38 special, 357 magnum

[riversidejeep]

My thoughts on this would be a quality ( S&W, Colt, Ruger etc.) stainless double action with a 4" barrel in .357 or 44mag. , not much to go wrong under pressure, most likely to go bang every time you pull the trigger, ultra safe. FWIW I carry a Glock everyday but would carry a revolver if they were slim enough.

 

[TheGDog]

I carried a Ruger Security Six for a looooong time.
Still have it, still carry it some.
Killed a lot of Cottonmouths and Copperheads with it.
But lately have a SW 442, much smaller, lighter.
2 snake shot followed by HP's.
Would love a Kimber K6.

Gotta love the Security Six!

 

[TheGDog]

If you must get a revolver, go 357 or 44mag. 4” barrel or less. That 329 3” night guard is amazing, but good luck Finding one. 3” barrel is perfect.
otherwise the answer is 9mm / 45acp /10mm with high quality ammo. Get a Glock and don’t overthink it. That’s a general answer as not much detail was provided

RE: 3" .44 Mag -> S&W Model 69 Combat 3". @mtwarden has one. Post up a pic here so OP can see it!

 

[rideold]

I'm partial to the Ruger SP101 in .357. Compared to a GP it is much smaller. I'm not worries about it being sharp on the hand with hard cast bear loads. I bought it to carry more than shoot! At the range it has been just fine with the hot loads. Not like I'm shooting 200 rounds of the hot stuff in a session!

My $0.02 on the 10mm.....great round assuming you get or load it hot enough. So much of the factory loaded 10mm ammunition is pretty low power compared to what the round can do.

 

[Broomd]

Personally I won't carry anything that isn't Ti anymore....it's just isn't worth the extra weight on the hip or chest holster.

For the casual shooter looking for backcountry protection I'd go Taurus in Titanium, 44 mag or special. The .357 is decent too, I shoot .38 special through mine for practice and the magnums for carry. Have a whole collection of Ti guns, S & W, Taurus etc. The Smiths are wonderful but they are friggin expensive anymore. I'll keep mine forever and will pass them down.
Grabbed this one from under wife's car seat for a pic..... Taurus Ti in.44 spc.

 

[nksmfamjp]

Also i guess what should I look at ? .smith and Wesson looks appealing...ill be Colorado this year but the following year ill be in grizz Country so may wanna look at 44 magnum

Are you hunting or hiking, I’m in griz country a lot in MT. If I’m hunting, I have my rifle.

If hiking, I would most likely carry a 357 mag. Based on my experience sketchy human is much more likely than angry griz. I think I can get more rounds down range with a 357 than a 44 mag. I’d rather get 6 357’s in a mad griz than 2 44’s.

I would carry my GP100 4” (or a S&W 65 4”) with the rubber/wood grips. The Smith has a better action, but the Ruger is pretty good and would handle hot loads better.

For a more rough and tumble rig, a Glock 21 45 Super or 460 Rowland is the way to go.

 

[Phaseolus]

Colorado : Ruger SP 101 .357.

I have a Super Blackhawk .44 Mag if it was needed elsewhere.

 

[TheGDog]

I kinda feel what @nksmfamjp is saying there about the .357 since it kicks just that hair less, how you feel like you could really drill-down and dump all the rounds quick on something if you had to with that. Whereas each hot .44 Mag load... is like "an event" that happens, that you then have to spend a fractional part longer getting yourself back into composure for that next intentional shot because of it.

I've now found with this G29 I've been carrying and practicing with, that it's for sure giving me more oomph than a .357 Mag hot load, but that the action nicely mellows-it-out and eats up a surprising bit of that energy that contributes to muzzle flip into cycling the action, keeping it low to the bore-axis / juncture with your grip though, so less radial rotating leverage working against your grip when the round goes off.

And... week or two ago, I literally hit the center of the bullseye at 25yds at the range! And I'm not sure if I've ever managed to do that with my ol' Security Six 4". Close some times, sure, but never actually touching on the center. And with as long as I've owned that Ruger, from young to middle-aged. I got to thinking, that's saying something.

 

[Coldtrail]

.357 vs .44, almost always a person dumping multiple rounds with with a .44 will have groups like this "O" & same guy with a .357 will shoot groups like this "o", same guy with a 9mm will shoot groups like this " ° ".

You only stop what you hit...

 

[Sixgunz]

As another poster said, Glock 29. The 10mm round can be loaded as hot or as mild as you want. It's small and can take the Glock 20 15 round mags if the stock 10 round runs out.

 

[nksmfamjp]

I kinda feel what @nksmfamjp is saying there about the .357 since it kicks just that hair less, how you feel like you could really drill-down and dump all the rounds quick on something if you had to with that. Whereas each hot .44 Mag load... is like "an event" that happens, that you then have to spend a fractional part longer getting yourself back into composure for that next intentional shot because of it.

I've now found with this G29 I've been carrying and practicing with, that it's for sure giving me more oomph than a .357 Mag hot load, but that the action nicely mellows-it-out and eats up a surprising bit of that energy that contributes to muzzle flip into cycling the action, keeping it low to the bore-axis / juncture with your grip though, so less radial rotating leverage working against your grip when the round goes off.

And... week or two ago, I literally hit the center of the bullseye at 25yds at the range! And I'm not sure if I've ever managed to do that with my ol' Security Six 4". Close some times, sure, but never actually touching on the center. And with as long as I've owned that Ruger, from young to middle-aged. I got to thinking, that's saying something.

That really is my point. When most folks get started talking and applying defensive handguns, I find we get a large competent caliber and practice putting rounds on target. We get really good at shooting 6 44mag rounds into a 4”-6” group..

Then we take a class, have an actual experience or maybe just have an awakening. At that point it becomes clear that rounds after 2-3 seconds pass are meaningless. So, I try to ask in these threads, including the draw how many 44 mag rounds on a paper plate vs 357 mag rounds.

For me, that is 1-2 44 mag rounds vs about 5 357 mag rounds out of a carry weight 4” gun. I think that greatly affects a person’s effectiveness.

 

[seand]

9mm 147gr hardcast.

 

[seand]

Grizzly Bear Vs 9mm: The Caliber Debate Gets Ruined For Many People | Concealed Nation

By Phil Shoemaker via NRA's americanhunter.org

concealednation.org

 

[TheGDog]

Realistically... for this conversation?

I honestly believe the first-most thought that each person needs to assess for themselves... is whether or not they honestly truly feel they have well enough mastered the kind of fear-control skills to allow them to take those extra few parts of a second in the heat of danger to make sure that first shot is actually aimed well, if it's a thumper round like .44+.

If you feel life/death confident that you're in THAT camp of people... and NOT somebody who gets dumbfounded/stalled-out/flustered with what I call "data-input-overload" in a fear situation. Then... I think it's within the realm of appropriate to have the thought of a one-shot stopper whomper kinda round being your goto potentially. If only just to remove the question mark in your mind of "is that round strong enough?". Cause let's face it, until you yourself personally have attempted to use a pistol to take out a behemoth... that's gonna be a strong unknown you'll have gnawing at the back of your mind, when you don't have a bunch of experience observing how rapidly certain tough species can go down.

But, for a little more fault-tolerance built-in to that scenario, you can elect to go the Semi-Auto route with that slightly less powerful round, and just know you may have to make up for it by dumping more on target, and thus know you have to work on your follow-up shot skills as well. (Which we've already established I think, that for most people, will just be easier with a semi-auto) AND assume you're most likely going to flip into panic-mag-dump-mode on that critter when it happens.

Also I think age/health comes into it too. Older we get, the more we start feeling we need to shave ounces off the pack-in. And it makes ya start looking long and hard at the heavy things with low use statistics like the backup shorter weapon. ... So even though the idea of a .44 or bigger carries with it some, perhaps unrightfully-so perception of greater confidence in the round. I do believe, unless you're Jerry Miculek, the Semi-Auto is gonna be your Huckleberry in terms of whatever situation occurs that makes you think/feel/exclaim ("Oh Sh!t" x 3) or "AHHH !!". Just because this kind of fear is so primal and instinctual, obviously for very good reason, that I dunno... I think even those whom have built up a lot of fear-mgmt over the years in many different arenas of their varied hobbies/pursuits, might still be better served just assuming they will spaz-out under such unique stresses.

So in such a case... the Semi seems like it's rewarding you with precious milliseconds, as long as you've observed that this gun, with this load, has never Stove-Piped or FTF on you in all your practicing. And sure seems like lotta folks seem to be in agreement with 10mm being most reasonable beginning sweet-spot for an auto cartridge in terms of weight-vs-power. (I say beginning cause others mention .460 Roland out of a 1911, and up from that.. comes what?... the... like .50AE? With a HUGE weight penalty, that I remember from firing a Desert Eagle so many years ago.

 

[kid44]

I'm thinking of getting into a small revolver to take along in the backcountry...i know very little about handguns or guns in general...what should I look at ?

What type of backcountry? Some backcountry has big bears, some has small bears, some none at all. Caliber choice may depend on what you may encounter. Keep in mind that 2 legged predators may be the most dangerous.

 

[Coldtrail]

Just a comment with no intention to start a caliber war.......if the thought is that rounds from any handgun will reliably kill any large game, 4 legged or two legged, the stats from any direction will prove that there is no such handgun that offers that reliability. The goal of the handgun is to get your "attacker" to decide that the current path they are on was a bad decision and get away from the situation that is causing them pain. I'm not sure what that requires for a bear, but I'm guessing several rounds from just about anything into center of mass or face is enough to get them to reevaluate and turn tail in "most" instances. #8 bird shot can do that as can .22LR....just sayin'. The best handgun is the one you can hit something with, for most it's a mild semi auto with lots of rounds at the ready.

I've used .357 and .44 revolvers on black bear as a backup gun at close range to finish bear that were shot by others, the results were pretty dismal & one shot was rarely effective to kill them unless right to the ear or a killing/shoulder shot with some distance between the gun and bear and then expect to give it a few minutes.

I own several handguns, but the one I'd bank my life on isn't the biggest caliber, its the one that I can draw quickly and know I can drill lots and lots of holes in a tight group.

 

[TheGDog]

Birdshot? You crazy? There's vids of Big Blackies getting pissed off from those.

I don't think you're counting on the level of bad a$$ this animal has that routinely battles it out with others of it's kind. The alpha's I'm sure will just get more pissed-off at you for hurting it, no matter what the round, if the round isn't quickly taking out CNS or causing BP and oxygenation levels to drop VERY rapidly. Ya figure your round, though it will hurt, it's very rapid onset of the pain, compared to the body-contact injuries from sparring with others and will likely invoke bunch more shock too.

I'm here to tell you personally that you can do _amazing_ things when you're in shock from hi levels of instant pain which makes your system flick on the switch that says something really bad is happening right now and we can't afford to feel this pain, because we don't know what just happened yet, but whatever it was is really intense so I need host to stay with me and keep this body going until we can get to safety.

The same variability to this reaction exists in Humans and many creatures. Shoot one? Bang Flop. Shoot another? Are you kidding me? Incredibly similar shot, buncha yards of running away.

But if you're this big bad @$$ that is routinely keeping other bears outta your turf. Man, you gotta figure running ain't part of his vocabulary. At least for mature alpha anyway.

Ya gotta figure there is a reason Grizz was given the name : Ursus arctos horribilis

 

[kit_man_duu]

Do you want to get a revolver or a semi-auto pistol? For semi-auto, there are a few options from Glock G20 and G40. You can get Springfield XDM is 10mm too.

 

[Spoonman]

I carry the Ruger LCR 357 when in the back country and on my river fishing trips. Light weight and plenty of boom for where I go.

 

[Coldtrail]

No doubt stress is a motivator, but i've also skinned alot of bear and rarely found one that wasnt full of a variety of previous non lethal slugs including bird shot.....if it was not an effective way to get them to change behavior then there would have been dead humans littering the countryside due to the ineffectiveness of those rounds. Also, have seen more than one of these mean assed alpha predators that requires a cannon to stop.....treed or held at bay by a couple floppy eared hounds with tails wagging. Im talking black bear, but predators are predators & they can kill you with strength or brains or both.....as humans we gotta think the same way.

Flip side is no matter what, there are exceptions to the rule & regardless your choice of weapon or IQ you can still get your a$$ handed to you