Revolver or Single Shot?

I am a new poster here but have been visiting this website for a long time, it is great.
I notice that there are those hunters here that lean toward single shots and those that seem to prefer revolvers. And there are also some that seem to be 50-50 so to speak, they use both.

It would be interesting to find out how this "split" goes... Let's hear from you: which do you prefer: Single shot? Or revolver?

Or 50-50? Or???? Total equals 100.

I am a 65 single shot and 35 revolver hunter.

Single Shot. Closed Breech equals more fun. Just my opinion.

Yes!!!

Before I began handgun hunting I tried T/C in a .243 and a .357 mag revolver from a friend. I shot a lot thru each and ended up a
revolver guy. 460 S&W XVR to be exact. Really is a preference. The real goal needs to stay shot placement. 100% revolver

SS the majority of the time and revolver every once in a while for hunting.

Revolvers 99.5% of the time, every spring I break out the XP100 & make life miserable for the many rock chucks in the area. I take quite a few of them with the revolver also but when shooting 200-500 yds & beyond the revolver just won't cut the mustard.
The accuracy of a good single shot in the hands of an experienced shooter is almost hard to imagine if you haven't seen it before. Using a good backpack, shooting sticks or, like me, the back of my 4 wheeler is a deadly combination.

Dick

100% single shot

i dearly love the single shot handguns, and my favorite is the contender. i like a revolver really well also, but the single shot gives me so many advantages and versatility for my uses.

50%++ of my interests are in accurate shooting and reloading. a TC is a reloaders dream come true. easy barrel changes put you in another cartridge to shoot/reload/hunt with in minutes. if extreme accuracy for a bench gun is the goal, a nice xp 100 would be hard to beat

depending on the "spot" i choose to hunt, a revolver could be great also, and i'd like to have a couple more. but there are just too many "open areas" not to take advantage of with extended range capability of ss pistols over revolvers. yeah....i can get closer. i used to bow hunt also. but if i can watch for and see more deer crossing 200yrd openings, i will, and a revolver is not the best choice.

i WON'T say a revolver or straightwall cartridge is boring....but there is nothing much a guy can't do with one, that he couldn't do with another on deer size game. i guess what i'm trying to say is....(for example)....if you have a 7 1/2" 44mag....you can use it for any deer hunting at short range. dead is dead. i don't "need" anything else revolverwise.

All revolver. I like to hunt and shoot close. Just more of a challenge to me. Its not about the kill as much as how I do it.

90-10 in favor of the revolver. I do like the capability of singles but the fun has always been in a wheel gun for me. They feel good in the hand carry easy on the hip and theirs just so much thats american tied to revolvers.

I would have to say 60% SS and 40% revolver. Although I have yet to find a revolver that feels as good at the Ruger Bisley when hunting.

Single shot 99% of the time.

I can't think of a single instance where I have said "a revolver would have made this shot easier" but I can think of a time or two that I want packin' a wheelgun and wished I had my single shots!!

First off, let me say that I am relatively new to handgun hunting, and learn something every time I come on this site it seems. I've hunted the last three years with a Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt w/open sights. I was fortunate enough to take two deer with it out to 35 yards and was quite happy w/myself. I will admit, I was close minded about the T/C's and such, and thought they were an abomination to "real" handgunning. In the last two months I have expanded my horizons and now own an Encore in 7-08, and .22lr, and have a Contender in 30-30 on the way. For all the reasons mentioned above, especially reloading, which I enjoy as much or more than shooting, these guns have really grown on me. I realize I was close minded and now have something else to play with if you will. The accuracy is there, but it is a whole new endeavor to learn to shoot one of these guns in the field, at least up to their potential, and I have wholeheartedly accepted that challenge. I guess to sum it up, I was only hurting myself by snubbing these guns w/o at least giving them a try. I wont be getting rid of my sixguns by any means, but I'm glad I opened up to something new. And again, thanks to all you guys who contribute here, you are a wealth of knowledge that makes the learning curve a whole lot easier on those of us just starting out.

It really comes down to personal preference and hunting situation. Where I hunt I will take the wheel gun every time, unless I have the 44 barrel on the frame. I do not have a long enough shot to justify the bottle neck calibers.
If I hunted in open areas then I would take the Contender more often.
To me the wheel gun is more "feet on the ground" type hunting. Still hunting through timber or stalking a bedded buck. Not to say it cannot be accomplished with a Contender. The Contender is more field edge, sitting and watching.
Both are fun and both have their place in the hunting woods.

50/50 for me. I just love handgun's and hunting with them, regardless of what kind it is. I have T/C's and wheelguns. Currently do not have a bolt SP, but could possibly have one in the future.

Right on Rick!

Ditto...

I hunt with a revolver 100% of the time, and often have a Striker, XP or 'Tender along with in a shoulder rig or single point sling.

I hunt with a revolver 100% of the time,I like the easier packin. Truth is I just always like revolvers. Besides hunting with revolvers there seems like there is something more to admire about those good DA's & SA's to me.Not to say I would'nt have a single shot. I don't have the single shot itch yet ,but any handgun single or revolver that can be used for hunting game interest me.
For now its the revolver all the way.

I own and use both, but the ssp's get the 'nod' more often of late.

I have taken some very nice animals with both revolvers and single shots. The type of terrain we hunt obviously is a major factor in what we choose to use, but also how we hunt affects that choice. Meaning, I live where in some places I can hunt the timber for deer or elk with a revolver, or I can hunt the same basic areas by spotting and stalking, just depending on how I choose to go about it and get set up. That said, plus I hunt a lot in the wide open spaces of Wyoming for antelope and deer and prairie dogs, I would say that I am a 30% Revolver and 70% Single Shot hunter.

I use revolvers all the time,but like Dan B. said there have been times where a specialty pistol would have allowed me a shot that I couldn't take because of my choice to use revolvers,but for me that's just fine.But I wouldn't mind having a sp to fool around with.

Usually, I take a sp pistol and wear a sort barred revolver on my side as a back up. They just compliment each other well.

OH Man...?????? well if I have to put a figure on it for overall hunting 30% revolver and 70% single shot. When it comes to charlies 10% revolver 90% single shot.

I like both and am about 50-50; on Single shots I use scopes but on revolvers I use scopes, red dots and iron sights

I carry both either a TC or Savage striker and a .45 LC Bisley or blackhawk.Why limit your options.reach out and touch,or close your covered.This way you dont make one of your guns mad at you for leaving it home.

I started my handgun hunting with SSs. For the last several years I have only used revolvers. While they limit me (or I limit myself) to about 125 yds or so, that is part of the fun for me.

Started with revolvers, and thanks to the nice people on here, now have some SS's in the mix...still consider myself a revolver guy to the tune of about 80/20

100% revolver all the way! S&W 629 classic, Magnum Research BFR in 454, & S&W XVR in 460 magnum. I think I pretty much have all the bases covered up to 150 yds. where I hunt in Pa.

I prefer the look & feel of revolvers. Hammer clicks & all that! I've had a Contender. There are times I'd like to fiddle w/XPs, Lone Eagles, & Competitors. I like the mid grips. Nothing beats a big bore revolver on the hip though.

For me right now it's 90% wheelguns and 10% SS. I'm tring to get into the SS more but they just don't trip my trigger like the big wheelguns do. Years ago i had a XP-100 in 7mm BR it was fun,but i felt (for me anyway) that it didn't provide the challenges i was looking for.

My first handgun was a Contender and I had success with it hunting so I was hooked on single shots. I bought a .357 mag revolver but it did not float my boat. I then got into .44 mag revolvers but the single shots still prevailed. Things began to change once I got my Raging Bull .454. I still hunted with the single shots that I had. They gave me a better chance to have hunting success here in Colorado. Actually my first deer with a handgun was a 246 yard kill with my .375 JDJ Contender. I really do not see any advantage that a rifle has over a single shot specialty pistol. I still have a hard time thinking of a single shot as a handgun. They do not feel as good in the hand as a revolver. I do think that revolvers are more of a challenge. I used my .500 S&W when I got my bison. I asked myself before the hunt which type of weapon would give me more satisfaction. The revolver won hands down. My back-up weapon was my .375-06 JDJ Encore. I had that because I really wanted to get a bison and if I could not get close enough for my Smith I knew that the single shot would reach out and get the job done. I guess right now at this moment I'm more of a revolver man but that could change.

Recoil

I carry both here in the North woods of Pa. when walking the old logging roads I can go from a 20 yard shot to a 200 yard shot in a pretty short time period. It's nice to be able to cover both. I'm a walk a little, sit a little kind of hunter so I cover a fair amount of area in a normal hunting day. I'd say I'm 50 - 50 revolver to Single shot hunter. Single shot on a sling and revolver on the hip every time I go out, that's what works for me.

Randy, The Birddog.

Iv converted all to SS's. Sold all my wheel guns. Got lone eagles, Contenders and a Custom XP on the way. Take that back IV got a 22 in a wheel gun.

i love my wheel guns, maybe I have an old spirit but it works for me

I am a revolver guy. Nothing against Encores and the like they just don't float my boat.

I like the challenge of getting close to game and really HUNTING instead of sniping game at long range. I have hunted without a rifle for 5 seasons now and have taken a lot of small game and varmints but so far I have failed to kill any big game animals. I missed a big bull elk this fall with a iron sighted 475 Linebaugh at 90 yards or so. To have failed on my terms was fine, to have killed that bull with a rifle to me now would have been a failure.

If you understand great, if you don't I can't explain it to you...

Thats why they make different ones. Im sure glad they do so I can spend all this money.:)

Quote from Fowler: "I like the challenge of getting close to game and really HUNTING instead of sniping game at long range."

OOOhh that really is a loaded statement, good buddy.

As has been said previous, everybody has their "own boat to float" so I don't know that you should refer to Single Shot Pistol hunters as (not) "really hunting."

just my humble opinion.

Here we go again.

I think they both have their advantages... When hunting game at longer distances you usually will see more game. IMHO, your hunting skills have to be honed differently for close range hunting. Not better or worse. In short, I think they both have their challenges.

EXACTLY!!

I respect the fact that we all enjoy the challenge of getting our game one way or the other. I envy those that can get close to their game and get their critter with a revolver. I also admire those of us that can reach out and touch one at a distance. I have done both. Killing an unsuspecting animal in a meadow 500 yards or more away involves a different set of skills. Both methods have their worth. We all need to stick together that is the key.

Recoil

short range....or long range(speaking of 200yrds+). i don't see either one as being easier than the other....in their own way. i do not see short range being a an exceptional "challenge" myself. in the wooded country, getting close to a deer is not hard at all if you know their travel routes. under the tree....could jump on their back....lol.

likewise, a longer range deer is not that hard with a ss handgun if you know your trajectories etc, and are well practiced in shooting.

i guess if you are stalking/still hunting....any method will be a "challenge"! ....and you must just love being out there....cause you ain't gonna kill as many!....and ya might wish for a lil luck to get a true trophy animal.

Who cares if its long or short range, as long as your hunting! I may be backwards, but I have been bowhunting for years, but now want to get into long range hunting as well. I think it would be sooo cool to knock something over from a looooong way off.

Chris

Chris......I did the same thing for years. I archery hunted exclusively for years. Then got into handguns and like tipping overgame at LR now!

Ok Ok I didn't mean that the way it sounded. For me handgun hunting is trying to get into 50 to 75 yards, not shooting 500 yards at game. Yes some of you can and do shoot big game at these long ranges with your bolt action/Encore handguns, and in skilled hands I have nothing against that.

I have killed game at 450+ yards with 300 mag rifles for me it lost its thrill, it became not what I was looking for in hunting. To me killing game at long range is more about shooting. Like I said it no longer floats my boat. Revolvers took that option away when the situation arose that I knew I could kill a elk in a given situation but didn't have the courage to sneak in closer. Now I have to get closer and it has made all the difference for me personnally.

Close & long range have different meanings depending on the tool you use AND your skill level. Not directed at present company, but the most accurate load, XP wiz-bang in a 40 watt range won't help w/out a little skill derived from practice. You guys already know this though. I like revolvers more because I always wanted to be cowboy. LOL

Why is it everything I seem to post over here comes off wrong and I sound like a ass? Those who know me know I am not really that way...

I promise I am not a troll

Aw shucks, you don't sound THAT bad

That probably wouldn't help my case...

It is hard to communicate well and easy to be misunderstood on the web-It's okay.
Throughout the year I will hunt extremely close up to way far out. I do a little bit of all of it, for the diversity and fun.

OK I will drive over and smack him for all of us.

He really is an OK guy...he reloads .44 magnum for me on my Dillon Square Deal B press that I loaned him!!! And he casts me bullets...
with some of the stuff I loaned him. LOL

Fowler, you are OK! (I won't tell anybody but he actually said that he would use my Encore to smack an elk while I filmed it for my next video "if he couldn't get close enough for the revolver")!!!

So busted...

Fowler, I understand what your talking about

I carry and use both. I have some Ruger Bisleys tuned and customized by some great 'smiths (Stroh, Bowen and Clements and gripped by Kolar and Fishpaw) and 2 T/C's by Bellm and Shot's (ok ok, end of unsolicited endorsement and commercial). They are just toooo cool not to hunt with.
Now for pot-stirring time: since I started handgun hunting, I kinda look at rifles as "deer sniping", too. I have my first few with rifles, but think that I have progressed to the next level. Not chumping anyone who rifle-hunts...at least they are in the woods, so they have just as much of a voice. Besides, pistol hunters are still looked at as the "lunatic fringe" when it comes to big game hunting. I, for one, am damn glad to be numbered in these ranks!!! It is just a different skill set.
Besides, I relish the looks that I get from the guys in my club when I drag in a deer shot with my short gun...

I have not gone away but jsut been lerking and watching and not posting: Thank you all for over 50 responses and I belive all have learned from the others here ...it is a Real Good Mix of people here!

I'm still experimenting. I have had several wheel guns and one other bolt gun and am working on another bolt gun. One of these days I will decide that I need them all and will hunt with any of them.