Handgun Hunting Information From Ruger

Tom Kelly continues his series with RugerFirearms for the benefit of those who are interested in handgun hunting. In these two video presentations we learn about ammunition and accessories. Longtime readers of gun publications already know that many gun writers advocate large bore, hard cast bullets for taking big game. Mr. Kelly reinforces that idea when he cautions against using hollow points designed for self defense. That's something I haven't really pondered much, because of my personal hunting experiences. Going out behind one barn or another and taking deer at less than 25 yards, bullet choice is not terribly critical for me. One deer that I took with a .50 caliber roundball ran 50 yards with a disconnected heart, but the bullet did not exit because the soft lead expanded just like you would expect soft lead to do. If I hadn't nailed the heart, the lack of an exit wound might have made tracking the deer difficult.  Another deer season, I shot a little buck with a .58 caliber Minie ball at very short range, and that bullet made a very impressive exit wound; the deer still ran 50 yards.
 
 I've grown to prefer jacketed bullets over hard cast bullets, because they just seem to shoot better for me, and I don't shoot enough to make the extra cost a problem.  I wouldn't be afraid to shoot a deer with a jacketed hollow point at our place, given that my shots tend to be at very short range.  I think that my handloads would punch all the way through a whitetail just fine at 25 yards, but I take Tom Kelly's advice very seriously because he has hunted more game than I have, in many more situations.