Spent the summers or 76 and 77 in Alaska with my Dad's Colt New Service in .357 magnum. The locals preferred gun was a short barreled 12 gauge pump with slugs.

Still have my 1983 Big Red....... up on blocks these days [didn't want the Boys to take it out] in favor of a Honda 4-wheeler or RZR.

My Penn's Woods carry is a 3" 66 or 4" 686 with 158 gr soft point .357s. My prefered holster is a Bianchi 111 Crossdraw!

S@W 4 inch Model 29. Cross draw holster.

I'm a .44 Special fan . I load the Keith solid with either his 2400 load or 8-9 grains of Unique.

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Grumpy Old Man With a Gun

Originally .357 Magnum and I preferred a four inch Model 19. Then in the 1980s .44 Magnum in either four inch or six inch Model 29. Now I'm back to .357 Magnum and a four inch Model 686 Plus.

In the NY back country areas I have typically carried a S&W 657 PC or a Glock 39 (45 gap) depending on length of hike or extra gear carried, with the G39 taking over when weight is priority.

Since the thread title was "what DID..." (past tense) I thought maybe it would be appropriate to post some "back country" pics of what I carried in 1966 while in Germany. Back country being defined then as the NATO field exercise area known then as "the Graf"...a 400 sq kilometer area left just as it was at the end of WWII. No inhabitants, rubble villages, still active minefields, both axis and allied derelict tanks, trucks, etc., left where they were abandoned. Used for live fire training. The other back country was the ammo dumps (some bunkers had nukes or so we were told) at Koppern.

Cold duty for sure...M14 rifle and 1911A1, both with live ammo..never saw any bears, but those hogs can get very large in the wild where they are foraging for themselves.

Attached Images

	Army 66.jpg (57.4 KB, 51 views)
	ammo bunkers.jpg (60.5 KB, 44 views)
	3-36 scouts.jpg (81.0 KB, 48 views)
	Main gate.jpg (50.5 KB, 44 views)

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Charlie B
SWCA#3083, SWHF#570

What happened? I have always admired big bore single actions, now I want to know what made you decide to never carry one again.

No bears in my area so I carried a Model 325 loaded with Speer hollow points.

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N frameitis :-)

When I lived out in the wilds of Spotsylvania County (Va), it was almost a quarter mile to the hard surface road. I'd "hike" that every few days at least, carrying a mighty Ruger Bearcat in 22 LR. I don't think I ever took it out of the holster, but I was ready had a pine cone ever gotten out of line.

We did have a black bear reported in the neighborhood once. It was quite the kerfuffle. A couple of young women passed me on my walk one morning and warned me about it, then seeing the Ruger, one of them said "Oh...You've got a gun, so I guess you're safe." "Yes ma'am. Thank you though. 'Preciate the information." I didn't ask them why they were walking the road if they were worried about a bear.

I never did see that bear, but did see a runaway Emu once. That's about as wild as it get's around here.

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John 3:16 .

While living in Alaska in the mid 90' we always had one of the Remington 870 Wingmaster's with us when away from town. We also had a Ruger Blackhawk .357 loaded heavy. Thought about getting a Super Blackhawk, but never did. Our hunting rifles were 270's. Now, it is a Smith & Wesson Model 19.