AHC#7 Backup Handguns | african-hunter

Backup Handguns for Dangerous Game

By I J Larivers

Anchor 5

Bayaka orchestra

A Bayaka family.

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Handgun hunting itself is an extremely fast-growing sport, albeit with very specialised firearms such as the Thompson-Center range of very fine single shot pistols. But what I want to look at here are the merits of various handgun calibres as backup guns on dangerous game - or possibly as the primary defensive firearm for canoe guides, when rifles are just too unwieldy and would probably be cased anyway.

My old man sitting on the right taught me to shoot dogs.

How are we fellows to keep warm? Africanis pups, Magondi Tribal Trust Land, Zimbabwe, winter of 1977.

A number of factors have to be considered when selecting any firearm that may be put to the test in defending one’s life. Firstly, are they “enough gun”? Dirty Harry not withstanding, the most powerful handgun in the world will still seem almost insignificant next to the ballistics of even a mediocre rifle calibre, especially if you are talking about one designed for use on dangerous game. What exactly can you realistically expect from that .480 Ruger revolver that your .416 Remington Magnum rifle failed to deliver? Secondly, are they reliable under rigorous field conditions? I used to love my FN-FAL rifle, but because of its system of gas operation, I used to strip it every evening in camp and run a pull-through through the gas tube and clean the piston whenever there was a chance of a punch-up during the night. The guys with the G3's didn’t have to do that. No one with any field experience at all would consider a Wildey semi-auto pistol as a wise bush choice, well-made though they may be. And, a big part of reliability is robustness - will your chosen handgun stand up to prolonged and hard use? And, the last point I want to consider here - how easy is it going to be for you to put in the range time with whatever handgun you choose to become and remain proficient? One of my first centre-fire handguns was an old Ruger flat-top .41 magnum. I wasn’t looking for a .41 at the time, but the price was so low I had to buy it - complete with a box containing 44 rounds of ammo. The previous owner had bought it, fired six rounds through it, and decided it was the Antichrist. He would never have been able to hit anything with it except by accident, and as has been pointed out by many more knowledgeable than I, in a tight corner shot placement is everything.

Revolver or self-loader? One of the most age-old questions among gun writers. I think in terms of a backup gun in the bush, the revolvers definitely have the edge. They are going to be more reliable under rugged field conditions, and a scenario where a backup handgun is brought into play shouldn’t devolve into a firefight, so ammo capacity is less of a major concern. A couple of canoe guides I know have opted for the Glock 10mm’s as backup firearms, as they feel the ballistics are adequate for their needs, and the simplistic design will afford reliability. In full power factory loadings they would give a croc pause for thought with the correct shot placement, and I can personally attest to the reliability of the Glock. And of course with 15-round detachable box magazines they combine good firepower with easy reloading. Maybe not a bad choice. Of course, when Don Heath won the title of All-Africa revolver division champion (which he still holds) at the Practical Pistol world championships in Pietersberg, South Africa in 2002, we was firing .40 S&W’s out of a Smith and Wesson 10mm revolver, which would probably be a better choice...

When selecting any firearm for any purpose, you will want to acquire something that is well-made and that has reliable factory support for spare parts and repairs. That prototype .479 Bloggs & Doe scandium 13-shot revolver that’s the only one of its kind on the face of the earth and came with the only box of ammo ever made might be a status symbol, but it belongs in the gun safe back home. My choices of calibres to consider below, therefore, is largely based on availability of firearms and ammunition. Not all shooters (sadly) are reloaders, and while I might think nothing of ordering 100 oddball cases from Bertram Brass, and then sourcing reloading dies and bullet moulds for my cannon of choice, this option is not open to everyone. Remember about range time and shot placement and proficiency.

Anchor 6

The .357 Magnum.

Introduced in 1935, this venerable workhorse is probably still the most popular magnum cartridge in the world. It is “enough gun” for most situations, and is relatively easy to learn to shoot well even for non-gun nuts. It is produced in single and double action revolvers, and some self-loading pistols, but because of its rimmed case it is less than totally reliable in the latter. Having evolved from the .38 Special, the .357 produces roughly three times the energy of its predecessor, but its penetration might be borderline for defensive work on something with a lot of teeth and claws - shot placement is crucial.

The .41 Remington Magnum.

This calibre saw the light of day in 1964, and was probably pioneered more by Elmer Keith than anyone else. There wasn’t much of a niche in those days for anything bigger than the .357 in law enforcement circles, but the .41 found its calling among the hunting fraternity. More efficacious on bigger game than the .357, it was slightly more user-friendly to master than the .44 Magnum. In intervening years it has been eclipsed by a number of new calibres, but it still retains a dedicated following of afficionados.

The .44 Remington Magnum.

Even without Dirty Harry, this remains the classic definitive magnum cartridge. Introduced in 1955 by Smith and Wesson so Elmer Keith wouldn’t have to keep blowing up perfectly good .45 revolvers, the venerable .44 Magnum has found a dedicated following as a universal handgun hunting cartridge. It does take a competent pistolero to master the .44 in full magnum loads however, and a lot of continued practice. This is probably the most oft-carried backup handgun calibre in Africa.

The 10mm Auto.

The 10mm was introduced in 1983 for the Bren Ten self-loading pistol which was the brainchild of the legendary Jeff Cooper. Cooper was on a quest for the better mousetrap, looking for a handgun that was just a little bigger and better than the iconic Colt 1911-style .45 Automatic. His thinking, as always, was pretty much spot-on, but the Bren Ten came into existence at a time when other innovations such as high-capacity pistol frames were being introduced. The 10mm was a brilliant concept, but almost immediately became overtaken by events. With ballistics far superior to the .357 Magnum, it was ideal for law enforcement and hunting, provided it was in the hands of someone who could master it. The FBI adopted it, but found that it was too hot for its agents to handle. They commissioned the “FBI load” which was a downloaded version, and Smith & Wesson took this to its logical conclusion with the new .40 S&W round that is now one of the most popular handgun calibres of all time among competitive shooters and law enforcement agencies. The 10mm, of course, isn’t too hot for anyone to handle - it just requires proper instruction and a little dedication to master.

The .454 Casull.

No newcomer, the .454 has been around for over half a century, and was introduced mainly as a hunting cartridge. Most revolvers in this calibre are 5-shot single actions, which boast the frame strength to handle this powerful cartridge. It remains popular as both a primary handgun hunting calibre for dangerous game and a backup cartridge. A number of canoe guides in Zimbabwe carry the Taurus double action version, but most probably do not practice with them enough.

The .480 Ruger.

Ruger firearms are known as some of the sturdiest and well-made on the market. The .480 Ruger was designed to fit in the .44 Magnum - .454 Casull niche, and fills that role admirably. As a handgun, being chambered in Ruger’s massive Super Redhawk double action revolver, it is more likely to be used as a primary handgun hunting calibre than lugged around the bush as a backup, but the ballistics are impressive.

The .475 Linebaugh.

This cartridge, announced in 1988, is only available in single-action revolvers, and is one of the world’s most powerful revolver calibres. Either as a primary hunting calibre or a backup, it is going to be almost as good as it gets, provided you contribute the time and dedication to make it anything more than an ornament.

The .500 Linebaugh.

This was John Linebaugh’s first ultra-magnum revolver offering, but when the ready supply of .348 Winchester cases on which it was based began to dry up, he brought out the .475 Linebaugh, crafted instead around cut-down .45-70 government cases. .348 brass has since re-emerged, and both Linebaugh calibres are still in existence, occupying more or less the same niche

The .500 Smith & Wesson.

Around for less than a decade, this calibre from Smith and Wesson is the most powerful factory production cartridge in the world. Judging by the number of ammo manufacturers who cater for it, it is garnering a substantial following.

The .50 Action Express.

This was one of the first popular .50 calibre rounds of the latter part of the 20th Century, and while it is capable of producing some truly impressive ballistics, its Achilles heel was being initially produced for the Israeli Military Industries Desert Eagle gas operated self-loading pistol. A gas-operated self-loader anywhere but on a shooting range is a complicated solution to a nonexistent problem, and the reliability question gives pause for thought. Plus, the Desert Eagle in .50AE was too big to be practical and only held a 6-round magazine.

How do they stack up against one another? Geez, I’m already starting to yawn! There seem to be a gazillion different ways of comparing various calibres to one another - on paper. Sadly, we all have this fascination for statistics, but often that’s all they are - numbers on a piece of paper. What is it that makes a particular calibre more lethal than another? (Well, we all know this - it’s where the round is placed, and a bigger, badder round may not be any more effective than a lesser one (on paper) which is delivered by a competent marksman, but let’s play the game of stopping or killing power for a little while.) I’m not sure I believe in stopping power very much, because I’ve come across far too many instances of projectiles that should have stopped something and didn’t. Hit a vital organ and the requisite results will be produced, in what time depending on how vital the organ was, with the central nervous system in the form of the brain or the spine being first prize.

Basically, some shooters believe that the velocity of a particular round is the be-all and end-all, and others support the weight of the bullet as being the major determining factor. Now, I have never believed in lightweight ultra-fast bullets, or heavy, ponderous and slow-moving projectiles. Common sense dictates that a bullet of moderate weight at a moderate velocity should produce more consistent results than any of these “magic bullets” at either end of the spectrum. But most aficionados will be either drawn to the belief that a bullet’s effectiveness depends on its momentum (they prefer heavier, slower bullets) or on its energy (lighter, faster projectiles).

From Pondoro Taylor’s Knock-Out values to Hatcher’s relative stopping power index to IPSC (International Practical Shooting Confederation) power factors, there are a number of ways to determine the relative effectiveness of a round - on paper. Perhaps Taylor’s thinking, which multiples the bullet weight by its velocity by its diameter is the most accurate for determining what a particular bullet will do - his Knock-Out Values reflect a faith in momentum over energy, and certainly favour a moderately heavy solid bullet, much the same as you would be expected to fire from a backup handgun.

If we take a look at the calibres above, based solely on bullet weight and velocity, and we use the calculation for kinetic energy, where V represents the bullet’s velocity in feet per second, W is its weight in grains, and E is its resultant energy in foot pounds:

V2 x W

______ = E

450,240

then for each these calibres it would seem that the lighter, faster bullets will out-perform heavier, slower projectiles. To use the .357 Magnum as an example, a 158gr bullet travelling at 1,200fps would deliver 505 foot pounds of energy, whereas a 110gr bullet travelling at 1,500fps would generate 550 foot pounds.

But if we take the same bullets and apply Taylor’s Knock-Out Values, we see that the opposite appears true. On paper. The 158gr bullet at 1,200fps will achieve a Taylor Knock-Out Value of 9.7 as opposed to the 110gr bullet at 1,500 which only rates at 8.4. In actual fact, working out comparisons between different calibres are simply physics equations of weights and velocities. They may be interesting, but a wounded leopard or buffalo may not share your fascination with mathematics. They do not take into account the myriad different bullet types and construction, and that is as important as anything in assessing the effectiveness of a particular round.

I once had to shoot a bushbuck ram who had a gangrenous leg wound from a snare. Ludicrous as it sounds, a wounded bushbuck is not something to be taken lightly. My main focus in those days was law enforcement, and all I had with me was my venerable Colt .45 Combat Commander, so I had to get as close as I could. I managed to corner him along a fence line, and dispatched him easily with one round of 230gr lead cast round nose ammo. I was loading those up for practice at around 850fps. That round had an energy value of 369 foot pounds, and a Taylor KO Value of 12.6. In the energy stakes a faster, lighter bullet, say a 185gr projectile at 1,000fps would have yielded more energy - 411 foot pounds, but would have given a lower Taylor KO Value of 11.9.

So does something sound a little odd here? What if, in either the .357 Magnum or .45ACP scenarios above, the lighter bullet had been a frangible hollow point and the heavier bullet had been a jacketed solid? Which would have performed better on the bushbuck - or something with a much thicker hide and a lot more bone and tissue to get through before a vital area was hit? The table below would summarize my recommendations for such moderation, and still result in rounds that were manageable on the range - unfortunately you more or less have to be a reloader to put some of them together.

The formidable .480 Ruger seen from the business end

Left to right - 10mm auto, .357 Magnum, .44 Rem Magnum, .480 Ruger, .50 AE, .454 Casull, and the .375 H&H Magnum for comparison

Clockwise from top left - Israeli Desert Eagle in .50 Action Express; Ruger .480; Smith & Wesson 10mm; Colt Python .357 Magnum; Taurus Raging Bull .454 Casull; Desert Eagle .44 Magnum

I have opted for jacketed flat point bullets as the ideal. Projectiles like Cor-Bon’s Penetrator range would be very good, and the experienced reloader could also experiment with gas-checked hard lead bullets. My recommendation? Moderation in both weight and velocity, and the choice of a suitable bullet that will penetrate well.