Woods/trail pistol?

[RobbieD]

Another consideration, especially if you like "traditional" steel-and-wood guns (like I do), is if you opt for a new pistol in .357, there's several lever-action carbines that are chambered for the .38/.357.

 

[Blmpkn]

I dont think robocop would mess with that.

That's the idea. If terminators decide to start doing home invasions.. a .45acp just ain't gonna cut it.

Honestly though...If you have the spare cash, just buy whatever makes the 10 year old in you happy (and protected). Even if it's 2x as much as you want to spend lol. You won't ever LOSE money on a firearm.. so long as you don't let it get all dung up, pitted, and beat to shit.


Buying firearms is almost a decent way to save cash.. in a way.

 

[CrabGuy]

My go-to camping pistol is a Taurus Tracker .357 I've used for over 20 years. If I can't stop a threat with 7 shots I shouldn't be camping. It is accurate, goes for a decent price, and I've never had an issue with different ammo. Ported barrel so minimal kick.

https://www.taurususa.com/revolvers...8-spl-p-matte-stainless-4-00-in-ribber-grip-r

 

[Roert42]

Buying firearms is almost a decent way to save cash.. in a way.

I tell my wife that’s how I’m investing for retirement.

 

[Blmpkn]

I tell my wife that’s how I’m investing for retirement.

The longer it sits in the safe, the more valuble it gets!

 

[sgtsandman]

Your gonna go blind kid! Lol.


View attachment 90717

Here's a decent bear pistol .458 socom, 500gr rounds.. fuzzy wuzzy doesn't want to mess with this I tell ya..

Too bad after sights and a different grip were put on it... it was unfortunately lost in a boating accident.

.458 SOCOM. The 45/70 Government for the AR world. About the same ballistics and thump.

 

[sgtsandman]

My go-to camping pistol is a Taurus Tracker .357 I've used for over 20 years. If I can't stop a threat with 7 shots I shouldn't be camping. It is accurate, goes for a decent price, and I've never had an issue with different ammo. Ported barrel so minimal kick.

https://www.taurususa.com/revolvers...8-spl-p-matte-stainless-4-00-in-ribber-grip-r

I have a Taurus Judge for my woods gun. The first round is snake shot, the 2nd 000 Buck, the remaining 3 are .45 Long Colt. But bears are not really an issue yet around here. What very few black bears are here, stay away from humans and keep to themselves. Coyotes on the other hand, are very prevalent.

 

[CrabGuy]

I would love to have a Judge. Lots of rattlers out here and the black bears leave you alone, the mountain lions and coyotes are a different story, they will attack if the opportunity strikes. Try this for absurdity, Calif. laws ban the Judge because they classify it as a sawed off shotgun. Can't even own one here even with my CCW permit. My son in the foothills has to use snake loads in a .38 whenever he's doing brush/tree clearing

 

[sgtsandman]

I would love to have a Judge. Lots of rattlers out here and the black bears leave you alone, the mountain lions and coyotes are a different story, they will attack if the opportunity strikes. Try this for absurdity, Calif. laws ban the Judge because they classify it as a sawed off shotgun. Can't even own one here even with my CCW permit. My son in the foothills has to use snake loads in a .38 whenever he's doing brush/tree clearing

Sounds about right for California. Never mind that the ATF classifies it as a pistol because the barrel has rifling. But what does the ATF know?

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Well atleast for now i decided to go a different way.

Like i said im not really a gun enthuisast, so i was more about protection then just adding to the arsenal...

I ordered a box of these...

38 Special +P 158gr. Keith Black Cherry Coated Hard Cast Hunting Ammo

Underwood Ammo offers the most comprehensive and innovative Underwood Ammo™ Supersonic Handgun Ammo for personal defense & hunting. Shop now .38 Special +P Lead ammo with Hi-Tek Coated Hard Cast.

underwoodammo.com

Supposdly the hottest .38 factory round you can buy.

Watched some youtube videos about them, guy was getting 1050-1100fps from a 2 inch snub with these, figured out to like 420ftlb of force, the standard pressure winchesters i carry now are pry lucky to get half that.

Not .357 power, but if mr smokey is after me, i think theyll do the job.

 

[Blmpkn]

.458 SOCOM. The 45/70 Government for the AR world. About the same ballistics and thump.

AR's are very much like dirt bikes.

Way more exciting with a big bore kit.

 

[Shran]

Judges are cool and all, I have one but be very aware that they are NOT rated to shoot +P ammo in 45 Colt. You should ONLY be shooting "cowboy" loads. A lot of my reloading manuals reference two sets of loading data for that particular round because it can be loaded as hot or hotter than 44 Mag/454 Casull/etc, similar size rounds but a lot of pistols chambered in 45 Colt aren't built to handle really hot ammo, Judge included.

 

[JoshT]

Currently i carry a snub .38, but now that bears have been spotted literally where we camp/ride i think i wanna get something more.

I haven't much past the first post, but right off the bat this line has me thinking: bear = bigger

In otherwords if you think its big enough, go bigger. 12ga would be a good option. Might I sugest a Serbu Super-Shorty? If semi-suto non shotgun is your thing, maybe something like a 450 Bushmaster AR-pistol.

If I were really thinking handgun that might be somewhat effective against bear I'd be looking at 44 mag or bigger.

For a revolver, maybe .45LC or .454 Casull? Something like the Raging judge could fire both of those as well as .410 shotgun. 500 S&W Magnum? I think the 44 is actualle enough for the smaller bears we have around here, and I'm not likely to be far from a rifle/shotgun anyway when in the woods.

If you decide to go for ammo compatability with your .38, I definitely go for the .357. You can run .38 in it all day, but it doesn't work going the other way. Better to have the option and not need it, and practicing with 38 ammo is going to carry over to the 357.

For pistols, maybe a .50 AE Desert Eagle, they have a .44 options toto if that more your flavor. 10mm of some fashion. I'd like to add a 460 Rowland 1911 to my collection. Those can also fire standard .45 ACP and .45 Super, but I'd be most likely to stick to the 45 ACP and save the Super or Rowland for a MechTech CCU attachment.

Personally If I'm knocking around in the woods, I'm going to have a .44 Mag Taurus Tracker, or .45 ACP 1911 on my hip, though I wouldn't feel underpowered carrying my Canik TP9SFx with it's 20 Round magazine. Then usually on the ATV or in the truck is a Lever action .30-30, or some flavor of AR in .223, 6.8 SPC, or .450 Bushmaster.

We mostly have black bears around here, but I'm more worried about pigs, coyotes, wild dogs, and snakes. Bears here are usually only a problem if you make them a problem. IE: corner them or threaten their young. Otherwise they are curious but tend to shy away from people. The may wonder up and check you out, but generally will hightail it if spooked. All that said, I should admit that I have no first hand experience (and I'm fine with it staying that way), just the accounts of people that have encountered them.

 

[JoshT]

Yes also have bearspray, shooting it would be a total last resort, and these are blackbears, im not super worried but i really dont wanna wake up to one chewing my leg off.

I still haven't moved much further in reading this, but...

It sounds like you are concerned about camping and having one come into your tent. That's got a lot to do with your preparations. That happens because people carry food and other smell good stuff into the tent. Keep food out of and away from the tent. Keep food to a centralized cooking area. When finished with eating clean up and secure food stuffs. A cooler with a tight and securable lid so smells won't be escaping. Hard storage boxes that seal up tight and can be secured. Bear bags. Don't keep trash and waste food in the site, carry it to a secured disposal area if available.

I'm not going to go so far as to say that there is ever a good encounter with a bear, but there are a lot of things that can be done to help ensure that you never have a bad encounter with a bear, especially a black bear.

 

[JoshT]

The longer it sits in the safe, the more valuble it gets!

Well then mine aught to get plenty valuable. With ammo prices what they are, all they do is sit in the safe.