Who packs a side arm?

I carry a Kimber 1911 in .45 ACP any time I am hunting or on road trips. It is with me on all my camping and fishing trips also. I need to look into getting a lighter weight Concealed Carry Pistol. I carry my Kimber concealed sometimes, but it is too heavy to have on ALL of the time.
 
I never go afield without some sort of sidearm. Mountain lions, hungry bears, crystal meth-fueled hippy scumbags, lot's of threats.
 
A S&W 422 .22 auto that usually lives in my hiking fanny pack, or a Ruger GP100 stainless 4" .357 (aka "the boat anchor") or an old Colt lightweight Commander .45 auto. Depends on what all is going on and whether or not I have a long gun and what kind, and where I am. Around civilization it's now habit to have the Smith 2" .38 J-frame airweight in the pants pocket.
 
It's real simple, ... be prepared.

If you are going to encounter two legged predators, then prepare your firearm for that as well. A rd. of hollowpoint followed by a rd of hardball may be a good idea, that will allow you to protect yourself as well as let you shoot through a car/truck door if needed, you might be suprised at how many high powered rds. simply explode on the outside of a car/truck door.

Take a 357 125gr jhp and a 9mm 115gr, the jhp can simply explode on the outside of the rig, while the 9mm will go through. No i'm not saying one is better than the other, ... simply prepare for both. blue
 
Blue, when I'm in bear/cougar country my .357 is loaded with 3 158-gr. Hydra-Shok hollowpoints alternating with 3 158-gr. flat-nose hard-cast lead. I figure if I can get two shots off that hit, I'll get both a big hole and a deep hole. Maybe I'm over-analyzing things a bit, but bears and cougars have different sizes and builds, I figure the heavy hp's would work better on the cat and the solids better on the bear. One of each with the first two rounds at whatever tries to bite me should at least slow them down a bit - I hope!
 
No body has said anything about this subject; Training and Practice.

Carrying a handgun is great. I believe that all "law-abiding" American Citizens should carry a weapon.

I also believe that it is the responsiblity of the carrier to familiarize themselves with their carry gun.

Carrying a handgun is just as dangerous (if not more dangerous) as not carrying, without proper training, and continuous practice with said handgun.

My suggestion to those carrying a handgun, check your local area and find an organization or an individual that conducts a disiplined handgun training course, and a weekly, biweekly, or monthly practice and/or a competition to participate in on a regular basis. Doing this will insure that if in case you are ever in a situation that you will need to use your weapon to defend yourself or defend others, you will be conditioned to conduct yourself in a professional manner, keeping yourself alive as well as those around you.

Thank You & Good Shooting
IDB
 
I carry my s&w airweight .38 concealed every day everywhere, when im hunting it depends what im using, if im using an air rifle or bow, i carry the .38, .270,835 ultramag, i dont bother, i got enough firepower with them. I generally carry for the 2 legged critters in the city and the woods though. I also carry when im flyrodding,icefishing, etc.
I carry concealed in public, in the field i clip it right to the front of my pack harness so whoever i meet gets a nice big respectful eyeful of purty Smith & Wesson gunnery. I walked out to my car once after flyrodding on the river and 4 guys were standing around my car looking in the windows so I stopped and said loudly looking for something?..and they turned and saw me with the gun plain view and stammered and stuttered and I told them to get the hell away from my car...and they took off.
Bedside table, .357 ruger, I firmly belive in the right to stop oneself from being murdered ")
 
As a USPS employee a firearm in my truck would be the end of my Job, when I am on there property and in a work statis. However I have a ccw permit and I can enter a post office carrying it concealed off the clock at the local station to do normal business, no problem. I carry a 44sp 2" in my truck, and a SBH cut down to 4.75", both loaded with 240 swc in 44 sp when hunting. I like the 44 sp in hard cast swc as a back up gun.
Jim
 
I carry a Glock 17 or my old S&W K22. I have never had a coyote charge me but I dislike finishing one off with my 22/250 and having to sew up a huge hole. I have rocked a few to slept in the absence of handgun to finish them and its not as easy as its sounds.

About three years ago I was calling coyotes with my son near an old ranch that had been abandoned. I had heard that a distant relative of the old rancher who had died 10 years earlier had moved in. About 9:30 AM as we were headed to the truck three guys on fourwheelers came ripping up the road. They stopped and wanted to know what we were doing. I explained we were hunting. Guy told us to leave we were trespassing, which we weren't it was BLM. I told him we were leaving but we weren't trespassing. All three looked pretty tough and two were packing handguns. They weren't very friendly and that is unusual here. We separated and when I got home I called the Sheriff and shared what happened. He told me privately they were investigating this crew and to avoid the area for a few weeks. I was captain of the search and rescue for the Sheriff and figured something was up. About a week later the Sheriff busted them for cooking meth. So my advice is be prepared you never know who or what you might come upon while out calling. Seems four legged and two legged coyotes like the same locations
 
Most of the time I carry a 9mm hunting, sometimes a suppressed MKIII. Might need to start carrying extra ammo, hav'nt had any 2 legged Predator run ins yet.
 
Vermont is the only state in the continental U.S. that
requires no permit for CC. So i like to exercise that right.
My next purchase will be a sigarms p39 in 40sw.
 
I carry a Ruger 9mm. I too feel more comfortable with it. As mentioned earlier, "crystal-meth fueled hippy scumbags" are out there.
 
Pete, the last two black bears i killed were with a little taurus 85, standard 158gr 38's one shot each, placement was the key.

IDB, you are 100% correct, the biggest, badest gun in the world won't do you any good if you don't practice with it. During the winter, (22" of snow at the moment) i go to the range once a week, in good weather,3-4 times a week before work.

The bottom line is Always the same, be prepared. Sorry about hijacking the thread. blue
 
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About the only time I don't carry is while hunting with a rifle. I carried several different handguns for a while but they just got in the way.

Other than work, and hunting I usually through my SW 642 into my pocket.
 
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