Handgun hunting

Coyote#1

New member
I simply love handgun hunting! Killed my first deer with a handgun 30yrs ago & have been hooked ever since. I use a Ruger 22/45 for squirrel & I still have the old Sauer & Sohn Marshal 357mag that took that first deer. I shot a big fox squirrel last yr with my Ruger GP100 while deer hunting (couldn't resist he was huge!) and now wild hogs are getting plentiful here! So thats my next to do.. How many use a handgun for hunting? I've owned a boat load over the yrs & theres plenty I wish I had kept..
 
Smith Model 13 HB with custom sights awesome on snowshoes and grouse with 148gr wadcutters. Star PD with 170gr Win target loads that thought it was a custom built target gun, killed a lot of game for the pot with it. My trap line gun Llama XXII again way more accurate than it should have been, brained a BIG pile of beaver with it and it kept me in rabbits and grouse on back country traplines.
 
I’ve used handguns for a number of years now. Just really enjoyed the challenge of using 10mm to 480 Ruger as well as various calibers in the Encore pistol platform for coyotes, deer, and hogs. Kind of like the old phrase “kill one you’re hooked, miss one you’re hooked for life”. Where those hogs?
 
I got started about 1983-4, I was met with a lot of doubt from the guys I hunted with. First couple of years it was a 29 44 mag. The first TC I had was a 7TCU. I don’t know if it was just that good of a barrel or I was just that good, one of the most accurate 10” I ever had. Sold it when I thought the 14” would be better.
Bob Milek and Steve Herret were a big influence to me as they were with many others.

I pretty much sold all but three center fire rifles and hunted with nothing but handguns.
I got my first 30-30 barrel when I picked up a package deal with a frame. The 30-30 may well be as good of a pistol cartridge as it is a rifle cartridge.
There was a LOT of BS put out about the 30-30 from folks that had no idea what they spoke of. That misinformation still gets repeated by many today.
The Encore entered the scene a few years to late. There are a fair number of folks that use them but I feel there could have easily been double that number if it had been developed earlier. First barrel I got for that was a 308. I have shot it a bunch and it is the best production barrel I ever ran across. A dose of Varget with a 165 Sierra crazy accurate. Same load I shot in my rifle.
 
jsh said:
I got started about 1983-4, I was met with a lot of doubt from the guys I hunted with. First couple of years it was a 29 44 mag. The first TC I had was a 7TCU. I don’t know if it was just that good of a barrel or I was just that good, one of the most accurate 10” I ever had. Sold it when I thought the 14” would be better

There was a good reason those T/C 10in 7TCU’s won a lot of IHMSA matches
 
I enjoyed handgun hunting for several decades. Getting a little long in the tooth for it now. Still have one revolver left. If anyone is interested in a custom 500 Linebaugh Maximum, made by Dave Clements, just give me a PM.

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Originally Posted By: HannibalI’ve used handguns for a number of years now. Just really enjoyed the challenge of using 10mm to 480 Ruger as well as various calibers in the Encore pistol platform for coyotes, deer, and hogs. Kind of like the old phrase “kill one you’re hooked, miss one you’re hooked for life”. Where those hogs?

Muhlenburg Co..
 
I killed a 3 point (Counted the correct, western way) mulie, a year and a half ago with a 7 TCU 10" Contender. I have killed a lot bigger deer before, but this is my BEST trophy. I look at those antlers and just smile!
 
Originally Posted By: Coyote#1I'm gonna have to try the 7tcu! I see by this post it has a loyal following.

Will this be in a Contender or G-2?
I would highly recommend the 7x30 Waters over the 7mm TCU, if distance are going to be much beyond 150 yards.
My first Contender was chambered in 7TCU...7x30 Waters wasn't out yet.
 
Originally Posted By: xphunterOriginally Posted By: Coyote#1I'm gonna have to try the 7tcu! I see by this post it has a loyal following.

Will this be in a Contender or G-2?
I would highly recommend the 7x30 Waters over the 7mm TCU, if distance are going to be much beyond 150 yards.
My first Contender was chambered in 7TCU...7x30 Waters wasn't out yet.

Original frame if I can still find one! I think gunbroker usually has em.. But for my use, 150yrds or less is likely! I tend to set up that way here in Ky. I do have a AT&T rifle for the open spaces.
 


Back in the day I did quite a bit of handgun shooting / hunting, groundhogs mainly. Now my eyes aren't so good which makes it difficult to see my sights properly. Here are a few photos of days gone by.

TC Contender 14" .223, 7x Burris pistol scope

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S&W stainless model 66, .357 magnum

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S&W model 29, .44 magnum

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Ruger stainless Single Six, .22 magnum with Bushnell pistol scope

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Nice 6mm-06! Use to own a super 14 in 223,it was a real shooter..
You been hunting hogs along time! I have a couple of your vids + one of a African hunt you was on. Been a while since we talked! Oh,btw, don't feel bad about the old eyes! Mines not what they use to be either..
Shadows play alot of tricks on me with iron sites anymore..
 
I spent about 15 years of my life almost exclusively handgun hunting, but admittedly, once my son became old enough to wrestle (meaning I’m coaching his Fed team all winter), I have resorted to the dark side of hauling a rifle afield.

I love revolver hunting, but it’s hard to deny the advantage of specialty pistols. I put together a Ruger Redhawk a few years ago, reamed to .357/44 Bain & Davis (180grn Rifle bullet pushed to 1900fps), and absolutely love reaching out long with it. Between a nostalgia hunt with my father-in-law’s old Dirty Thirty, and a challenge hunt with that Redhawk, I think my firearms season this year should be quite satisfying.
 
Originally Posted By: Coyote#1Originally Posted By: xphunterOriginally Posted By: Coyote#1I'm gonna have to try the 7tcu! I see by this post it has a loyal following.

Will this be in a Contender or G-2?
I would highly recommend the 7x30 Waters over the 7mm TCU, if distance are going to be much beyond 150 yards.
My first Contender was chambered in 7TCU...7x30 Waters wasn't out yet.

Original frame if I can still find one! I think gunbroker usually has em.. But for my use, 150yrds or less is likely! I tend to set up that way here in Ky. I do have a AT&T rifle for the open spaces.

150 yards or less the 7 TCU will do just fine.
 
Shot a couple of mule deer both a 10" Contender in 30 Herrett. Now I use a MOA Maximum in 7mm BR. Been tempted to take it out on stand while calling.
 
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