JavaScript is disabled
Our website requires JavaScript to function properly. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings before proceeding.
That 342 @ 10.8 oz.
That's insanely light weight.
By comparison, a Baby Browning and a Walther 9 are both about 9 oz. and those are some of the smallest and lightest pocket auto's ever made.
 
I not into revolvers for a daily carry.. but same here . have the old 80's mdl. 85, and the Trigger is smooth as Butter, but mine is nice rich deep blueing .
.
M85 I purchased new back in 79' for $100, smooth trigger, surprisingly accurate.
IMG_20220313_111336601.jpg
 
Hello all!! First post on your wonderful forum.
I frequently carry a Smith and Wesson Model 31 snubbie IWB. Buffalo Bore hardcast wadcutters will fully penetrate five 7/8" fir boards, even with my short barrel. I "upgrade" to a S&W Hand Ejector (pre I frame) with 4" barrel for hiking and such.
 
Hello all!! First post on your wonderful forum.
I frequently carry a Smith and Wesson Model 31 snubbie IWB. Buffalo Bore hardcast wadcutters will fully penetrate five 7/8" fir boards, even with my short barrel. I "upgrade" to a S&W Hand Ejector (pre I frame) with 4" barrel for hiking and such.
Hurrah! Another fan of the Buffalo Bore .38sp full wadcutter hardcast for short barrels. Excellent. BB used to call them "anti-personel," though they dropped that name. They are nothing like ordinary soft wadcutters travelling at low speeds for practice or target shooting. That's what I carry in my EDC, even though its a 686 snubby which is very comfortable to shoot with full .357 mag loads.

I switched away from .357mag for SD carry in my EDC after finding out that .357 mag is so loud it has a good chance of damaging your hearing if shot in a confined space such as a house or car. It might even deafen you permently. Its louder than 9mm, .45acp., .45 long colt, .44 sp, a shotgun, or a hunting rifle of ordinary non-mag deer calibers. And that's assuming a longer barrel .357. (It's not louder than a 44 mag.) I have very acute hearing and want to keep it that way. I use the special short barrel loads and the hard cast full wadcutters. Buffalo Bore says this will penetrate straight through 12" of mammalian flesh and bone. That matters to me too because we have bear in my neighborhood. But seem to have few trouble making humans. So for walking in my neighborhood my EDC load needs to be capable of getting through a bear skull. But if I ever had to use my EDC in SD against a human it would likely be a home or car invasion.
 
Hurrah! Another fan of the Buffalo Bore .38sp full wadcutter hardcast for short barrels. Excellent. BB used to call them "anti-personel," though they dropped that name. They are nothing like ordinary soft wadcutters travelling at low speeds for practice or target shooting. That's what I carry in my EDC, even though its a 686 snubby which is very comfortable to shoot with full .357 mag loads.

I switched away from .357mag for SD carry in my EDC after finding out that .357 mag is so loud it has a good chance of damaging your hearing if shot in a confined space such as a house or car. It might even deafen you permently. Its louder than 9mm, .45acp., .45 long colt, .44 sp, a shotgun, or a hunting rifle of ordinary non-mag deer calibers. And that's assuming a longer barrel .357. (It's not louder than a 44 mag.) I have very acute hearing and want to keep it that way. I use the special short barrel loads and the hard cast full wadcutters. Buffalo Bore says this will penetrate straight through 12" of mammalian flesh and bone. That matters to me too because we have bear in my neighborhood. But seem to have few trouble making humans. So for walking in my neighborhood my EDC load needs to be capable of getting through a bear skull. But if I ever had to use my EDC in SD against a human it would likely be a home or
I would be worried about where my bullet ended up after it exited my human target! I'm sure your talking about black bears too and not grizzlies.....a 22 will kill a bear no problem
 
I would be worried about where my bullet ended up after it exited my human target! I'm sure your talking about black bears too and not grizzlies.....a 22 will kill a bear no problem
Big problem. Bears sitting still in trees held there by a team of dogs used to be shot by hunters with .22s in Southern US. That is very different than SD against a black bear charging you. A .22 may penetrate a bear skull from the front but apparently often deflects off the skull. Same situation with butchering a hog. Fine if you shoot bear/hog in side of head from an angle where bullet goes straight in. But not if you shoot from the front, where the bullet is likely to be deflected from the bear/hog's heavy sloped skull. The case of the little old lady who killed a charging grizzly bear with a single shot 22 rifle is so famous because that proves its not totally impossible, not because that is the ordinary result for that situation.

In choosing a SD load you always have the problem that no one load is optimal for all situations. The FBI standard for 18" of penetration in gel means that the bullet usually goes through a human shot from the front. So you have to take that into account anyway. When I lived in town in Corvallis I carried hps. But now I spend probably 95% of my time in my home, yard, or neighborhood which is outside Corvallis but adjacent to McDonald Forest and most houses have several acres of land. And while most of my life I considered bad humans a bigger threat than bears, in this neighborhood its the reverse. I've lived here nearly 30 years and never experienced any obnoxious people. But an obnoxious bear came right into my back yard after my ducks. And he didn't care a bit about being spotlighted or yelled at. Fornately, when I put a shot into the ground next to him he ran.
 
Big problem. Bears sitting still in trees held there by a team of dogs used to be shot by hunters with .22s in Southern US. That is very different than SD against a black bear charging you. A .22 may penetrate a bear skull from the front but apparently often deflects off the skull. Same situation with butchering a hog. Fine if you shoot bear/hog in side of head from an angle where bullet goes straight in. But not if you shoot from the front, where the bullet is likely to be deflected from the bear/hog's heavy sloped skull. The case of the little old lady who killed a charging grizzly bear with a single shot 22 rifle is so famous because that proves its not totally impossible, not because that is the ordinary result for that situation.

In choosing a SD load you always have the problem that no one load is optimal for all situations. The FBI standard for 18" of penetration in gel means that the bullet usually goes through a human shot from the front. So you have to take that into account anyway. When I lived in town in Corvallis I carried hps. But now I spend probably 95% of my time in my home, yard, or neighborhood which is outside Corvallis but adjacent to McDonald Forest and most houses have several acres of land. And while most of my life I considered bad humans a bigger threat than bears, in this neighborhood its the reverse. I've lived here nearly 30 years and never experienced any obnoxious people. But an obnoxious bear came right into my back yard after my ducks. And he didn't care a bit about being spotlighted or yelled at. Fornately, when I put a shot into the ground next to him he ran.
I definitely get where your coming from! I don't think I would of been as kinda with a warning shot.....Alaska I carry a 460 or 10mm with hard cast bullets but here in the woods it's just my 9mm with jhp. Seems to do the job on bears and other toothy critters!
 
I definitely get where your coming from! I don't think I would of been as kinda with a warning shot.....Alaska I carry a 460 or 10mm with hard cast bullets but here in the woods it's just my 9mm with jhp. Seems to do the job on bears and other toothy critters!
Most people here would consider 9mm marginal as SD against black bear. Manufacturers mostly dont even make a bear load in 9mm. But you're probably way more likely to run into a problem from a bad human than a bear, even in the woods. So certainly plenty of people do carry 9mm for SD in the woods around here.

"Seems to do the job on bears..." How many bears have you shot with a 9mm? Tell us about it.

Alas, it wasn't bear season and I had no bear tag. Also, I was shooting through my second floor window that overlooked the duck deck. I kept the screen off that window. So I was in no danger from the bear. It was a simple understanding. Bear was probably a youngster looking for a territory. He thought my duck flock was available. It wasnt. But actually, when it came to small predators who wanted a duck dinner off my duck laying flock, my first approach was to try to train them. Put a shot in the ground next to them. About 2/3 of them would leave and never return. Racoons, possums, and skunks mostly. If they were trainable that was good for both of us, as if I killed one the niche opened and another moved in. But it was two strikes and you're out. Just one warning that my duck flock was actively protected. The bear was a surprise. He never came back.
 
Most people here would consider 9mm marginal as SD against black bear. Manufacturers mostly dont even make a bear load in 9mm. But you're probably way more likely to run into a problem from a bad human than a bear, even in the woods. So certainly plenty of people do carry 9mm for SD in the woods around here.

"Seems to do the job on bears..." How many bears have you shot with a 9mm? Tell us about it.

Alas, it wasn't bear season and I had no bear tag. Also, I was shooting through my second floor window that overlooked the duck deck. I kept the screen off that window. So I was in no danger from the bear. It was a simple understanding. Bear was probably a youngster looking for a territory. He thought my duck flock was available. It wasnt. But actually, when it came to small predators who wanted a duck dinner off my duck laying flock, my first approach was to try to train them. Put a shot in the ground next to them. About 2/3 of them would leave and never return. Racoons, possums, and skunks mostly. If they were trainable that was good for both of us, as if I killed one the niche opened and another moved in. But it was two strikes and you're out. Just one warning that my duck flock was actively protected. The bear was a surprise. He never came back.
Glad it worked out for you! I honestly couldn't tell you a number but more than most kill in a lifetime
 
Hello all!! First post on your wonderful forum.
I frequently carry a Smith and Wesson Model 31 snubbie IWB. Buffalo Bore hardcast wadcutters will fully penetrate five 7/8" fir boards, even with my short barrel. I "upgrade" to a S&W Hand Ejector (pre I frame) with 4" barrel for hiking and such.
Welcome, @Woods Bum . Your name is my preferred lifestyle, even if I'm unable to participate often.
 
Glad it worked out for you! I honestly couldn't tell you a number but more than most kill in a lifetime
You've only been charged by a black bear once and shot it with a shotgun. But you've killed more black bears than you can remember with a 9mm with hollow points? Conceivable, but it's a stretch. But then you refuse to brag when given an invitation? When has a hunter or fisherman or woodsman ever refused to brag when explicitly invited? That passes all credulity. And the rest of the bears werent charging you so it wasnt SD. So you've taken multiple black bears hunting them with a 9mm with hps? Hmmmm. One bear would be more than most kill in a lifetime. Maybe the critical word is "honestly." You say "I honestly couldn't tell you a number..." Oh! I get it!

Reminds me of a guy I knew, a carpenter, telling me how he got into framing houses. "This guy wanted a house framed, and I answered the ad. When he asked me how many houses I had framed, I said, 'He!!, the number of houses I've framed, you don't even wanna hear about it!' So he hired me. When I got to the top of the roof the two sides didn't quite meet, but nothing a sledge hammer couldn't fix. That was the first house I'd ever framed."
 
Hello all!! First post on your wonderful forum.
I frequently carry a Smith and Wesson Model 31 snubbie IWB. Buffalo Bore hardcast wadcutters will fully penetrate five 7/8" fir boards, even with my short barrel. I "upgrade" to a S&W Hand Ejector (pre I frame) with 4" barrel for hiking and such.
Welcome.
That sounds like quite the brace of pistols you've got there.
Is the 31 a J-frame or I-frame?
 

Upcoming Events

Tillamook Gun & Knife Show
Tillamook, OR
"The Original" Kalispell Gun Show
Kalispell, MT
Teen Rifle 1 Class
Springfield, OR
Kids Firearm Safety 2 Class
Springfield, OR

New Resource Reviews

New Classified Ads

Back Top