Happy New Year mbliss57,
You do have beautiful handguns. I hope they bring many years of shooting pleasure to you.
Will all due respect, I'll stay home. I've fired a couple big handgun cartridges including a Freedom Arms .454 Casull with a 7.5" barrel. After the third round, I laid that beast on a shooting bench and was afraid to look at it. My friend who owned it didn't like shooting it. He eventually sold it.
I do get the appeal of the biggest and baddest. While they do work for some, they do not work for all. As for me, based upon my experience with massive handgun cartridges, I'll stay home with my 1911-A1 .45 Auto and my Model 66-8 .357 Mag.
I'm not recoil averse. I am pain averse. There is a difference.
My guess is the .357 Mag is the most powerful revolver cartridge that 90% of shooters can comfortably shoot.
Believe me, I know of the capability of big bore cartridges. They isn't an animal that walks Earth that could withstand a .45/70 Gov't with modern ammo.
I used to own a 6" Model 29. I bought it decades ago when hunting big game with handguns was all the rage. With magnum rounds, I was good for about a half-box. Gaining proficiency with a big game hunting handgun was much more difficult that I had realized. After I figured out that I'd have to dedicate at least a day-a-month to practice to gain proficiency and confidence with it to humanely kill Rocky Mountain mule deer out to a hundred yards under absolutely ideal conditions, I ended my handgun hunting aspiration before it began. As for big bear defense, I'd pay to watch anyone rapid fire a 6" Model 29 firing magnum loads with any acceptable degree of accuracy. Since that beast had no utility for me, I sold it w/o regret.
I do get the enamoring effect of really big cartridges. My reality is handguns chambered for them, by necessity, are huge and heavy, two precluding factors for me for any use I might have for any handgun.
The unsolved conundrum of life is why we have to mature to acquire wisdom. Or it could be we have wisdom in our youth that is obscured by knowledge negating appeal. We were all taught in high school biology that nothing living remains in that condition without topside oxygenated blood flow. The largest moose ever killed in North America was killed about 5 years ago with a .303 British. Put a bullet from any suitable cartridge into the oxygenating blood pumping apparatus of any big game animal, and it'll have seconds of hoof time remaining.
For me as I see it, the apex of handgun and cartridge is the 1911-A1 .45 Auto. The .45 Auto is an extremely powerful albeit low pressure cartridge, its low pressure greatly increasing its appeal. The 1911-A1 has to be the easiest big bore handgun to carry. It is very easy to keep its muzzle on a charging threat. And it can be reloaded within seconds. For me, it is the ultimate comprehensive self-defense handgun. And there is no doubt in my mind that a 230 grain .45 Auto will destroy any bear's ability to continue its bad intent. If an arrow leaving a sting at ~300 FPS can penetrate through-and-through our largest deer, a 230 grain .45 Auto bullet would do serious damage to any bear. And I'd rather hit a charging, humongous bear with 9 230 grain .45 Auto rounds than one big bore revolver cartridge, assuming I'd be able to get it pointed at a charging bear in time, with follow-up rounds fired in prayer.
Since I've bought a Model 66-8 2.75", I've been rethinking my mean critter self-defense handgun. No, my Model 66-8 will never displace my beloved Springfield Armory TRP .45 Auto as my favorite handgun and cartridge. However, the perfect size (I'm referring to perfect size for me) of my Model 66-8 and its apparent reliability have provoked thought and research. There is no doubt in mind that I could get 1000 FPS with 180 grain .357 Mag bonded bullets out of my 2.75" Model 66-8, more velocity with hard cast bullets. 180 grain .357 Mag bullets have astonishing sectional density. There is no doubt in my mind that a 180 grain .357 Mag bullet will break a charging bears shoulders. It would destroy a charging bear's skull. Yes, I am leaning toward making my Model 66-8 my primary handgun when trout tangling in mean critter country.
Most of us think in terms of how much velocity we can get out of any cartridge, handgun and rifle. I've modified my approach. Now I'm more inclined to determine how much velocity I'd need based upon application. How fast will a 180 grain .357 Mag bullet have to leave my Model 66-8's muzzle to break a charging bear's shoulders? How much velocity is necessary for a .38 caliber bullet reach optimum bipedal threat termination? Is .357 Mag velocity necessary for bipedal threat termination? Or can maximum bipedal threat termination velocity be attained from a .38 Special +P?
Hence, mbliss57, while I am completely good with others' desire to go with biggest and baddest, they do not work for all of us. However, like all gun aficionados, I do have immense appreciation for biggest and baddest handguns. They're just not for me. Thus, I'm staying home.
I wish you the absolute best and complete enjoyment with your soon to be trio of biggest and baddest handguns.
