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Larry Weishuhn

Short Barrels, A Long Shot?

“Can you hit him from here?” questioned Tri-State Outfitter’s Bridger Petrini. “I’ve been shooting that distance on the range a lot lately. Got a good rock solid rest. Think I’m going to try it.” I said looking down at my .30-06 Encore® pistol, then positioning it on top of my western hat which I had placed on the boulder in front of me. “I’m going to hold for about 350 yards. Please watch to see where the bullet hits if I don’t hit the bull.” With that I held on the elk expecting about a 16 to 18 inch drop with the pistol sighted in 1 ½ inch high at 100 yards. My hold was based on many sessions at the range, shooting at large targets out to 500 yards using the same dead-on hold in an effort to determine how much “real” drop there was in my bullet at longer ranges. I took a deep breath and then started applying pressure to the trigger. The sound of the shot and the recoil surprised me. But a mere moment after I heard the shot I heard Bridger say, “You hit him squarely, right behind the shoulder.” Quickly I removed the spent case replaced it with another Winchester® factory load, closed the action, cocked the hammer, and started my trigger pull when the crosshairs were again just behind the bull elk’s shoulder. This time at the shot the bull buckled and pitched nose first into the shrub oak he had been standing near. Long shot for a short barrel? Perhaps, but I had practiced such a shot many times back home in Texas. I knew exactly where my Encore® pistol would strike the target at ranges out to 400 yards. I had made such shots also while shooting prairie dogs in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. Those shots had built confidence, for I “knew” if I could hit a prairie dog at such ranges, I could do the same on big game. I’m often tickled when arriving at a hunting camp when my camp-mates realize I’ve chosen to hunt with an Encore® pistol. “What’s your range with that thing, a hundred yards or less?” I usually just smile and say, “Maybe a little farther!” Hunting with an Encore® or G2 Contender® pistol is pure hunting pleasure. Although I love the old Contender® and the new G2 Contender® I have to admit my favorite is the Encore® pistol. I shoot a variety of calibers, from .30-06 and .308 (which ballistically in a 15 inch barrel are essentially the same), to the .460 S&W Mag (which also allows me to use .45 Long Colt and .454 Casull ammo in the same barrel) and the .500 S&W Mag. I’ve used the latter on deer, wild hogs, bison as well as other game. I’ve shot a lot of caribou, elk and whitetails with the .30-06. Interestingly my two largest whitetails, one a typical 10 with two short kickers that grosses 200 4/8 and a typical 12 with one short kicker which grosses 200 6/8 were both shot with pistols. The 10 point with a .460 S&W Mag Encore® and the typical 12 with a .308 Win Encore®. My Encore® pistols are topped with Nikon’s Encore® long eye relief scopes. I shoot exclusively Winchester® Ammo, for good reason! That combination with my ever present BOG Gear Red-Legged Devil™ shooting rest round out my gear. With those essentials I’m ready to take on any game in North America and shoot near or far!