What do you carry in the woods?

[AKDoug]

For those with FaceBook.. Alaskan self defense brown bear kill with Glock 20 10mm... https://www.facebook.com/groups/2995...5978508468262/

[Ron3]

The only thing I can offer you in the light/fast vs. slow/heavy debate that hasn’t been beaten to death is to mention that your LGS is stocking 5-6 flavors of .357 and 1-2 flavors of .44 Special. Even if your ammo depot is Walmart or Dicks. And based on a popular YouTube channel, even the cheapest .357 is pretty effective.

I wanted a gun with a shorter barrel. That meant whatever caliber was going to be slowed up with that short barrel. So I went with .44 special because at least they are heavy.

Cruising through boards of hunters and such the most desirable woods calibers were .44 magnum (moderate, or just common factory loads usually), .45 Colt (loaded hot), .41 magnum, 10mm, and .45 acp. Pretty much in that order.

.357 magnum and .40 were the "well, if that's all ya got" calibers. The "woodsmen" in my family concur with this and carry the .44 mag, 10mm, and .45 acp most commonly in the woods. They shoot pigs mostly. They are retired and get out far more than me.

Anyway, I went with .44 special because a 5-shot .44 cylinder is the same size as a 6/7 shot .357 cylinder. The 3 inch barrel sends a 255 gr "Keith" load around 925-950 fps based on other guy's guns and chrono's.