New to the sport.

[wheaties300]

I'm new to handgun hunting. Falling in love with it. I have a cva pistol in 243 I use for deer. But wanting to get a true pistol cartridge. Looking 357 max or 460sw. Mostly western hunting. Lots of shots up to 200.

Hard to find info. But on antelope how far can you expect to shoot either cartridge. Scoped.

 

[ChrisRhodes]

Revolver rounds max out around 200 yards.

You're 243 without knowing all the variables. 400+ shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Ernie]

What Chris said...

 

[wheaties300]

Im leaning on a tc contender frame. 12" barrel 460 right now.

 

[ChrisRhodes]

Im leaning on a tc contender frame. 12" barrel 460 right now.

Well that would be an encore if it is chambered for a 460.

None of the above info changes with that.

 

[Goose71]

The 7-08 in an Encore pistol is a very nice shooting iron. In a contender I have a 7-30 waters it is a go shooter also.My contender 357 max is very accurate sited at 50 yards 4in drop at 100 yards.

 

[del2les]

Most of the straight wall "pistol" calibers, I try to keep around 200 meters and below for hunting, but there have been some loads I have pushed beyond that. Gong shooting is a very different story. This was the standard distance in IHMSA rams, so I had much experience at that range.

I have 2 Contender barrels in 357 Max, a 10" and 14", and with the pointed 180gr SSP, which is no longer in production, I could push that bullet beyond the 200m mark and still have expansion. Similar, I have occasionally pushed the 14" 44mag beyond 200m, but the trajectory requires practice.

In my bottleneck rounds, whatever range one is comfortable with shooting, as long as the proper bullet is chosen that allows expansion. While there are many more powerful and faster rounds in handguns, the last few years, I have really enjoyed shooting/hunting with my 30-30AI in a 14" barrel using either 150NBT or the 125's in NBT or AB. Not as much blast and recoil as the 308, but plenty of speed and energy to get the job done. If I do my part.

 

[biednick]

I went with a 15" 357 Max mostly for the bullet selection. There's a lot of 35 caliber bullets intended for low velocity rifles that work great in high velocity pistols. I'm still doing some testing with mine, but based on my initial results it's looking like it should be a 250-300 yard deer gun with monolithic bullets. I'm loading hot enough it might be a problem in a Contender, but you'd be okay with an Encore. I'm also paying just shy of $2/bullet. I tried a couple different JHP and cup and core bullets, none of which looked as promising as the monolithics. With traditional bullets it's more like a 150-200 yard gun.

Keep in mind 357 Max is purely a reloader's cartridge, and getting brass isn't always the easiest thing in the world. Starline has it in stock now, but I waited several months for my first shipment.

A bottleneck like your 243 makes a lot more sense for longer ranges. It'll drift and drop less than most, if not all, straight wall cartridges. There's plenty of great options for inexpensive hunting bullets, and you can often find match bullets that give nearly identical trajectories. Those match bullets let you practice most of the year with even less expensive ammo. As an Ohioan I'm stuck with straight wall cartridges for deer season. If I had the option of using bottleneck cartridges I wouldn't have gone down this path. If you want a traditional pistol cartridge I'd recommend getting a revolver for the short game and using your 243 when you need to reach out.

 

[memtb]

I'm new to handgun hunting. Falling in love with it. I have a cva pistol in 243 I use for deer. But wanting to get a true pistol cartridge. Looking 357 max or 460sw. Mostly western hunting. Lots of shots up to 200.

Hard to find info. But on antelope how far can you expect to shoot either cartridge. Scoped.

If you put in the time, and can put the antelope to bed…..you may have a decent opportunity of finding them near that location next morning!

Plan your attack based on that, be there prior to daylight, quietly access your shot position….. if the "star's align" you may have a shot well under 200 yards.

If you're not real critical of trophy status……you should have a "shot" at taking an antelope. Having lots of time for some failures is a huge plus! memtb