good news-i am going to montana to hunt antalope /BAD NEWS-looks like i cant shoot a pistol,montana classafies a pistol as having a bbl less than 10.5 " or less and using a strait walled round NOT A ROUND ORIGINALY INTENDED FOR A RIFLE

Looks like a good enuff excuse to get a 10" .357 Max barrel to me!

yep...or a 10 1/4" 460 s&w encore tube! ...jim257

I've lived in Montana all my life and I've shot a couple deer with a Contender 14" 7mm/TCU. The traditional handgun definition you refer to only applies to areas designated "Archery/Shotgun/Traditional Handgun Only". Feel free to use your XP or Contender or Competitor or.....

If I'm wrong about this, somebody quote me chapter, book, and verse. I just looked it up in the Montana regs and if you'll look on page 15, bottom left side, that definition is intended for what are called "Weapons Restriction Areas".

In other words - go nuts. There isn't even a caliber limitation. Want to use your .17 HMR to head shoot 'em? (good luck! ) It's legal. I didn't say ethical or desireable, but it's legal. I love Montana.

***Edit***

Okay - upon further review, I see on page 7, bottom right side, the following:

"General Season: Also referred to as the “firearm season." For deer and elk this is the five-week period from late October to late November that is generally available for hunting with a rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader, traditional handgun, crossbow or archery equipment. For antelope, this is the four-week period from mid October to early November. The specific dates and any weapons restrictions for each hunting opportunity is specified in the hunting district regulations."

If this is intended to exclude Contenders/Encores, etc. in some of the "funner" cartridges, it's news to me. I guess I better find out. I will not be happy if this is true. Hopefully, the idea was to specify the weapons for which there are specifically designated opportunities, rather than to provide an all-inclusive list of what is permissible.

Hey deadeye...you want to borrow a 10" Maximum barrel for a Contender?

hay dan thanks for the offer but since i only shoot encores i would have to use the 10" max that i have .i got a email from montana that said unless you are hunting in a zone listed as tradional handgun you can use any gun now what to take ? 7br.243/260/6.5br/250sav/357max/762x39 and just think i only have 5 frames what to do what to do

I got my e-mail verifying that specialty pistols are allowed everywhere except Weapons Restricted areas.

YAY!

we are driving from mn ,it is going to be 4 of us.i will be going with the other gunsmith that i work with and his dad and uncle.between me and the other smith we are taking 5encores/3 1895 win /4 marlins /1 xp/2 strikers/1 rolling block/2 highwalls iam working on him to try a handgun all the long guns we are taking were made before 1908

Sounds like you guys will have a great time. Far as I know, the antelope population is excellent just about everywhere. The lever-actions and single-shot rifles (without scopes, I'm assuming) would be a hoot on antelope.

You'll have to give a full report after it's over.