New Toy!!! Any recommendations?

Two years after being discontinued, I finally scored a Taurus Raging Bull in .41mag. My intention is to do some handgun hunting with it and wondering you fellas might have some optic recommendations?

I’ve had guys come back with very good comments on the Burris Handgun Variable scopes

Burris Handgun 2-7×32

I’ve had the Burris 3×12 on various Contender handguns for years. I’ve also used a Simmons 3×7, which has been surprisingly good.

Whatever you do, don’t even consider any objective smaller than 32. The FOV is already very limited with a long-eye relief scope, so picking up a deer in fading light can be a real challenge even with good optics.

I love handgun hunting and I’ve only been using a handgun for deer for the past 10 years. It really rekindled my interest in deer hunting. I was getting a little bored, to be honest, with rifle hunting.

I tried the 357 Rem Max and .44 mag for a while, but the straight case revolver cartridges really run out of gas quickly. Running the numbers on the 357 RM, my personal “no go” range was anything beyond 100. It just became too dang iffy IMO, and that was with hot handloads. A few years back I upgraded to the 7-30 Waters and I’m a lot happier about that, although recoil is significantly greater.

Be aware that handgun recoil pounds the p1ss out of scopes and rings. It took years of trial and error before I found the formula to keep things tight on my Contenders.

Grouse

Thanks for the heads up and I agree on the 32 minimum. Where I’ll be hunting, I’ll be lucky to have a shot beyond 75yds. Clear shots are usually 35yds and shorter so I’m feeling pretty good about the range. I’m not even sure this will happen for this year so I have time to get it right.

After 10 years of handgun hunting, I think that using a handgun for deer has a lot more in common with bow hunting than rifle hunting. Like a bow, nobody just picks up a handgun and cranks off a baseball sized group at 100.

It takes a LOT of practice, IMO, to get to the point where you can reliably shoot even a softball sized group with a handgun under field conditions. Shooting off of sand bags is useless unless you have a stack of sandbags in your deer stand. You have to practice the way you intend to hunt.

Even with a Bog Pod, I’ve had deer in the scope and even though they were “in range”, the combination of the light, the wind moving the stand, etc, made it a no-shot situation. With a rifle, those deer would have been in the freezer faster than you can say “Bambi Burgers”. It’s that different.

Grouse

My intentions here really are close range. And by close, I’m planning on practicing at 60 yds. I agree that this is going to take a lot of practice to get good at and I’ll put in my time to do this right. Biggest thing is where I hunt. Many acres of the area I trounce around in is the kind of deer country where they can jump up out of a bed and be completely out of sight within 3 jumps….. leaving you to only listen to them getting further away from you! It’s thick, thick, thick….. and I know where to position myself to gain the best possible advantage. Even in a tree stand….. most opportunities are under 40 yards anyway so if I can practice in that 50-60 range…. I really think I’ll have my bases covered. Unless I build a fortress in the middle of the swamp, 100 yards isn’t even a reality for me…. and the deer travel the edges 90% of the time so I’ll be planning to stand in the same area I usually do and simply wait. Patience will be the “A” game and preparation should be the “A” result.

Should I run into any difficulties, you can bet I’ll be looking for more help and insight! For now…. just need to complete the set up.

Still haven’t put a scope on it but I had to take her out and shoot ‘er just once (or twenty times!) to see how she feels and I believe I’ve got a new fave!!! Less recoil than the Ruger New Model .41 and it’s just plain smooth! Definitely going to like working with this piece!

You’ll love that .41 mag Kid! I had a S&W Dirty Harry model wheel gun in that caliber… sweet shooter!