early hunting handguns
#198407
03/29/2019 6:37 PM
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 9,715
jamesfromjersey
OP
Shootist
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OP
Shootist
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 9,715 |
I recently posted photos of my current hunting handgun collection and I thank you for all your positive reply`s. This picture shows my battery a few years after I began to hunt with a handgun. Clockwise from top left: S&W 22 lr/mag - S&W M-19 - Colt Python - S&W 44 Spec. that I had made with 44 barrel and cylinder for more power then my 357 - Dominator 30-30... Took deer with the Python and 30-30... What were your early hunting handguns????
Life member-NRA-SCI Member-HHI #2900-HHASA #067 Colt-Ruger-Freedom Arms-and S&W Collector Assoc.s "I have more guns then I need but not as many as I want" "Handgun hunters HAVE to be good"
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: jamesfromjersey]
#198417
03/29/2019 10:55 PM
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,332
Randy M
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veteran
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,332 |
Very nice James. Thanks for posting these pics. You truly are an ambassador for handgun hunters.
The meat won't fry if the lead don't fly.
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: Randy M]
#198418
03/29/2019 11:12 PM
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 3,625
Raptortrapper
Shooting Master
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Shooting Master
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 3,625 |
My very very first hunting handgun was a Smith and Wesson 460 XVR. Thought since it could shoot three different chamberings, it would be my one and only hunting handgun.
WRONG!!!!!
A lot of people are like a slinky: Not much fun till you push them down the stairs!
Lifetime Member of the NRA! Wish I'd a done it sooner.
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: jamesfromjersey]
#198419
03/30/2019 12:16 AM
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 366
JDK
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 366 |
My first was a Ruger Blackhawk in .357. My first SUCCESSFUL hunting handgun was an 8 3/8? Smith Model 27. It accounted for at least 4 whitetail and, I believe, 3 javelina IIRC. That was a long time ago and that gun is gone, but it was a good one and showed me what a well placed .357 Magnum slug could do. It also ruined me for really enjoying hunting with a rifle
John
But for the grace of God, there, I go.
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: Raptortrapper]
#198421
03/30/2019 12:45 AM
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Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 4,669
Chance Weldon
Distinguished Expert
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Distinguished Expert
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 4,669 |
My very very first hunting handgun was a Smith and Wesson 460 XVR. Thought since it could shoot three different chamberings, it would be my one and only hunting handgun.
WRONG!!!!! Same for me on all counts!
Formerly TN Lone Wolf
"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided." - J.K. Rowling
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: Randy M]
#198422
03/30/2019 1:29 AM
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 1,596
racksmasher1
veteran
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veteran
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 1,596 |
Very nice James. Thanks for posting these pics. You truly are an ambassador for handgun hunters. x2
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: racksmasher1]
#198423
03/30/2019 1:52 AM
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Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 13
Hards80
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 13 |
A S&W 63 22lr for small game. 4? Python for varmints around the farm and when Illinois allowed pistols for deer an early target grey SRH 454
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: Hards80]
#198427
03/30/2019 4:32 AM
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,155
Bob Roach
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,155 |
I started with a Super 14 Contender with a 22 LR Barrel and a 7-30 Waters barrel. This would have been in the very early 1990's or possibly late 1980's. A short time later Mark Hampton fixed me up with a 14" 375 JDJ Contender barrel. I added another 2.5-7 Burris scope to it. Next came another barrel from JD this time a 6.5-30JDJ. I was concerned way back then that 225 brass would get hard to come by. Then came a 35 Bullberry again in 14". The 375 JDJ now belongs to another member of this forum. The 7-30 was traded off at some point. I still have all the other barrels, and a few more by MGM added later.
I owned a few 29's and 629's back then, but did not hunt with them. Most were 4".
Bob R
See You At The Range
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: Bob Roach]
#198431
03/30/2019 5:37 AM
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 9,715
jamesfromjersey
OP
Shootist
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OP
Shootist
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 9,715 |
Its so very interesting to hear what handguns you guys started with.... Only in America.....
Life member-NRA-SCI Member-HHI #2900-HHASA #067 Colt-Ruger-Freedom Arms-and S&W Collector Assoc.s "I have more guns then I need but not as many as I want" "Handgun hunters HAVE to be good"
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: jamesfromjersey]
#198432
03/30/2019 10:55 AM
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,332
Randy M
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,332 |
My first was a TC encore with a 12? .44 mag barrel. Killed several animals with it before buying a second barrel for it which was a 15? 7-08.
The meat won't fry if the lead don't fly.
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: Randy M]
#198433
03/30/2019 11:48 AM
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 1,596
racksmasher1
veteran
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veteran
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 1,596 |
S&W 29,and a Encore in 308.
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: racksmasher1]
#198436
03/30/2019 1:25 PM
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 417
Seminole Wind
addict
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addict
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 417 |
In 1980, my first handgun deer were with a S&W model 29 8 3/8" barrel. The next hunting season I hunted with a Ruger.41 Magnum. My third handgun deer season started with a Dan Wesson 44 mag with an early Aimpoint red dot sight, but before the 1982 season closed, I switched to a TC Contender chambered to 30-40 Krag by J.D. Jones. The Contender was my main hunting handgun for the next twenty years. I recently started hunting with revolvers again. Wish I still had those early guns.
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: jamesfromjersey]
#198444
03/30/2019 7:13 PM
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 920
billa
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 920 |
My first hunting handgun was my Dad?s S&W model 17 (k22) I shot a groundhog with it when I was 15 or 16 and I was hooked. I thought I was the king of the woods! I got a T/C Contender in 218 Bee when I was 17 (1976). Mounted a 1x Herters scope on it and proceeded to shoot groundhogs and squirrels with regularity. Next I got a 44Magnum Hotshot barrel and I was in business for Anything that walked or flew. These are the guns that made me a ?real? handgun hunter. I shot pheasants and grouse on the wing with 44 hotshot capsules along with squirrels and rabbits. I dispatched a wounded Whitetail and took a nice Exotic Sheep with the 44 mag. I thought that I had all the firepower I needed for hunting. Then... the sport of silhouette shooting caught my attention and along came a 10 1/2? Super Blackhawk, more Contender barrels, a Dan Wesson 44 and so on and so on...
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,... " Matthew 28:19
Handgun hunter since 1979 - haven't used a rifle since! HHI member #992, NRA, SCI.
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: billa]
#198445
03/31/2019 1:30 AM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,861
Franchise
Distinguished Expert
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Distinguished Expert
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,861 |
My first hunting handgun was a 8 3/8" Taurus Model 44 44 Mag (blued)
The Eyes are Useless, When The Mind Is Blind
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: Franchise]
#198446
03/31/2019 2:34 AM
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Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 3,006
Zee
Shooting Expert
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Shooting Expert
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 3,006 |
My first hunting handgun was a 10.5in Ruger Super Blackhawk w/ 2x scope back in the early 80s. Then a Ruger Single Six for squirrels.
In the early 90s, I got into Contenders
The early 2000s I got into other Rugers and Encores.
By 2010 I was using bolt action, falling block, and an ever increasing number of revolvers.
The saga continues.
"To Hell with efficiency, it's performance we want!" - Elmer Keith
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Re: early hunting handguns
[Re: jamesfromjersey]
#198456
03/31/2019 11:39 PM
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,374
cmnash
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,374 |
My first handgun kill fell to a 10 inch Contender in 30/30 when I was 17. 25 years later, I am still a TC Contender guy, and still like a 30/30.
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