The Best Calibers for Handgun Hunting
There is no single best handgun hunting caliber, only the right one for your game, your range, and what you can shoot well. Here is how the field lines up.
Ask ten handgun hunters for the best caliber and you will get ten answers, because the honest answer is a question: best for what? A cartridge that is ideal for deer at fifty yards is overkill on a coyote and underpowered for a big bear. The skill is matching the cartridge to the game, the realistic range, and, just as important, what you can actually shoot well under recoil.
Match cartridge to game
Two ideas guide every choice. First, the cartridge must reliably reach the vitals with enough penetration to do its job on that animal, which is mostly a matter of bullet construction and adequate power. Second, you must be able to shoot it accurately, because a cartridge that makes you flinch is worse than a milder one you can place. Power you cannot control is not power. Always confirm your choice meets the legal minimum where you hunt.
Small and medium game
For small game and pests, the humble .22 LR and .22 Magnum are all you need. For deer-sized game, the .357 Magnum is widely considered the practical minimum, and only with good bullets at close range; the .41 Magnum and 10mm Auto step things up, and both are capable deer and hog cartridges in the right hands, as covered in the 10mm and .357.
The .44 Magnum benchmark
If one cartridge defines handgun hunting, it is the .44 Magnum. It carries enough power for deer, hogs, and black bear at sensible ranges, it is widely available in excellent revolvers and ammunition, and most hunters can learn to shoot it well. For the majority of North American handgun hunting, the .44 Magnum is the sensible default, which is why it gets its own guide.
The big bores
When the game gets larger or more dangerous, the big-bore revolver cartridges take over: the .454 Casull, .460 S&W, and .500 S&W. They deliver dramatically more power and penetration, at the price of heavy recoil and specialized, heavy revolvers. They are the tools for the largest game, covered in big-bore revolver cartridges, and more gun than most deer hunting needs.
Single-shot cartridges
Specialized single-shot pistols open another door, chambering bottlenecked rifle-style cartridges that fly flatter and reach farther than any revolver round. For the hunter who wants more range and is willing to give up repeat shots, these cartridges, paired with the right single-shot pistol, extend handgun hunting well past revolver distances.
How to choose
Work backward from your hunt. Pick the smallest cartridge that reliably and ethically takes your intended game at your realistic range, then choose the one in that class you can shoot most accurately. For a great many hunters that lands on the .44 Magnum, and there is no shame in the obvious answer being the right one.