legal handgun?

[ac777]

What constitutes a gun as a legal handgun for deer hunting in Southern zones? Barrel length? No stock? Id like to know out of curiosity.

[Dave S]

the way I understand it is any rifle caliber legal for deer is also legal in a handgun (.22 centerfire).

There used to be a minimum case length but I think that disappeared from the regs. What that meant is that a caliber like a 45 acp or 9mm wouldn't have been legal for deer then but now it is. Not that I'd recommend either for taking deer, regardless of shot distance.

[BobT]

Agree. What is legal and what is smart are two different things.

[DRH1175]

Ethically I would probably not use anything smaller than a .357 no matter what the law states.

[ac777]

ok, well what I was kind of wanting to know is, A member of our hunting party has a .308 pistol, but it is basically like a rifle. We are in slug zone. It doesn't have a stock, and Im not sure what length the barrel is. Also has a scope on it. He says its legal, and I believe him, just was wondering what exactly differentiates it from a pistol or a rifle, when the cartridge could be used in either. I think it would be a great tool for stand hunting, but just want to know how I know for sure its legal when I go to buy one.

[Dave S]

barrel length and how it's gripped. There should be a definition in the office of the registrar site. I too used to have a .308 pistol (Lone Eagle) and most recently a 7mm-08 Lone Eagle (hence my user name). Both are legal in slug zones.

I ended up selling both, the first due to being a right handed grip and I shoot left. I developed a cyst in my hand from the design of the grip and the recoil. The 7mm-08 was an ambidextrous grip and much more user friendly. I sold that one due to "urban sprawl" in my area and it just wasn't safe to be shooting that fast of a round with the houses and other hunters in the woods we hunted.

[HandGunner]

anything 15 inches or shorter for barrel length and anything without a stock and anything legaly registered as a pistol. go with the 30 cals and up, and im not talking handgun loads like 9mm 10mm 38 380spcl Im talking .308win 30-06 .300win those can be chambered for the Thompson Center Encore Handgun very nice gun for handgun hunting and ranges can reach out to 400 not that I would take a shot like that. next up is the S&W either the 460mag or the 500 357 is the smallest I'd go for cal the 44mag is also good. just note that with handgun you lose power because of shorter barrels so the bigger cals and more powerful rounds like the 460mag makes up for it and they can drop a deer on the spot. the Desert Eagle is also fine in a 50ae but ammo can get pricey and if your gun shy its not the gun for you, I can hit 3 inch groups at 50 yards with mine so dont dispose it as a possible hunting handgun

[Dave S]

Thank for the info Handgunner. My 7mm-08 was shooting 2722 fps with factory Federal ammo. With some practice, a person can be extremely accurate with rifle rounds in a handcannon. I was shooting regularly and was able to cover 3 out of 5 shots with a dime from 100 yds.

AC777, if you do choose to go with a hand cannon, make sure you wear ear protection. Coming out of a 14-15" barrell, those rifle rounds will bust your ear drums.

[HandGunner]

Thank for the info Handgunner. My 7mm-08 was shooting 2722 fps with factory Federal ammo. With some practice, a person can be extremely accurate with rifle rounds in a handcannon. I was shooting regularly and was able to cover 3 out of 5 shots with a dime from 100 yds.

AC777, if you do choose to go with a hand cannon, make sure you wear ear protection. Coming out of a 14-15" barrell, those rifle rounds will bust your ear drums.

+1 our .308 TC encore 15 inch barrel no muzzle brake has a distinct sound very loud I would assume even louder with certain types of brakes, my uncles S&W 460 is also very distinct sounding as well as me with the DE were the only 3 in the woods when you hear a gunshot that sounds too dif. from a shotty you kno it was one of us

[Tom7227]

Pistol defined - Minn. Stat. §624.712 Subd. 2. Any weapon designed to be fired with a single hand and having an overall length of less than 26 inches, ... or a barrel length of less than 18 inches in case of a shotgun, ... or a barrel length of less than 16 inches in case of a rifle (a) from which may be fired or ejected one or more solid projectiles by means of a cartridge or shell or by action of an explosive or igniting of flammable or explosive substances; or for which the propelling force is a spring, elastic band, carbon dioxide, air or other gas or vapor.

[LightningBG]

anything 15 inches or shorter for barrel length and anything without a stock and anything legaly registered as a pistol. go with the 30 cals and up, and im not talking handgun loads like 9mm 10mm 38 380spcl Im talking .308win 30-06 .300win those can be chambered for the Thompson Center Encore Handgun very nice gun for handgun hunting and ranges can reach out to 400 not that I would take a shot like that.

Man, shooting a .300 Win out of a pistol does not sound fun.