How many carry a 44 or similar when you are rifle hunting?

[robert l]

Talking about areas where bears, cougars, etc can be found. Or do you just carry pepper spray, where aim doesn't have to be dead on. Moving to Montana in a month or so and curious to what people carry and what your reasoning is...whatever i decide to do I want it to be an informed decision somthe reasoning is important to me.

I carry a wilson combat 45 acp when i hunt no matter what im hunting. I live in south florida and gators snakes are every where. So i keep two rounds of snake shot and the rest are corbon. Better safe than sorry.

 

[ajkellerusmc]

I carry the 10mm glock model 40. But we ain't got no grizz in AZ or I would carry sumpin bigger.

 

[436]

You know, I carried a .44 Mag 290gr Hardcast lead Keith style in Idaho when I knew I was hunting in an area known for having Grizzly's in it for quite a long time while hunting Whitetail with my Win 94 also in .44 Mag, it just seemed like a good idea to carry a revolver. I was also pretty much aware if I didn't get off enough rounds and possibly didn't get a good headshot in there somewhere in a charge I and Mr. Bear were probably going to go meat to meat kinetic at some points. I think you really have got to get some (lead on the head) with them; for a close to a sure deal. So, I went to the G20SF Gen3 10mm with a hard-hitting load, I like the 180gr solids... pumped up, which by the way takes a new supported barrel and recoil spring which I did. I feel now after 6 rounds, if I get that far, I have 10 more to play with, plus the G20SF is more controllable in rapid-fire situations with the heavier spring. I've shot an S&W 29 since the early 1970s. So, why not just use the Win94 in .44 Mag? one might ask; well, it's loaded with Serria HP 180gr expanding bullets for Deer close in and moving, and it is a killer on them, I figure I needed something with much more penetration in a less expanding bullet for Mr. Bear so I packed the S&W 29 .44 mag until I switched to the G20SF 10mm. Just my
0.2 Cheers

 

[Kodiak Special]

For a while I didn't, thinking the rifle would be fine. My thinking changed 3 years ago, too many shadows by the camp. I carry something I shoot well, 44 mag in a Model 83.

 

[IanCo]

I went to the G20SF Gen3 10mm with a hard-hitting load, I like the 180gr solids... pumped up, which by the way takes a new supported barrel and recoil spring which I did. I feel now after 6 rounds, if I get that far, I have 10 more to play with, plus the G20SF is more controllable in rapid-fire situations with the heavier spring

What spring did you go with? I put a 23# spring in my G29 and it almost seems it's a little heavy and causing the muzzle to dive when the slide goes back forward.

I like the size of my Glock 29 but it is a handful.

 

[436]

IanCo
I use a Wolff extra power 24 lbs, great for dampening recoil but it takes a cross-bolt cocker to work the slide, it's heavy, but! it feels like a 9mm not a 10mm I've been thinking of changing out to a 20 lbs for range play, and just use the 24 lbs for carrying in the woods and backcountry.

 

[IanCo]

IanCo
I use a Wolff extra power 24 lbs, great for dampening recoil but it takes a cross-bolt cocker to work the slide, it's heavy, but! it feels like a 9mm not a 10mm I've been thinking of changing out to a 20 lbs for range play, and just use the 24 lbs for carrying in the woods and backcountry.

That's what I was thinking was something around 20#s for range and carry ammo and my 23# for heavy woods ammo.

Thanks

 

[dgr416]

I carried a 454 ruger Redhawk for 12 years in Alaska. It was my best life insurance policy .I made a special top flap holister for it .I carried it fishing and bird hunting and slept with it beside of me at night .It was the smallest pistol I would use in Alaska.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I carried a 454 ruger Redhawk for 12 years in Alaska. It was my best life insurance policy .I made a special top flap holister for it .I carried it fishing and bird hunting and slept with it beside of me at night .It was the smallest pistol I would use in Alaska.

I had a Ruger SRH in 454 that was completely reworked by Mag-Na-Port Arms. The first time I dropped the hammer it felt like getting slammed in the palm with a 2x4. Totally caught me by surprise. I continued to shoot it in the hopes that I'd get use to it. That didn't happen. I eventually traded it for another custom SRH in 44mag.
The 454 has impressive ballistics with full power loads but it sure isn't for everyone. A full power 44mag handgun is at the limit of my tolerance and I can get off a full cylinder if needed.

 

[436]

Hey guys, I thought since we are on the .44 Mag and stopping unhappy Bears and such, I'd bring this up. Nosler made a fantastic bullet a few years back, then pulled it out of the marketplace it was the Nosler Partition .44 cal 250gr HP with a (.429") diameter. I called Nosler a while back because'..., I only had a few left which I loaded into my Marlin 444... in of course the .444 Remington, ( I had loaded most of them early on into my .44 Mag for both my rifle and pistol), I digress; I asked the gentleman at Nosler why they took them off the market, he pretty much said; "he had no idea" I was thinking perhaps it was because they weren't cheap and probably didn't get the sales production they wanted at the time due to cost of manufacturing and sales pricing, with that said, they work great in my .44 Mag rifle and my .444 Rem Marlin. I mentioned to him that if Nosler would or have someone else load that bullet into a hotter "rifle" and more energized "handgun" load... well, they'd own that market, especially as popular as the Marlin 444 in .444 Remington is getting again, telling him; "I thought they'd have a winner of the first order for an off the shelf load for both". I'm not trying to highjack the thread, but... as anyone else here used these bullets in the past? Cheers.

 

[Nuclear Worker]

I use a cheap nylon type holster I purchased from a sporting goods store. I attached it to my belt in a croossdraw fashion. Works for me.

Thanks for the info. I am getting a Glock in the 460 Rowland . Will let you know what I go with.

 

[whirlwindjml]

Bear spray is for protecting the bears, and we have plenty thank you.

i think they like peppered hunter better!

hunt in grizzly country sometimes but do not feel even the 44 would be adequate to stop a charging grizzly.

An old guy told me 25 years ago "file the sights off the 44 mag"......"so when he shoves it where the sun dont shine it wont hurt so much".

I carry a 338 wm in my hands not on my pack when im in our northern panhandle idaho. Most the people that have been attacked that ive read about have had there butts kicked so quickly they lost most there stuff before it could be used. But If i was going to really hope in a handgun it would be .44 minimum.

 

[whirlwindjml]

I am basically a reader at this forum but I thought I would share the advice given to me when I went to Alaska on my Grizz hunt. I was packing a Ruger .454 Casull as backup to my .338 mag rifle. When the outfitter asked what I was carrying and ammo I stoked it with (obviously .454 Casull loaded with jacked hollow points cause I couldn't get my hands and anything else before we left). My outfitter asked if I had filed the sights off of the barrel? When I looked at him like he was out of his mind, he replied that without the sights it would hurt so bad when the grizz took it away from me and shoved it up my "nevermind". In his experience hollow points "blow-up" (his words not mine) on a grizzly bear's skull so hard cast solids are the "ONLY" way to go (as backup) in bear country. I won't waste everyone's time with his opinion of bear spray. Just my experience.

We must have ran into the same fella...lol. Or its an Alaskan thing to make fun of us.....

 

[dgr416]

I could only shoot my 454 ruget about 60 times with full loads .The finish on those guns ess awesome second to none .I put both of my pistols through everything that Alaska put out weather wise .