Pistol on deer

[brainwake]

I am thinking about a pistol set up for deer hunting.

At the moment, I am thinking a Contender in 7-30 Waters on a Super 14" barrel. I am wondering how the is kick and what is the effective range. Anyone with experience on this?

Got any other suggestions?

 

[41 Mag]

Well if your talking handguns then well yes the 7x30 will get it done if you can hold it where it need to hit.

Most folks lean towards the 120gr weights in it, but I went for the 140gr Nosler Ballistic Tip. I never got a chance to put it to task on a deer, but did drop quite a few hogs with it. I quit on the last one though after it tried to come and share the pain.

For most deer however it would be plenty sufficient with any of the newer 120 to 130gr bullets. I found RL-15 to work the best with my loads.

 

[MCgunner]

I've got z .30-30 12" hunter barrel. 5 deer, no complaints. All, but one DRT. That one was lung hit, only went about 25 yards and left plenty of blood. Recoil is non-existent, but the hunter barrel has a built in compensator that really works in this caliber. However, I hunt with muffs, can't shoot the thing without hearing protection, ESPECIALLY from a box blind. But, yeah, it gets the job done. 7-30 would as well, but I do like the slightly larger 30 caliber bullets. I shoot a 150 Nosler BT in it. Very accurate.

I have a 7mm TCU barrel that I no longer shoot IHMSA with. I've thought of scoping it for hunting, but I don't like the numbers. It don't have a lot of case to work with compared to the 7x30 Waters. I'll stick with the .30-30, a bit more whop, but I doubt the 7x30 lacks anything, really. They're both the same case, just working with different bullets.

JMHO

 

[MCgunner]

Oh, you asked about range. My limit, assuming a good rest and steady sight picture, is 200 yards. The .30-30 is making just under 1000 ft lbs at 200 yards. Sighted 3" high at 100, it's dead on at 200 and shoots 3" groups at that range from the bench rest. 200 yards is my limit for the gun, but the longest shot I've made was about 90 yards.

 

[flipajig]

I went with the 120 grain pill for my 7-30 it's a super sweet round mine is 15" made by Bullberry and its a tack driver. I've used RL-15 and IMR 3031 mine seemed to preferr
3031 it's one barrel I will never sell or trade.
Flip.

 

[hoghunting]

I am thinking a Contender in 7-30 Waters on a Super 14" barrel.

That is what I use and it is very reliable on hogs, deer and coyotes. It's an extremely accurate T/C barrel that prefers RL-15 and Nosler 120 gr BT.

 

[frankmako]

deer hunting with a pistol is fun. but it takes some time before you get the feel for when to shoot and when not, it is the range thing. at first i felt i could do the same as with my rifle, but that did not work. the deer got to be some what closer for the best shot. i used a xp-100 in 7mm-308 and a t/c in 7tcu and 44 mag (10 inch barrel). the 7mm-308 worked the best, dropped the deer on the spot. the t/c's i had to track both deer a ways. must have been the 10 inch barrels and the range of the shot.

 

[critter]

I love handgun hunting deer. I have taken several with my Contender. I use a 30-30 Win in a super 14" barrel and my reloads. I use 125 gr Nosler BT's at moderately high speeds. Accuracy is under 1" at 100 yds. Recoil is very tolerable.

I have taken deer from 5 steps up to 175. The load is very deadly when placed well. Many of them are DRT shots.

THAT is the KEY with handguns. Wait for a good, solid shot and place the bullet carefully. Meat in the skillet!

 

[303tom]

I am thinking about a pistol set up for deer hunting.

At the moment, I am thinking a Contender in 7-30 Waters on a Super 14" barrel. I am wondering how the is kick and what is the effective range. Anyone with experience on this?

Got any other suggestions?

Kicks like hell !.....................

 

[Patocazador]

that is what i use and it is very reliable on hogs, deer and coyotes. It's an extremely accurate t/c barrel that prefers rl-15 and nosler 120 gr bt.

^^^^^^^^^^^
The above is exactly what I use. Make sure you full-length resize each time or your action may not completely close. It happened to me with a nice fat doe at 60 yards broadside.

 

[hoghunting]

At the moment, I am thinking a Contender in 7-30 Waters on a Super 14" barrel. I am wondering how the is kick and what is the effective range. Anyone with experience on this?

Kicks like hell !.....................

Felt recoil depends on the individual's tolerance as that is not my experience with the 7-30, and I've used it for 13 years.

 

[MCgunner]

Ya want recoil, go with a .45-70. I thought I might like one, but for what? There ain't no moose or elk down here. Anything I'll pistol hunt, my .30-30 will take cleanly.

 

[eastbank]

the two scoped handguns i use for deer are a 10 inch contender in 35 remington with a 2x burris scope and a remington xp-100R in 260 remington with a 2.5x8 leupold scope. i have killed more deer with the contender than the remington as the contender is easier to carry and cuts bullet holes at 50yds, the xp-100R is deadly out to 300yds from a rest with a harris bipod and shots 5 inch groups at 300yds. eastbank.

 

[hatwerinrednek]

I am thinking about a pistol set up for deer hunting.

At the moment, I am thinking a Contender in 7-30 Waters on a Super 14" barrel. I am wondering how the is kick and what is the effective range. Anyone with experience on this?

Got any other suggestions?

im interested to see how you do with this. ive been wanting to do this for a few years now. i finaly got to shoot a guys (scoped)T/C 308 win at the range and me likey. i was standing and shooting from his wobbly shooting sticks at 150 yrds and still managed to hit the water bottle . it had a lot of recoil but it mostly kicked straight back. i dont think it was as violent as my ruger 44 mag super blackhawk . with shooting sticks and sitting im pretty sure i could do 200 yrds but i would say that would be it for me.

 

[Nomad]

I like the 7TCU with 120 Nolser Balistic Tips out to 200 yrds. The 7-30 is fine too.

 

[tahunua001]

whatever you do just do not include the characters '9' 'm' 'm' in the same sentence you you'll need to put your flame suit on.

7-30 waters sounds like a good cartridge, a little lighter than 7 mauser or 08 but better velocity over range than 30-30... one would think in a pistol though that the muzzle blast might be extreme, hope you're already deaf.

 

[mnhntr]

I thought you guys were talking about handgun hunting. This is short barrel rifle hunting your talking about. I love hunting with my Ruger BH 357 for deer, hogs and small game. I can't wait to bear hunt with it.

 

[tahunua001]

no it's handgun hunting. unless it's got a buttstock, it's a handgun. you can take a draco out and it'll still be considered a handgun and rightly so. without the buttstock you are stuck with nothign but your hands to stabilize your shot and that is the essence of handgun hunting.

 

[MCgunner]

What one considers a "handgun" is up to one's own interpretation. Personally, I'm not into the XP100s. They don't fit in a holster. I carry my scoped .30-30 contender in an Uncle Mike's shoulder holster. That's just ME. If I'm going to shoot a bolt gun, I'll put a stock on it and call it a rifle. Again, just ME. If I lived out in the trans Pecos and wanted to handgun hunt, I might just change my mind. Ranges can be long out there. When I had a lease out there, I never took my Contender. In the woods here, I'll probably just hunt with my .45 Colt Blackhawk. I've already shot game with my .357, but that .45 Colt lays the whammy down by comparison, 300 grain bullet pushing just shy of 1200 fps from a 4 5/8" barrel. It's not even loaded to max, but I ain't really THAT mad at the hogs and deer around here.

I shunned Contenders until, one day, I changed my mind and decided to see what all the squawk was about. By golly, that thing has enamored me for handgun hunting, FAR superior to any caliber revolver for shooting a long way accurately. The .30-30, with a 150 Nosler, can kill 'em dead right out to 200 yards. The catch is, you have to do YOUR part. You have to have the skills to shoot that far and place the bullet where it needs to go. As I've stated, though, my longest kill was 90 yards. That was a chip shot for the Contender and the deer went down so fast, at first, I thought I'd missed! I didn't, he was piled up in the tall grass right where I'd shot, bullet just behind the shoulder.

Anyway, limit yourself with artifical biases on what a handgun is if ya want. I like my Contender a whole heck of a lot. I have a barrel in .45 Colt, too, if I want the challenge of iron sights. It's more compact than most long barreled revolvers and even lighter than many rigs I've seen. You pay for that when you pull the trigger on that thing with a hot load in it. You can make of a Contender what you want, in a few minutes with a barrel change. I can even make a shotgun out of it. I have a .22 barrel for it that's more accurate than any rifle's I've fired, sports a 2x LER scope. The Contender/Encore system is the most versatile handgun hunting system extand IMHO. But, go ahead and knock it if ya want.

Now then, if you think the contender is a "rifle", why? Is it that it's too big to be a handgun? What do you think of a Desert Eagle? What do you think of the BFR Revolvers in .45-70 or .30-30? Those guns are bigger, bulkier, and heavier than my .45 Colt barreled Contender OR my scoped .30-30! Are THEY not handguns? Is it the superior accuracy of the Contender your problem? Hell, I'll take superior accuracy every time!

 

[brainwake]

Once you go contender...it's very hard to look at anything else. I am totally obsessed, enthralled, excited over it. Heck, I scour this forum for anyone mentioning Contender stuff....just can't get enough.

 

[Patocazador]

I have a Contender with 4 barrels and 4 XP-100s. I have had numerous screw-ups with The Contender .. NEVER with the XPs. I have one that's a repeater in .250 Savage. 14 deer with it so far.
I carry it with a short sling.

 

[MCgunner]

Once you go contender...it's very hard to look at anything else. I am totally obsessed, enthralled, excited over it. Heck, I scour this forum for anyone mentioning Contender stuff....just can't get enough.

One neat thing is, when you go to a big gun show, there's usually someone there selling contender barrels. It's cheaper to buy a barrel than a new gun and it's like getting a new gun to play with. Scope and mounts run the cost up eventually, of course.

 

[mnhntr]

no it's handgun hunting. unless it's got a buttstock, it's a handgun. you can take a draco out and it'll still be considered a handgun and rightly so. without the buttstock you are stuck with nothign but your hands to stabilize your shot and that is the essence of handgun hunting.

It was said with much sarcasm.

 

[Atom Smasher]

What do you guys think of black powder pistols on deer? I know I guy who swears by them, but I would think you'd have to get like 15 yards away to get penetration for a killshot, and even then it'd have to be broadside. It sounds pretty cool, though- very old school.

 

[MCgunner]

With a 220 grain Lee cast hollow point conical and a full load of 35 grains equivalent or such by volume of 777, fully compressed to fit in each cylinder, my Ruger Old Army shoots over 1300 fps with around 850 ft lbs of energy. This is a .457" bullet. Does that sound like it'd need to be 15 feet from a deer? I've not used it, but I likely will, to take game. Recoil is hefty enough that by the forth round, the bullets are beginning to pull enough to encounter the forcing cone. BUT, not enough to stop me from cocking the gun. I plink with piyrodex, a less powerful powder than 777, and have no bullet pull. That gun shoots under 2" at 25 yards from a bench rest, too, more than accurate enough for a 50 yard shot from a decent rest. Most I'll likely have to shoot with it is 25-40 yards.

My Pietta '58 Remmy can shoot the same charge of 777, a .44 caliber (actual;ly .451" bore) BUT, it's no where NEAR as accurate, especially with conicals, as my ROA. The 5.5" barrel would no doubt cut velocity a bit compared to the 7.5" barrel of the ROA.

If your gun is a .44 or more, is accurate enough with a heavy charge of 777 and a conical bullet, why not? Some folks swear a round ball is deadly, but I'd be a bit more comfortable shooting one of my conicals. I've always thought of doing this with the ROA, intend to in the future.

I do believe Patocazador has done this with an ROA. Maybe he can relate some more.

I love my cap and ball guns. With 777 around as a powder, they're more deadly now than ever before. I even have my Remmy loaded hanging from my headboard of my bed as a quick to reach gun. Now, I live in the sticks, not likely to ever need it, but it's loaded with RB and is as deadly now as it was in the Civil war. I wanted to hang it there in it's Buscadero rig just because it looks cool. We bought a bed with a big Texas star on the headboard, sort of the rustic look that seem to be the thing now days. I think the Remmy dresses it up perfectly and if it's gonna hang there, by golly it's gonna be loaded!