what is the best hand gun caliber to hunt and take down elk in a decent range?

Answer 1

Depends on your definition of decent range, and depends on your definition of "handgun." There are Thompson-Center Contender single-shot pistols offered in quite a few rifle calibers, including excellent elk calibers.

If single-shot rifle-caliber handguns aren't what you're looking for, then you're looking at fairly short-ranged shots taken with big sixguns.

In approximate order of suitability. Should not be considered all-inclusive:
.44 Magnum -- Generally considered to be the minimum acceptable handgun caliber for hunting big game.

.45 Colt -- In big Ruger Blackhawk, Redhawk, old-model Vaquero, Freedom Arms revolvers, and T/C Contender or Encore single-shots, the cartridge can be loaded to do everything the .44 Magnum can do, except at lower pressures. Especially when you talk about cast-lead bullets at over 300 grains. However, the ranges are generally shorter, and no heavy-loaded .45 Colt cartridge should ever find its way into a gun that's not listed above.

.454 Casull -- Take a .45 Colt, lengthen it by 1/10th of an inch, thicken the brass, change the primer to a rifle primer, and kick the max pressure up to 60,000 PSI, and you get this monster. The .454 Casull has taken large, dangerous game in North America and Africa that make elk look like whitetails.

.480 Ruger -- Uses a .458 caliber bullet. Not quite as quick as the .454 Casull, but it can use heavier bullets.

.475 Linebaugh -- Chambered for five-shot single-action revolvers. Also uses .458 calibr bullets. Also very suitable on elk. Recoil is fun.

.500 Linebaugh -- A .50 caliber revolver cartridge also chambered for five-shot revolvers by gunsmith John Linebaugh. Uses much heavier bullets. Recoil can be downright painful.

.460 Smith and Wesson -- Take a .454 Casull case, lengthen it, and load it with lighter bullets at high velocities, and you get the .460 S&W. So, it's another sort of derivative of the .45 Colt. Smith and Wesson's revolvers chambered for this cartridge are typically heavy, feature recoil-absorbing grips and compensation porting.

.500 Smith and Wesson -- Another .50 caliber cartridge. Properly loaded, it's suitable for elk. And moose. And brown bears. And African safari game animals. Recoil is better than that of most custom sixguns chambered in .500 Linebaugh.

Answer 2

Keep in mind Elk are taken by bow and arrow every year at short ranges, so contrary to what some on here have said you can get close enough to them to take one with a conventional handgun.
44 rem. mag , 454 casull, 500 s&w will all do the job quiet nicely.

however if you intend on shooting at ranges further than 100 yards then I would go with the encore although it's really only a shortened rifle so whats the point in that, you may as well use a long gun if thats your intention. Make it fun get your self a good 44 mag get close and you'll have no problems. It will be much easier than taking him with a bow.

Answer 3

I suggest the 454 casull. It has enough power to get the job done, and you can also shoot 45 long colt in it for plinking or hunting smaller game.

There are bigger guns like the 500 S&W, but I see a lot of used ones in the gun stores, because the recoil is so bad. I have a 454 casull that is ported, and the 300gr factory loads are almost a wrist breaker. I hunt whitetail with the 240gr loads, but would step it up to the 285 or 300 for Elk or Moose.

Answer 4

I would recomend a large rifle caliber single-shot handgun such as a T/C Contender in .444 marlin or .308. Even though the larger handgun calibers such as .44 magnum and 500S&W will kill an Elk, they would not be efficient at doing so beyond at the very most 100 yards. Elk are truly huge, yet wary creatures. More than lkely your best shot at a big animal won't occur within a shorter distance than 100 yds., so I'd go with a big single shot, as I said.

Answer 5

i'm fortunate sufficient to have searching rifles in extremely some calibers. the appropriate high quality for the shot is frequently the only i grow to be going to take with me earlier i desperate to p.c.. up the only I even have with me. all of them are a compromise. For searching that length activity in close conceal, considered one of my favorites is 348 Winchester, yet there seems a correlation between my wearing that rifle and the prospect for a shot too long to take with that rifle. If i'm wearing considered one of my small-bores, i'm getting the appropriate shot for a medium-bore. Murphy's regulation. the final compromise for you're 280 Remington, or it might desire to be 325 WSM. own possibilities and the aspects you hunt would have plenty to assert approximately your selection.

Answer 6

My opinion the TC Encore is the best for that task.
This pistol comes in 308, 30-06, 375, 45/70, 460 S&W and 500 S&W.
That is one potent hand gun.







http://www.tcarms.com/firearms/encorePistols.php

Answer 7

That's a tall order for the average pistol.I wouldn't.