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Is this a practical sidearm in case of an up close Bigfoot encounter?


langfordbc

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1 hour ago, norseman said:

 

 

Pistols don’t give me any warm and fuzzies. I would prefer a rifle in my hands in an encounter.
 

I built this AR in .450 Bushmaster as a woods carbine and I would feel adequately armed against a grizzly with it in my hands...

 

 

 

 

IMG_20200808_192151963.jpg

My collection of "woods" calibers that I reloaded.  Left to right; .45-70 govt with 515 gr hard cast, .450 Bushmaster with 250 gr FTX, .45 Colt with 300 gr hard cast, 10mm with 200 gr hard cast, and .40 S&W with 180 gr XTP.

ODN3JtiZTWy6MSQpKR1IJA.jpeg

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2 hours ago, norseman said:

Pistols don’t give me any warm and fuzzies. I would prefer a rifle in my hands in an encounter.

 

I am a handgunner at heart but there's a limit to how much practical punch you can get out of a packable handgun.    When it comes to "encounters", of the large bear kind, yes, I prefer a rifle if it is sufficiently large.   The only reason for a handgun in those situations is if the reason you're there in the first place precludes carrying a rifle ... like cutting firewood or fly fishing that require both hands.   Any gun is better than no gun .. unless that gun just convinces you that you're bigger and badder than you really are and sets you up for, uh, having your attitude adjusted.  Painfully.  

 

MIB

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8 hours ago, norseman said:

I think the idea is that hits are better than misses. So if you can hit under duress with a .454? Kudos. If you can’t? Yer gonna have to go get something smaller and more manageable. Pistols don’t give me any warm and fuzzies. I would prefer a rifle in my hands in an encounter.
 

 

I would prefer a rifle as well but it is not practical for me when backpacking. I can't justify the extra weight and if someone were to see me enter the woods with a rifle outside of hunting season, I'd have a forest ranger breathing down my back wondering what on earth I'm doing with a rifle.

 

I prefer to have my 454 Casull out of sight at all times so no one knows my business. 

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4 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

These is no way I would trust my life being near any bear, much less a brown bear, with a 10mm.......

 

I killed an 8 month old Holstein steer with a single 10mm round. Killed him just as dead as my 44 mag does.

 

In addition to 16 rounds in the weapon, tritium sights can be purchased for under $100 and installed yourself, a powerful Streamlight light can be purchased for $125 and easily mounted or removed in seconds for those dark nights in the tent, and a YouTube video will guide you through a simple, cheap trigger smooth and tune job. Fully loaded, it's also much lighter and less bulky than the hoglegs. Glock 20s have become the standard sidearm in the Alaskan woods. 

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36 minutes ago, wiiawiwb said:

I would prefer a rifle as well but it is not practical for me when backpacking. I can't justify the extra weight.......

 

That I understand completely and agree fully.........but I take a rifle anyway, just because. I wear the sidearm, too. 

 

Quote


.......if someone were to see me enter the woods with a rifle outside of hunting season, I'd have a forest ranger breathing down my back wondering what on earth I'm doing with a rifle.

 

I prefer to have my 454 Casull out of sight at all times so no one knows my business. 

 

 

I understand that, too, but Mr. Ranger is just going to have to come test me, and I'll test him right back. If I'm going into the woods down in the states, I'll buy a 3 day non-resident hunting license, and I'll be coyote hunting. Or hog hunting. And I have no intention of popping a cap at all. It's perfectly legal. Let's see him cause problems. 

 

It's time those guys start feeling some push back.

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11 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

 

I would prefer a rifle as well but it is not practical for me when backpacking. I can't justify the extra weight and if someone were to see me enter the woods with a rifle outside of hunting season, I'd have a forest ranger breathing down my back wondering what on earth I'm doing with a rifle.

 

I prefer to have my 454 Casull out of sight at all times so no one knows my business. 


Exercising your 2A rights?

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10 hours ago, Huntster said:

 

I killed an 8 month old Holstein steer with a single 10mm round. Killed him just as dead as my 44 mag does.

 

In addition to 16 rounds in the weapon, tritium sights can be purchased for under $100 and installed yourself, a powerful Streamlight light can be purchased for $125 and easily mounted or removed in seconds for those dark nights in the tent, and a YouTube video will guide you through a simple, cheap trigger smooth and tune job. Fully loaded, it's also much lighter and less bulky than the hoglegs. Glock 20s have become the standard sidearm in the Alaskan woods. 


Our old butcher for a long time used a 22 mag rifle. Sometime bulls required two shots. But cows, sheep and hogs all fell to that rifle. But that’s standing in a corral, with the animal not under stress looking at you. The kill is swift and clean. He didn’t want to tear up the head in case you wanted the skull and he didn’t want any over penetration that could screw up the neck meat.

 

I don’t think a Domestic animal butcher setting is on the same playing field as a charging Grizzly.


(That tire they were using to simulate the charging Bear is a damn good training tool. Maybe do push ups or jumping jacks to get your heart rate up as well)

 

With that said? Again, getting hits with a 10mm versus misses with a .44 or larger hand cannon? 10 mm wins! Obviously with the smaller the caliber it will be a equation of diminishing returns. But I’m sure a .380 auto stuck in the mouth of a Griz is going to give him a very bad day. I just don’t wanna dance with the bastard. People lose body parts that way.

 

I like my .44 because I can shoot grouse with shotshells too. I haven’t found any .460 Rowland shotshells yet.

 

I hope the day never comes that I have to try to defend myself from a Griz. But their numbers are rising and soon they will be off the endangered species list in the lower 48. 

 

 

 

 

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Excellent post, My Friend! Every word was spot on!

 

I love my 44 magnum, and it's my favorite snowmobile gun, riding in a covered holster on the handlebars for nasty moose on the trail. Been there, but with a 5-shot 357, and both the moose and I were not impressed. But when hunting with my long gun and around hunting camp (with the long gun nearby), that 10mm is my favorite sidearm, by far.

 

So far, my most disturbing solo bear encounter was with a mature black bear boar, and twice at ranges of 4' away and 6' away, and in the dark or near dark. He wanted my dog. I had a 338 WinMag rifle with short barrel and open sights, specifically built as a bear defense rifle. I've killed large black bears with that rifle......one shot kills. But if I'd had that 10mm Glock with attached light and tritium sights that night, I'd felt just as well armed.......maybe better because of the light, the visible sights, and the bottomless magazine.

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14 hours ago, PNWexplorer said:

I built this AR in .450 Bushmaster as a woods carbine and I would feel adequately armed against a grizzly with it in my hands...

 

 

 

 

IMG_20200808_192151963.jpg

My collection of "woods" calibers that I reloaded.  Left to right; .45-70 govt with 515 gr hard cast, .450 Bushmaster with 250 gr FTX, .45 Colt with 300 gr hard cast, 10mm with 200 gr hard cast, and .40 S&W with 180 gr XTP.

ODN3JtiZTWy6MSQpKR1IJA.jpeg


I have a 458 SOCOM upper my son n law is using now.

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49 minutes ago, Incorrigible1 said:

How many can say they own a .45ACP revolver?

M1917.jpg

Carried by my grandfather in WWII as a tank crewman and the inspiration for the Brad Pitt sidearm in the movie "Fury"...

 

 

WZ03I5kWSJaf1XUmW3gTkA.jpeg

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2 hours ago, Huntster said:

Nice! An M1917?

After years of desire, one finally came into the shop I managed. Excellent, original condition, EXCEPT some numbskull had ground off the "Property of US Army" from beneath the barrel. Ugh! Destroyed collector value. Yet, it was simply in excellent condition, a serviceable large frame S&W in God's cartridge. I snatched it up, immediately. 

 

I had several friends among the smiths at Cylinder and Slide https://www.cylinder-slide.com/, in my city of the time, and so made the M1917 into one helluva bowling pin shooter. New sights, Hogue grips (I sold the original, fairly minuscule stocks for nearly $100), a dual ball-detent lockup, and the matte finish. Of course I'm using modern full-moon clips rather than the half-moons. We opened up the rear sight groove, and installed a new front sight. That's a brass rod extending back horizontally.  This old warrior resides upon my bedroom nightstand.

 

Norse, ACP only. PNW, that's a beautiful Smith, and it's history must make it a prized possession.

 

 

 

 

M1917Detail.jpg

Edited by Incorrigible1
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