Woods Revolver

My favorite S&W revolvers for woods walking are my 58, 629-5, 65-3, 65-5 in no particular order.

My favorite semi-autos are a Glock 29 10mm and a Sig P250sc .40 S&W.

With the .40 S&W falling out of favor everywhere pistols in this chambering are inexpensive. You might consider one.
 
I have three in their respective holsters that I carry depending on what I'm doing that day... hiking, cutting wood, getting up hay, mowing fields, etc.

I generally carry a model 60 with a full lug barrel. I replaced the front sight with an XS big dot and load it with Speer Gold Dot SB.

Several months ago I bought a new model 63. Insanely accurate and just fun to carry and shoot. I carry it more and more as I tend to do a little informal shooting while out.

Both of these short barrel revolvers I carry in a pancake holster that I make myself.

The third gun that I carry in the woods quite a bit is a Ruger SR 1911 in 10mm. Flat, easy and comfortable to carry. As accurate as anything I am likely to carry and able to handle anything I run into in the woods.
 
Hard to beat a .357/38 4" revolver of any model....mild to wild in one package. Just be sure you know where different loads will hit.

A heavy .357 will kill anything here in the East. Heck... 6 .38's ain't bad.

However, my recently purchased 41mag Blackhawk has a nice "woods gun" swagger to it :cool:
 
A few days ago I bought a rag nasty Glock 20 10mm from the receptionist at my doctor's office. It was fairly cheap. I took it to my son's fishing companion and he gave me my money back. Butt ugly but functional. We live close enough to Glock, Inc. that we can drive it to the factory for service.
 
...I lug a Ruger Super Blackhawk around our woods...

...I would take my 29-3...but it's too nice to holster...

...44 Magnum should do the job...if you do your job...

...welcome to the forum...
 
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M60-15; its called the Trail Masterpiece for a reason. Its just as hard hitting as a 3 inch 686, with the same ammo. You do give up 1 or 2 rounds, but not power. I carried a 6 inch 686 one time hiking in the Cascade Mountains. A lot of up and down. Just once! The M60 will do what I need it to. Holster is a Lobo Gunleather Original Pancake. I like Buffalo Bore 38 Spl Outdoors load. They make a 180 gr hard cast load, if required.

Best,
Rick
 
For many years of my outdoor activities, on foot & horseback, I holstered my OD 3" M66. If it was too hot for cover clothing I used a pommel holster & doubt anyone knew what it was. Something as small as a J frame is still going to be a burden hiking long distances unless you are very clever about concealing in a pack of sorts.

Only once... on a remote trail... my horse & I were tracked by a pack of aggressive coy-dogs at the limits of of visibility in the underbrush. I went as far as to open my vest & tuck it behind the grips for access. I was very glad that I reached a gravel road as dusk fell & gave him his head... quickly opening the first mile of distance. He earned a bath when we reached the barn, all sweated up.

I hand made my holster... a near copy of a Bianchi 5BHL with slight influence from Safariland.



 
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S&W Governor (or a Taurus Judge if cost is a concern) ought to be the ideal choice of a Wilderness Defense firearm.

Capable of chambering .410 Shotshells, .45 Long Colt, or .45 ACP, (with moon clips) the Governor boasts an unprecedented level of versatility. You've got .410 Bore Shotshells for small animals such as Snakes and .45 Long Colt for just about anything else one could conceivably encounter in the Wilderness.
Furthermore, you have the option to mix ammunition and load up any of the different types of shot/bullets offered in .410/.45 in the same cylinder at once. (.410 birdshot for Snakes, buckshot for larger animals like wolves, and a nice hardcast 255gr .45LC semiwadcutter for Bears.)
Oh, and the Governor weighs in at mere 30oz, so you don't have to worry about lugging around an excessively heavy pistol either.

I know that there will be a lot of folks coming to argue against my suggestion because .410/.45 Revolvers such as the S&W Governor and Taurus Judge are the Uncle Buck's hat of the firearms community, so be prepared for a lot of protests from folks who just plain hate these sorts of firearms, complete with outdated articles/videos "proving" their ineffectiveness by using .410 shotshells which were designed for full-size shotguns with 18" long barrels with full chokes at absurdly long ranges well in excess of what they were designed for or one would ever likely find themselves needing to shoot, much less be legally justified in doing so, acting as if that means something. But specialty loads have long since been developed specifically for handguns like the Governor which have proven to be quite effective at distances out to 20 yards, such as Federal Premium .410 Handgun 000 Buck Shotshells, so to preemptively give you a more realistic demonstration of what to expect from the Governor, I'll leave you with this video.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=256aNCB4AVo[/ame]

Just something to consider.
 
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Over the years I've carried a variety of guns while woods bumming, hunting, and fishing. Ruger Blackhawks, S&W J, K & L frames, .22, .38/.357, .44 & .45 Colt. My go to gun now is my 60-15. Light and compact with a range of power and accuracy sufficient for my purposes. It rides easy and almost unnoticed in a Bianchi 5BHL. I do wish either the Bianchi 111 Cyclone or Galco Phoenix were available for this gun.
 
I second and third the 5-shot 3" target J frame as the perfect gun for those times when you don't expect to need a gun but still feel the need to have one with you. I have a 60-4 in .38 and a 60-10 in .357. I previously had the 60-15 mentioned above (same as 60-10 but with the internal lock).
I started carrying the 60-10 even when rifle hunting after an occasion I found myself on my hands and knees in a laurel thicket helping a buddy track blood from a wounded bear. I quickly realized that the lever action rifle on my shoulder was almost useless in all that brush. Thankfully the bear was '**** up' when we finally found it. :-)

My other go-to gun that is completely out of the way when on ATVs or hiking is a custom 2" .45ACP on a 1917 frame converted to a K grip frame. I even use the lanyard ring so I can't loose it. It has open sights but I installed a tritium vial in the front.
1917a.jpg
 
Having spent a lot of time in the DEEP woods of Maine over 50 years,I carried a Ruger Blackhawk 41 mag or 44 mag. with wood grips. I have: 1. Run into a hunter while deer hunting that thought I was a deer or something and froze looking at me for about what seemed to be an eternity.
I remember as though it was yesterday (And it was 40+ years ago) that if he raised his rifle I would have to shoot him. I was wearing the proper hunting colors and was talking to him, but he just stood there motionless and looking at me. ( Buck fever? ).finally he snaped out of it and went on his way. I went in the opposite direction.
2. Going down Mt Washington and having a full grown mountain lion running about 50 feet from me chasing a rabbit.
3. Deer hunting in Maine and crossing the path of a full grown black bear that had been killing cattle on a nearby farm. I was close enough the hair on the back of my neck stood up.(hunters that go after dangerous game know what I am talking about). And I could go on.

My point or more to yours, You want a handgun that can deal with any of the above experiences that could have turned ugly really fast! A gun and caliber that puts the danger to your life down quickly. I have owned a lot of handguns and rifles over the years and prefer cold steel blued guns to stainless. IMO they are more accurate.
There are some good suggestions on this post. Good luck on your qwest!

Be SAFE and shoot often!
 
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Back in the day a woods' gun would be the classic "kit gun", which was traditionally a .22 long rifle, something like a Model 34 or H&R Sportsman, with a 3 to 6 inch barrel.

Thrown into a tackle box, carried in a haversack, worn in a belt holster. Ideal for small game, snakes, pesky varmints, casual plinking, signaling. Perhaps in those bygone days they worried less about bears, miscreants, and Apocalypse Now, and focused instead on what the gun would actually be used for 99.9999% of the time.
 
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