Handgun hunters....

[Neighbor_guy]

No debate about handguns vs. long guns. Just an honest question for those of us who hunt with a hand cannon.

What ammo are you using? I have been using Fedral Fusion in 158 grain .357. Apperantly, after driving all over and finaly speaking to someone who I felt knew what he was talking about, I found out they are no longer making the fusion rounds in hangun callibers. That just chaps my you know what. So I picked up some 140 grain Hornaday LeveRevolution. It is a little hotter and has the same slug type and bullistic tip as the FTX bullets used in the .460 and the Sabot's that they sell for the muzzy guys.

Anyone have any experience with this round?

Just wondering what everyone else likes or uses.

Btw we are talking whitetails and the odd yote or porqupine.

[89Bronco]

I've always used the Federal American Eagle 240 grain jacketed hollow points with my .44 mag.

This year I've also picked up the Hornady 225 grain LeveRevolution and I'm curious how these will perform. I think I posed the same ? back when I was thinking of using these for bear. I never got a chance at a bear this year and I did not see a deer during the early season , so I am looking forward for the regular season to start!

[Dave S]

The hand-cannon that I had was slightly different. I had a Lone Eagle 7mm-08 and shot Winchester Ballistic Tips rifle ammunition. I eventually sold the gun due to the development going on in the area I hunt. Didn't want to be out there shooting a hi-power pistol.

Some day I might opt to go with a .460 Magnum if I can find a different area to hunt.

[mechanictim]

I saw a few boxes of the 357 mag 158 gr. Fusions at both Scheels and Sportsmans Warehouse today. They also still have them available from the Sportsmans guide.

I have always used Hornaday XTP's in my muzzleloader and hunting handguns.

[picksbigwagon]

Neinghbor_guy, let us know how those leverolution rounds shoot out of you 357, I have looked at those and wondered what kind of accuracy I can expect. Of course I really wish Hornady sold those bullets to reloaders, but I haven't found them yet....

[Doug Smotherman]

Hey Neighbor guy the 140 grain Hornaday LeveRevolution is good stuff. I bought my girlfriend/ME a 357 single shot rifle last year and shot Hornadays. I shot a doe with it at 45 yards and it in the chest and dropped her. The bullet went from her chest to her hindquarters and the bullet was about the size of a nickel. I also shot them out of a 357 handgun and they shot good but have not shot a deer with them. I have shot a possum at 78 yards with my handgun and it made a huge exit hole.

[fishingforester]

I have been using Winchester Partition Gold 180 gr. in 357 and taken 2 bucks with that load. Two one-shot kills, neither went further than 30 yds. Also happens to group well out of my GP100.

[Neighbor_guy]

Neinghbor_guy, let us know how those leverolution rounds shoot out of you 357, I have looked at those and wondered what kind of accuracy I can expect. Of course I really wish Hornady sold those bullets to reloaders, but I haven't found them yet....

Well, I went to the "range" and fired the Levevolution rounds, some 158 grain Hornaday hollow points, and the 158 grain fedrals that I had left from last year.

btw for what it is worth 6.5 inch ported revolver with open sights.

After patterning 5 shots of each from a "cold gun" I will be shooting the 140 grain Levevolution for deer this weekend. Much tighter group (4 inch's round) and centered at point of aim at 30 yards. With any luck I will be able to post performance results this weekend.

[picksbigwagon]

thanks Neighbor-Guy, that sounds a lot like my 357, 6.5" ported barrel. Mine is a Taurus.................

[Neighbor_guy]

thanks Neighbor-Guy, that sounds a lot like my 357, 6.5" ported barrel. Mine is a Taurus.................

all I will say is, you picked a good one.

[picksbigwagon]

Kind of a pig on your hip though.....my buddy carries a Glock model 29 in 10mm, it weighs about as half as much as my 357

[Dbl]

Ruger Super Redhawk .44mag with Aimpoint red dot. I have taken 4 deer in the last 5 years with Hornaday 240 grain XTP's. Longest shot was just under 75 yards, shortest at 35 yards.

Mine is carried in a bandoleer cross chest carry holster. I don't think I would want to carry that one on the hip. Once I made the switch to handgun hunting, I'll never use a rifle again.

[PmDavis300]

ok well as the thread starter stated, i am not trying to start a fight, but why do you guys use handguns to hunt? i was brought up with regular shotguns/rifles and i dont get it. someone care to explain?

[uplander]

Hey Pm let me save the handgun guys the time since I'm up and need somthing to do. Why do guys fly fish when worms work wonders? Why do guys spend 1000's of dollars on musky tackle when a sucker minnow would do the trick? Why do I have 3 hunting dogs to shoot birds over when there are plenty of guys that shoot birds with no dog at all?....It just adds something to the sport. Plain and simple... if I sit in a deer stand and a deer walks out an I have my 30/06 ...that deer is dead. Some guys are just looking for a little bit more from the sport. Filling the tag is secondary to the sport of doing it in a challenging way. Not to mention the fact of a holstered gun...nothing to hold and fight through the brush as you walk. You could really concentrate on walking more quitely and looking more intensly in front of you ....sound awesome to me..I've never done it myself but I say rock on handgunners......rock on!. Good luck guys...uplander

[ac777]

Another thing is that they are legal in the shotgun area and if you set them up right with a fairly long barrel( as the law allows) and a scope, they can reach out much farther/accurate than a slug.

[Dbl]

Hey Pm let me save the handgun guys the time since I'm up and need somthing to do. Why do guys fly fish when worms work wonders? Why do guys spend 1000's of dollars on musky tackle when a sucker minnow would do the trick? Why do I have 3 hunting dogs to shoot birds over when there are plenty of guys that shoot birds with no dog at all?....It just adds something to the sport. Plain and simple... if I sit in a deer stand and a deer walks out an I have my 30/06 ...that deer is dead. Some guys are just looking for a little bit more from the sport. Filling the tag is secondary to the sport of doing it in a challenging way. Not to mention the fact of a holstered gun...nothing to hold and fight through the brush as you walk. You could really concentrate on walking more quitely and looking more intensly in front of you ....sound awesome to me..I've never done it myself but I say rock on handgunners......rock on!. Good luck guys...uplander

Perfectly said uplander, thanks! And I'm off to enjoy for me a whole new way to approach deer hunting. Good luck this weekend everyone and stay safe!

[89Bronco]

Handgun hunting is just another style of hunting. I got a little grief this fall from a guy when he saw me walking to my bear stand...said something about why people have to prove themselves, blah, blah blah. I just smiled and calmly said it's easier for me to carry and I'm more comfortable shooting this instead of a rifle. I don't know if he was convinced or not, but I don't let it bother me...maybe he was just having a bad day. I like to hunt with my revolver because it's much easier to walk through the woods with nothing to carry or sling over my shoulder. Plus I'm a much better shot with a pistol than I am with a rifle or a shotgun only because that's what I practice shooting. Also, I grew up around all kinds of different guns, but my dad had always hunted with different kinds of pistols, from his .357 up to his .454, so it's a tradition. My brother and I both carry on that tradition, hopefully for many years to come! I use a Ruger Redhawk .44 mag with open sights, but I've also used a Ruger Blackhawk with a scope, which my brother now uses. I've taken many deer with those two pistols, plus two black bear with my Redhawk. When it's time for rabbits, I'll be shooting a Ruger .22 revolver or a .22 Browning Buckmark. It's all about what you're comfortable with.

[Neighbor_guy]

There were a few reasons I got started. Many as stated above, State wide hunting, (I dont have a slug gun) the chalenge, the gun itself... For some reason the revolver just say's shoot me.

Anyways, the thing that got me most interested in hangun hunting was the fact that it is more like bowhunting than rifle hunting. If I can see a deer when I have my .270 I can shoot it. With the handgun that deer has to be inside of my self imposed 35 yard limit, just like when hunting with the bow. It brings back the excitement that I got when I was a kid, or that comes in the bow stand. To me there is no excitement shooting one with my rifle anymore.

Oh ya... And hanguns are just more fun.

[89Bronco]

Quote:

Oh ya... And handguns are just more fun.

Duh...I forgot about the most important reason.

Good luck to all of you tomorrow!

[Neighbor_guy]

With any luck I will be able to post performance results this weekend.

If you cant tell I am a little happy. I took a doe this morning @ 8 yards with the .357. 4 years I have been working on getting a shot and today it all came together. The wind was blowing like mad from the NW swirling a little from the north. I was in a ladder stand facing kind of SW. The doe came threw to the North about 35 yards away, my MAX shooting distance (personal limit) but she was screaned fairly good with brush. She stoped and looked over her shoulder and behind her came 2 fawns. "No buck" I thought and focused on the doe again. I am hungry and meat is short so I figured I would just take this doe with my rifle. If she kept going on the trail she was on I would get a good shot at about 50 yards. For some reason she did not keep going. There was something wrong with the swamp edge, she kept looking at it and listening for something. Her fawns meantime, decided they were heading south and were heading right for me, at one time the bigger of the fawns was 3 feet from my ladder. So the doe reluctantly began heading south. The trail she was on, a secondary, would put her at 6 yards broadside to me. I put the tree between her and me, slowly secured my rifle and got the revolver ready, hammer back, on the right hand side of the tree. I peaked around the left and she was slowly moving south. When her head came into view in my shooting lane she froze "winded" I thought. Sure enough she was about to cut my track and my wind. She looked at my old rifle stand, witch is about 45 yards east of were she was standing. "This is your shot, make it count." The deer was 3 steps short of broadside and 8 yards away. At the shot the deer went down, then as fast as she fell she was back on her feet. "Running flat" that whitetail death run we have all seen. The fawns milled around for about 20 min before following in the direction of thier mother. 65 yards of easy tracking and I found my doe. The gun and ammo worked together flawlessly.

I have not been this excited about shooting a doe in a long time. I am definately hooked on this handgun thing now. Any others successfull?

(pic's will fallow when available)

[picksbigwagon]

I got to shoot in my Leverevolution 357's this weekend(I was down in Iowa). Once sighted in, I dead centered a round at 50 yds. from a rest and then proceed to hit an 8" steel plate at 50 yards 4 out of 6 times with no rest. My self imposed limit is going to 30 yards with or without a rest.

[Neighbor_guy]

Well here we go... I promise pictures. Now there are photo's to go with the story.

My ugly mug.

Best shot I could get with the cell phone.

[89Bronco]

Good job, NG! I got a small buck on opening morning. I'll post pics as soon as I find the little wire-thingy that plugs into the camera-thingy so I can download (or is it upload? ) the pics onto my computer. I know it's in that junk drawer somewhere!

[89Bronco]

Took this picture myself so not the best...the camera wouldn't focus well on the timer-delay.