as this is a S&W forum, I ask what kind of S&W do you take into the bush for hiking, clearning underbrush, working, fishing, hunting, camping, etc.?

Often I carry a Colt somethingorother. But when I do S&W I am carrying a S&W Model 28 Highway Patrolman with a 6 inch barrel in a thumb break Jordan Holster. Loaded with full magnums 158 gr LSWC or 125 gr SJHP. 1) fun to shoot, 2) will handle anything in Louisiana on two legs or four...or no legs at all. Not as heavy or cumbersome as you might thing either. The only complaint I have is that the long 6 inch holster bumps my thermas of water in the drink holder when I am riding on the lawn tractor.

Sometimes I'll slip on a M-15 a swivel or pancake holster loaded with +P handloads in LRN or LHP.

I carry my #65 4" most of the time, loaded with two shotshells & four 158gr. SWC's. it shoots great with my handload & is not too heavy. I carry it in a Bianchi pancake holster. if I am just on a short hike around the house, I carry my #36 3"HB., loaded with two shotshells & three cast SWC's.

I take my old Mod 17 with me for most every trip to the woods. I load it with a shot load and then plain ol' LRN ammo.

I've just got to where I take a coupla' k22 speedloader's with me too, except when I use them they're not speeeed loaders!

GF

Where I deer hunt there are a lot of large rattle snakes so I carry a Sig Model P228 9mm loaded with snake shot shells.

When I leave the house I usually have my model 19-4 with 2.5" barrel on my side. Here in NC that will stop anything that I encounter on 2 or 4 legs.

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M.J.Hanna

While berry picking, hiking & such, M27 5"


Deer, Bear or Elk hunting, my 21 as back-up & "coup de grace".


May replace the M27 with the 1960 M28 I just got.

Art I'd just go to McDonald's before I'd take on "large rattlesnakes"!



GF

4" 657 ND in Bianchi when the bears and moose are active.

Any .22 works for me in the winter months.

Just for a walk in the woods and an occasional plinking shot or 2 I carry my 34-1.4''
If the walk in the woods is for hunting purposes most times it’s my Model 29-2 4''

Around the farm


On a ground squirrel safari

or

or


In the field -- away from home


Horsepacking in the Bob Marshall or in Elk Camp

Well I say it all depends on where your going. Small game and stuff a 1911 .45acp outta do. Medium game and stuff a good .44 magnum will cover it. BIG angry game.....Nothing but the .500 Magnum will do and not braggin but I got all 3. I plan on adding a 586/686 .357 soon, ya know to make my collection well versed.

If it's just a backup piece turkey hunting or something, it's not a Smith. If it's backup for deer when I may actually decide to shoot a deer with it, or backup out West in cougar/grizzly country, it's a 329PD.

If I've got a shotgun (small game hunting) it's a 2214 or a 2" Kit.

If I'm deer hunting in hilly West VA I have enough gear to pack already so mostly I don't take a sidearm.

Hunting here in Maine, or while cross country skiing or fishing it's usually a 4" Round Butt 66-2.

When going for Reds on the Russian or Kenai it's a 4" 29-3.

In the field, I take this.



629-2

It shoots these.



They are 265g each.



I move them @ 1200fps.

I only had that particular revolver in a short barrel, but now I have these.



They're both 624 ND's. They move the same bullet @ 900 ~ 1000fps.

In California where I hunt (way north) there's lots of cougar and bear, I'd like to think I could properly place a shot if need be, but I like the idea of some margin for error and lobbing mortar balls helps there.

More for peace of mind and dangerous two legged thin skinned predators than game really. No matter what, you could set your rifle down but the revolver is always there.

What is a 624 ND? I have the same guns.

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S&W Accumulator

ND = No Dash

I have an identical 624 snub but with different grips. Great field gun ... carry it in a Lobo flap holster and keep it fed with HPs. No big game in these parts, but black bear and wild dogs are around, and possibly a cougar might be encountered on a hike. .44 Specials are a good insurance policy for repelling woodland creatures.

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I'm with the banned ...

Where is this bush?

Bush here in PA = S&W Model 66 4"
Bush in Zimbabwe = S&W Model 629 6"

See the difference in what may be feared in the bush?

^
LOL! Interestingly, when the .357 Magnum was originally built in 1935, even though police found it too expensive, it survived the market among big game hunters in Africa and North America. Until the .44 Magnum came along 20 years later, the .357 Magnum was the most powerful cartridge loading handgun in the world.

While you could do a lot better these days, you could do a lot worse than the .357 Magnum

My Model 27 does most of the outdoors work, either loaded with the 358156 SWC or HP version these days. I picked up this old New Service in .45 Colt for days when I feel like it and want to give the 27 a break. That one goes around with 250 grain #452424 cast SWC's and 7.5 grains of Unique.

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Vaya con Dios

It depends on what "bush" you are reffering to. Some places I am pretty happy with a S&W model 10 in my back pocket. Some places that I have been to. I do not feel all that comfortable with a model 29 with hot heavy loads in it.

I've carried a lot of guns in the woods over the years.
First handgun I hauled on fishing trips was a Ruger Mark I Bull
Barrel. It fit a holster from a Daisy BB pistol, believe it or not. A bit
heavy after a couple of hours.

For years afterward I took my first Ruger Blackhawk .357. An Old Model. Took some small game with it.
It still is one of the easiest carrying revolvers I have.
Opening day of trout season last year I hauled this one, for old
times sake.

Then an old 1911 went along for the ride for a few years.

Next a couple of 9mms, a BHP and a Colt Combat Commander.

For a while then I carried a M28 four inch. Usually also had a snub S&W in a front pocket on those trips too. Got a Ted Blocker holster
off of this forum and it works real well with the M28.

Took a Brazilian 1917 on late season rabbit hunts a few times. Never fired it as rabbits were pretty scarce by then.

Lately, I've gotten lazy. I often just take one of my 649s, or my
M38. They are my usual carry guns and are easy to take to the
woods too.

Usually one of my 629s, sometimes my 25-13. I also carry my EDC 442 in my pocket. Always have some other tools, too, like a good folding knife and a Leatherman Wave.

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Even older, even crankier....

A 696 44 Special loaded with 5 rds. of Speer snake shot and a reload of 44HP.

When hiking or huckleberry picking here in griz country, I carry this:

With a black bear being really active in the surrounding woods, I take a 640 with a CT laser 158gr+P in a Don Hume ISWB. When walking my dogs the bear usually keeps its distance, after dark is a whole nother story.

Since I have only one S&W revolver, I lug around a Model 25-5 with a 6-inch barrel. Normally carried in a Bianchi hip holster. Snakes are the biggest reason it's carried so some CCI shot-shells are in it.

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JWS3
1SG, USA (Retired)