Re: Sell me on a Handgun Caliber

kmittleman · Post by **kmittleman** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:21 pm

Hi folks,

After a recent hog hunt, I realized how nice it would be to have a Ruger BH for hunting and target shooting. I thought about a .357 because I have an H&R Trapper in that caliber, but the bigger bores call to me. I reload too. What say ye?

-Kevin

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:33 pm

What firearm are you interested in. Sometimes that might limit your choices.

kmittleman · Post by **kmittleman** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:38 pm

Griff wrote:What firearm are you interested in. Sometimes that might limit your choices.

I want a Ruger Blackhawk in .357, .41, 44, or .45 colt.

Malamute · Post by **Malamute** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:45 pm

All of the calibers you mentioned would be fine. If you handload, the 45 Colt is about the most fun in my opinion, and can cover a lot of ground regarding loads. Anything from round balls at grouse and bunny levels to full steam stuff for hunting loads on deer or larger. They also weight less than the same gun in smaller bore sizes, nice if you carry it much. I can tell the difference in handling and carrying between the 44 and 45.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:49 pm

Malamute wrote:All of the calibers you mentioned would be fine. If you handload, the 45 Colt is about the most fun in my opinion, and can cover a lot of ground regarding loads. Anything from round balls at grouse and bunny levels to full steam stuff for hunting loads on deer or larger. They also weight less than the same gun in smaller bore sizes, nice if you carry it much. I can tell the difference in handling and carrying between the 44 and 45.

Me and another shooter at our club were comparing guns after the match and as I was handling his clone and him my Colt SAA, I said, "wow... this feels really heavy!" Took him a few seconds and a glance at my bore to get it! His was a .357!

BenT · Post by **BenT** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:53 pm

Get something that throws a heavy chunk of lead for hogs. The 357 works best on thin skinned animals , such as people. I've seen deer shot with it and it wasn't very impressive. If you want it for hot loads go with the bisley grip.

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:05 pm

44 special is very "special". You can load 44 mag and 45 colt as hot as you could feel comfortable shooting but the .44 special is a dream to shoot and factory ammo from some manufacturers would make that the perfect hog gun. My field handgun is a 2nd gen Colt SAA in .44 special and I use Big Bore "hot" 44 special loads for hunting deer size game. . good luck with your choice and send pics on what ever you choose.

Dirty Bob · Post by **Dirty Bob** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:12 pm

If you're going with reloads, the .45 Colt is just a whole lotta fun!

OTOH, the price of .45 Colt factory loads is more shocking than the price of gasoline, these days! Components for .45 Colt are also more expensive than, say, .357 Magnum.

For hogs, I'd go with a caliber beginning with a "4," but a .357 Mag. is so wonderfully cheap to load for that you'll shoot it more.

I think you need a .357 and a big bore!

Dirty Bob

jhrosier · Post by **jhrosier** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:14 pm

If you are going to hunt, you will probably want to scope your gun.
The Super Blackhawk Hunter is ready to scope right out of the box.
Mine is a .44 Mag and shoots very well.

Jack

Lefty Dude · Post by **Lefty Dude** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:15 pm

Buy yourself a Ruger BH in 41 mag. and never look back.

It's a 40 cal. and one of the sweetest shooter's ever made.

It can and will do what the other's do with out the heavy re-coil.

earlmck · Post by **earlmck** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:31 pm

Kevin, you're not going to go wrong with any of those larger cartridges for hogs, etc. I can't tell you one would be better than the other, because once I bought a 44 mag I never needed another handgun. I was shooting so much I thought I'd probably wear it out (Redhawk) so I bought another one to keep for that time. Unfortunately I got a super-redhawk which I don't like nearly as well as the regular redhawk, but it hasn't mattered 'cause I don't think I'm going to wear out gun #1.

As a reloader you can load any level you want, so that is taken care of. H110 and magnum pistol and you are good to go for the heavy loads. I use a 300 gr. LBT at 1300fps for big stuff such as deer or elk, and dang if I don't mostly use the same bullet and load for tin cans and rabbits, because that's how you keep in practice for when you need to plug something large! Redhawk still going strong and I still have most of the 300 rounds of WW brass I bought when I first got the gun, though I anneal about every 7 loads to keep the mouths from splitting.

Enjoy!

Post by **Old Savage** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:13 pm

Bart Skelton did a 10,000 test on a Redhawk some years ago and it held up for that with factory ammo. Accuracy change a little for the 1000 rd tests but all were still good.

M. M. Wright · Post by **M. M. Wright** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:08 am

I use mostly 44-40 since I load a lot of black powder. I've owned .44 Mag and still have an engraved pair of .45 Colts that I enjoy shooting but my all time favorite from the calibers you mentioned is the .41 Mag. High velocity, flatter trajectory, drops everything up to whitetail just fine.

win38-55 · Post by **win38-55** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:26 am

I personally like the 44 Mag for it's wide range of use. You can go target shooting with it if you load em down a bit.
You can hunt Whitetail Deer with it, You can even use it for Bear defense in the wild's. not to mention it
is just one of those Caliber's every gun guy should own at least one. Here is mine.

wecsoger · Post by **wecsoger** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:46 am

Anything that starts with a .4. From .41 to .45, get serious, you're dealing with difference of hundredths of an inch.

Be prepared to handload unless you're independently wealthy. And that way you can control how much recoil to beat you up. Check availability of bullets in caliber you choose

Good odds you'll be scoping, so super redhawk or blackhawk both excellent choices. You'll be doing darn little double action which means the blackhawk, but redhawk gets my nod because of the grips.

Make you choice AND POST PICTURES!

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:59 am

Personally, 357 is a little small for an all around caliber. It has a lot going for it as far as component/factory cartridge availability, but it was designed as a round for humans and for that reason it's to small for bigger animals. Not that it won't work, a 22LR has taken almost every game animal there is. At least on the North American continent. It just isn't the right tool. Especially out of a handgun.

I'd look for the 44 mag or 45 Colt. Components and factory loadings for the 44 mag can be found at almost any store selling ammunition. And, if you don't reload, it would probably be the wisest choice. You can shoot 44 Special in the 44 mag for the lower end stuff. The 45 Colt is my personal favorite. With a Ruger BH you can load up to hot loads that you won't want to shoot many of, down to cat sneeze. I've had a number of both and like them both. But, the 44 mag doesn't come in the Colt SAA and that's what I usually carry. I do have a FA in 454 for the really big nasty stuff and it will shoot 45 Colt as well.

41 mag is a great round, but mostly fills a niche realm and again, if my memory serves me correctly, was designed for LE use. Unless you reload, you generally won't find it on a store shelf. It's even harder to find than 45 Colt.

That's just my opinion.

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:15 am

.357mag will get the job done at 20-30 yards (my comfortable hand gun distance unsupported with iron sights shooting at animals) especially with the heavier bullets. If you are looking at it as a back up for your H&R then you will be good to go.

If you want a pistol as your primary gun then as the others said bigger is better. I am a big fan of the 45colt. The Sierra 300gr JSP can and will punch threw a lot of critter when loaded to 1300fps with a charge of H110 out of a 7 1/2" Ruger. That load I have no problem keeping on a 10" steel gong at 100 yards with my 7 1/2" Vaquero. But it is a hand loaders proposition as ammo ain't cheap.

2X22 · Post by **2X22** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:31 am

For 35 years the .44 mag has gotten the job done for me, from deer and bear to a lot of elk. I can't say enough good about it.

99% of my pistol shooting is handled by a couple different .44 Specials, from tin cans and targets to deer and bear. But when I go after big elk sized critters with a pistol I drag out a .44 mag with cast at 1200fps +.

2x22

O.S.O.K. · Post by **O.S.O.K.** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:53 am

This depends on the general use that you intend for your BH.

I have the hunter model as shown above along with a 4 5/8" model super BH's in 44 Mag (or since you handload, 45 Colt). The hunter model would be my one choice if hunting were the primary use. If plinking and carrying for general woods bumbing is included then maybe the shorter barreled model would be better. Keep in mind that it is easy to down load a 44 Mag or 45 Colt but you can only load-up a 357 or 41 so much. Point is, the 44 mag and 45 Colt are more versitile than the smaller bore cartridges.

If you are really wanting a nice carrying, fun to shoot but still very capable single action Ruger - then I would recommend the Ruger BH flat top in 44 Special. I've got one of those too - in the shorter barrel. I think if hunting were going to be done often then the longer barreled version would allow more accurate placements...

Bottom line, you can't go wrong with any of these versions of the BH. It is such a wonderful revolver design. IMHO

hondo1892 · Post by **hondo1892** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:58 am

I like the new Blackhawk flat top .44 specials. The longest barrel that it comes in is 5-1/2".
If you like the loner barrels you have to get one of the other calibers.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:10 pm

kmittleman wrote:I want a Ruger Blackhawk in .357, .41, 44, or .45 colt.

Didn't you mean "and" instead of "or"...

Malamute wrote:They also weight less than the same gun in smaller bore sizes, nice if you carry it much. I can tell the difference in handling and carrying between the 44 and 45.

THAT is what surprised me so much when I picked up a Marlin .45-70 Cowboy for the first time - the octagonal barrel was the same length and about the same external diameter as my HEAVY old .32-20, but felt like it must be made of fiberglass or aluminum...

jhrosier wrote:

Hard to beat that gun if you like a Single Action (mechanical purists will say the Freedom Arms is better, and history purists of course like the Colts, but if you're talking a 'field grade' shooter, Rugers are awesome). If you like the Double Action, hard to beat the Redhawk.

Ideally I'd like to have both a Redhawk and Super Blackhawk 'Hunter' in stainless just like those pictured (except I'd take 'Bisley' grips on the Single Action... ):

...and I'd want them both in .45 Colt, but I guess I'd "settle" for .44 Magnum in a pinch...

ALSO think about which one you already have, or would like to have, a lever action rifle or carbine in; for instance if you want a stainless carbine and prefer Marlins, or if you happen to like the Ruger leverguns, you'd be limited to .44 Magnum.

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:12 pm

I carry a 44 mag Vaquero now days, any BH in 44 mag is a good choice imo. if ya like single actions.

rangerider7 · Post by **rangerider7** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:08 pm

44 or 45s are what I use on hogs. They can be loaded up or down. the 357 can ruin your hearing while hunting with one. My 2 cents.

Thunder50 · Post by **Thunder50** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:03 pm

I have worn out one 29 Smith and worn the Hammer/trigger on my SBH to where I need to send it back for repair. That said, I might lean towards a BH in 45 Colt with a 45acp cylinder. Light loads in the ACP case and heavier in the 45 Colt, best of both worlds.

You won't go wrong with either one.

TMair · Post by **TMair** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:56 pm

+1 on the Colt, for all the reasons mentioned above, that is all I can add, I love mine way more then I do my 44 Mag, I reload for both, the only 357 mag that I liked was a Desert Eagle but I don't have it any longer, still got the other two tho!
Terry

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:02 pm

The Ruger Bisley 44 Specials are very nice. A top Special load is about all you need to kill a deer or hog. The 44 Magnum is too powerful for a lot of things. A 44 Special snake load is tough on vipers as well. I don't want to bad talk the 357 but somehow it just doesn't do as well as a 44. I guess going from 158 to 240 grains of love just does crosses some kind of threshold.

I had a Super Blackhawk 44 Mag for many years I down loaded to hot special velocities. It was a great gun. I sold it and bought this Special last year and love it.

rodeo kid · Post by **rodeo kid** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:22 pm

.44Special for me, it is the most wonderfullest(is that a word?) revolver cartridge in the world. Or you could get a .44Magnum and have your choice. Only downside to me is a little extra cylinder cleaning if you shoot alot of specials. God Bless.

Streetstar · Post by **Streetstar** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:39 pm

First pick for me would be .45 Colt since you said you reload, with a very close second going to the .44 Mag.

The .44 Specials are pretty cool in a medium frame firearm, but if you go with a larger frame gun anyway, may as well just load down the Maggy's to Special levels if you want plinking loads

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:43 pm

I've watched this thread grow to two pages. Read it, agreed with some views, disagreed with others.
But try as I might I find that I can't "sell" my preferences for the .45 Colt.
I've run many different comments through my mind and didn't like any of them.
I guess what it comes down to is this; the .45 Colt has the largest diameter bullet of the standard sized non magnum calibers. (Yes there are bigger non magnums such as the 480 Ruger, but it's even more of a nitch cartridge than the .44 Special or the .45 Colt.)
It comes out of the box with a bullet weight and velocity that will do most of what you need a big bore handgun to do. And depending on the gun of your choice you can buy factory ammo or you can load it up if you want to some serious power levels.
The 44 Mag out of the box has always been too much for most of what I want a handgun caliber to be. Too powerful, too much recoil, too much muzzle blast, so as has been said many folks load it down.
As for using .44 Special ammo as a low level substitute for the hot .44 Mag, that's even more difficult. The .44 Spcl is scarcer and more expensive than the .45 Colt ammo.

The .45 Colt to me is comfortable to shoot with anything short of Buffalo Bore, CorBon, or the other very high performance ammo.
And it's comfortable in light weight, easily packable revolvers.

The same could be said for the .44 Special and it's all very true.

Decades ago when I started shooting revolvers I started out with .22s. I got bored very quickly. I wanted to experience shooting and the .22s just didn't give me what I wanted. So I moved all the way up to the .45 Colt. At the time it was the biggest caliber / cartridge in production. There were no .44 Specials available new or used where I looked so I just passed them over.

I started my center fire revolver shooting with the .45 Colt. I've never been sorry, never looked back and said ... why, never cared to buy a .44 Mag. Over the years I've shot lots of .44 Mags and Specials, 41 Mags, 460 S&Ws, .454 Casulls, all belonging to other folks and always come straight back to my .45 Colts.

So if I were to give my opinions based on my shooting life to someone wanting a good strong center fire revolver, I'd suggest the .45 Colt.
There are many good strong revolvers available to handle it from normal standard pressure loads all the way up to OMG loads.

In my own selection of .45 Colts I have the spread covered. I've got an Uberti Cattleman, a S&W 25-5 and a Ruger Blackhawk. I don't think I need any others.

But ... what does "need" have to do with it.

Oh, one other comment. I also have a couple revolvers in .357 Mag that I do not like to shoot. There is nothing wrong with the cartridge as far as performance goes, except this; it is deafening to shoot without ear protection. The blast is painful and will in short order damage the hearing. I won't even use it for hunting.
The .45 Colt on the other hand has so much less pressure that on the rare occasion I've shot them w/o ear protection I didn't suffer any from the muzzle blast.

Joe

Kansas Ed · Post by **Kansas Ed** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 6:10 pm

You have a lot of good relevant advice here. Me personally i own both a .44M and a 45LC. I am a bigger fan of the .45 because it's more fun IMO. Either should do a bang up job.

I know you specified a RBH, but there are other options which might be of interest also. Don't forget the Auto's. I'm a big fan of the 10mm, and ballistically the 45ACP and 45LC are pretty much identical. I would think that either one of those cartridges in a nice 1911 style handgun could also be of some use, and IMO they pack much better.

Ed

C. Cash · Post by **C. Cash** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:22 pm

Go and pick some up and let em talk to you! I do hate how they hover over you at the guncounter today, but just take some time and see what feels good. Fourty Four or Fourty Five, hard to go wrong. I like the 357's alot, but I do feel undergunned when I'm wandering around in the woods in the Spring(Bears). I love my Ruger Flat Top 44, how it feels and carry's at the cross draw. It is so light and well balanced in the hand. If I were to start all over again, I think I would have started there. The shorter Super Blackhawks are really appealing....something like the 4 and 5/8 or 5.5" My Super is a 7.5" but man, it simply never fails in the many years I've had it and 44 Special defensive loads and lighter Skeeter/Keith 250's feel like 38's going off. I may just have it cut down someday for easier belt packing. A coil mainspring makes me feel better personally, for reliability, and the Ruger has those. I would for sure handle a Bisley before I ordered one. They do not feel right to me at all, but to many they do. Again, handle all the ones you can get your hands on...and with 44 or 45 Colt. you won't go wrong.
PS: see the Redhawk mentioned a couple of times. Though a fine pistol, another one I would handle a good bit before I committed. It is truly a huge pistola, and in a different class than the easier handling SA's mentioned. Even the Super Blackhawk seems very trim and portable to me, compared to the Redhawk. Not that I wouldn't love to have one!

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:12 pm

kimwcook wrote:I'd look for the 44 mag or 45 Colt. Components and factory loadings for the 44 mag can be found at almost any store selling ammunition. And, if you don't reload, it would probably be the wisest choice. You can shoot 44 Special in the 44 mag for the lower end stuff.

With the .44 caliber, you can find many .44 Magnum 'hot' loads, and always a few .44 Special 'mild' loads, but those may actually cost MORE than the common .44 Mag loads.

With the .45 calibers, you can find many .45 Colt 'cowboy' loads, and always a few .45 Colt 'hot' loads, which will typically cost way more than the 'standard' .45 Colt/'cowboy' loads.

So, with EITHER .44 or .45, you can have BOTH spicy and mild loads, but with the .44 Mag, you may pay premium for light loads, and with the .45 you may pay premium for hot loads.

If you want to normally shoot mild loads, and only rarely 'hot' ones, a non-reloader would be better off with a .45 Colt, and if you want to shoot fairly 'stout' loads mostly, with sometimes some 'light' ones, a .44 Magnum would be better, as a non-reloader.

It sounds like you reload, so these factors are moot. But for any 'lurkers' pondering the same question, just start reloading, and these factors won't matter...

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:21 pm

C. Cash wrote:Go and pick some up and let em talk to you. . . . . I would for sure handle a Bisley before I ordered one. They do not feel right to me at all, but to many they do. Again, handle all the ones you can get your hands on...and with 44 or 45 Colt. you won't go wrong.

Yep - a handgun is something that just has to 'feel right' - if it does, it doesn't matter a whit whether it is a .44, .45, or .22 - you WILL hit your target, and that is what matters.

rangerider7 wrote:The 357 can ruin your hearing while hunting with one. My 2 cents.

Really GOOD point. A 900 FPS, 300 gr. slug (which a .45 Colt or sometimes .44 Mag can put out) is far less damaging than a similarly-energetic 158 gr. .357 bullet at higher velocity would be.

Do YOU wear hearing protectors when woods-walking, doing farm-chores, or otherwise just 'toting' your handgun...? I don't, which is one reason I like the 'big-but-slow' cartridges.

Thunder50 wrote:You won't go wrong with either one.

I guess between .44 Mag and .45 Colt (and maybe even .41 Mag or .480 Ruger), that's the bottom line...

Old Ironsights · Post by **Old Ironsights** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:23 pm

When I first "started", I spent a LOT of time debating Caliber A vs B & C.

I chose .357 for one reason - I can get a relatively small CCP in .38/357 and the smallest .44/.45 is a lot bigger.

Is .357 the "best" cartridge? Maybe not.

But it is the most "versatile" IMO.

Frankdozer · Post by **Frankdozer** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:14 pm

Heritage MFG Rough Rider Convertible, 22 Magnum & 22 Long Rifle cylinders !!!!!!!!!!!! Inexpensive to purchase and inexpensive to shoot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Shoot Winchester 333 rounds 22 long rifle for $11.47 @ walmart

2X22 · Post by **2X22** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:23 pm

hondo1892 wrote:I like the new Blackhawk flat top .44 specials. The longest barrel that it comes in is 5-1/2".
If you like the loner barrels you have to get one of the other calibers.

Or you could do like I did. I bought a 44 barrel from GB then took it and one of my spare .44 specials out to my local gunsmith who did a great job of fitting it. I now have a 7 1/2" .44 Special in the Ruger Flattop

Yep, she shoots reeeeal good!

2x22