Handgun

I am retiring in April 2014 and decided I want to get serious about handgun hunting for deer in Indiana. I have been shooting, hunting and reloading for 30 years but never with handgun. For years in Indiana it was shotgun then rifles (limited) and handguns came along.

I have narrowed my choice to one of the two guns pictured a 45 Bisley or 454 SRH. I just mounted the Weigand on the SRH. Most of my shots will be 50 yards or less. Due to severe arthritis in my back and knees I cannot climb into tree stands anymore. I wear hearing aids which limits my hearing and wear glasses so maybe I should just take up knitting. I will have to see the deer because in all probability I will never hear it. For scoping the SRH I am looking at the Ultra Dot or Delta Point. Will they hold up fairly well ?

Anyone have success with ground blinds in fairly dense woods ? Any information would be great and you cam PM me if you want. I hunt on 100 acres that backs up to the Hoosier National Forest and this season I have seen many deer, once two bucks were chasing a doe. I missed.

I have been lurking here and do not post often as I feel over whelmed with the experience on this forum. You guys are great.

Bad pictueres hmm

You cant go wrong with either one. The .454 loaded to spec is overkill on whitetails. However since you reload you could load it down to strong .45lc levels. Since you intend to put a red dot on it, go with the SRH. Otherwise you'll have to d&t the bisley. The ultra dot is the way to go with red dots and easier on the wallet than the deltapoint.

You were referencing the thumbnail image in the URL not the full-size one. I fixed it for you.

The best advise I can give is to practice the shooting position that you'll be using in the field. If you're in a blind, sitting in a chair with a back allows you to lean back and cross your left leg over your right knee and steady your shot by putting your left forearm on your left leg.

Either would do the job well but as was mentioned the SRH is almost ready now. I have a srh in 480 with ultradot 30 & love it. Neither the gun or sight have ever let me down.

Ultradot holds up well. Whitworth has been using them for a while and regards them highly. He uses them on big boomers without a hiccup. I put one on my 500JRH and love it. Either platform will be fine. While I do agree with lefty I would not hesitate to put one on my Ruger Bisley 45LC. The Bisley will be lighter and handier in my opinion. But with a ground blind you can use some shooting sticks if the 454 feels heavy. A ground blind will work nicely in dense woods(what we have in Florida). The key is to put the ground blind up early so the deer get used to it being there. Also, practice shooting with the sticks. I have the Bogpod with PSR. Check them out.

Have not owned an Ultra but there are probably hundreds of positive testimonial on the forum. I have several Delta's and have had one mounted on my 454 on and off the last couple of years. Seems to be holding up.

But, the sight picture and acquisition of the dot is significantly different between a tube style red dot (I have/had several different types) and the Delta. The Delta takes more practice, and the higher above the bore the trickier it is to find.

Not sure whether your arthritis has made it your hands, but the lock screw and adjustment screws on the Delta are very small, and a little tricky with the torx wrenches or even replacement screwdriver/bits.

Craig

I second that sentiment. If new to an optic on a revolver I would suggest a tube dot just for that reason. I switched to a tube on my #1 revolver because it is simply quicker to get on target than the reflex sight.

Thanks Gary for fixing my picture my hands are OK but my back and knees kill me last deer I shot was two years ago with a lever action 44 mag. I plan to practice in different positions. Is there a good holster for the SRH and an Ultra Dot. Amazon has some. What about rings I still have the Ruger rings that came with the gun but a gun shop said the Weigand was better ?

If you can use the Ruger rings I would do so. An Ultradot 25 will fit in the standard 1" rings. If your rings are new you can trade with Ruger for some 30mm rings for a larger FOV, but I have no problems with the 1" tubes.

Hi Mad Dog,

I would recommend a Pistol Packaging Bandito Rig for your Ultradot equipped Super Redhawk. That is what I carry mine in and it works great. Also, I would recommend the Ruger rings, either the 1" that came with the gun or the 30MM variety, which is what I use with the 30MM Ultradot.


Best of luck to you!

Darrell H

The rings that come with the Ultradot 1" of 30mm are quite functional.

Keep in mind the 30mm UltraDot MatchDot (variable dot) will not fit the Ruger 30mm rings, have to use a rail type mount.

You're right, but the Ultradot 30 fits between the Ruger rings like it was designed for that application.

I like the rig Darrell and think I will get an Ultra dot 30 and use the Ruger rings Thanks everyone Now any ideas for loads I am partial to 300 XTP
Using the Ruger rings allow for the rear sight to stay on just in case Mr Murphy shows up

Mad dog, Like you I'm an XTP fan but I haven't been able to get acceptable accuracy with the 300 grain XTP in either of my 454's. I came up with two loads that work in both my SRH 454 and the FA 83 454; a 335 grain WLNGC cast load and the 325 grain Swift A-frame. I use W296 in both loads. I use the cast load for practice and hunting and the A-frame load for hunting only (due to cost).

I personally think that it would be hard to go wrong with the 300 grain XTP if your 454 shoots it well. Best of luck with your project!

One other piece of advice that I will offer is to use blue loctite on the nut that attaches the Ruger rings to the frame of the SRH. Mine kept coming loose until I applied a drop of loctite to each ring...problem solved.

I'm in Northern Indiana and now only hunt with a handgun. SRH in 44 Mag, 1" Ultra Dot or rear aperture sight.

I prefer the rear peep sight and fiber optic front bead for the kind of ranges we have around here (less than 50 yards). The nice thing about the peep sight is that it will fit into a standard holster. I just can't get comfortable with a bandolier type holster.

The UltraDot is definitely the way to go for a red dot and it did significantly improve my shooting. I just now prefer the simple rear peep.

I've taken hogs out west and deer in Indiana with both the Ultra Dot and the peep in low light conditions. Both worked well. The rear peep was purchased from Warren - http://www.warrencustomoutdoor.com/ohs-ruger.html

If you are looking for an Ultra Dot, Amazon.com was the cheapest I found....

My Ultra Dot will be here today and I have been reloading some 300XTP I had. I think I will get some different bullets maybe some 325. Indiana is having a doe only season from 12-26 to 01-05 but I will use my shotgun to finish the season while I get use to my SRH. Thanks for all the advice. I really like the holster, does leather hold up fairly well ?

That may or may not be good advise, as sometimes that blue Loctite on small screws will take a lot of heat to break loose if you ever have a need to take it off.

I recommend and use purple Loctite on those small screws and have never had one shoot loose and they will break loose with just a little more torque than normal with whatever hand tool you're using.

Clear fingernail polish works well for non stressed applications too.

I use the clear nail polish too. Never had an issue and so much easier to remove.