Dumb Barrel Length Question?

nwhunter said:
I have always had a weakness for short barrel big bore pistols.
That Ruger looks like a good bear country backup.
I tore my right wrist up shooting a 4" S&W29 I had with some Garrett 300 grain loads. The pistol had Pachmayer grips on it and the first shot with those hot loads felt someone had stabbed me with a knife. Later found i had detached the tendon. So, I tamed down what I allow myself to shoot in handguns. If I had had wood grips on the 29, I would never have had that problem. Those rubber grips work to well at times.
Anyway, nice pistol.
Click to expand...
NWHunter -

I read your post with considerable interest. What exactly did you mean by saying that wood grips would have eliminated the problem?

A 4 inch S&W 29 is a fairly lightweight revolver for full power .44 Magnum loads in my opinion. And even more so for those Garrett 300 grain loads.

Personally I have shot a number of various 300 grain loads through a 4 inch M629. I liked carrying the gun, but I did not like shooting those loads.

My revolver had Pachmayr grips on it which I thought helped with the recoil somewhat, but basically I felt that continued shooting of those loads was going to ruin my wrists and hands, regardless of what grip was on the gun.

I now have arthritic thumbs, and shooting loads like that is out of the question anymore. So my current carry loads are somewhere in the area of a stiff .44 Special, if that. Even at that level, the recoil is a bit stout so I may soon be reduced to ordinary .44 Specials.

I think those might actually work better for my purposes anyway. Particularly if I have to shoot with one hand.

Last spring a young man who was hunting for shed elk antlers ended up having to do exactly that. He ran into a mad sow grizzly at close range, and the bear was all over him.

He had a borrowed handgun which the bear promptly knocked away, and by some miracle, he was able to get that handgun back. He ended up killing the sow grizzly while shooting one handed with the bear on him, and having to use the arm that the sow grizzly had already torn up pretty badly.

The range was at contact distance, and he was incredibly lucky to have survived the encounter.

I think about that scenario and I think it might be better to have a less powerful load that I could manage with a single hand under tough circumstances.

The young man killed the sow grizzly with a .357 Magnum that he had never fired before!

Wyowind
 
Well, legalities aside I would assume that with the quality hunting bullet you can hunt deer-sized game as far out as you can hit say a six or eight inch circle.

I used to hunt with a 7 1/2" Ruger Super Blackhawk for years in Alaska. It was the best deer gun I used. The weather was always raining snowy and crappy and long shots really didn't present themselves very often. With a rest I could hit a 6-in circle every time at 100 yards.

That was after a lot of practice with a 22 and the 44.

I was on a budget so I used Winchester white box 240 grain soft point bullets. They work really well without overexpanding and they're not too expensive.

So I guess it just depends some people can shoot revolvers really well some people can't.

I love 1911's but I can't shoot them with beans...
 
testlight said:
Well, legalities aside I would assume that with the quality hunting bullet you can hunt deer-sized game as far out as you can hit say a six or eight inch circle.

I used to hunt with a 7 1/2" Ruger Super Blackhawk for years in Alaska. It was the best deer gun I used. The weather was always raining snowy and crappy and long shots really didn't present themselves very often. With a rest I could hit a 6-in circle every time at 100 yards.

That was after a lot of practice with a 22 and the 44.

I was on a budget so I used Winchester white box 240 grain soft point bullets. They work really well without overexpanding and they're not too expensive.

So I guess it just depends some people can shoot revolvers really well some people can't.

I love 1911's but I can't shoot them with beans...
Click to expand...
I just ordered a Rock Island 5" 1911 from Palmetto State Armory. I can't wait until it gets here. Maybe I'll hunt with that! LOL
 
Wyowind said:
NWHunter -

I read your post with considerable interest. What exactly did you mean by saying that wood grips would have eliminated the problem?

A 4 inch S&W 29 is a fairly lightweight revolver for full power .44 Magnum loads in my opinion. And even more so for those Garrett 300 grain loads.

Personally I have shot a number of various 300 grain loads through a 4 inch M629. I liked carrying the gun, but I did not like shooting those loads.

My revolver had Pachmayr grips on it which I thought helped with the recoil somewhat, but basically I felt that continued shooting of those loads was going to ruin my wrists and hands, regardless of what grip was on the gun.

I now have arthritic thumbs, and shooting loads like that is out of the question anymore. So my current carry loads are somewhere in the area of a stiff .44 Special, if that. Even at that level, the recoil is a bit stout so I may soon be reduced to ordinary .44 Specials.

I think those might actually work better for my purposes anyway. Particularly if I have to shoot with one hand.

Last spring a young man who was hunting for shed elk antlers ended up having to do exactly that. He ran into a mad sow grizzly at close range, and the bear was all over him.

He had a borrowed handgun which the bear promptly knocked away, and by some miracle, he was able to get that handgun back. He ended up killing the sow grizzly while shooting one handed with the bear on him, and having to use the arm that the sow grizzly had already torn up pretty badly.

The range was at contact distance, and he was incredibly lucky to have survived the encounter.

I think about that scenario and I think it might be better to have a less powerful load that I could manage with a single hand under tough circumstances.

The young man killed the sow grizzly with a .357 Magnum that he had never fired before!

Wyowind
Click to expand...
I think wood being less grippy will rotate in your hand more, transferring less shock to your joints. I shot left-handed for over a year after tearing up my right wrist and now have a plate instead of a joint in my wrist. I have learned to live with it. I sold all my 44 mags so I would be less likely to screw up my wrist again, I don't know what the next step would be. I still have a S&W 45 LC mountain gun with a 4" barrel but only shoot cowboy level loads in it. I have a charter arms bulldog in 44 special as well as 2nd model hand ejector s&w in 44 special. I have carried the bulldog with me as a backup, its light and easy to carry. It has Pachmayer grips, but it is so hard to hold onto with an Elmer Keith style load because the grips are smaller, I feel better about it. I have used it to dispatch an elk after jamming a gun, I worry more about human predator's more than animals even when hunting to be honest. If I were to hunt Alaka again and wanted a backup, I would probably take my 400 Corbon 1911. It comes close to being a 10mag. Penetration tests I have done show it has considerably more penetration than any 45acp load. I have not compared to the 45lc or the 44 specials but believe it would be very comparable and might exceed them. And it is heavy enough to be accurate with 8 quick shots if needed. I carry a 45 in a shoulder holster most days, so I am used to having it on me.
 
I can't hit a 6" plate with my 4" SW500 and do not have the pain tolerance to practice enough at long range with that gun. I can consistently get 1st round hits and fairly quick 2nd and third round hits at 10-20 yards. I try to focus on purpose built guns. I also don't won't to carry more weight than needed. If I was in situation where a bear or any other living beast was charging toward me with intent to kill me, give me the most powerful gun I can shoot at short range. Stopping power is the key to survival IMO.
 
Ive shot my 3 various 4'' S&W 44'S for 35 years.Id have no problem shooting a deer at 100.I run 300's in the airlite for bear,did in the mountain lite too.Shot bears with them,deer on chance. My sons taken bear with his 40 mm
 
Have a Dan Wesson .44 with barrels from 4-10" and have tried it with no barrel fair increase in recoil without any weight out front and velocity was about 700 fps iirc. Not impressed, and the accuracy left a lot to be desired with no front sight.
 
I think I would be wearing welders glasses for the muzzle flash.! At 2 3/4" I would set it up on a 10' pole so I could get distance to target. An old school State Police armorer I knew would call this 2 bar stool gun. Which equates the total distance he would feel comfortable shooting accurately. Gotta believe the recoil is lovely. Hopefully some nice BIG Presidential grips on it.!!
 
That is a bear defense rig, not a hunting rig.

Your range would be limited to as far as you can hit a 5" pie plate consistently with a quick shot. Most likely that's not going to be any further than 10yds.

With such a short barrel the recoil and muzzle blast are going to be very nasty.

If you want one to hunt with you'd be miles ahead trading that one off and buying a 6-8" model.

With my 8.25" 44m Taurus I was able to kill hogs and deer to 100yds open sights. With the right scope, a good rest, and some practice you could probably extend that a bit.

My "carry guns" in the field are Taurus 5 shot titanium models in both 44M and 41RM. Each hast 4.25" barrels and I've shot hogs with them to 75yds and a couple of nice deer just a bit further.

They are handy, quick, light and extremely accurate but you'll have to try and find them used because they haven't been made in a long time.

Don't make a mistake and get the "ultra light" which is all titanium with a sleeved barrel. They are too light and not at all a pleasure to shoot.
 

Similar threads

unclefish
Moose hunt Newfoundland QUESTIONS
Replies
9
Views
4K
GreatCanadian
GreatCanadian
B
Hunting questions for the Nevada folks
Replies
2
Views
3K
m98
M

Recent Posts

Top