I’d like to try a revolver for hunting VA whitetails next season.  

Almost all of the shots I take on the property I hunt are inside of 50 yards, so I think a revolver could be a perfectly reasonable  option.

If you hunt whitetail with a revolver, advise me.  

I’m leaning towards either a Ruger Super Redhawk or Super Blackhawk Hunter in .44 magnum, with a red dot.

Yes, I do reload, and would plan to reload virtually 100% for this revolver.

My current revolver stable consists of older, no-lock S&W in .38 and an older Interarms Rossi snub in .357, none of which I think are a great choice for a hunting revolver.

Go big or go home, Freedom Arms model 83 when you absolutely have to have the best.
White Tails or anything else that walks this green earth.

Both good choices.   29/629 later S&W's scope pretty easy.  The freedom arms are works of art.

I had a Freedom Arms 454 with an extra 45 Colt cylinder, I found it to heavy to carry on my hip. I sold it and kept my Ruger 45 Colt. Freedom Arms revolver was the finest revolver I've ever held but found myself carrying the Ruger more. I did have to change the front sight to shoot my heavy cast bullets.

Freedom Arms certainly makes a fine gun.  Probably out of my price range and .454 is a little more power than I need, but that’s a nice revolver you have.

SBH is lighter, handier, much nicer looking, and will handle any.44 RM loads you can cook.
I'd only go SRH if the double action ability (to reload faster) really mattered for my use. A SRH is almost overkill for .44 mag.
But, if you want that DA feature, that would be the choice. Not needing that? SBH all day for me.
And I'd look for an older lightly used model if possible.
Either gun will make you a fine choice for hunting.

For a hunting revolver a Super Blackhawk Bisley Hunter is just about as good as you can get before you step up to the higher end guns like Freedom Arms or the MR BFRs.

I have hunted with my 44mag Bisley Hunter for 10+ years, topped with a UltraDot Match dot it has taken quite a few Whitetails and a bunch of Hogs.


For the record I own at least one or more of the following so I have had the opportunity to switch it up a bit and the SBHBH is what I keep coming back to:

Super Blackhawk Bisley Hunter 44mag
Super Blackhawk 44mag
Super Blackhawk Bisley (non hunter) 44mag
Super Redhawk 480R
Redhawk 44mag
BFR 500 JRH

I've been hunting with revolvers for several years now, it is very enjoyable. You don't HAVE to use a howitzer. Any .43 or .45 caliber cast SWC bullet running 950-1000 fps MV is going to sail through a whitetail. I hunt 100% with fixed sight, Colt-style SA's, either in .44 Special or 45 Colt and have used barrel lengths of 4 3/4", 5 1/2" and 7 1/2", but the shortest is my favorite. Shots have ranged from 12 yards to just shy of 50, including one 44 yd. shot on a sow I had to take offhand!

   

I used cast HP's on a couple of deer, and they kill like...right now, but I still prefer the assurance of deep penetration of SWC's.

Were I in the market for a hunting revolver today, I'd without hesitation glom onto a Ruger New Model Blackhawk Convertible (and I may buy one yet!). They'll handle Tier 2 (23,000 psi)loads which means a 280 gr. cast SWC @ 1100+ fps or a 300 gr. cast FP @ 1000+ fps.

Regardless of what revolver you choose, I cannot emphasize enough that one must practice, practice practice. Hitting the vitals of a deer with a revolver isn't something that's easy without lots of consistent practice, and I've missed my share of deer! I hunt from a brush blind, so all of my practice is seated, back-rested against a tree with the revolvers rested over my knees. I used to mainly shoot at 50 yds., but a couple or three years ago I set up a 12" steel plate at 75 and began shooting at it. A .44/.45 cast SWC weighing 250-280 grs., running 950-1000 fps can be sighted 2" high at 50 yds. and be pretty much dead-on at 75.

   

Once you get the hang a 75 yds., 50 yd. shots are a piece of cake!

If you don't have a Freedom Arms budget the Ruger's are great choices.  I'd love an FA Bisley but I don't have that kind of $ either.  I bought a stainless 5.5" Blackhawk Bisley convertible .45 Colt/acp instead.  I haven't hunted with it but it would make a great hunting revolver.

I've taken 17 deer with a Ruger SRH .454 using 240 or 260 XTP bullets. They drop like a rock if you do your part. Exit holes are impressive. I use a 2x scope on mine.

I hunt with an 11" Contender in 7-30 Waters but my father has hunted with a 629 in 44 mag for years. He is really good with it out to 100 yards and the round is very capable to that distance.
We have both killed numerous deer with each handgun and both are very effective if you put the bullet where it needs to go.

I have a friend with a Super Redhawk in 41 magnum that has been very effective as well. Since you reload, don't ignore the 41 if you find a good deal on one.

It is also reasonable to say that a Ruger can be loaded up to 44 mag ballistics in 45 Colt easily.

I wanted to expand on my previous post a bit more.

One thing you need to decide, particularly given the two revolvers you mentioned in your post is whether or not you want a double or single action. Both will do the job however how they shoot is completely different.

A double action recoils more straight back and tends to whack the palm of your hand a bit harder. This can be mitigated with a good set of rubber grips but it is still coming straight back at you, for the most part.

Single actions tend to roll up at the shot and direct less of the recoil into the palm of your hand. There are two predominant grip shapes for single actions, plow handle and bisley. The plow handle grips are what most think of when they think of a single action revolver. These grips tend to roll much more than the bisley variant and start to become a bit problematic when getting into the higher power 44mag loads. The bisley grip splits the difference in recoil profile between a double action and a single action plow handle grip. It still rolls up, but not nearly as violently as a plow handle. If you browse the makers of the big bore handguns most of them are offered in the bisley configuration due to its better recoil characteristics.

The single actions are definitely slower to reload although honestly I don't think I have ever fired more than 2 shots in a hunting situation, and in most cases, only a single shot is required.

Barrel length is another consideration. Ruger's offerings mostly come with a 7 1/2" barrel which offers a good compromise between velocity, sight radius, and weight. There are a few 9 1/2" variants and some people really love them, but to me it makes the gun too nose heavy to shoot accurately offhand. Shorter barrels are definitely more handy and tend to balance better but if you happen to be using iron sights they do give up some accuracy from the shorter sight radius.

On the optic you mentioned a red dot. For a 44 mag I think that is a great option. A 44mag from a handgun is for all intents a 120yard max gun. For that distance you really don't need a magnified optic. If you are looking at a tube type sight then I would highly recommend one of the UltraDot sights. They have been proven to stand up to some serious heavy kicking revolver abuse and are for the most part the #1 sight used on the big bore hunting revolvers, that aren't running scopes. I would also recommend a 30mm tube over the 25mm. The extra 5mm does provide enough additional sight picture to be worth it.
An MRDS sight like a Trijicon RMR or Holosun 507 is another option. I have them on a couple of my guns and they are every bit as accurate as the tube type. The one thing that may be more difficult to deal with is finding the dot in the window. Unless you practice your draw and presentation, to build up the necessary muscle memory, it is not uncommon to draw the gun then have to go hunting for the dot because it is not in the window. The tube type sights tend to be less problematic for this as the tube provides a natural sight path that generally puts the dot somewhere in view when you initially draw.

Just spent the last hour cleaning the Ruger Super Redhawk .44.

It is a tank of a gun.  

I have the 7-1/2" barrel it is much more manageable then the 9".  

I used to have the 9.  But I was not man enough to hold it.

I have yet to hunt with mine, but all of the choices you listed are easily accurate enough for your plans. Finding a revolver in the current market is difficult however.

For comparison, my Alaskan .44 is only 2oz lighter than my 5" 629... I haven't weighed my 7.5" .454 SRH, but it's a chunk....

@ggibbs those are some nice revolvers and fine looking animals.

Those .44spl loads are HOT! I've been wondering what the ceiling was on the mid frame Blackhawks. Are you seeing any loss in accuracy compared to the "Skeeter load"?

Thanks for sharing the pics and info!

One other thing I forgot to mentiom as well. If you're stnd hunting and have transportation to your stand, buy whatever tank of a revolver you want. But if you do much walking at all, 3 1/2 pounds of revolver and ammunition soon feels like an anvil tied to your waist.

 A large ranch borders my property and I love to go on long walks (4-5 miles) over there. It didn't take me too many times to realize that even a 44-45 oz. revolver gets heavy, quick. That why lean towards a 4 3/4" 45 Colt. The Ruger Flat Top and Uberti Frisco both weigh about 36 oz. unloaded, and more than ample power for deer size game.

Do you think it's worth swapping to aluminum grip frame and ERH on the flat tops? I've seen several people suggest that.

Thanks @AeroEngineer



You bet @BillythePoet

The Unique and 2400 .44 Special loads pictured above are 23-25000 psi loads from the pages of Handloader magazine; the same class of loads Elmer Keith used is his Colt SA's and old S&W N-Frames. They are considered the ceiling for .44 Special loads. But think about this for a minute...

Ruger Flat Top's and the Uberti's are both chambered in 45 ACP whose chamber pressures are max 23,000. So if these revolvers are safe with 23,000 psi loads in a .45 cylinder, then there's no problem with 23-25000 psi loads in .44 Special cylinders whose chamber walls are even thicker due to the smaller diameter .44 case.

 As to loss of accuracy with these loads vs. lighter loads, there is none whatsoever. One can clearly see the 75 yd. target with the Uberti Flat Top. It'd be really difficult to get much better accuracy with any load given that the group was fired from a field position. To be 100% honest, I only used that heavy Unique load once and that was because I had loaded some cast HP's and wanted to see how well they'd expand on deer. As I mentioned, my loads for .44's and .45's typically run 950-1000fps, or about the same as Skeeter's load.

 I honestly don't know. The only possible downside I could see would be if the change in weight threw off the balance of the revolver.

I only own the one Ruger SA so don't know much about them .

Thank you!

@98Redline I appreciate your very detailed and thorough replies.  From your responses as well as other responses in this thread, I'm leaning towards a Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter in .44 with a Bisley grip.  

In one picture you have your SBH Bisley with an UltraDot Match red dot mounted on a rail.  Is that a Weigand rail?  If you remove the optic can you see the standard front/rear sight over the rail, or do you need to remove the entire rail & optic?

About the rings - your mounting configuration is not the first I've seen where a pistol optic has 3 sets of rings.  Is that pretty much standard for heavy recoiling pistols with optics?  I assume it's to maximize the gripping area of the rings.

Yes, that is a Weigand rail. It is there primarily for 2 reasons:
-- The first being the MatchDot center section is too long to fit between the pre-cut ring positions on the barrel.
-- The second is because I prefer the optic to be a bit further back to keep the gun from being too nose heavy.

In order to use the iron sights you would need to remove the entire rail. If you were so inclined that can be accomplished by loosening 2 of the bolts that hold it to the gun and the rail and optic lift off together. That said, in 10+ years I have had this gun and literally thousands of full power 300gr/1250fps loads, the optic has not a single time caused me any issues. I think that for the most part people place too much importance on that aspect. If your optic crapped out during a hunt would you:
  a) pack it in for the day, fix or replace the optic and hunt another day
  b) hike back to camp and grab your backup gun
  c) remove the optic in the woods and go iron sights only

Unless I was out west for an elk hunt or something similar I think option a or b would be my solution.
If I was really that concerned I might purchase a 2nd optic to sight in and keep in my pack as a backup, but as I said, 10+ years and more rounds than I can remember without an issue. UltraDots are well known to be very reliable.

The 3 ring setup is pretty common for heavier kicking handguns, predominantly it is used on .454s and up. On a 44 mag I don't think it is absolutely necessary as I have seen a number of guns with heavier optics utilizing 2 rings but it wasn't that much extra cost to add the 3rd ring so I took that bit of extra insurance.

ETA: One other piece of advice I have. While I love the MatchDot and mine has served me well, were I to put together this setup today I would just go with the UltraDot 30 with the fixed 4moa dot. 4moa is more than precise enough to shoot 100 yards off of the bench and is what I always have my MatchDot set to in the field. It is a smaller and lighter optic and is a bit less expensive to boot.

Thanks!  I agree on optics - I’ve never had a a quality optic fail me in the field, but I would almost certainly switch to a backup gun in that case.  Mostly curious about how easy it would be to switch configurations.

Anything I hunt with I spend most of my shooting time in the setup I plan to hunt, so it’s not a real issue.

@BillythePoet - that’s the truth!

I’ve been following the Arfcom Way - buy cheap, stack deep - for years.  In any sense of the word “need”, I am stockpiled.

I admit though the one assumption I made was that certain firearms would be minimally impacted.  

People buying up all the double-stack 9’s and ARs? Yep, expected.  

People buying up all the SA, big bore revolvers snd lever actions? Not expected.

It’s a want, not a need, so I’ll just keep my eye out.

I think it's a combination of things. Big bore revolvers have been gaining popularity for the past several years, so values have gone up. Also, I've heard that Ruger only makes a short run of revolvers at the beginning of the year and didn't anticipate the panic, so they sold out early. Similar to the .380 ammo drought when mouse guns were all the rage a few years ago.
That being said, I've had good luck on EE here and a few other forum's classifieds. My latest was bought due to a response on a Facebook post I made...

SRH in 454 is more flexible as you can shoot 45 Colt as well through it. There are hot 45 colt loads by Buffalo bore--300gr @ 1325fps.

Mouse fart to hammer time loads is nice.

I only use .454 brass in mine, but use Trail Boss for light loads.

Here's another endorsement of hot .45's or .454.  I took an old Blackhawk .45, and had it highly customized for my 50th birthday present to myself.  It has an oversize, custom .45 Colt cylinder that can handle up to 40,000 psi.  I shot this year's deer with it, using a 265 grain A-Frame, at 1450 fps.  Next year I'm going to try a 325 grain cast hollowpoint, going a little bit slower.

.44 Magnum is more than adequate, but hot .45 Colt / .454 can go to 11.  And you reload, so it's easy.

That's nice! Who did the work?

Andy Horvath.  Here is a thread I wrote about it, with more pics and stuff.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/handguns/50th-Birthday-Present-to-Myself-Andy-Horvath-45LC-on-steroids/33-196164/

Cool. I've heard he's a genius.

Another fan of the .41 Mag.  I've hunted with 4"-6.5" Smith N frames, 6.5" Blackhawk, 14" TC Contender and 20" Marlin.  My one .44 Mag was a Smith 29-2 that I took a 250 lb hog with.  Go with what feels good to you and of course what you can find.


CD

If you are going to be stand hunting I would purchase a S&W 460.  
I have a 460v.
460, 454 casul and 45 clot all out of the same 5 shot cannon.
The 460 revolver is not much more than a regular revolver and it will knock stuff out of orbit.

I have a 7.5" SRH in .454. I hunt deer and moose with it and love it.

Don't forget that the .45 S&W Schofield is a powder puff load out of the 460.

CD

I've read good things about the .41 Magnum.  If I came across a reasonable deal on a .41 Magnum with 6"ish barrel, I'd have no problem going that way.  The only caveat I ever hear is "you need to reload because ammo is hard to find", and since I doubt whatever revolver I buy to fill this role for me will ever see a factory round, not a problem.

Well sure in normal times that would be logical.
My bro in law purchased a s&w just because he though 41 would be a niche cartridge and obtainable.
He doesn't reload and so now he doesn't shoot his 41.

My vote is still 460.

I've handled and shot a .460 once.  Those are nice revolvers.  But I have to walk in and walk out where I hunt.  460 revolver is a LOT of steel.

I had a chance to shoot a scoped revolver on Saturday.

A guy I know at my club came in with a 6” GP-100 in .357.  Had a Weigand mount on top and a Chinesium (UTG?)  pistol scope.  I provided sone assistance in getting it zeroed.

The scope was adjustable magnification, and the higher mags created an incredibly challenging eye box.  But 2X was easily useable offhand, and with a little bracing made hits at 50 yards no problem.  

So, now I have the feeling that out of the blinds or stands where I hunt, Roth a little practice I can see 50 to 75 yard shots quite doable.

It seems every revolver has been panic bought however.

.357 works fine on southern deer (and hogs) as well.  Practice, know your limits and make your shot count and you'll do fine.

This may be moot, since you're handloading, but if you haven't, I'd strongly advise shooting a .454 before buying.  I used to have a 7.5" SRH, and the recoil with full-power loads could only be described as brutal.  I found it worse than the .500 S&W.  The .500 is a BIG push to me, but the .454 is a hard, fast slap, which I find way harder to handle.  I used to shoot the .454 with .44 mag level loads, eventually I just sold it and switched to .44, which is way more palatable for me and still plenty of power for deer.

I’ve had an opportunity to fire a .454 and a .460 S&W.  The recoil was very stout, and very “sharp”.  One could certainly load light, or go down to a .55 LC, but I don’t need the extra power.  I want to stick with something that has relatively common components and ammunition, at least during normal times.

Super Redhawk in .454 is awesome.
Best is the Toklat version due to the 5" barrel.
Handles much better than my 7.5 Super Redhawk in .44 mag.
Double action with either is amazing.
I slightly download the .454 so it isn't as sharp under recoil.

I’ve hunted with a 8 inch scoped 629 for many years. Definitely suitable for whitetail hunting. I reload and found the sweet spot for this gun.
One thing to consider is if you like the Blackhawk style or Smith style of grips. I found quickly I don’t like the western grip for heavier loads.
Perfect illustration is I used the same reload in a 629 and super Blackhawk hunter during the same shooting session. I had several 44s at the time trying to determine the most accurate. The recoil and handling was night and day different between the 2. The 629 was comfortable and easy to control. The SBH was nasty. Using the exact same hunting load. For me there was a clear winner in simple shoot ability. Not dogging Ruger but they are way different to me.
Good luck. Once you hunt with a handgun it’s hard to go back to anything else.

@Hoss622 what did you like/not like about the A frame?
I'm considering them (in 44RM) but real use info has been slim.
I'll take all the data I can find on real world animals.

My favorite hunting revolver is my Dan Wesson 44.  It weighs just less than the USS Iowa, however.  It is a pussycat to shoot due to the weight even with full throttle loads.

I carry it in a Simply Rugged Sourdough pancake style holster with a chest harness attached to it.  The only thing I don't like is the chest holster occupies the same place I usually carry my binoculars.

I also have a .500 Linebaugh, but that is a shit stomper.  It proves the benefit of the Bisley style grip frame, though.  If you go single action certainly consider the bisley style grip.  I have pretty much settled on a load that pushes a 435gr gas check bullet at 1100 fps.  Anything more and the web of my hand splits from recoil.  The crazy thing is that is a very light load considering the strength and capacity of the Linebaugh.

If you haven't reloaded a lot of heavy .44 (or other), take your time setting a firm crimp on your loads.  Every bullet style you try may have different crimping requirements and keep track of your reload cycles on your brass.  Use the good stuff for hunting.

I have had a bullet jump crimp on occasion and it locked the cylinder up tight.  Not a big deal deer hunting but could be a very bad day on a hog hunt, or if you poke bears with sticks, or say rude things to bison.

I remember your thread about picking up that .500 Linebaugh.  I feel pretty confident that is way more handgun than I'll ever need for Virginia deer  It seems almost crazy to me Linebaugh chambers such a powerful cartridge in a relatively lightweight (at least for big bore revovlers) package.

My one experience with the 454 was in one of those gigantic SuperRedhawk frames with a 7.5" barrel.  The revolver almost seemed cartoonish in it's size, and even out of that beast the 454 was a handful.  I've read the .500 LInebaugh is on par with the .454 as far as power, and that seems downright scary.

Yep, I lucked into the Linebaugh.  I just haven't been at the right place at the right time to bag a deer with the Linebaugh yet.  The .454 and the 500 Linebaugh must operate at close to the same pressures, which is ludicrous.  I just can't see ever needing (or wanting) more power in a packable package.  It is volume 11.  My usual shooting session with it is 25 rounds or so.  

The .44 and 45 Colt are more than adequate for deer.  I would put money into a gun (and optic and holster) that fits your bill absolutely with no compromises instead of chasing power for power sake.  

That said, I lust for a .500 Linebaugh rifle.  And seeing that I am dreaming, how about a .500 Linebaugh double rifle?