Handgunning for Deer- A Broader Perspective

          by Steve Sargent   

Each  year, a growing number of deer hunters make their first attempt at harvesting a deer with a handgun. As you might expect, a good many of them will read up on the subject before they sally forth into the woods with their beltgun. These individuals will find no shortage of written material on the subject; and thankfully, the majority of it is useful information. Feature articles on a particular handgun or load are interesting reading, but they fall short of addressing the myriad of available choices, or offering specific recommendations for each of them. This article is an effort to help the newcomer sort through the available choices in hunting handguns, and I hope that it proves informative for the veteran handgunner as well. 

Occasionally, you will hear from someone who has decided that their favorite handgun cartridge is capable of ballistic miracles. Well, consider this a reality check- there are no ballistic miracles. Many common rifles of the late 1800's were as good or better than today's most powerful, built to order, and outrageously expensive custom hunting handguns- both in terms of accuracy, and their ballistic effectiveness on game. Any good .30-06 rifle with carefully-selected ammunition will lay them all in the shade. 

I have hunted deer with handguns here in Missouri for 26 years, but I don't consider myself an expert. I am learning something new every season. I have also made some mistakes, which are perhaps the best teachers. I don't particularly enjoy reliving them, but you might as well know what to expect if you choose to repeat them. I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to try several different handguns on deer, and gather some reliable reports from other handgun hunters as well.  I will cite cases for the hunting handguns I am familiar with, and make some sensible ammunition recommendations for each one.          

Any discussion of hunting handguns inevitably leads to speculation regarding a particular handgun's effectiveness for use as a defense gun against bears. If you hunt in bear country, this is well to consider, because I know of at least one individual who got to come home from a hunt because he had a magnum revolver within easy reach- but more about that later. I do not routinely go where the big bears are, nor I do not hunt them with a handgun on purpose- but I would feel reasonably safe in bear country with a .44 Magnum or .45 Colt, pushing 300-325 grain cast bullets at around 1300 feet per second. Now, my idea of a decent "bear defense gun" would probably be a .444  or .45-70 lever-gun; or maybe a good riot gun loaded with slugs. A BAR in .338 would be even more comforting. But even the very best .44 and .45 handgun  loads are still only about two-thirds of a .45-70, and they are a whole bunch harder to control in rapid fire. Is this beginning to get clear? Even great, big handguns become little good luck charms when Smokey arrives at the conclusion that you are dumber, fatter, and easier to catch than that buck over in the draw.. 

Handgunning for deer does not require a specially-built, hand held rocket launcher. It can be accomplished with any number of  box-stock revolvers, and a few powerful semi-automatics. The scoped single shots, chambered for rifle cartridges, make it almost easy. But we need to remember that handgun hunting is a game of self-imposed limitations, and that the ability to abide by them is critical to our success. The range at which we shoot our game is critical to that success, and there are three factors which should determine what that range should be. 

The first factor, and perhaps the most important, is the hunter's ability to deliver a sure, precise hits through the center of the animal's shoulders, from "real world" shooting positions. Please notice that the word "shoulders" is plural; ideally, we want the bullet to break both shoulders and exit. This lets twice as much air into the chest cavity, and twice as much blood out. Some people like to mount scopes on their handguns, and some prefer conventional sights. Whatever you decide to use, just make sure you that don't shoot at a game animal beyond the range where you can deliver that bullet with surgical precision. What is "surgical precision"? For me, it is the distance at which I can keep three consecutive shots inside a five-inch circle, with full-power loads. Obviously, this will vary from gun to gun, and we need to evaluate our potential with the specific handgun and load we intend to hunt with. 

The second factor is the ballistic capability of the cartridge we select, when fired from the handgun we propose to use it in. The .357 Magnum is a perfect example. A 2" .357 revolver is not even in the same ballistic universe with a 14" barreled single-shot, chambered for the same cartridge. Most of us, however, like to be able to do several different things with our handguns, so we might "split the difference" with a medium-frame .357 revolver, having a barrel six or more inches in length. If we want or need less barrel, we had probably better go to a more powerful cartridge. Whatever handgun we choose, we will load it with full-power cartridges. The game fields are no place for reduced loads. 

The third factor is the projectile itself. The fact that we are using full-power loads strains the bullet, and we must remember that we are firing into a animal weighing several hundred pounds. At the relatively close ranges involved, impact velocities will be high. Bullets which are suitable for defense against humans are simply too fragile for this application. As mentioned above, we need a bullet capable of destroying the shoulders, which will penetrate the animal completely. Anyone who ever has to blood-trail a wounded deer at dusk will soon learn to appreciate through and through penetration.  I do not "rib shoot" deer anymore, for precisely this reason. 

Cast lead bullets with big flat points are a viable option here. Lead bullets are also probably a little easier on the gun, particularly for those of us who shoot a lot of heavy loads. As long are they are not too soft, they possess the necessary integrity for complete penetration. They can generally be driven a few feet per second faster than their jacketed counterparts. If you do push these fast, expect some lead deposits in the barrel. Expect to spend some time scrubbing the lead out of that barrel, as well.  

There are several good choices for novice handgun hunters, and especially those who are a little recoil-sensitive.  This category takes in everything up to and including the 210 grain loadings of the .41 and .44 Magnums. If you are hunting deer in close quarters, and you are unlikely to have to defend yourself from lions and tigers and bears, these should prove adequate for your purposes. Limit your shots to 50 yards or less, and your success rate with any handgun will soar- but 50 yards is the outer limits for handguns in this lower power spectrum. Avoid lung shots with these, and concentrate on the center of the shoulders.

These are not guns to pick grizzly fights with, but they sure beat the devil out of fingernails and pocket knives if that bear happens to pick a fight with you. 

The .357 Magnum 

About 25 years ago, I had a nice, accurate Italian-made single action .357 magnum. It had fixed sights and about a five-inch barrel, and it was pure death on small game with .38 wadcutters. It also shot "big name" 110 grain magnums to the same point of aim, and a large soft-drink cup was in dire straits out to 100 yards or so. (At 18, you have the eyes of an eagle, and the blissful confidence born only of inexperience.) Well, I took this revolver deer hunting and a nice forkhorn presented himself broadside at about 90 yards. From a seated rest, it was no work at all to put two of the 110s in his boiler room. He went down for the first shot, got up, and went down again for the second. By the time I had climbed down from my rocky perch and slogged across the frozen creek, he had gotten up and run completely over the next hill- several hundred yards away, and onto property where hunters were not welcome. I looked for him anyway, but didn't find him until the next morning. He had circled back, and obviously expired only a few hours before daylight, for there had been frost on the ground when he bedded down. Both rounds had hit the near shoulder, but neither had exited. It appeared that only one had made it to the vitals, and without much energy left when it arrived. I nearly quit handgun hunting over this incident, and I did quit hunting with the .357 over it. 

A few years prior to this debacle, a fellow I knew took his Ruger .357 out west on an elk hunt- just to have a little extra insurance against bears. Sure enough, he managed to get separated from his rifle during a nature call. Mr. Griz showed up, and took offense to our boy going potty in his living room. Being duly fearful for his life, he let fly with one 158 grain lead magnum semi-wadcutter, which landed somewhere near the middle of the bear. It was one more than this particular bear could tolerate, and the bear emergency was resolved. Not a bad feat of marksmanship, when executed from the sitting position in the snow, with your britches down around your ankles. 

On a more recent note, my older son just got a nice old 3-screw .357 Blackhawk given to him, and he wants to deer hunt with it. We are going to load him up some hot 180 grain hollow points (unheard of in my early days as a handgun hunter), and if a deer presents himself appropriately, Erik will feed him one or two through the shoulders. I fully expect that he will have some good meat and a lot of personal satisfaction for his efforts. We have far better bullets these days, which means that they  will penetrate deeper while still offering meaningful expansion. Having seen the worst case scenario, I going to suggest that he limit his shots to about 35 yards. Bears won't be a problem where he hunts. If the need for more penetration were anticipated, I would suggest loading it with Federal 180 grain "Cast Cores", or equivalent reloads using a LBT bullet. For those that don't know, the LBT is a long, heavy roundnose-profiled bullet, but with the nose "chopped off" short to form a large flat point.

  The 10mm Auto 

There a several jacketed hollow point rounds available for this cartridge that roughly duplicate the Winchester Silvertip loading of the .41 Magnum, which is a 175 grain hollowpoint at about 1250 fps. I would feel pretty comfortable with this power level, and I doubt we have seen the whitetail or mulie who can tolerate one or two of these through the boiler room. But if something a bit stronger were needed, Cor-Bon lists a 10mm hunting load which features a 180 bonded-core bullet, at an advertised 1300 fps. This doesn't turn the 10 into a .45-70, but it does make it into a .38-40 rifle, which accounted for an awful lot of deer during the late 1800's. My guess is that the deer haven't read any magazine articles suggesting that they should react differently today.    

In my opinion, the 10mm is equal to the moderate loadings of the .41 Magnum, but the .41 outclasses it significantly with bullets heavier than 175 grains.  

The "Stock" .45 Colt 

Stock .45 Colt loads are those which feature 255-260 grain bullets in the neighborhood of 900 feet per  second, essentially duplicating the ballistics of  the original black powder loads from 1873. Don't laugh- this was the beginning of serious power in handguns, and it fares pretty well even by today's standards. You can improve on this by using a  semi-wadcutter (SWC) bullet with a big flat nose, and you would be amazed at how well they penetrate on medium game. I nearly duplicated this load in a .45 auto a few years back, getting the 260 grain SWC up to almost 850 fps. While I didn't shoot a deer with that .45 ACP load, a farmer friend with a sick 400 pound hog provided a suitable ballistic test. This load penetrated about 16 inches of tough muscle and bone, and obviously broke the shoulders on the way across; it was found under the hide of the offside shoulder. I have no doubt that it would give similar results on Missouri whitetail.  

A few years back I did shoot a small buck with a Ruger .45 Colt, using a 255 grain SWC loaded up to about 1100 fps. Shot him three times, in fact, in the shoulder and ribs at about 25 yards. I could see dirt and leaves erupting where the bullets impacted the ground after penetrating the deer, but other than a stumble, it wouldn't even acknowledge being hit. None of the bullets broke the shoulders or spine. There was almost no blood trail, and he got into some head-high prairie grass and blackberry thorn, mixed with scrub undergrowth. It was a ghastly tracking job, and an episode I hope to never repeat. My shooting probably could have been better on this occasion, but when the deer was found a month later, there were three solid hits through, and behind, the shoulders. If you shoot much game you will occasionally find an animal which seems almost bulletproof. 

These loads will kill a deer alright, but I would expect some tracking if major bones are not destroyed with the hit. I wouldn't shoot a deer with one of these again if it was late in the day, and close to heavy cover. The major powder companies (Hogdon's comes immediately to mind) also list some standard-pressure loads for 300 grain bullets, and they might be more somewhat suitable for mule deer with the "stock" .45 Colt.      

The .41 Magnum 

Most of the Smith .41's that I have shot have been very accurate; the Rugers shot pretty well, too, but they were prone to burr their chamber mouths with the extractor rod under recoil. Either were plenty accurate for 50 yard deer. They are also amply powerful, with 210 grain hollow points at 1300 fps, and a 250 grain cast flat point at 1250. Elmer Keith killed dozens of head of big game with a hot .44 Special load that duplicates the aforementioned 250 grain flat point, in the 41. 

You .44 Special owners who might be tempted to duplicate Keith's loads, take note- the same powders Elmer used are somewhat different now than they were in the 1920's, when he was conducting his experiments with this cartridge. This kind of handload requires a revolver almost as strong as a .44 Magnum, like the Smith & Wesson Model 24 or  624. My advice is to just go ahead and get a .44 Magnum. Elmer did, and he pretty well retired his .44 Specials afterward. 

The .460 

In all honesty, the recent advent of the .460 Rowland has made the "field auto" an entirely viable concept. You can obtain a conversion unit which allows a standard 1911-A1 to use this cartridge. This .45 auto on steroids chucks a 230 grain Hornady XTP downrange at about 1300 feet per second (fps) from five-inch guns. I have taken whitetail with near duplicate loads in the .45 Colt, when conditions dictated that one shot at the deer was all I was going to get. The results were quite satisfactory.                

The beauty of the .460 is that it fits in a nice, portable package that will shoot standard .45 autos the rest of the time. And on the subject of "bear defense", I'm not too sure that nine 230 grain jacketed flat points, at 1340 fps, wouldn't serve the purpose in the majority of cases.  If you happen to be a wheelgun aficionado (I am) your gunsmith can chamber this round in several nice revolvers, like the Smith 625. About the only thing the .460 won't do, in it's current loadings, is handle 300 grain bullets. 

The older .45 Winchester Magnum should be mentioned here, because it performs on par with the .460- but the .460 can be adapted to standard-size autos like the 1911, whereas the Win-Mag requires significantly larger guns. 

The previously-mentioned handguns will suffice for deer at close range, and hunt strategy should revolve around perfectly-placed shots through the center of the shoulders. With the exception of the 250 grain load for the .41 magnum, I would recommend resisting the urge to "tail-shoot" a  spooked deer with these. This also requires perfect marksmanship, which can be a rare commodity when the deer are bursting from their beds like a covey of quail. If  I were going to select from this category, it would be between the 10mm and the .41 Magnum. If  big deer or elk were on my agenda, I would definitely go with the .41 Magnum.

In my experience, the best whitetail handgun rounds are those which generate over 1300 fps, and are capable of complete penetration on shoulder shots using expanding bullets. This makes for faster kills and much easier tracking. This is essentially the domain of the full-charge .44 magnum, and high-pressure loadings of the .45 Colt, in heavy-duty revolvers. 

The .44 Magnum 

The .44 Magnum will propel 210-240 grain jacketed bullets at about 1400 fps, and 300 grain jacketed bullets to about 1300, from revolvers with barrels of six to eight inches in length. Recoil is noticeable, but not overwhelming. The 200-210 grain loads, like Winchester's Silvertip, are the kindest to the shooter while still offering a fair degree of power. They will not generally crash through the shoulders like the 300's will, but they are adequate for average whitetail. 

I have shot 5 deer with the .44 Magnum. Most of these were "clean-up" jobs involving spooked, running deer that had been hit with rifles- and they can be real hard to stop. I'll relate them briefly for their educational value. 

The first was a big doe that had been hit in the back leg with a .257 Roberts at about 400 yards. The rifle hunter and I were walking out a grassy waterway when she got up and ran straight away. The gun was a seven and a half inch Virginia Dragoon, and the load was a 250 grain SWC at about 1300 fps. I hit her between the shoulders from behind at about 30 yards, breaking the spine, for about the quickest kill imaginable. 

Number two was another doe, knocked down by a 7.62x39 softpoint, which was getting back up as we approached. At 60 yards I hit her twice with a four inch Model 29 Smith & Wesson; once through the ribs behind the shoulder, and once in the spine at the shoulder. The load was the same as for the doe described above, and it achieved the same results. 

Number three was a big button buck which had been grazed low in the chest with a .30-30, which ran and finally turned to give a quartering-away shot at about 50 yards. A 250 grain SWC from the four-inch Model 29 entered the deer's back ribs from the right side and broke the left shoulder, dropping him where he was hit. 

Number four was a big eight-point buck that my wife Peggi that had hit through the lungs, with a 7.62x39 softpoint that obviously didn't expand. I was walking out a draw for her when this deer totally surprised me, headed left to right in a dead run about 20 yards in front of me. I remember drawing the Model 29 from the holster, thinking that I had to hold on the front of his shoulder as I fired twice, double-action. He crashed to the ground, still alive, and I gave him two more "finishers". The first round had broken his near shoulder, and lodged under the skin on the off-side. The second had gone through just under the spine behind them. The load was a near-maximum charge of SR-4756 powder with a Sierra 240 grain jacketed hollow point.

I later sold the Smith .44 to a old friend, and hunted with .45 Colts for a couple of years.  Then just before the opening day of the following deer season, I got to missing the old gun, and bought it back. Since I hadn't been loading .44's in a while, and I bummed some reloads off one of my brothers; they were Nosler 240 JHP's over about 19.5 grains of Winchester 296. It didn't occur to me at the time that these were considerably under maximum, but I sure found out later. With very little time and inclement weather working against me, I slipped out one afternoon and quickly adjusted the sights until the gun was on at 50 yards. 

Season came, and found me backing up my younger son while he watched a small pasture- where we had taken the aforementioned 8-pointer. A very nice 6 point buck had appeared in some thick brush behind Mark, but he was unable to get turned around before the deer slipped away. Since the buck had to be in the narrow stretch of woods behind us, our plan was for me to sneak around to the far end of it, and work it back toward Mark- who would now be ready and waiting. I had made it just  about 50 feet when I looked over and saw the buck standing on the edge of the woods ahead of me, not quite a hundred yards away. He was standing broadside, completely  still, and looking right at me.  I have busted many a gallon jug at one hundred yards with this old revolver, and I felt confident I could connect if I could get into a steady shooting position. 

I already had the .44 in hand as I eased down to a solid sitting position, and rested the gun on my raised left knee. The front sight hung steady in the center of his shoulder, and as I pressed that sweet single-action trigger. The gun recoiled, I knew the shot was good. My  vision was obscured for a split second by the recoiling revolver, but I watched as the deer raised straight up in the air, and came crashing down on his side. I got up (mistake) just before the buck did, as he bolted into the cover of the heavy timber, shaking himself like a wet dog as he departed. Mark came running at the shot, and we split up as we entered the woods, fully expecting to find him down in the leaves. Not this time. Mark caught a glimpse of his as he crossed the second wheat field, striding out like Secretariat in the home stretch. 

A careful search of the buck's escape route revealed no blood whatsoever, and his tracks appeared normal within a few yards of where he had been standing. These were not the tracks of a well-hit game animal. We back-tracked to where he was standing when I shot at him, never finding a speck of blood in the 120 yards of tracks that we followed in. I did find a few clipped ends of white belly hair on the ground where he had been standing, and it was obvious that I had succeeded only in scorching his underside. I have killed enough deer with big revolvers to know that a blood trail is guaranteed with a good hit, and that this was just a near miss. Class had been in session again. 

We hunted a little while longer, but I was disgusted with myself, and we headed home. I also felt a burning desire to shoot the same gun and loads on paper at 100 yards. I did, and found that it was hitting a full foot low with the reloads I had been using. 

Lessons learned? Know your ammunition, and shoot a lot of it before the hunting season. Use only full-power loads. Never shoot beyond where you know you are sighted for, and sight in for the longest distance that you expect to shoot. Get closer whenever you can.

I have since stumbled onto a 300 grain LBT .44 load that will meet my accuracy standards out at 100  yards, from any decent revolver. It will also drive these big bullets through an eight-inch cedar post with boring regularity. In all honesty, it is too much for a Smith& Wesson, and the recoil is such that big, oversize rubber grips become an absolute necessity. I have concluded that when it becomes necessary to make the gun bigger in any direction, it is time for a bigger gun. I opted for a five and a half inch Ruger Redhawk, for a  couple of reasons. First, my little wife wants to start handgun hunting, and she can handle 210 grain Silvertips in the Redhawk just fine. Second, the Redhawk will handle my 300 grain LBTs with aplomb. Best of all, I can cut a front sight for each load, and change ammo and sights in twenty seconds. This lets us switch from "mild .41" level loads to" beyond .44 Mag" loads instantly, while remaining perfectly sighted in. That kind of versatility, my friends, is very hard to beat. 

The Magnumized .45 Colt and the .454 Casull 

The .45 Colt can be supercharged in strong revolvers like the Rugers and the Freedom Arms, and the (sadly) now discontinued Colt Anaconda. These loads are NOT recommended in the N-frame Smith & Wessons. Most modern revolvers in this chambering have bore and chamber mouth diameters which work well with .451 bullets, including those for the .45 auto. A word of caution is in order here; light .45 ACP hollowpoints will fail when pushed to 1350+ fps, and raking shots are attempted on deer. Some of the 230 grain JHP's probably will, too. Use a little tougher bullet and you will be fine, and you can expect performance fully equal to the 240 grain loadings of the .44 Magnum. 

Where the magnumized .45 Colt really  shines, however, is with bullets weighing from 300-350 grains. It will heave these monoliths at around 1300 fps, and do it at lower pressures than the .44 Magnum will. These loads have been used quite successfully on the largest North American game. 

My first "case history" with the hot .45 Colt occurred when my younger son and I were watching a wheat field from the woods, and four deer walked right up, about forty yards in front of us. Then they just stood there. It was Mark's first hunt, but he could not get a clear shot through the brush where he was sitting, four feet away. Moving the deer ten yards either way would put him in business, so I picked a fat doe and held on the center of her shoulder with the five and a half inch Blackhawk. The load was Sierra's 240 grain .45 JHP, over a healthy dose of Hogdon's H-110 powder. She crashed on her chin at the shot, and then fell again as she jumped the little creek bordering the stretch of woods we were hiding in. I knew she was hit hard, so I held my fire while Mark shot a button  buck out of the herd, which by then had meandered a few feet into his line of fire. After tagging his deer, we went back into the timber after mine. It was the easiest tracking job I've had in years; she left a blood trail you could have followed with dark glasses on. We found her about 30 yards from where I had hit her. 

The other case history is a reliable report from a friend, who hot-rods his Ruger Bisley .45, with 325 grain LBT flat-points. He had walked up a doe, who trotted a few yards straight away, presenting only her rump to him. Using nature's conveniently-provided "bulls-eye", he planted a 325 on her, and she dropped like a stone. The bullet penetrated the deer from end to end, and came out near the middle of her chest. Dressing deer killed in this manner is not particularly pleasant, but it sure beats tracking them all over creation.

The .454 Casull is to the .45 Colt, what the .357 is to the .38 Special. I have not used the .454, but if I hunted elk I might be tempted to try it- provided I didn't already own a good .44 Magnum or .45 Colt. Some of the .454's are very big and heavy, with the Freedom Arms gun being the most svelte of the class, and my pick for a hunting revolver in this caliber. I still think that 300 grains of flat-point bullet from a .44 would do the trick on elk, and I would not be inclined to trade a handy little belt gun for something the size of a cut-down bumper jack.  To me, a handgun is something that you can wear on your gunbelt all day, and not feel like you got drafted for moving day at the blacksmith shop. Some people like great big revolvers with great long barrels, and I think that's just fine. It's simply a matter of preference.   

As I mentioned earlier, sometimes people think that their favorite cartridge is a miracle worker. Proponents of .44 Magnum and the big .45's seem particularly  vulnerable to this, and they each like to ridicule the other fella's gun. Ignore this, it is schoolyard childishness. They are both fine choices for big game. If you like a compact double-action handgun, the .44 magnum is the best choice. If you like big double actions or  single actions, the hot .45's do have an edge in the power department. Place your shots precisely with either, and the meat's in the freezer. 

The .475 & 500 Linebaugh, and .45-70 & .444 Marlin Revolvers 

John Linebaugh is a true pioneer in the field of extreme power in hunting revolvers, and his .475 has been successfully used to take Cape Buffalo. You could probably line up two good-sized deer and kill them both with one carefully-placed shot from either of  these cartridges, using the huge LBT bullets that have made them famous. At this writing, the handguns are custom propositions- but if you spend your money with John, you will get back artistry in steel. These are lean, beautiful hunting revolvers, with power in a class by itself. 

Every few years, someone decides to produce a big single-action for the .45-70, and now you can also get one in .444 Marlin if you like. They are huge guns, and I would expect them to produce from half to two thirds the velocity  attainable in rifles of the same caliber. For me at least, it's not a profitable enterprise to lug around this much handgun. My opinion is not the only one that matters. 

The "Hand Rifles" 

You can buy a quality single-shot pistol in about any rifle caliber including the .30-06, put a quality scope on it, and have a precision instrument equal to many hunting rifles. I have shot various 7mm and .30 caliber single shots capable of  three-inch, two hundred yard groups. Lots of people can shoot them better than me. This means you could pick your spot on a deer and hit them a long, long way off. 

Most any of these produce power enough to harvest deer, but remember one thing. A 22 inch rifle barrel will always produce more power than a 14 inch rifle barrel. Adjust your ballistic perspective to account for this. Don't fall into the "miracle gun" trap with these, any more than you would with a big revolver. Ross Seyfried addressed this very subject in his usual superb style with his recent "Theory of Relativity" article featured in Handloader magazine. It should be required reading for anyone contemplating hunting with a handgun.