Handgun hunting is a form of hunting primarily done with specialized handguns that have long barrels and mounted scopes (optical aiming devices). Even the largest

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

s, such as elephants, can be killed with modern

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

handguns, although most handgun hunters only use handguns when hunting medium-sized game like

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

and

wild hogs ''Wild Hogs'' is a 2007 American biker road comedy film directed by Walt Becker and starring Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy. It was released nationwide in the United States and Canada on March 2, 2007. It was the la ...

. The .44 Magnum, developed in 1955, was the beginning of handgun hunting for mainstream hunters. Handgun hunters consider their activity more 'sporting' than using rifles. The comparatively short sight radius of a handgun and typically less powerful ammunition than used with rifles, means that any handgun hunter must stalk closer to the prey in order to kill the animal humanely, giving said animal more chance of detecting and avoiding the hunter. Most hunting handguns are either

single-shot Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded manually after every shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, then multi-barreled designs appeared, and eventually many cent ...

pistols A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, ...

, single-action

revolvers A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six ro ...

, or

double-action Double action (or double-action) refers to one of two systems in firearms where the trigger both cocks and releases the hammer. *Double-action only (DAO) firearms trigger: The trigger both cocks and releases the hammer. There is no single-action f ...

. Handgun hunting differs from rifle or shotgun hunting because a significant amount of shooting practice must be undertaken in order to become and remain proficient. It is not uncommon for a skilled handgun hunter to be able to cleanly take game at ranges exceeding 100 yards, even 200 yards or more is possible with a single-shot, scoped hunting pistol. With the exception of small-game hunting using rimfire cartridges, very few semi-automatic handguns are well suited for hunting, typically lacking both the

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

necessary and proper sights. Nonetheless, some of the more powerful semi-automatic pistols are sometimes used for hunting medium and large game, particularly those chambered for

10mm Auto The 10mm Auto (10×25mm, official C.I.P. nomenclature: 10 mm Auto, official SAAMI nomenclature: 10mm Automatic) is a semi-automatic pistol cartridge introduced in 1983. Its design was adopted and later produced by ammunition manufacturer ...

.45 Super The .45 Super is a powerful smokeless powder center fire metallic firearm cartridge developed in 1988 by Dean Grennell, a well-known writer in the firearms field as well as managing editor of ''Gun World'' magazine.

.460 Rowland The .460 Rowland is a handgun cartridge designed in 1997 by Johnny Rowland and developed in conjunction with Clark Custom Guns with an identical overall cartridge length to the .45 ACP, but with an increased case length, allowing for ballistic pe ...

.41 Magnum The .41 Remington Magnum, also known as .41 Magnum or 10.4×33mmR (as it is known in unofficial metric designation), is a center fire firearms cartridge primarily developed for use in large-frame revolvers, introduced in 1964 by the Remington A ...

, .44 Magnum, and

.50 AE The .50 Action Express (AE, 12.7×33mmRB) is a large-caliber handgun cartridge, best known for its usage in the Desert Eagle. Developed in 1988 by American Evan Whildin of Action Arms, the .50 AE is one of the most powerful pistol cartridges ...

. Double-action revolvers can be cocked using the hammer spur to allow for a shorter and lighter trigger which can result in fewer disturbances of the sight alignment during the trigger pull, thus aiding a hunter's accuracy. Single-action revolvers that require cocking the hammer with the spur also benefit from the short, light trigger but often have longer lock times. The design of the single-action revolver typically secures the cylinder more positively because the cylinder does not swing out as it does on most double-action revolvers. This design strength and the simplicity of the single-action make them popular for big-bore hunting revolvers, but the strength of a revolver comes mostly from the integrity of the cylinder which holds the combustion pressure within the metallic cartridge. The amount and type of material surrounding a chamber give it strength. Larger bore diameters and a greater number of chambers will increase the diameter of the cylinder and the height of the frame and the overall size of the revolver.

References

{{no footnotes, date=January 2011 *Smith, Gary. "What is Handgun Hunting?' http://www.handgunhunt.com/readArticle.php?letter_id=10", Handgun Hunter Magazine, HandgunHunt.com, Inc. Retrieved on 2007-01-29. (in English) Hunting methods

See also

References