Hunting Handgun Opinions

[KYODE]

Never fire a gun without hearing protection …..brake or not!!
I must admit to using 35 Remington contender hunting without. Still dumb but it does not ring the ears like most.

6.5 Creedmoor or 243?…..never had the 6.5, but I know it is a great one. Be a Tough choice, but the creed does add more bullet weight if you feel you need it. The 243 does go good with your other rifles and loading components.
The 7-08 is a good round and can be found in factory 15" barrels. Mine shoots as good as a custom.

You can adapt a rifle forend to any of them. Highly recommend it.

If using a custom, have it made with rifle screw spacing.
If using a factory 15"handgun barrel, have a rifle forend made that accepts both rifle AND pistol spacing. Tony's forends and stocks is one that does that. There may be other options as well.

 

[ChrisRhodes]

I don't believe game knows much difference between the various short action offerings…..just pick what you want.

The manufactures offer the correct twist for the tc barrels with HUNTING bullets. You don't need to go seek out a faster twist and you won't need a target/high bc bullet for your 400 yards shooting and in. Use a proven hunting bullet.

 

[KYODE]

Bullet ballistic coefficient is not something I have ever considered for hunting eastern Ky. I've never needed to for the hollers, hills, and small fields. 200 yrds is long range for me. Of course you can find longer ranges here if you really try to find it.
West vs East is much different in general I'm sure.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Savage is building a bolt action pistol again, but it's in a 12" barrel. It seems as though you could find one in 6.5 Creed, but I'm a bit on the fence about that short of a barrel in 6.5..
As to what scopes, etc., I have a 1.5-4x Burris on my 300wsm Striker pistol and a straight 4x Leupy on my 7-08 Striker. Both pistols have the Savage brake; we run muffs when hunting them.

 

[Coach Jay]

6.5 Grendel and 350 legend are a decent option, both easy to handle.
Have seen any but a 6 arc would be a sweet ride, as well

 

[Coach Jay]

I'm in process of building another 8.6 pistol, no stock/brace on a micro chassis. Suppressed of course.

 

[Airedale56]

Wyoming finally relaxed caliber restrictions (sorta) a few years ago to allow .22 caliber on wolves (in the Trophy Game zones) and lions, antelope and deer, BUT one is required to use a 62 grain bullet or heavier.

I'm pretty sure the Barnes 52 TSX would sail right through all of those critters.
Maybe a wolf will show up in the predator zone and someone can test the theory…

ALSO interesting is (finally) the allowance of buckshot and slugs for hunting…

Silencers got green-lighted in 2013.

 

[Buttermilk]

For what you describe as your potential hunting scenarios and conditions, the T/C platform would work nicely. The Contender is the lighter option, while the Encore is a bit larger, heavier and will handle more potent cartridges.

It would be hard to beat a T/C Encore in 7mm-08, 308, 30-06, 260, 6.5CM, among many others.

The Contender would serve nicely as well in 7-30 Waters, 30-30 AI, etc.

An XP-100 with a 15" barrel contoured to keep weight down would also suffice quite nicely, which is what I use now in place of a T/C Encore. Mine is chambered in 7mm-08 and shoots the Nosler 150 ABLR pretty decent.

The T/C platforms are smaller, lighter and perhaps more handy to some degree (although my 7mm-08 XP is quite balanced, perhaps more so than the Encore).

At the end of the day, you have to get what you want and set it up like you prefer.

 

[CRP003]

Tc as mentioned, I used a 308 and still use the 338 federal in pistol configuration with rifle forend and bipod. It thumps pretty good. It works great with its trigger done.

I am also contemplating buying one of these pistols but not super familiar with them to know if it's a good deal.

 

[Upsidedownjack]

CRP300. Both are Rem XP 100's. The cal I can't see, but——-. If you're looking for a Bolt action pistol, truly nothing wrong with the XP 100. Buy one? Or BUY BOTH

 

[Ernie]

Tc as mentioned, I used a 308 and still use the 338 federal in pistol configuration with rifle forend and bipod. It thumps pretty good. It works great with its trigger done.

I am also contemplating buying one of these pistols but not super familiar with them to know if it's a good deal.

If you want to know more about XP-100's, send me a private message, and I should be able to answer most of your questions.
The factory one (The one on the left) with the brown Zytel stock, White diamond on the forend/Ribbed barrel should be a 221 Fireball.