For years, I’ve been afraid of large-caliber guns, the recoil always scared me.
So, when my father bought me a Taurus Raging Hunter chambered in 44 Remington Magnum, you can imagine my excitement. But little did I know how much I would come to love this gun, and how much of a 44-magnum caliber fan I would be.
Impressed
When I first saw the gun, I was decently impressed. I had to admit it was aesthetically pleasing. With a hunter-friendly color scheme, and I don’t know about anyone else, but I want pretty and cool guns that cause big damage. Other than that, the gun handled fine. I’ll admit I was pretty impressed but also nervous.
Two mens trash, My Treasure
My father had originally bought the gun from a rifle hunter who bought it from another rifle hunter. Both of whom wanted to try their hand at handgun hunting. But judging by the cylinder, between the two of them, they had barely shot a cylinder full. The previous owner attempted to take it hunting a few times, but according to him, he would “hit a deer” but never find it. He eventually gave up and decided to sell it. To which my dad happily bought it when he learned that he was not only selling the gun but a 4x Leupold scope, a couple hundred rounds of Hornady handgun hunter ammo, some speed loaders, and all in a nice case.
Recoil
Overall, it’s a pretty good and a cool-looking gun. So, what’s holding me back? Well, that would be the recoil. Forty-fours are known for their recoil and power. Many people and even grown men around here are scared to shoot forty-fours.
So, because of my fear, I stalled for a while. I tried to make excuses to avoid shooting it. But after watching my brother do so well and remain unfazed, well….you know how sibling rivalry goes. If my younger brother could do it, why couldn’t I? Plus, isn’t the best way of getting over one’s fears is by facing them? So, I gave it a shot… and lo and behold I loved it!
I couldn’t believe I had avoided shooting it for so long! The recoil was overall not that bad, and everyone I knew had over-exaggerated it except for my father. It was very fun to shoot, and it didn’t take long for me to get used to it. Before I knew it, I was shooting as far as 60 yards away with no problem.
I recently tested it for velocity using the Hornady’s Handgun Hunter 44 Remington Magnum 200 gr. Monoflex factory ammo that came with the gun. It averaged around 1471 feet per second, and I was getting about a 3″ group at 50 yards. My daddy was unimpressed and jokingly said,” That if it said Smith & Wesson on the side, that group could be cut in half.”
The Field
But how does it do out in the field? That was something I had to find out last hunting season. So, I went back to one of my favorite deer stands behind grandma’s house. Near the pond and behind the power line, I laid in wait. Other than the Taurus Raging Hunter and Hornady’s Handgun Hunter 44 Remington Magnum 200 gr. Monoflex ammunition. I brought the usual equipment; my Bluetooth Walker’s Earmuffs, my must have Cole-tac Bitty bag (or butt bag as my dad likes to say.), a towel, a water bottle, and my current read Fossilized Customs by Lew White.
DEER!
I wasn’t long in the stand before I saw the first deer of the evening. At around 55 yards away, a six-point white-tail buck appeared, meandering down a well-used deer trail. I originally mistook it for a four-point and debated on whether or not to shoot it. I ultimately decided to shoot it, so I could harvest my first game animal with the 44 Mag. Or maybe it was just due to Young Hunter’s Impatient Excitement Syndrome, or YHIE for short.
It took a while for the buck to finally turn broadside. He was very content grazing the forest floor for food. Not knowing that a trigger-happy girl was waiting to put a 44 bullet through him in order to make her Bambi burgers later.
The Shot
Once he finally turned broadside, however, I let it rip. Aiming for right behind the shoulder, I watched as the bullet tore through the hide. The buck jumped backwards and began running as fast as it could. Not very fast, however, as he was limping as he ran and scrambled through all the brush. I heard a big THUMP as he dropped and piled up about 60 yards away from impact. Then I stayed in the stand a bit longer, waiting for my dad to finish hunting because we were only hunting a few hundred yards away from each other. While I waited, I spotted another larger buck and a couple of yearlings. I wondered if I should have waited to shoot the second buck, but what’s done is done. The same evening, my father shot himself a 10-point buck with his .357 Magnum RPM XL pistol.
Performance
So, how did the Taurus perform? Excellent in my opinion! It’s a very accurate revolver and hits exactly where I aim it. It has a good range and velocity, so don’t worry about whether or not you’re going to hit that deer unless you’re just really bad at aiming. I changed the grips to the Hogue finger groove rubber monogrip and found this grip to be more comfortable for me. The big issue is the trigger weight when it comes from the factory. It’s very heavy and will have to be slicked up to make it lighter for hunting purposes. When we measured ours, it weighed 8 lbs for single action. After trigger work, we got it down to 3.5 lbs. The gun is not drilled and tapped on the top strap, but you can add whatever optics you want to the rail above the barrel. I personally have a Burris fast fire 3 red dot sight mounted on my Raging Hunter. Overall, I really love the gun, and the recoil is not that bad at all.
So, for the people out there who are scared of recoil, I totally recommend that you buy this gun and overcome that fear. It’s not that bad at all, and remember the old saying, don’t knock it till you try it.
|
|