better than the traditional 240 grainers.

I've also got a SRH in 454 but I can not shoot it as well as the 44mag and I really don't need all that UMPHHH for shooting whitetails with an open sighted handgun. I did use it to shoot a 325lb Riussian Boar. The 300gr Swift A-Frame bullet zipped right through the heavy grissle plate on the impact side, passed through the vitals and went sailing out the off side grissle plate to boot. I guess the 44mag would have been enough for this job too. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Fiftydriver]

For close range shooting I use either my 480 Ruger or my new Magnum research 50 AE BFR revolver. I really like the 50 AE in the revolver shooting the 440 gr WFN to 1150 fps. Heavy roll in the hand but very confortable to shoot and hits like a freight train when it lands on target.

For medium to long range shooting my current baby for the last several years has been my self built 6.5mm WSM. It shoots the 120 gr Ballistic Tips into such tight groups I have never tried anything else. It was designed to shoot the 140-142 gr class bullets but why mess with a good thing??

Kirby Allen(50)

[yotefever]

I'll be taking my MOA in 6.5x284 for more open areas and my Encore in 500 S&W for more close in work, it's a 14" OTT barrel, loves the 440g LeadHeads. I shot a silhouette match with it once and did pretty good except for breaking a chicken at 50m, but man those chickens sure did fly that day.

[Ernie]

Hmm, where do I start [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
XP's:
6mm-284, 250 Sav AI, 6.5-284, and 7mm Dakota.
Used to hunt with a FA 454 7.5" Field Grade.
MOA:
6.5-284 and a couple of future barrels that should do even better.

[WSmitty01]

Contender 8.5" 357 mag small game, 8.5" 44 mag hogs, 9" 30-30 deer from tree stand, 10" braked 7-30 waters for deer from ground.

[Hired Gun]

Either my handy dandy 686 in either 4" or 6" depending if it is a primary weapon or not and when larger game is on the menu of possibilities, I switch to my 5" 629 classic with 240 grain XTP's loaded to 1350. Since my eyes went and I can no longer hold 4" groups at 100 yards I limit myself to under 50 yard shots and only use handguns mainly as self defense or "coup de'gra" shots. I have only killed deer with my 6" 686 and I used a 140 grain speer hollow point at max speed. Deer drop on the spot and the wound channels inside look as if a high powered rifles had made the shot.

I once shot a penned pig for slaughter with my trusty 6" 686 with a 158 grain speer soft point. It was a close range affair and the pig was taken head on. He dropped on the spot to a poorly placed head shot and the bullet separated on the impact with the jacket coming straight back and hitting the owner of the pig on the cheek. For tough game from now on I will only use the hardest of cast SWC bullets at moderate speeds. They penetrate much farther than anything I have found with a copper jacket on it.