Smith M24-3, a favorite trail gun of mine
I've bow-hunted elk in Colorado many times, and go back and forth regarding what to carry as a trail gun. Plenty of mountain lion and bear where I hunt, and it's also nice to have something in the truck when going into town for whatever. Weight and size is always an issue, so when I came across this 3" 44 special I figured it would be a good fit. I did carry it one season in the mountains, but when I realized how much it was worth, I retired it from those duties. Too much risk of having the airline "lose it" and too much chance of excessive holster wear, getting banged up, etc. (Now I usually take a "beater" gun, a 4" Ruger Security Six in .357 mag). I believe this gun is a Lew Horton piece. the problem I had when I first got it was finding leather for a 3" N-frame. Turns out I got a Galco that rides nice and is actually not bad for concealment, but I wanted a field holster, so also picked up a Nevada Gun Leather rig for the gun as well. I load a 240 grain gas-checked SWC from the RCBS mold in front of 10.1 grains of Blue Dot and get 786 fps. and it is accurate and pleasant to shoot.