Getting into the handgun hunting game. 500 S&W

Bush Buck said:

The standard Blackhawk grip manages recoil well up to 45 Colt or light 44 mag level. After that I am MUCH happier with the Ruger Bisley grip frame. It handles full power 44 mag and heavy Ruger Only 45 Colt loads nicely.

Working on revolver marksmanship is the key to successful hunting. Even a load your revolver doesn't really like is typically capable of 3" at 25 yards.
A good load can do under 2" - I'm talking Rugers here.
Master 25 yards first then move to 50. My Ruger Bisley 44 magnum is capable of 3" at 50 yards when I'm shooting well.

I recommend using a simpler target so you can see your sights well and follow through on your sight picture. White paper with a black dot works well.
You can learn a lot by dry firing at the dot too. You want to strive to hold the sight picture through the hammer fall.

Regarding powerful loads - these can be much harder to shoot consistently - your ability to consistently manage recoil is key to avoiding flyers.

It's MUCH better to put a 250g @ 1200fps through the heart and lungs than to put 300g @ 1400 through the back the lungs.

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Bush Buck said:

The standard Blackhawk grip manages recoil well up to 45 Colt or light 44 mag level. After that I am MUCH happier with the Ruger Bisley grip frame. It handles full power 44 mag and heavy Ruger Only 45 Colt loads nicely.

Working on revolver marksmanship is the key to successful hunting. Even a load your revolver doesn't really like is typically capable of 3" at 25 yards.
A good load can do under 2" - I'm talking Rugers here.
Master 25 yards first then move to 50. My Ruger Bisley 44 magnum is capable of 3" at 50 yards when I'm shooting well.

I recommend using a simpler target so you can see your sights well and follow through on your sight picture. White paper with a black dot works well.
You can learn a lot by dry firing at the dot too. You want to strive to hold the sight picture through the hammer fall.

Regarding powerful loads - these can be much harder to shoot consistently - your ability to consistently manage recoil is key to avoiding flyers.

It's MUCH better to put a 250g @ 1200fps through the heart and lungs than to put 300g @ 1400 through the back the lungs.

Click to expand...

Backyardsniper said:

I work at a paper mill and we supply paper to the company that makes those targets, so when they have some seconds we get free targets by the pallet full. Ha ha. I will definitely get some better targets for serious practice sessions. The ones with all the dots are pretty handy though for close up drills with autos.
I ordered 1000 pieces of brass and 1000 nosler 250gr hip yesterday. I have the reloader set up and I have two weeks of vacation coming up. Between turkey hunts I plan to get in a bunch of practice. I am working on figuring out what powder to go with to make a light +/- 1000fps practice load. CFE pistol looks pretty promising as well as HP-38. I have unique as well.
I'm hoping to find a powder that will generate decently accurate loads in the 1000fps range in both the 44 and 45 that way I can buy a supply of it and use 2400 for my hunting loads.

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Wyatt Smith said:

I can highly recommend Winchester 244, BE-86, and Longshot for loads in that power level. The 244 is one of the cleanest burning powders I’ve used, and meters wonderfully.

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