best pistol calaiber for south eastern ohio whitetails

[GunNut89]

Howdy all , picked up a brand new stainless encore pistol frame today and Im in need of oppinions and advice  as to which barrel to order for it. I have a smith 686 8 3/8ths as my other hunting gun but was thinking of steping up to 44 mag or bigger, most of the areas I hunt my shots stay at about 50 yards or closer any comments will be greatly appreciated thanks

[kynardsj]

For the range you're talking about a 44 mag would do well there and on beyond out to 100 yards or so. If you reload you could get a 460 S&W mag barrel like the one on my avatar. I don't even own any 460's but have a big time shooting 454 Casulls and hot 45 LC's in it. If you don't reload I'd say go with the 44 mag. Lots of good factory ammo out there. But then there's 30-30's, 7mm08's, 308's and on and on for that Encore. Good luck on your choice but beware, Encore and Contender barrels are like Lays potato chips, nobody can do just one. They're addictive.

[luckydawg13]

For the range you're talking about a 44 mag would do well there and on beyond out to 100 yards or so. If you reload you could get a 460 S&W mag barrel like the one on my avatar. I don't even own any 460's but have a big time shooting 454 Casulls and hot 45 LC's in it. If you don't reload I'd say go with the 44 mag. Lots of good factory ammo out there. But then there's 30-30's, 7mm08's, 308's and on and on for that Encore. Good luck on your choice but beware, Encore and Contender barrels are like Lays potato chips, nobody can do just one. They're addictive.

   

                            + 1 i got the 454 i would buy agen but i do shoot the 44mag a lot more at
                                     the range cost less to shoot

[Grumulkin]

Since you're required to shoot straight walled cartridges of .357 caliber or greater and since you don't anticipating shooting much over 50 yards, any of the following cartridges would be suitable depending on your tolerance to recoil:

357 Magnum
357 Maximum
44 Magnum
45 Colt
454 Casull
460 S&W Magnum
375 Winchester
45-70
500 S&W Magnum
50 AE

When I use a handgun for the Ohio deer season, my handgun of choice is either a 44 Magnum or a 460 S&W Magnum.  The former is good to at least 100 yards and the latter to a bit over 200 yards.

[Anduril]

Grumulkin,
you forgot to list the .41 magnum 
..

[streak]

You are right Anduril, don`t forget the .41 mag!

[gargs71]

dont forget 480 ruger great nock down little more kick than 44 mag

[Grumulkin]

Grumulkin,
you forgot to list the .41 magnum 
..

Yes, I was remiss there.

I also forgot the 444 Marlin, the 458 Win. Mag. and the 458 Lott and I know there are other straight wall cartridges out there that would work just fine.

[Shortgun]

Also
38/55 Win
414 super mag
405 Win
445 super mag
45 win mag
460 Rowland
444 Marlin
50/70 Gov't

[Hopalong7]

       Well, you've gotten 'bout all of the possibilities, but not many opinions as you asked for.  Opinions generally come pretty easy around here, so here's mine.  I know you said Encore, and I do use both, but for most of my handgunning, I prefer the Contender so I limit myself to appropriate calibers.  As far as I'm concerned that really doesn't limit me much.  For a lot of years I would have quickly answered your question with the 357Max with the 41Mag a close second.  But in the last five years I've really come to like the 375Winchester.  For your 50yd shot I still might carry a 10" barreled Contender in 357Max, but, most likely it would be a 14" 375Win.  Plenty of power from a very managable round with better velocity and trajectory than most of the pistol rounds.  I know, at 50 yards it's just not going to matter, but you just might come across a longer shot.... The 220gr Hornady has a lot of "smack down", and my 14" 375 barrel is amazingly accurate.
Walt

[GunNut89]

hopalong I too am interested in the 375win I have also seen the 375 super mag do you know what the difference is? I am debating on ordering from MGM everyone on this forum seems to have great things to say about them. Do they have an option for open sights?

[Shortgun]

The .375 SuperMag is the .375 Win case shortened for use in a Dan Wesson revolver.

[Curtis]

The .375 SuperMag is the .375 Win case shortened for use in a Dan Wesson revolver.

Now THAT is interesting.  I've had the .375 Win in the back of my mind for some years but I am partial to shorter barrels.  It sounds like that .375 SuperMag might be well suited to the ten inch tube.

Curtis

[Hopalong7]

      I've had zero experience with the 375 Supermag, but it sounds like it would be quite similiar to the 357Max(and there's nothing wrong with that).  As long as we're talking 14" tubes, I would see no advantage of the Supermag over the 375Win, in fact I think it would be the other way around.  Of course, the OP did ask for a 50yd shot and the 375Win is easily capable to 150 and more in the right hands.
Walt

[yooper77]

Howdy all , picked up a brand new stainless encore pistol frame today and Im in need of oppinions and advice  as to which barrel to order for it. I have a smith 686 8 3/8ths as my other hunting gun but was thinking of steping up to 44 mag or bigger, most of the areas I hunt my shots stay at about 50 yards or closer any comments will be greatly appreciated thanks

I used to own a 10” 44 Magnum, 10” and 15” 7mm-08 Remington, 12” 223 Remington and 12” 45 Colt/410 barrels, but I sold all and kept the best of them all in my opinion.

I bought a 15” 454 Casull over 10 years ago and had it cut and re-crowned to 12” by SSKIndustries.com and had the T’SOB 6 screw base and three rings installed.  This barrel wears a Thompson Center 2.5-7x28mm handgun scope with illuminated reticle.

I hand load for the 454 Casull with cast performance 360 LBT bullets and H-110 powder.  I also use Pachmayr grip and forend set which offers great control.  If I do my part I can tackle anything that walks.

yooper77

[Ken ONeill]

Obviously, lots of cartridges will do, and those listed above are an example of that fact. Many are more powerful than necessary for whitetails. If a person has to ask this question, they probably don't need anything too exotic. The .44 Magnum will kill any subspecies of deer that ever lived with power to spare, ammo and components are readily available, recoil will be tolerable in an Encore, and the accuracy will be more than what's required. KISS principle.

[buckeye509]

I prefer the 44 Magnum or 357 Maximum.  I used to carry a 12" 44 Magnum in the Encore. I switched to Contender in 357 MAX and 44 Magnum in 12" barrels as well, both made by BullBerry and very accurate, for the saving in overall weight. Both barrels are scoped the Max has a 2X Nikon, the Mag has a 2.5 x 8 Nikon. I hunt Carroll County and I see no need to take a shot past 100 yards given the terrain I hunt. Most of the deer I see are a lot closer and a 2X scope is enough for me. All of the above calibers have merit. It will come down to to personal preference, budget, and taste. Good luck!