H U N T I N G
Where allowed, hunting big game with handguns is a challenging sport
pushing a hunters’ marksmanship and stalking abilities to the very
limit. As there is a great variety of handguns used for big game hunting,
including revolvers, semi-automatics, single-shots and bolt-actions,
GTW li s the veil on the most common types seen in the field.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Handgun hunting is in a niche of
its own, falling right in between
ri e hunting and bowhunting.
First of all, it takes real skill to
stalk right up close to your game,
setting up for that perfectly placed
shot. What is more, shooting
a handgun well, especially at
a distance, is hard work. Even
taking into account the longer
barrels these handguns normally
sport, the line of sight is still
limited compared to that of a ri e.
To top it all o , recoil of hunting
handgun cartridges suited for big
game is stout to say the least. We
are talking of a cartridge range
where .357 Magnum and 10mm
Auto are a bare minimum, .44
Magnum is an all-time favorite
and proper wrist wrenchers such
as .454 Casull or .500 Smith
30 www.guntradeworld.com
& Wesson are not even being
frowned upon by experienced
shooters. is is not even
mentioning handguns chambered
for ri e cartridges such as .45-70
Government, .308 Winchester
and the like.
Although it is not uncommon
for handgun hunters to take game
at distances exceeding 100 meters,
it will still take a signi cant
amount of skill, practice and
patience to pull such feats o .
REVOLVERS
Hunting with dedicated
handguns, as a sport not simply
out of necessity, is not a very
old discipline. e .44 Magnum
handgun cartridge actually
sparked the whole thing for
mainstream hunters when it was
developed in 1955. e Smith &
Wesson Model 29 double-action
revolver was the rst commercially
available handgun speci cally
designed to shoot this cartridge.
Together with its stainless-steel
counterpart the Model 629,
the Model 29 is still a handgun
hunting classic.
Another classic double-action
revolver lineup comes from Ruger
with its Redhawk and Super
Redhawk series.When it was rst
introduced in 1979, the Ruger
Redhawk took the market by
storm. ese revolvers have proven
themselves in the eld time and
time again for both reliability
and accuracy. What’s more, the
Redhawk and Super Redhawk
come standard with adjustable
iron sights, but a scope can be
mounted if desired, giving the
shooter a great deal of exibility.
GREAT
GEAR
H A N D G U N S
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