i know i may be opening a can of worms here but i am in the market for a handgun here soon and am just trying to see what everybody has and thinks. please put in pros and cons.

i think i want a .44 mag but the .460 looks real good on the data sheets.

Kind of depends on what you want it for, Plinking, hunting, self-defence, or all three?

Revolver, a 357 mag is a great revolover, plus it doubles as a .38

Personally, I own several Pistols from .22 up to .40, If I was going to buy another i would look for a nice Colt mod. 1911A .45 semi auto. in fact, I should have saved myself all the money I spent on all my pistols and purchased one long ago, I would have been better off.

A pistol is a personal thing, it must feel good in your hand and handle well under recoil for the person shooting it, otherwise it is a waste of money regardless of caliber.

real sweet handgun, that's for sure. I'd own nothing but one of those, but as Passthru also said,


I have a very hard time concealing the 1911 on my person once it gets beyond winter coat weather so for carrying I have a .380 semi-auto. Smaller profile but still a sweet gun that will do the job if I need it to.

i am sorry i wasnt more specific. i want to start hunting javelina and boar. and of course the fun of just shooting my pistol

ruger 357 custom grip fast trigger set

I got an older Ruger super-blackhawk chambered in 44mag. It is a very decent shooting gun for both target and game. You could easily shoot your magnum loads for the boars, or scale it down with some 240gr bullets and 8grns of Unique for plinking. Wont kick too much but you still have the nice big bullet for impact. It is alittle on the big side, but on the other hand it is also well made with thicker chamber walls if you are in to reloading. It can handle a wide range of "hot" loads while trying to test new bullet/powder combinations, although I would not recommend stressing it to this extreme The 44mag kicks ALOT with the magnum loads, so like Passthru said, you might want to consider that too if you plan to shoot it ALOT. The 357/38 option might be better if you plan to do more target than hunting. The recoil of a 38 is about perfect, and you can still use the 357 mags in it. 44 magnum loads are NOT fun to shoot, but definitely get the job done assuming you learn to handle the classic "trigger anticipation jerk" after a few rounds Does no good to have a bullet that will stop a train, if you are going to miss because of a flinch when you pull the trigger.

Ruger website

Well the only handgun I own is for concealed carry/home defense and it's a Springfied Armory XD40 ported. Really good gun for those that have no experience with it.

Its not on the list but I like the .41 mag.

I've killed several whitetails with my 44 mag Super Redhawk and have no complaints. I bought a 500 Smith and Wesson last season and was very pleased. Just depends on what you are hunting and what you feel comfortable with.

X2

The 41 mag. is a great choice

Id say a Thompson contender in .44 mag would be my fav.Ive shot a 357,44,40 s&w,7mm-08,454 casull and plenty others.Its mainly what are u going to use it for.Hunting,personal defense....so its mainly a personal prefferance.Ill stick with the .44

I own quite a few handguns including the .44 Mag. but that is a gun that not everyone can shoot. I never had too much trouble with it, but it has a kick like a mule for a hand gun and alot of people flinch when they pull the trigger anticipating the recoil. The gun I enjoy firing most is my Sig Sauer 228 in 9mm. it shoots well, is semi auto and it is an easy gun to clean. It's good for plunking and small enough for concealed carry should I want to.

Jack