Picking a trail gun (10mm vs .44 Mag)

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For fishing, I think a pocketable revolver would be ideal. My choice there would be the Ruger LCR-22. A lightweight to medium weight 357 mag would be close to ideal as a general purpose revolver for hiking. Perhaps a 3" GP100. All caliber choices are trade offs when it comes to handguns.

If you like bottom feeders, the Glock 10mm would be a good choice if you like the caliber. I lean toward the G23 (40 S&W). Glocks are hard to beat in my opinion as a handgun that you aren't afraid to be a little rough with in terms of exposure to the elements. You can take them completely apart pretty easily if you "fall in".
 
For a trail handgun i would go with a 10mm with your going to buy ether. lihjter,thnner and more rounds . It can work is a light hunter and you can add the 6" barrel for that. a 44 for hunting is more than likely not going to make a great trail gunas it will need atleast a 6" barrel , maybe 8" so no 44 will be light of weight or thin and still limited to 6 rounds. Do carry a larger can of brear spray. Weight difference between a glock 17 and a glock 20 is very little so carry what will offer the most bang for the buck. I love revolvers and have 20 years hunting with 357's and 44's mags but for a trail gun hard to be a glock 20.
 
Since you stated you were a re-loader, I'd go 10MM - in a G20 SF which is under your $600 budget. In the lower 48, the balance of the capacity, relative weight and power of the 10MM just can't be beat. Hand-loaders can really get the max worth out of this cartridge. I find it to be way faster on follow-ups than the S&W 29 .44mag I had. On the flip-side .44 mag is a better hunting pistol - especially with a red-dot. But you are going to be hiking & fishing not hunting so your sidearm is for "just in case." The G20SF is a great contingency sidearm.
 
I agree with others who recommend a S&W 629 4" in .44 mag. I would add that you should load it with full lead rounds like the Garrett cartridges. Just don't carry hollow points............And bear spray which you should always consider first.
My two cents.
 
You don't need a big badass gun. Black bear are not very aggressive. I've had many run ins with them over the years, and yelling at them usually makes them run away if they don't when they see/smell you. A gunshot, from any weapon, is sure to run them off. Don't shoot at them, you don't want to wound them. Just fire a shot into the ground nearby.

For wild dogs, I'd want more capacity than a revolver. Again, it's a rare problem, so I wouldn't lose sleep over carrying anything.

I would be more concerned in having something small, light, reasonable capacity, and reliable. Plastic frame and stainless internals are a huge plus.

Caliber-wise, anything over .380 is fine. 454 might be overkill. :)

Az
 
I have both a 329pd and a G20sf. The 329 is lighter, more powerful, less reliable, lower capacity, less rugged, and hurts to shoot. The G20 is heavier, holds more, more reliable, more accurate in my hands, and really powerful with the proper ammo.

Ammo for the 10mm is super easy to find online. Underwoods will sell you a box of 200 grain xtp's moving out at an honest 1250 fps for only $30. BVAC fmj's are under $20 a box, which is significantly cheaper than .44 ammo. They are both good choices, but my choice of the two is the G20.
 
For fishing, I think a pocketable revolver would be ideal. My choice there would be the Ruger LCR-22.
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This is the one niche I have that I've kept a little junky (You won't get an argument from me if you call it a POS) Phoenix Arms HP22 going. It's had to be home gunsmithed to open the frame up where it battered over the thousands of rounds, goes through recoil springs (resemble the spring in a ball point pen) like Rosie O'Donnell goes through pizza, not a gun for high round count, but it's still going and has a lifetime replacement warranty. It's a zinc gun, but fits easily in a pocket when I'm off to fish and I don't care what salt water will do to it, probably less than to steel. Main thing is, this thing is unreal accurate and has been quite reliable. It is a hammer gun with rebounding firing pin and can be kept hammer down safely condition 2. I've taken nutria with it, shot dozens of water snakes with it at ranges out to 25 yards. The little thing is amazing. I'm not sure why it's so accurate, 3" groups off a bench at 25 yards, but it is. It defies logic when you check out how loose the barrel fits in the frame. But, it works. If I have room, I'd rather take my Rossi 511, more accurate yet and stainless, but it's bulky and not pocket sized with a 4" barrel and adjustable sights.

The HP22 has a niche and I've kept it around for this. I don't shoot it much, but it's handy as heck out fishing or anywhere I might want an accurate pocket .22. And, it was cheap. :D
 
Something to consider here......

The .44 mag is quite a bit more potent than 10mm auto......until you chop the barrel down to 3" or less.

I have a 3" 629. Loads that were making 1,100 ft/lbs in a 6" gun were down to 850 in the 3". Well, my full house 10mm loads make just shy of 800 ft/lbs from a 5" auto, and still garner 740 from a 3.5" Witness Compact.

So, now we're comparing a bulky (and in my case, heavy) N-frame with 6 shots making barely more power than a relatively light and noticeably thinner gun holding 16 shots, and getting them off with a lot less recoil.

And then there's penetration. A FMJ or hard cast .400" bullet of 200 grains or more scores very well in this department. in point of fact, in soft pine, 200 gr. TMJ's loaded to 1,300 FPS actually penetrated deeper than my 325 gr. JHP .50 AE loads that were leaving my 6" Desert Eagle's barrel at 1,510 FPS for 1,646 ft/lbs.

Don't get me wrong, I love my 629 and the .44 mag round. But for defending against 2 or 4 legged threats, I'll take my Glock 20 or Witness Limited with 15+1 hot 10mm on tap over a snub .44.
 
Well, I have to weigh in here since I live and hike in the Great Lakes Region as well.

I have a variety of handguns ranging from a Ruger Alaskan 454 to the Ruger LCP 380.

I've shot the 329PD with 300g hardcast loads and I've shot a Glock 10mm full sized model.

Since I just got my concealed carry license, I'm deciding in my mind what I'm carrying too.

To me, bears just aren't an issue. I'm more worried about 2 legged threats than any animal, except maybe a wolf or wild dogs, but it just isn't heard of all that often.

I see the idea of getting another cool gun. No problem with that. But for hiking, go with your 40 or a .357 or a 10mm or whatever feels nice and light and comfortable and you'll actually carry it.

I'm packing my Kimber 45acp. More than enough for anything I'll encounter and I shoot it alot and I'm accurate with it.

It might be me, but it seems that there are more threats in life from wack jobs than wild animals these days.

Just my opinion, hope it helps.
 
Heck, for that matter, a nice scandium frame .357mag will handle anything you'll most likely need to protect yourself from.

I've also carried my 4" 586 in the thick of bear country and never felt under armed. Black bears just don't concern me enought to lug around a 44mag.
 
If you did not already have a lever in .44 I would say get the 29sf. I went through the same questions you did (all be it with a .357 in mind) but the weight vs. capacity of the 10mm, really makes revolvers as trail guns obsolete (My 29sf was my first glock, and I am NOT a glock fan, it just is the best weapon in the 10mm cartridge in my opinion due to the limited number of pistols in that particular cartridge).

The 29sf is surprisingly easy in the hand, even with full house loads. I was really surprised, the 10mm recoil is not the big scary beast its made out to be. That said, the .44 is more powerful, though you do have barrel length issues.

You already have a .44 lever, I like ammo compatability, so I probably would choose the .44 if I was in your shoes, but the 29sf is a sweet gun. I think it has moved up to my favorite in just the few weeks I have had it.
 
Glock 29 or 29 SF with Pearce +0 magazine bases.
You get 10 + 1 of 10mm, a place for pinky and a concealable pistol for all the time when you are not in the woods.
 
for the guys who carry 10mm, what kind of ammo are you carrying on the trails? Your regular carry ammo or something special for bears?
 
I have both a 329pd and a G20sf. The 329 is lighter, more powerful, less reliable, lower capacity, less rugged, and hurts to shoot. The G20 is heavier, holds more, more reliable, more accurate in my hands, and really powerful with the proper ammo.
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This pretty much mirrors my experiences with the two guns. I paid a good chunk of money for a 329 and I'm afraid to carry it because it will spin the cylinder with heavy bullet loads-which was what I bought it to shoot. The worst part is that I bought it used so I can't just send it in to S&W to use their lifetime repair policy.

I have a 6" Glock hunting barrel and I bought a RCBS mold to cast 200 grain SWC bullets. So I hope with max power handloads the heavy bullet will give me sufficient penetration.

I went hiking in (black) bear country this weekend and after some deliberation I carried my S&W 1086. I felt pretty well prepared.
 
Ahhh..bears.
Good woods loads that I have personal experience with.

FMJ / Penetration
CCI 200gr FMJ
Remington 180gr FMJ

JHP / Expansion
Winchester 175gr STHP
Hornady 180 or 200 XTP
Underwoods 180 or 200 XTP

There are others, but I have used all of these in my G20sf with success.
 
The worst part is that I bought it used so I can't just send it in to S&W to use their lifetime repair policy.
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I'd bet that if you call them and tell them about the problem, they will fix it for you. I have heard numerous stories of them doing that for people who bought used S&Ws.
 
I bought a used 686. The rear sight was out of wack. I think the original owner must have dropped it.

I was in a gun store later and the S&W rep was there. I asked him if I should send the gun in to the factory and make sure it was OK, if I should replace the rear sight, and how much would that stuff cost me? He asked to see it. As I lived close, I brought it back a while later. He checked it over, pronounced it fit for use and handed me a brand new rear sight.

That kind of thing makes me look for reasons to buy stuff from Smith & Wesson.

I still think the best carry gun is your lever, but if you want to lighten up, get a 4" 44 Magnum.

FWIW I do carry the 686 for a woods gun and would love to find a .357 Trapper or something similar to go with it.
 
... 10mm, what kind of ammo are you carrying on the trails?
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I use 200 gr WFNGC hardcast in the woods. I have another magazine with 180gr XTP for the trip there and back.

When the weight gets much above 200gr, the bullet starts to tumble and lose precision when shot through a standard Glock barrel. See hickock45's video where he shows that happening.
 
for the guys who carry 10mm, what kind of ammo are you carrying on the trails? Your regular carry ammo or something special for bears?
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Same load. 180 gr. Remington Golden Saber JHP handloads doing 1,400 FPS.

If I were in grizz country, I'd probably go to a 220 gr. WFNGC hard cast at 1,200-1,250 FPS.

The worst part is that I bought it used so I can't just send it in to S&W to use their lifetime repair policy.
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I'd bet that if you call them and tell them about the problem, they will fix it for you. I have heard numerous stories of them doing that for people who bought used S&Ws.
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I'll second that. Their express warranty is to the original purchaser, but they tend to take care of busted guns no matter what. I've never heard of S&W not honoring their warranty, except when some amature screwed up the gun trying to alter it in their garage.
 
MachIVshooter said:
Same load. 180 gr. Remington Golden Saber JHP handloads doing 1,400 FPS.

If I were in grizz country, I'd probably go to a 220 gr. WFNGC hard cast at 1,200-1,250 FPS.
Click to expand...

Where are you finding the load data that actually attains these velocities?
 
All this talk about .357 got me thinking...
If I were to go the Ruger route, I'd love to get a 4" in either GP-100 or SP101.

So, how about it: GP vs. SP
 
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