Over the previous four blogs we’ve delved into the many reasons that people enjoy handgun hunting, and then discussed some of the most important tips you might need when it comes to hunting with a handgun. Of course, it all depends on what you’re hunting. After all, a Ruger LCR 5-shot and a bunch of 9mm moon clips could get you some smaller animals, but that doesn’t follow the definition of what most people think of as handgun hunting. It usually starts around .357 Magnums when hunting for deer, all the way up to .500 Smith & Wesson Magnums when hunting for the world’s largest game.
In this blog we touched on some of the most common firearms that people use for large game, and today we thought we’d go into greater detail about these hunting tools. Some are available in multiple calibers, so what you choose will depend on what you want to take down. Let’s get started with the granddaddy of them all.
Smith & Wesson Model 29
Introduced in 1955, the Smith & Wesson Model 29 was the first revolver capable of firing .44 Magnum cartridges, making it the most powerful production handgun in the world at the time. It’s a 6-shot, double action revolver. It comes in polished blue or nickel-plated, and the Model 629 is identical but comes in a more weather-resistant stainless steel.
The Model 29 is designed to use the .44 Magnum cartridge, but it can also fire the .44 Special. Barrel lengths include 3”, 4”, 5”, 6”, 6 ½ ”, and 8 ⅜ ”. Later in its production a 10 ⅝“ barrel was offered. As you can probably guess, the last two barrel lengths are the most common types used by handgun hunters.
The Model 29 was popular when it was introduced because of its sheer power, but it wasn’t until 16 years later and the release of Dirty Harry that it became an icon. In the original movie he used polished blue versions of the 6 ½ ” and 8 ⅜ ”. After the movie came out it became impossible to keep the Model 29 in stock, and also lead to an uptick in sales or other large caliber revolvers (or, as the public would come to call them, “Dirty Harry guns.”) Speed Beez has developed speedloaders and loading blocks for the Model 29 and 629 which you can find here. You can also find speedloaders for .44 Special versions right here.
Ruger Super Blackhawk
The Ruger Blackhawk was a single-action revolver released in 1955 in .357 Magnum. Without a doubt the styling of the gun was made to look more like those that people would see in Western television shows at the time, such as The Lone Ranger or Gunsmoke. While the Smith & Wesson Model 29 was new and sleek, the Blackhawk looked much more like the single action revolvers of the past.
The Blackhawk has been in production in some form since it was released. Eventually a .44 Magnum version was released, and that was the Super Blackhawk. The Super Blackhawk was offered with a barrel rib for mounting a scope, so there’s no doubt that Ruger was courting the hunting crowd. It also had an unfluted cylinder and larger grip so that a shooter could more easily deal with the recoil of a .44 Magnum. Barrel lengths tended to range from 4 ⅝” up to 7 ½”.
While the Model 29 stayed true to its .44 Magnum (and .44 Special) roots, the Ruger Blackhawk and its variants have been able to accommodate 16 different cartridges. Need something larger than .44 Magnum? There are special editions of the Blackhawk which can fire .454 Casull and .480 Ruger. (We have .44 Magnum speedloaders for the Super Blackhawk right here.)
Ruger Super Redhawk
The Blackhawk we detailed above was a single-action revolver that looked like one. When Ruger wanted to offer a double action, they developed the Redhawk which was released in 1979. Eight years later, as the demand for revolvers that could handle higher-caliber cartridges grew (thanks largely to handgun hunting), they released the Super Redhawk. Because it was designed with hunters in mind, it also had an integrated scope mount.
Every Super Redhawk is manufactured in stainless steel. It is available in .44 Magnum, .454 Casull (the first 6-shot .454 ever offered), and .480 Ruger. Typical barrel lengths range from 7 ½“ up to 9 ½”.
While not a hunting revolver, the Super Redhawk Alaskan is a variant that is a sidearm for dissuading large carnivores such as bears if they charge you in the wild (and was actually been proven to do so in a dangerous situation in 2009). The 2 ½ barrel makes it very low profile, even though it’s available in the same large calibers we mentioned above. Need to deal with two bears? We’ve got the speedloaders to help.
Taurus Raging Bull
Taurus is a Brazilian manufacturer that wanted to release a powerful double action hunting firearm, and they certainly succeeded with the Taurus Raging Bull. Most versions of the Raging Bull are designed to have a scope mounted for ease of handgun hunting.
While there are 7-shot and 8-shot versions of the Raging Bull which fire smaller cartridges, you’ll have to look on the secondary market for those. The smallest caliber that the Raging Bull currently comes in is the .45 Colt. Today the Raging Bull is best known for firing some of the most powerful handgun rounds in the world, such as the .44 Magnum (called the Model 444) and the .454 Casull (Model 454). Oh, and there’s also a version out there that can handle the .500 S&W Magnum.
The Taurus Raging Bull knows how powerful it is. It has extra cushioning on the grip, and a ported barrel to help cut the recoil. Barrel lengths up to 10 inches also help to keep the weight forward to help reduce the recoil when it fires.
Thompson/Center Contender
Started in a basement in 1967 by Warren Center, the Contender is a break-action pistol that became as a small-caliber pistol in smaller rounds such as the .22LR. From there it became on of the most popular hunting handguns around.
What makes the Contender so special? Just about everything! First of all, it’s a single shot. Unlike the revolvers mentioned above, you don’t have four or five shots backing you up if you miss your first shot or don’t get the kill immediately. Second, the Contender is infinitely customizable. Since the frame itself has no features that are caliber-specific, all you have to do is swap out the barrels and you can go from a small .22LR up to a massive .45-70 Government in a matter of minutes. Barrel lengths range from 6” all the way up to 21”, though by that length it’s really more of a rifle.
Of all the firearms we have detailed in this article, the Contender might just be the most accurate. Its simplicity is one reason, as is the fact that the barrels are designed for hunting/marksmanship with no compromises introduced by cylinders or double-action hardware.
If you become a handgun hunter, there’s a good chance that you’ll end up with one of the models listed above. Those aren’t your only options, of course, but considering accuracy those are certainly five of the most common you’ll find handgun hunters use.