one of the local guys has a son whos about 16 years old,
that has expressed a wish at numerous times,
while I was talking with his dad,
to learn how to hunt with a handgun.
He knows from years of hanging out with his dad and I while we work on our muscle cars ,
in my garage and listening to both his dad and I talk about decades of hunting in florida,
that I frequently us a handgun.
The father has never owned a handgun and thus his skill in that area is rather non-existent so far
and thus his sons is also non-existant.
his dads one of the guys that while not at all against hunting,
but he has a deep-seated opinion that an Ithica 37, pump action 12 ga shotgun,
which hes used for 4 decades with slugs to hunt around here with good success,
is both ideal for hunting deer and hogs here in FLA, where ranges in the areas we hunt rarely exceed 50-60 yards.
and that theres simply no reason, or even a need to purchase a handgun, to hunt any large game with.
now he is not opposed to having his son own and use a handgun for hunting deer and hogs,
but to him, it seems like simply a way for his son, to spend more time and effort in buying more firearms, and potentially reloading equipment, ammo etc.
and learning to use something, that will cost more money to do something that a 12 ga pump shotgun is ideally made for.
Now on the plus side ,there's a large local orchard that the local farm owner, (the kids uncle )
has given this kids dad (his dads brother) and the kid permission to shoot a few hogs,
deer and rabbits in.
(obviously following the local game laws and dates and licensing laws)
that orchard is overrun with rabbits, I suggested to his dad that he might let his son borrow a 22lr revolver
I own, and under his strict supervision only, learn to use it on targets, until his skill with that 22lr revolver
increases to the point that he can consistently hit a couple of coke cans at 50-60 yards, and once that's been accomplished he might want to further add additional experience hunting the local rabbit population in that orchard,
before he borrows or purchases a decent quality hunting caliber handgun.
my suggestion here would be a similar Ruger or S&W choice in a higher quality 357 mag revolver.
mastering a 22lr before you consider a centerfire cartridge is always a good idea.
getting the basics of handling a revolver and marksmanship down before advancing further up in the revolvers power, level ,as is generally a good idea.
A 357 mag is certainly able with the correct 158-grain hand loaded ammo,
to easily handle all hogs and deer etc. at typical under 60-75 yard ranges he will see in that orchard.
only after that is mastered that 22lr should he consider any further cartridge power increases.
To my way of thinking that progression in adding to his experience can only help
, and it certainly won,t cost much other than some time to gain the required skills as a brick or two of 500 22LR cartridges is certainly cheap and easily obtained,
and a couple hours a day using a revolver on targets certainly won,t hurt his odds of becoming a better revolver shot.
https://www.surplusammo.com/product...gh-velocity-hollow-point-ammo-500-rounds.html
His dad seemed to agree, to the idea.
I think one of the big factors that the dad liked, was hes only out the cost of some 22lr ammo until the kids proficient with a handgun.
looking back thats basically how I developed some familiarity with a revolver and its certainly helped out later, to begin with a decent S&W 8" revolver in 22lr,
before I purchased a longer barreled 357 and eventually a 44 mag revolver I generally hunt with.
that has expressed a wish at numerous times,
while I was talking with his dad,
to learn how to hunt with a handgun.
He knows from years of hanging out with his dad and I while we work on our muscle cars ,
in my garage and listening to both his dad and I talk about decades of hunting in florida,
that I frequently us a handgun.
The father has never owned a handgun and thus his skill in that area is rather non-existent so far
and thus his sons is also non-existant.
his dads one of the guys that while not at all against hunting,
but he has a deep-seated opinion that an Ithica 37, pump action 12 ga shotgun,
which hes used for 4 decades with slugs to hunt around here with good success,
is both ideal for hunting deer and hogs here in FLA, where ranges in the areas we hunt rarely exceed 50-60 yards.
and that theres simply no reason, or even a need to purchase a handgun, to hunt any large game with.
now he is not opposed to having his son own and use a handgun for hunting deer and hogs,
but to him, it seems like simply a way for his son, to spend more time and effort in buying more firearms, and potentially reloading equipment, ammo etc.
and learning to use something, that will cost more money to do something that a 12 ga pump shotgun is ideally made for.
Now on the plus side ,there's a large local orchard that the local farm owner, (the kids uncle )
has given this kids dad (his dads brother) and the kid permission to shoot a few hogs,
deer and rabbits in.
(obviously following the local game laws and dates and licensing laws)
that orchard is overrun with rabbits, I suggested to his dad that he might let his son borrow a 22lr revolver
I own, and under his strict supervision only, learn to use it on targets, until his skill with that 22lr revolver
increases to the point that he can consistently hit a couple of coke cans at 50-60 yards, and once that's been accomplished he might want to further add additional experience hunting the local rabbit population in that orchard,
before he borrows or purchases a decent quality hunting caliber handgun.
my suggestion here would be a similar Ruger or S&W choice in a higher quality 357 mag revolver.
mastering a 22lr before you consider a centerfire cartridge is always a good idea.
getting the basics of handling a revolver and marksmanship down before advancing further up in the revolvers power, level ,as is generally a good idea.
A 357 mag is certainly able with the correct 158-grain hand loaded ammo,
to easily handle all hogs and deer etc. at typical under 60-75 yard ranges he will see in that orchard.
only after that is mastered that 22lr should he consider any further cartridge power increases.
To my way of thinking that progression in adding to his experience can only help
, and it certainly won,t cost much other than some time to gain the required skills as a brick or two of 500 22LR cartridges is certainly cheap and easily obtained,
and a couple hours a day using a revolver on targets certainly won,t hurt his odds of becoming a better revolver shot.
https://www.surplusammo.com/product...gh-velocity-hollow-point-ammo-500-rounds.html
His dad seemed to agree, to the idea.
I think one of the big factors that the dad liked, was hes only out the cost of some 22lr ammo until the kids proficient with a handgun.
looking back thats basically how I developed some familiarity with a revolver and its certainly helped out later, to begin with a decent S&W 8" revolver in 22lr,
before I purchased a longer barreled 357 and eventually a 44 mag revolver I generally hunt with.
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