Your "Woods" guns?

[KaniksuKidd]

S&W 69 44 Mag.
View attachment 575543

This is my new favorite woods gun loaded with Keith 250 gr. cast lead SWC. Accurate, powerful, and the same size as a 4" .357.

 

[orygun]

This is my new favorite woods gun loaded with Keith 250 gr. cast lead SWC. Accurate, powerful, and the same size as a 4" .357.

It's become my favorite City gun, too. Tied with my CBOB.
We have a ton of "undesirables" in the city...

 

[pharmseller]

Model 94 .30WCF

 

[oremike]

Back in the day and for a lot of years the only handgun I had was a 7 1/2" Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt. My pet load was a Hardcast 255 SWC loaded to about 1100 fps. It went everywhere I went. Now days I have choices and my brain says 10mm is the caliber of choice in the woods, but my heart says a single action revolver is "just right" so I opt for a 6 1/2" Blackhawk in 41 Mag. I don't go walk about with a rifle, but I do hunt with one. If I was going walk-about to feed my family the rifle would be a bolt action 30-06.

 

[orygun]

Back in the day and for a lot of years the only handgun I had was a 7 1/2" Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt. My pet load was a Hardcast 255 SWC loaded to about 1100 fps. It went everywhere I went. Now days I have choices and my brain says 10mm is the caliber of choice in the woods, but my heart says a single action revolver is "just right" so I opt for a 6 1/2" Blackhawk in 41 Mag.

41 Mag. What the 10mm wishes it was...

 

[PNWguy]

41 Mag. What the 10mm wishes it was...

It wishes it was an obsolete cartridge restricted to low capacity revolvers that only people who drive Buicks and PT Cruisers have heard of?

 

[DunRanull]

It wishes it was an obsolete cartridge restricted to low capacity revolvers that only people who drive Buicks and PT Cruisers have heard of?

Is that supposed to be 'funny"? I drive neither a Buick nor a PT Cruiser and I like the .41mag and carried one for awhile. Is the Ruger a revolver that no one has heard of? The lack of attractive revolvers in this under-rated caliber fostered my move to the ubiquitous .44mag... I reload for the .41 and find it an excellent cartridge. An N-frame Smith would be about right.

 

[orygun]

It wishes it was an obsolete cartridge restricted to low capacity revolvers that only people who drive Buicks and PT Cruisers have heard of?

Not quite like that. The 41 is an underappreciated cartridge that is sadly overshadowed by the 44 Mag.
But I'm always amused when I hear the comparison of the 10mm to the 41. The 41 can easily outrun the 10mm and will do it with a heavier bullet. It's like saying the 308 is equal to the 300 Win Mag. It just aint so.

 

[oremike]

41 Mag. What the 10mm wishes it was...

No, the 10mm was meant to replicate the 180gr 357 load in a semi auto hand gun and that it does.

 

[coyote223]

4" SS S&W 629 44 mag in a chest holster, the one that's always with me in the woods.

 

[PNWguy]

Is that supposed to be 'funny"? I drive neither a Buick nor a PT Cruiser and I like the .41mag and carried one for awhile. Is the Ruger a revolver that no one has heard of? The lack of attractive revolvers in this under-rated caliber fostered my move to the ubiquitous .44mag... I reload for the .41 and find it an excellent cartridge. An N-frame Smith would be about right.

LOL...



Show me a firearm in .41 Magnum that has 15-round capacity, weighs under 31 ounces, is absolutely reliable, costs under $600, has a huge aftermarket support in terms of barrels, parts, and holsters, and I'll consider the .41 Magnum a serious contender to the 10mm.

 

[oremike]

Lol, show me a 10mm that'll shoot good enough to hit a Grouse in the head at 100 yds. I have a 5.25 XDM and wouldn't take that shot but with my 6 1/2" Blackhawk I would. And before you get off on the G-40 MOS I had one of those as well and the XDM is much better right out of the box. I will agree that if you throw a bunch of money at the Glock you can make it shoot all most as good as the stock Springfield.

 

[PNWguy]

Shooting at the head of a grouse at 100yds is silly. It's not necessary and if you have a pistol that will group around an inch at 100 yds, then I'd love to see proof.

My Glock is plenty accurate for real world situations and as accurate as my Ruger Bisley .45 Colt.

 

[DB is Here]

Easy fella's, lets keep it as the comment was intended and that is good a nature'd ribbing.

 

[oremike]

One mans silly is another mans entertainment, kind of like this thread wander. I see the load you shot is a milk toast load. In my lee manual the starting load for the 180gr XTP is 7.0 gr's of unique for 1000 fps, your load must be about 800 fps so less than 45 acp performance.

 

[PNWguy]

One mans silly is another mans entertainment, kind of like this thread wander. I see the load you shot is a milk toast load. In my lee manual the starting load for the 180gr XTP is 7.0 gr's of unique for 1000 fps, your load must be about 800 fps so less than 45 acp performance.

Correct. It was a load I developed for shooting in GSSF matches.

 

[oremike]

So back the original topic, for me a woods carry gun needs to do a couple of different things, mainly feed me if needed and protect me from whatever. It needs to be bomb proof, accurate and 100% reliable. Again for me the single action revolver is what I like and I'm confident that when pressed into duty it will get the job done, whatever that might be. I do have a 10mm and like it so if I ever get in a rolling gun fight and need to engage multiple bad guys hiding behind cars it would be a better choice just like the FBI thought when they spec'ed it to Jeff Cooper and his group. I don't see that happening in the woods I live and play in, at least not yet. May be when "they" come for our guns and we all run for the hills, but that's a different discussion for another time and place.

 

[DunRanull]

Comparing a revolver in .41 and an auto in 10mm is apples and oranges.

 

[PNWguy]

Comparing a revolver in .41 and an auto in 10mm is apples and oranges.

Exactly. A 10mm autoloader, be it a Glock or XD or 1911 platform, offers certain distinct advantages over a wheelgun in any caliber.

Which is why I don't get why anyone would focus on the superiority of the .41 Magnum over the 10mm. If you want a powerful, high-capacity, reasonably priced, reliable, lightweight firearm for hiking, then you look for an auto in 10mm.

If you want more power and aren't concerned with more weight, less capacity, and higher cost, then a revolver in something bigger than 10mm is for you.

It's like someone proudly exhorting that your Toyota 4Runner is a piece of crap because it can't tow as much as his Ford F350. Different platforms and different strengths.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Well it's settled then.. since the woods is a shooting gallery belt fed is best.