Sealesniper
Well-Known Member
Get what works best for you and your current calibers, but I love the 7mm-08 for a deer killing Encore round. Very accurate, and with my handloads it whacks them and normally drops them in their tracks.
Hunting Handgun Opinions
- Thread starter David W Strait
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I have a 510 in 7mm-08 and it is very accurate.
Critter Picker
Well-Known Member
I have an Encore in. 308 that with 150's is very comfortable to shoot. With 165's it isn't bad. A long range session will give me sore elbows. I see the barrels for sale often. You can order a new one from EA Brown. His accuracy barrels shoot very well.
CVA-444
Member
I've got a Steiker with an older Burris 1.5-4 the cross hairs are so fine I can barely use them.
I've got a CVA rechambered to 444 Marlin with Leupold fixed 4 power.
And a CVA 6.5 Grendel with 2-7 Weaver.
The Leupold is my favorite for clarity however no longer produced. So EBay is your best option. Weaver seems alright kind of just basic. But it has worked to take deer. So can't really knock it for the price. The Burris is an older model I know nothing about but it's my least favorite for clarity and the cross hairs being almost invisible because they are so fine.
If you aren't dead set on a cartridge I can highly suggest the 6.5 Grendel if you aren't going for any large game bigger than white tail. It's awesome in the CVA. Very accurate and every deer so far has been bang flop DRT.
I've got a CVA rechambered to 444 Marlin with Leupold fixed 4 power.
And a CVA 6.5 Grendel with 2-7 Weaver.
The Leupold is my favorite for clarity however no longer produced. So EBay is your best option. Weaver seems alright kind of just basic. But it has worked to take deer. So can't really knock it for the price. The Burris is an older model I know nothing about but it's my least favorite for clarity and the cross hairs being almost invisible because they are so fine.
If you aren't dead set on a cartridge I can highly suggest the 6.5 Grendel if you aren't going for any large game bigger than white tail. It's awesome in the CVA. Very accurate and every deer so far has been bang flop DRT.
@David W Strait, I am a little late to the party, but I will throw my $0.02 in here.
First, I cannot understand why you can hunt deer in WV with a 22-250 rifle, but it has to be .24 caliber or larger for a handgun (bottle-necked cartridge, .357 for straight). It is something that I have written in to the WV DNR about multiple times, but being a non-resident landowner doesn't carry as much weight as being a voting resident, I guess.
That being said, If you want to use an Encore, the BR cartridges (either 6mm or 7mm) are great in shorter barrels. Another really good choice is a 6ARC or 6.5 Grendel. If you want to go shorter than 14" then I would recommend one of the TCU cartridges, even in an Encore. I have a 10.5" 7TCU barrel for my Encore and it is just plain fun to shoot. It will hammer deer as well.
If you want to go a bit lighter and go with a Contender, then my two favorite cartridges for hunting are the 7-30 Waters and the 7TCU. Both use very easy to find brass, load very easily, and will drop deer with authority. I use the 120 grain Nosler BT in both of those rounds.
Here is an older picture of a smaller GA buck that fell to my Contender in 7TCU. The second and third pics are the entry and exits. Shot was 96 yards.
First, I cannot understand why you can hunt deer in WV with a 22-250 rifle, but it has to be .24 caliber or larger for a handgun (bottle-necked cartridge, .357 for straight). It is something that I have written in to the WV DNR about multiple times, but being a non-resident landowner doesn't carry as much weight as being a voting resident, I guess.
That being said, If you want to use an Encore, the BR cartridges (either 6mm or 7mm) are great in shorter barrels. Another really good choice is a 6ARC or 6.5 Grendel. If you want to go shorter than 14" then I would recommend one of the TCU cartridges, even in an Encore. I have a 10.5" 7TCU barrel for my Encore and it is just plain fun to shoot. It will hammer deer as well.
If you want to go a bit lighter and go with a Contender, then my two favorite cartridges for hunting are the 7-30 Waters and the 7TCU. Both use very easy to find brass, load very easily, and will drop deer with authority. I use the 120 grain Nosler BT in both of those rounds.
Here is an older picture of a smaller GA buck that fell to my Contender in 7TCU. The second and third pics are the entry and exits. Shot was 96 yards.
Varmint Hunter
Well-Known Member
At one point I was hunting with a TC Encore pistol in 444Marlin. It was a blast to shoot - literally. I had no problem maintaining minute-of-whitetail at 200yds.
WV Hitman
Well-Known Member
I've done deer easily out to 400 yds. with my 6mmAI Encore & .250 Sav. AI XP and 550 yds. with my 6.5/.284 XP Recoil is a non issue with these. I use 3-12 Burris BPLexes on all of them. They account for about 60-70% of my 2815 handgun deer kills.
As far as Contender rounds, I've done around 300 with my 6.5JDJ and .309 JDJ out to 350. I did use a 6.5TCU on around 20 deer. Some ran, some didn't. Not my first choice, but deadly on groundhogs & non existent recoil.
As far as Contender rounds, I've done around 300 with my 6.5JDJ and .309 JDJ out to 350. I did use a 6.5TCU on around 20 deer. Some ran, some didn't. Not my first choice, but deadly on groundhogs & non existent recoil.
Critter Picker
Well-Known Member
The first 2 years that I lived in Wisconsin ,I could hunt with my .44 mag,but I couldn't legally hunt with my .445 Dan Wesson. Go figure.
