choosing a smith and wesson for a farm hand

[WNC Seabee]

First, I would suggest the OP pay attention to learning to WRITE. Did you see his post? Holy run-on sentences Batman! And punctuation is still considered a plus by most editors.

Anyway...the farms I grew up around always had .22s near to hand. So, a K22/M17 and a Marlin 39a would be great. That wouldn't answer the CCW aspect though, so I think a Model 10 sounds like the most reasonable given the OPs parameters.

 

[m657]

....or something old like a #2 or 3 model top break New Defender his grand pappy left him; an Iver Johnson version 5-shot in 32 S&W short maybe...

By "concealed carry" do you intend for "DAILY concealed carry" or "COULD be concealed carry"....lots of choices abound.

good luck, please post us a copy when you're done with it.

 

[Model29Lover]

Since the story takes place in current history, I would go with the 629-1 that he bought at a pawn shop or something similar.

 

[Plain Old Dave]

Model 19 or 66, if it's carried regularly. I actually wore a 28 at a gun shop I worked at for a while. Started giving me lower back trouble so it got sold in favor of a beat up 19 I gave @$200 or so for.

 

[Rogerdog]

My father was a full time farmer in Iowa and rarely carried a pistol, usually just a pocket knife and a plier in a holster. When he did carry it was a Colt Buntline 22 in a western holster and belt with a hammer loop.

I have a farm in Missouri and when I carry its either a Pre 34 model of 1953 or an H&R 922, either in a cheap Uncle Mikes on a leather belt.

 

[Sebago Son]

Farm Gun = Belt Gun

I'd say a roughed up 4" Square Butt Model 65 would make a perfect belt gun / farm gun for a hand.

When I had my farm my gun (a 4" PD Trade-In Model 66) usually was in the truck or hanging off the tractor.

If the bears were around my 4" 629 was on my hip if I was out in the fields or woodlot.

 

[John Frederick Bell]

What's funny is that I have a similar project underway.

The hand in question carries an old Model 10 round butt with a lanyard ring and a six inch barrel - when he carries at all; usually there's not enough call for a long gun or short. The boss keeping a .22 revolver with a box each rat shot and hollowpoints in the nearest truck is about as close as it gets, though there's heavier iron about if the occasion calls.

...which it usually doesn't.

It's a farm/ranch environment in the latter half of the 20th century. Not the wild west. Nobody carries full time and I don't know that any of them see the point of carrying concealed.

Generally, I selected the available weaponry based on what's practical (read, cheap). A .22, a lever gun in some intermediate caliber, or an unadorned pumpgun is perfectly adequate. For the most part the worst they might expect to face on a bad day is feral animals. Or trespassers if things get really, really sticky.

Shooting in anger is going to be an absolute rarity. Recreational shooting won't be much more since there's not a whole lot of surplus income at that level for ammo.

That's my two pence on the matter, anyway.

 

[bettis1]

Well, it was a ranch and not a farm, but I can tell you what the armament was on our place in west TX the 1940's-50's.

My dad's Remington Mod. 8 in.35 Rem.; my Remington Mod. 141 in .30 Rem.(our deer rifles); a Winchester Mod 69 bolt action .22 (given to me by my uncle before he died in WWII); My dad's Remington M11-48 12 ga.; my Mossberg bolt action 20 ga.; a Stevens single shot .410 pistol (that rode in a hand made holster on my dad's saddle for snakes); an H&R Mod. 922 .22; Later, I got the two Colt SAA's in .45 Colt and .38-40 handed down from both of my grandfathers. Except for during deer season, the old Winchester .22 rode in a rack in the pickup. As you can see, handguns were pretty scarce.

Since this is a farm instead of a ranch I agree that the protagonist will spend a lot more time on a tractor than a horse. The danger of getting some appendage (either one of his or one that he has hung on his belt) hung up in machinery is very real! Unless he will be actively dealing with large farm animals like horses and cattle that might injure him or themselves and cause him to have to shoot them, there is little need for a handgun. If I had to choose what I would carry on that tractor, it would be the H&R M922 .22 (pretty undramatic, what!)

Since it was long before the advent of radios or phones, one use that we always had in the back of our mind with our guns was for signaling back to the ranch house in case of emergency...three quick, evenly spaced shots would bring anyone in hearing distance running.

Bob

PS If you are going to be realistic, remember that firearms on a ranch/farm are just a tool. Don't attribute the romanticism that the movies have done. They are no more or less than a saddle, tractor, hammer, etc. and the proper tool for the job is the answer. Just decide what the job is for the handgun of your character.

 

[redlevel]

A 1948 vintage M&P in a Loboleather flap holster is an eminently practical outfit for carrying a gun on the farm and not worrying about getting it tangled up in equipment, wire, etc.

Here, it isn't tangled in the wire, just using it for a photo prop.

 

[snowman]

I grew up on the farm and will confirm what other posters have indicated: carrying a handgun while doing most kinds of farmwork creates more problems than it is worth.

Andy

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

When I'm on the tractor or working on my place I carry a .45 1911 in a Kydex ITWB holster. Unobtrusive and hardly noticable while working.
When bushogging fields I sometimes carry a revolver load with shot cartridges to shoot at the numerous rats I see. Much fun!