hand guns for turkeys

[grizzly]

 n.y has made hunting turkeys with handguns leagle . if what i'm reading is right you can use the taurus judge 410 . i know we talk here all the time about what guns are and shells are good for hunting turkeys and i guess we pretty much all agree that knowing how you're gun pattern and the range of that pattern any shot gun in any guage will work . but a hand gun with a 6 and ahalf inch barrel what is the range 5 yards . Clark didn't you just do tests on one of these guns what say you.i am starting to think that the dec isn't thinking about what's is smart hunting and is just trying to come up with new gimmicks to try to sell tags and not that i'm trying to dictate how someone what to hunt with but i wonder if they thought they sell more turkey tags by allowing rifles would they.  they did the same thing with deer up until 8 years ago we could only use shotguns but the state thought if they allowed rifles it would boost tag sales it didn't but it did increase people saying no to hunters seeking permission to hunt their land[8|]

[allaboutshooting]

ORIGINAL: grizzly

 n.y has made hunting turkeys with handguns leagle . if what i'm reading is right you can use the taurus judge 410 . i know we talk here all the time about what guns are and shells are good for hunting turkeys and i guess we pretty much all agree that knowing how you're gun pattern and the range of that pattern any shot gun in any guage will work . but a hand gun with a 6 and ahalf inch barrel what is the range 5 yards . Clark didn't you just do tests on one of these guns what say you.i am starting to think that the dec isn't thinking about what's is smart hunting and is just trying to come up with new gimmicks to try to sell tags and not that i'm trying to dictate how someone what to hunt with but i wonder if they thought they sell more turkey tags by allowing rifles would they.  they did the same thing with deer up until 8 years ago we could only use shotguns but the state thought if they allowed rifles it would boost tag sales it didn't but it did increase people saying no to hunters seeking permission to hunt their land[8|]

Hey Wayne,

Yes, I recently evaluated the Taurus Public Defender Ultra-Lite with the self defense .410 loads from Federal, Remington and Winchester as well as some .45 (Long) Colt cartridges. All that was done at 21 feet, the usual and customary distance for that kind of evaluation.

In Illinois, a .410 would be illegal in any form. We must use at least a 20 gauge and while I disagree with many laws and policies in Illinois, this is certainly one with which I agree.

Prior to evaluating the PD, I ran some controls with a .410 full choked single shot shotgun. Frankly, I did not see much difference in performance from that of the PD...at 7 yards. http://www.allaboutshooting.com/article_info.php?articles_id=471

I suppose that with a longer barreled Judge a very skilled shooter might be able to cleanly kill a turkey at a slightly longer range but the risk to the wildlife would not be worth the possible reward, at least to me.

Thanks,
Clark

[retranger]

I have to agree. I do think it would be possible, I hunted rabbits many years with a single shot .410, but it wouldn't be any 30 yard shot. Lets stick with what we have now.

[Bred64]

I totally agree with Clark, under certain circumstances the .410 would work. But then so would a slingshot, if the right things happen. Besides, I feel I owe it to the turkey to kill it as quickly and cleanly as possible, as with anything I'm hunting. The risk of just wounding the animal is just to great.

To me, just because it's legal, doesn't mean it's right. Just my opinion....

[Longbeards]

Well said Bred.

[shaman]

The .32-20 WCF was the historical favorite turkey cartridge, back when rifles were preferred over shotguns for turkey.  That would put a 100 grain bullet about 1000 fps at the muzzle .  That's the sort of performance that kind of rests between a 38 Special and a 357 Magnum. 
 
I was kind of thinking out loud last year about rifles for turkeys and got shouted down.  I guess nobody likes the idea of a hunting in crowded turkey woods with somebody lobbing lead bullets.  I really don't see where this would be any different.
 
If you take a look at the exterior ballistics, the case for a rifle or pistol firing a downloaded 357 Magnum pistol cartridge is interesting. Assuming a 100 grain load traveling 100 fps at the muzzle, and assuming you shot on level ground at a turkey at 20 yards, the bullet would not travel all THAT far before burying itself in the dirt. 
 
Where it gets dangerous is that nobody is going to take the time to download a 357 Magnum down to .32-20 WCF levels.  They're going to take a hot .357 full-house jacketed load they got from Walmart and then. . . I don't have my copy of Pointblack handy, but the bullet does carry a good ways.  When it finds something, well now you're talking a light deer load.  I had to admit to folks last year that being in the woods with rifle-armed turkey hunters would be a daunting idea.