Advice on hunting pistol

[backyardsniper]

I'm looking to get into handgun hunting seriously and I would like some advice on equipment. I own a ruger redhawk 44 magand a colt king cobra 357 which covers most of my standard handgun hunting equipment. I am wanting to get a rifle caliber pistol, an encore or an xp-100, something along those lines. What I need to know is what is the preferable platform to use for this. The encore or a bolt action. What calibers do people usually go with. I had an encore pistol in 243 once before and I really liked it. I will be doing a lot of target shooting with this pistol. I have a 400yd range very close to my house and I go regularly and I would like a pistol capable of accuracy at that distance or farther if that is a possibility in the pistol world. I will be hunting whitetail and possibly up to elk sized game. Thanks guys.

 

[FearNoWind]

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f17/long-range-pistol-questions-162593/

 

[Ernie]

Give me a call on Monday 307-257-7431 and I will try to answer all of your questions.
Definitely prefer a XP over the Encore myself.
Look up my YouTube Page Ernie Bishop and you will see some vids that may answer your questions or create new ones.
Handgun Hunter Magazine - Rifle Scopes On Specialty Handguns

Accuracy of SP's
Kahles 624i Review: The Best Long-Range Hunting Scope

400 yards is not a problem

I'm looking to get into handgun hunting seriously and I would like some advice on equipment. I own a ruger redhawk 44 magand a colt king cobra 357 which covers most of my standard handgun hunting equipment. I am wanting to get a rifle caliber pistol, an encore or an xp-100, something along those lines. What I need to know is what is the preferable platform to use for this. The encore or a bolt action. What calibers do people usually go with. I had an encore pistol in 243 once before and I really liked it. I will be doing a lot of target shooting with this pistol. I have a 400yd range very close to my house and I go regularly and I would like a pistol capable of accuracy at that distance or farther if that is a possibility in the pistol world. I will be hunting whitetail and possibly up to elk sized game. Thanks guys.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Interesting post. Been hunting Michigan whitetails with a S&W 44 magnum for years and went and got a Henry Lever Rifle in 44 mag to complement the pistol.... Just the opposite of you.

 

[yorke-1]

I'll second the bolt action over the Encore for mos situations. The Encore/Contender does make for a more compact package though if you're looking for something a little more packable.

My experience has been that the break action pistols can be very accurate, but the bolt guns are in a whole different class performance wise. A well built SP will shoot and perform right there with any rifle at any range.

Andrew

 

[backyardsniper]

This is definitely a newbie pistol question here but do they build them in long action like 300win mag. Is that too much? Where do you kind of draw the line of diminishing returns. I have a ton of 308, 30/06, and 300 win brass and a sizeable supply of various 30 cal bullets. Having said that is a man better off to go with the faster flatter 6.5x284 kind of stuff due to barrellength?

 

[Methow Packer]

Try Gary Reeder Custom Guns. He's a big encore fan and does some impressive wild cat cartridges. Check him out online. Cartridge choices are endless in that type of pistol. I too pistol hunt. Tried most cartridges in a revolver. Some not so much fun. Settled on the good reliable 44Mag. But that's in a S&W revolver. The longer barreled single shooters with all the sight hardware is a different story

 

[Ernie]

Call me on Monday. 307-257-7431 and I will be able to answer all of your questions. I can talk faster than I can type

This is definitely a newbie pistol question here but do they build them in long action like 300win mag. Is that too much? Where do you kind of draw the line of diminishing returns. I have a ton of 308, 30/06, and 300 win brass and a sizeable supply of various 30 cal bullets. Having said that is a man better off to go with the faster flatter 6.5x284 kind of stuff due to barrellength?

 

[Ernie]

When it comes to stupid accurate LR revolvers, Chris Rhodes/Bayside Custom Gunworks is second to none IMO.
Bayside Custom Gunworks - Home
Check out his videos on his home page. I have a 357 Franken Ruger and will soon have a 44 Mag Franken Ruger.
Here is my latest shooting at 500 yards with my FR.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcyPO0nPAf0&index=2&list=FLfEoqqK-q7iARmKwk742NZg

 

[backyardsniper]

I have a ruger redhawk 44 that I plan to do some hunting with as well. It had a barrel issue and I sent it back to ruger and they warrantied it, gunwas probably 30 years old. They put a brand new suoer redhawk barrlel on it for me. So now i have scope bases if I choose to use thwm pluss a brand new barrel. They did some other work as well. Thwy really took care of me. All free of.charge. I was impressed

 

[yorke-1]

This is definitely a newbie pistol question here but do they build them in long action like 300win mag. Is that too much? Where do you kind of draw the line of diminishing returns. I have a ton of 308, 30/06, and 300 win brass and a sizeable supply of various 30 cal bullets. Having said that is a man better off to go with the faster flatter 6.5x284 kind of stuff due to barrellength?

Since the bolt action are (typically) single shots, running a long action caliber isn't a problem unless you need to extract a loaded round.

As far as caliber, there is no real limit. I will admit to having a fondness for the 284 case in the SPs though. I ran a 6.5x284 for a while but settled on a straight 284 Win as my go to plinker. The BR case is another good fit for a mild caliber SP. It's extremely efficient out of the shorter barrels. In fact my 19" 6 BR only gives up about 80 fps to my 26" barreled rifle shooting the same ammo.

My first Savage Striker was a factory 300 WSM. From the 14" barrel it would duplicate 30-06 rifle ballistics. I turned that into a 338/375 Ruger which will duplicate 338 Win Mag rifle ballistics. As a rule i just step up in case size when moving to a pistol. If I want 308 performance I'd go 30-06. If I wanted 300 Win Mag performance I'd go with a 300 RUM (which I had and it was awesome!). The 7mm short mags are a great fit in an 18-19" SP and will easily match what guys are getting from long barreled 284 Winchesters or 280 Rem rifles. I think that a 300 Win Mag would be a great fit in a handgun.

The only real caliber limitations are your budget and your tolerance for recoil. I'm currently having a 338 Big Baer SP made so that I can (hopefully) duplicate 338 Edge ballistics from a pistol. The whole addiction can escalate fairly rapidly if you're not careful!

Andrew

 

[RWW]

Check out Bullberry Barrel works in Utah. You'll find them on line. Custom worked Thompson actions with custom barrels, triggers etc. They make the grip to fit your hand. Remember the handprint your kindergarden teacher had you make into a turkey? That's how the make the grip. I got a 7mm-08 with a bull barrel that outshoots a lot of rifles. Not punishing either. Not a 600 yrd gun for deer, but you can go bigger and muzzle brake it if that's what you want. Talk to Fred, he know his game.