Thompson Center 44 mag or 460 S&W
A guy I know wants to purchase a Thompson Center Contender or Encore for deer hunting in a tree stand. He is 65 years old with minor arthritis. He is wandering what he will be able to shoot better (handle), the 44 mag or the 460 S&W?
Thanks!
Thanks!
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The 44 Magnum is the no brainer. Less recoil of course, than full house 460 S&W, and can be down loaded as well. However, the 460, can handle 460, 454 Casull, and 45 Colt. Take your pic...hard decision.
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In a light handgun the 44 Mag is a lot. I would think the 460 would be punishing like hand loaded 45-70's. Factory 45 Colt not so much.
In a light rifle I think a 7mm08 would catch deer and be fun to shoot.0 -
I have a 10" 44 magnum barrel for my Contender. The recoil is bad. I have a 14" 44 magnum barrel also and it is much easier to control. I would recommend a S&W or Ruger 44 magnum. I have both and they are much easier to shoot. 0 -
I'd also look at a (large) pistol caliber carbine or rifle, bolt (Ruger 357/77 or 44/77), semi (Ruger 44 carbine), lever (Ruger 96/44, Winchester or Marlin in quite a few calibers), or single shot (TC, H&R, NEF, etc) 0 -
Go with the 460. He can always shoot 45 Colts with less recoil but can move up to full house 460's if he desires. 0 -
I have zero problems with an Encore 12" 44 mag shooting OMG level handloads; a 240JSP is a deadly deer slayer. 0 -
You may also shoot the 44 special and 44 Russian cartridge in the 44 mag. chambered T/C handgun, S&W and Ruger revolvers... 0 -
quote:Originally posted by tido4570
A guy I know wants to purchase a Thompson Center Contender or Encore for deer hunting in a tree stand. He is 65 years old with minor arthritis. He is wandering what he will be able to shoot better (handle), the 44 mag or the 460 S&W?
Thanks!
If he's considering a 460 it has to be an Encore, too much pressure for the Contender. The Encore is a better choice because there's better barrel availability and it's a stronger gun.
Is there a legal reason he has to use either of these particular cartridges? I have lots of handgun barrels, from mild recoiling to 375s, 405s, 45/70s and such and have no problem with recoil. But the Encore (and Contender) do very well in the recoil department with bores from 24 to 30 caliber. I'd be thinking of something like a 243 Winchester, 260 Remington or 308 Winchester would do well.0 -
There are several barrels that can utilize a variety of cartridges but they may not all work very well. I have a .357 maximum barrel that does very poorly with .38 specials. It may have to do with the freebore but I suspect it is more likely the rate of twist.
I also have a 45/70 barrel with a compensator that seems to work quite good. With the shoulder stock even though it is lighter it is much more pleasant to shoot than my Ruger #3 with the same loads.0 -
I'm not sure on the legal aspects of shooting a high powered rifle round through a handgun in Iowa for whitetail deer. We are sure we can shoot up to the 460 and be legal yet. As far as the Ruger comment goes, I am pretty sure we can only use a shotgun or handgun. Not a handgun round in a long gun. I could be wrong there too. 0 -
I think its pretty clear that a .44 Rem magnum is going to be a lot easier to shoot than a .460 SW Magnum.
.44 magnum also has another advantage in that ammo is much more readily available (you can buy it at any Walmart or Sporting Goods store) and quite a bit cheaper too, meaning more practice rounds for the same dollar.
A .44 magnum from a rifle puts almost as many foot-pounds energy as a 30/30 rifle, only the .44 uses a FAR heavier and larger caliber projectile to give more momentum or "power factor". Its PLENTY of gun for a deer, so long as the shooter does his part and keeps the range reasonable.
Note that slow moving pistol cartridges do NOT do well at longer ranges, because of bullet drop. So you'd want to keep this at 100 yards or less.
As to legality, .44 magnum from a rifle is PERFECTLY LEGAL for deer hunting in the State of Iowa from a RIFLE (as is .460 magnum). The only legal requirement is that the caliber exceed 0.24". This caliber and .460 SW magnum are both also explicitly permitted for handgun hunting too. You can find the specific legal requirement here on page 24, if you care to look:
http://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/Hunting/huntingregs.pdf
Note that as I read these rules, your friend can use any rifle cartridge he likes so long as its not a .223 class. So there is no reason he "has" to use a handgun round. If he wants a light recoiling rifle round, there are still plenty to choose from (eg .243 Winchester, etc).
Edit: In terms of deer hunting with a RIFLE cartridge from a HANDGUN in Iowa, that wasn't the question here, but no, that's not allowed.
The rules (link is above) explicitly specify straight walled cartridges of .357 caliber or greater, and provide a list of acceptable cartridges.
The only "exception" is .444 marlin, which is technically a rifle cartridge, but as a rimmed straight walled round is really more akin to a lengthened handgun magnum cartridge.
Personally, I don't think I'd even want to fire something like that from a handgun, but if you wanted to hunt deer with that in Iowa, you legally could!0 -
The 44mag Contender with Pachmayr grips is the way to go [;)] 0
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