Handgun hunting is a form of hunting primarily done with specialized
handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...
s that have long
barrels
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids ...
and mounted
scopes (optical aiming devices).
Even the largest
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...
s, such as elephants, can be killed with modern
hunting
Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
handguns, although most handgun hunters only use handguns when hunting medium-sized
game
A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...
like
deer
A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
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 to negativ ...
.
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
In firearm designs, the term single-shot refers to guns that can hold only a single round of ammunition inside and thus must be reloaded manually after every shot. Compared to multi-shot repeating firearms ("repeaters"), single-shot designs have ...
pistols
A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a barrel with an integral chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the English language when early handguns ...
,
single-action
A trigger is a mechanism that actuates the function of a ranged weapon such as a firearm, airgun, crossbow, or speargun. The word may also be used to describe a switch that initiates the operation of other non-shooting devices such as a t ...
revolvers
A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
, 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 ...
revolvers
A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
.
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 may refer to:
Common meanings
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power, a type of energy
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
Math ...
necessary and proper
sights
A sight or sighting device is any device used to assist in precise visual alignment (i.e. ''aiming'') of weapons, surveying instruments, aircraft equipment, optical illumination equipment or larger optical instruments with the intended target. ...
. Nonetheless, some of the more powerful
semi-automatic pistol
A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...
s are sometimes used for hunting medium and large game, particularly those chambered for
10mm Auto
The 10mm Auto (also known as the 10×25mm, official C.I.P. nomenclature: 10 mm Auto, official SAAMI nomenclature: 10mm Automatic) is a powerful and versatile semi-automatic pistol cartridge introduced in 1983. Its design was adopted and l ...
,
.45 Super,
.460 Rowland,
.41 Magnum,
.44 Magnum, and
.50 AE. 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.
See also
*
Howdah pistol large calibre backup pistols carried by British hunters hunting dangerous game
*
Remington XP-100
The Remington XP-100 (from eXperimental Pistol number 100) is a bolt-action pistol produced by Remington Arms from 1963 to 1998. The XP-100 was one of the first handguns designed for long-range shooting and introduced the .221 Remington Fireball, ...
*
Thompson Center Arms
Performance Center by Smith and Wesson
References
* 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 topics
Hunting methods