rml127

I just bought a used ruger blackhawk .44 mag revolver. I shot it yesterday and found it wasn' t very accurate over about 30 yards with open sights. I' m new to handguns and was wondering how a gun like this would work for whitetails. If I mount a scope on it would it work well out to 100 yards? I was told people use these with open sights at 100 yards, I can' t believe this. Can the barrel be replaced with a longer one and if so would that help accuracy? I' m hoping to try a handgun someday for deer, is a .44 powerful enough?

Vapodog

Far and away, the largest component in handgun accuracy is the shooter.

I do suggest a red dot scope.....It sure helps me....you should be fully capable of taking white tails to 100 yards with that gun.

frizzellr

Since you are new to handguns the best thing for you to do is practice, practice, practice. You definately jumped in with both feet in your choice of a 44 Mag, but since you already have it you can get yourself some 44 Special ammo and practice with reduced recoil. A 44 Mag is a handful for a novice. You will just have to stick with it and your shooting will improve, provided you avoid developing a flinch.

Danny45

I agree with Vapodog, put a red dot scope on it. A buddy has a TC Contender in .357 Herrett (30-30 case cut down and neck sized to handle .357 bullets). It' s a handful, but very very accurate with a red dot scope on it and a good set of rubber grips. We were getting 1.25" groups with it at 100 yards and it has a 6 1/2" barrel on it.

rml127

I' m sorry, I' m new to hunting with handguns. I' m a police officer and have shot thousands of rounds from my glock .40 and a .38 revolver. I' ve only shot 20 rounds thru the .44. Those 240 grain rounds really kick! Do these things have a very light trigger pull? This thing goes off when I think about pulling the trigger, I think it might have been worked on. What type of scope mount should I look for? It sounds like it' s plenty capable of grouping well, heck my slug gun doesn' t shoot that well at 100 yards. What kind of ammo should I use for deer? I may use it this coming season if I can get the scope and mount quick enough. I' ve got a nice spot that I wouldn' t need to shoot over 40-50 yards that I could start out with until I can get some practice for those 100 yard shots. Thanks for the info.

akbound

Welcome rml127,

I noticed that you are LE from New York. Is your Glock fitted with the " NY Trigger" ? (Required by NYC but I don' t know about the whole of the state!) If it is, it is an unusually heavy trigger compared to Glock' s standard trigger. (More and more PD' s are leaning toward that trigger configuration because of concern of liability suits!) And I also noticed that you mentioned the .38 Special. I will assume most of your practice has been for qualification purposes, and therefore have been fired in the " DA (double action)" mode. And this is why I ask....

For most police use, (and/or military - defensive use), handguns are " generally" fired in DA mode (if they have that capability). And the courts have already ruled that as far as the legal system is concerned the Glock' s " safe action trigger" is considered legally as a DA. Which is not entirely " true" or " the same as DA on other pistols or revolvers" , but legalisticly speaking....it prevents (or trys too) unscrupulous lawyers from using the gun' s trigger system as a way to convince naive jurors of negligence.

Hunting handguns on the other hand, (revolvers and autos...because specialty single shots are another group entirely), should be fired using them in " SA" (single action) mode. This is generally speaking a much easier to control system and " trigger squeeze" lending itself to shooting more accurately. Which may expain why the trigger feels to you as if it is " going off" when you are still squeezing and maybe not " quite ready" ! It takes somes getting used to when you are working on achieving maximum accuracy and learning to " call your shots" . And as you have already observed....the .44 Magnum is a considerable jump up in recoil from either the .40 S&W or the .38 Special, (though either of them can be a hand full when chambered in a particularly little and " LIGHT" handgun - the ones frequently considered for back-up or CCW).

To answer your empirical question....yes....the .44 Magnum is very capable of cleanly taking whitetails. And unless your particular Redhawk is an exception....once it is properly set up....IT should be capable of taking whitetails to 100 yards. The biggest part of " that equation" though is the shooter. I would suggest like has already been suggested...acquire a goodly number of .44 Special factory loads (or moderate handloads if you have an entirely " reliable" source) and practice until that gun becomes comfortable for you. You should not be surprised when the trigger releases....and you should be able to more or less " call your shots" . (You will notice that there is likely a considerably different Point of Impact, (POI), between the .44 Specials and the .44 Magnums. So it will require a " sight change" for the practice to be effective, (and a sight change back to the hunting load after you switch).

Being a police officer you are probably much better grounded in shooting fundementals than the vast majority of other handgunners....and should have very little difficulty in making the transition!

Best of luck to you....and good hunting!

P.S. Nearly any " standard" 240 grain soft point that shoots well in your gun will make a good whitetail load! If your gun shoots them well and you don' t mind the slight additional expense the Winchester 250 grain Partition load makes a wonderful whitetail/black beer/boar load! Once again....good luck!

Ruger-Redhawk

Well said AKbound.
Ruger Redhawk

rml127

Wow, lots of great info. I have no idea if our glocks have the " NY trigger" I do know it' s much heavier than the blackhawk. I noticed last night the blackhawk has a wide trigger that is attached with little set screws. It doesn' t appear to be factory. I started to get pretty used to the trigger pull after only a few shots, I think my main problem with accuracy at longer ranges is the factory sights. Even off a bench it was difficult to line the sights up the same every time. What type of scope mount should I look for? I' m going to start shopping soon.

Maybe this belongs in a different topic but maybe you guys might be able to help me with a second problem. I bought 5 handguns at the same time. One is a beretta 21A .22 pistol and one is a Ruger mark 2 .22 I believe. I was trying to shoot them with remington .22 long rifle hollow points. They won' t feed into the chamber. The tip of the bullet angles down as you release the slide and they hit below the barrel and dig in. If I help feed the first round with a screwdriver the others work normally almost every time. Is there a special type of .22 ammo used for handguns? I called a beretta dealer and he told me they should all work and I should just buy a box of each and try them until I find one that works.

Danny45

What you have on your Ruger is a trigger shoe. You might try taking it off the trigger and seeing if you like it better without it. I never did like them because my finger would only pull on the edge of it, causing me to pull the shot to the right. I guess I have stubby fingers.

On your .22' s, my guess is weak magazine springs. Also, you may have to polish the ramp that goes up to the barrel. I assume that you' re not trying to feed .22 LR into a .22 short pistol. Any .22 LR ammo should work okay in a pistol made for that round, unless there is a problem with the pistol like I mentioned above. I' m sure there could be other causes also. Have you tried round nose bullets?

rml127

I' m going to pick up some round nose bullets this weekend and give them a try. The guns would say .22 short on them if they were only made for that round wouldn' t they?