Recommendations Hiking Pistol

Aube

Aube

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As some of you know I have my interview tomorrow and am in the market for a gun. I really need something light, compact, high power. While hiking in the middle of the woods you never really know what you're going to run into. For example:
bear.jpg


Thats the cuddley little creature i ran into recently. Luckily He was friendly. But if chose to come after us, I don't think shooting him with my camera would do much good. Though it was exciting to see a bear, it was kinda scary. But anyways, Im looking for something real small, light.

Few other questions.... Is tauras an alright gun company? Dont know anyone with one, never heard anything about em. What kind of holster should i get for hiking? Sometimes i carry gear up to 40 pounds too, maybe that's something to keep in mind.
 
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Hey! I ran into a bear while hiking w/ my family in the Federated Women's State Forest on the Quabbin (Never and I mean NEVER, been so scared inmy life). The fine peopl of the great state of MA say no less than .40 for hunting bear. Given that nothing in the "Wild" of MA needs more stopping power than a bear would...Something in .40 range in my HMBIOP.

Leave no trace.
 
Polibious said:
Hey! I ran into a bear while hiking w/ my family in the Federated Women's State Forest on the Quabbin (Never and I mean NEVER, been so scared inmy life). The fine peopl of the great state of MA say no less than .40 for hunting bear. Given that nothing in the "Wild" of MA needs more stopping power than a bear would...Something in .40 range in my HMBIOP.

Leave no trace.
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My husband has a cute little Glock 27.. I would carry that..
 
I don't know much about bears and bear guns, but if you carry up to 40 pounds in gear you might want to consider more than just lightweight guns and swap out some of your other gear for lighter options. There was a lively discussion on this thread.
 
Joshua said:
Thats the cuddley little creature i ran into recently. Luckily He was friendly. But if chose to come after us, I don't think shooting him with my camera would do much good. Though it was exciting to see a bear, it was kinda scary. But anyways, Im looking for something real small, light.
Click to expand...
Well, according to Martha Coakley, if you see cuddles running after you, call the police and wait patiently[thinking]

If that advice won't do, personally as far as handguns go I'd take a nice M&P45 for large varmint protection. Relatively light and quite carryable, whether in the forest or not...

Not sure its enough without very good shot placement, so practice, practice, practice...

I am sure owners of S&W500 would say anything less is taking your life in your hands, but there's also the matter of getting a gun you can use/carry for other purposes.... I wouldn't go small... just light...
 
dreamer said:
I don't know much about bears and bear guns, but if you carry up to 40 pounds in gear you might want to consider more than just lightweight guns and swap out some of your other gear for lighter options. There was a lively discussion on this thread.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm also in the market for new gear too. My tent is not a hiking tent. Tahts the biggest problem.

CRSIII said:
If small and lite are a must, I'd convert that 27 to .357 sig and hope for the best.[laugh]
Seriously, small and lite are not what come to mind when bears come to mind.
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You know, small and light as possible, i don't want to have a bb gun. But i don't want to be carry a cannon either. I was looking at a couple .357 snubs, but i'm just looking for opinions.
 
In previous bear threads, it seems to be the consensus is carry nothing smaller than a .44 mag.
 
The US forest service has done extensive study on bear behavior, OC for bears, and guns against bears. I have been involved in all aspects of that from the beginning.

Almost everything you hear or read is personal opinion based on either no or very limited data points.

Looking at all the data for 100 years presents a very different story.

For bear defense it cannot be shown that the type or caliber matters, people that shoot back with anything win, people that don't shoot back many times lose. All calibers and action types have been used. Handguns are almost always used at mauling distance. Longarms at 25 yards to dead at your feet.

There is no evidence to support 44 over 357, revolvers are more reliable at contact distance but people have won with semi-autos (but the data pool is very small, as it grows we would at some point start to see malfunctions).

A good revolver in 357 or 44 with powerful solids made to go deep and not deflect is probably the best answer for carry. The pump shotgun still has more kills of grizzly than anything in defense, believe it or not with OO buck, though common wisdom nowadays is use brenneke slugs. Pre WWII 90%+ of the kills were OO.

Greg Hamilton
June 04, 2009 5:15 PM
Handguns for Bear?
Email to the Insights Training List.
 
CRSIII said:
If small and lite are a must, I'd convert that 27 to .357 sig and hope for the best.[laugh]
Seriously, small and lite are not what come to mind when bears come to mind.
Click to expand...

Jason said:
Glock 20 (10mm) is a commonly recommend hiking/hunting sidearm. Light + 15 rounds.
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.357, .40, .45 and up, the bigger, the better. The glock 10mms are sweet!

meth0d said:
I was going to suggest the 460 too. I've seen them packaged with some info on bears and a couple of accessories.
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Collectors has one, comes in the yellow pelican case type box, but damn its expensive!!
 
meth0d said:
I was going to suggest the 460 too. I've seen them packaged with some info on bears and a couple of accessories.
Click to expand...

I think those 460 snubbies are great for bears! You can use the muzzle flash from it to set the bear on fire as your wrist snaps in two! [wink]
 
JohnM said:
I think those 460 snubbies are great for bears! You can use the muzzle flash from it to set the bear on fire as your wrist snaps in two! [wink]
Click to expand...

Yeah, Im kinda curious about the .460, i know shooting .357 didn't leave the wrist feeling so hot after.
 
When I spent some time in Alaska with the Military, I asked my sponsor why he was strapping on a .44 Magnum when we were heading out on a fishing trip.

"Couldn't we just get by with a .357 or a .45 ACP?", I asked.

"Nope," he said. "That would just piss the bear off."

If you can carry and accurately shoot a hand cannon, bring it. If not, you can always go for the ".22LR" solution. Wait until there's no chance of escape, then shoot yourself right behind the ear. Whatever else happens after that doesn't really matter.....

*
 
The biggest threat will likely come from people and for them I carry a .45acp. A .357 revolver would also be good. The 10mm sounds like a good idea. Try to shoot as many as you can before you buy and then learn to shoot what you buy.
 
You can hunt black bear in NYS with a .357 magnum pistol, but I would carry a .44 magnum pistol if I was afield for bear (as I have in NYS when I lived there).
 

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