Woods carry

[Deputydave]

For i .44 Magnum loaded hot can get just about ANY job done, can go .44 Spl's if need to think 2 legged or overkill on recoil and report, Snake loads in .44 spl, fill that void better than most. Short of Squirrel or REAL small game on the plate for the day, that is what works for I.

Where in Florida would you feel you need a .44 magnum loaded hot?

I feel pretty good about the Sig P250 I picked up in 40S&W. Good quality pistol but since it's discontinued years ago it makes a good 'beater'. Don't really like the term as I'm not planning on abusing it or tossing it around. But it's a pistol that I don't mind sweating all over, getting wet if it rains or whatever. And I can change out the grip module if needed for any reason.

Picked it up for $450 with the FDE X-Carry grip module and 6 mags. Even though it was discontinued I felt it was a fair deal considering the grip module is around $50ish by itself and four extra magazines run anywhere from $40 to $50+ each right now.

Loaded with 180 grain FMJ or maybe a HP for the woods and I'm all set with 13+1 rounds on tap.

[RAN]

Ocala National Forrest, Inverness Boar....etc etc. Less works as well, but just to answer the question. Again Options.

[Deputydave]

In regards to the 357sig vs. 357 magnum...

A 357sig can't be loaded as powerful or as heavy as a 357 magnum. No debate on this. On the flip side the 357sig has some factors in it's favor. First, generally speaking it's going to be a faster shooting platform. A slide soaks up more recoil and some pistols have specific recoil reduction systems like HK to make a 357sig platform fairly tame to shoot. So it's just physics that if you're good with a 357 magnum revolver you're likely to be even better with a 35sig semi-auto in terms of getting off shots. This may well translate into more accurate shots/follow up shots. And of course with a 357 magnum your looking at 5-8 shots depending on the type of revolver as opposed to maybe 12-16 rounds of 357sig, again depending on the platform.

So whereas the 357 magnum may use heavier bullets that have more 'power', does that offset a 357sig that can still have the power to penetrate deeply that is more controllable and has more ammunition on tap? Tossing that out for thought.

[lighteye]

I go for hikes all the time. In fact, I step right over a waist high gate in my backyard and and I'm in a conservation area that abuts state forest. My preferred carry pistol is one I competed with for years in IPSC - my trusty M&P 40. Yes, it's seen more rounds through it than anything I've ever owned, but it takes punishment and abuse and keeps on roaring. It's been duracoated twice after wearing through the original finish, as practicing draws from kydex is hard on a pistol's slide. Striker has been replaced, barrel has been replaced. Ugly but lethal and reliable.

[Deputydave]

I go for hikes all the time. In fact, I step right over a waist high gate in my backyard and and I'm in a conservation area that abuts state forest. My preferred carry pistol is one I competed with for years in IPSC - my trusty M&P 40. Yes, it's seen more rounds through it than anything I've ever owned, but it takes punishment and abuse and keeps on roaring. It's been duracoated twice after wearing through the original finish, as practicing draws from kydex is hard on a pistol's slide. Striker has been replaced, barrel has been replaced. Ugly but lethal and reliable.

I remember you commenting on your M&P and I agree that it is quite impressive. Simply a good pistol all the way around.

I'm pretty much set on carrying this Sig P250 I picked up that's chambered in 40S&W. I've toyed with the idea of picking up a 357sig barrel for it just for grins. And I'd also like to pick up an X-caliber kit for it in 45acp. Since the P250 was discontinued about 4 years ago it's not an easy thing to find. Maybe I'll come across one somewhere for a good deal.

[GreyShark]

I use a 3" Ruger SP101 in .357. A lot of what I do is in or around the water, out of a kayak, etc so the stainless steel construction and easy field stripping are advantages and it'll reliably cycle underwater or when held imperfectly. It's also a reasonable ccw so I can wear it throughout the day even in town. A lot more worried about two legged varmints and crocodilians than anything else. There are some feral/naturalized exotics to be concerned about, I've seen a straight up lioness in the Green Swamp area. Yes, as in African lion. Yikes! She was easily twice as big as our native panthers and incredibly muscular. If you want an excuse to carry a .44 magnum there it is. There's really only one place to shoot the big lizards and if you hit it anything works and if you don't it doesn't matter but I'll tell you that's the one thing I've seen in Florida that I wasn't sure my 158gr sp's could handle.

There's also a 4" SP101 in .357 that's a tempting package, in fact that's what I was originally after but found too good of a deal on the 3" to pass up and it fits nicely in a pouch on my flotation vest. I think there's a lot to be said for a long barreled 5 shot revolver in .357 or .44 magnum for outdoors use. You get fullsized power and sight radius with less weight and bulk. If I were a gun manufacturer I'd make a revolver with square butt frame, lanyard swivel, triple lock, tritium sights and half lug lightweight tapered barrel in .357 and .44 with the option of 4" or 6" barrels. That'd be just about woodsgun perfection IMO.

[lighteye]

I remember you commenting on your M&P and I agree that it is quite impressive. Simply a good pistol all the way around.

I'm pretty much set on carrying this Sig P250 I picked up that's chambered in 40S&W. I've toyed with the idea of picking up a 357sig barrel for it just for grins. And I'd also like to pick up an X-caliber kit for it in 45acp. Since the P250 was discontinued about 4 years ago it's not an easy thing to find. Maybe I'll come across one somewhere for a good deal.

I got a P250 in .40 as a gift for my Dad quite a few years back, and he's pretty good with it for a fella in his mid 70's. DA all the time is not my thing, though, but he doesn't mind, as he always had DA only wheelguns until he received the 250. It's amazingly accurate, just not my cup of tea for range time. I'd use it as a woods gun in a heartbeat though. Reliable and accurate if a bit on the heavy side. It's a solid choice.

[Deputydave]

There are some feral/naturalized exotics to be concerned about, I've seen a straight up lioness in the Green Swamp area. Yes, as in African lion. Yikes! She was easily twice as big as our native panthers and incredibly muscular. If you want an excuse to carry a .44 magnum there it is.

It would be interesting to know the back story on how it got there.

A lot more worried about two legged varmints and crocodilians than anything else.

The two-legged are always a legitimate concern. As far as gators, not too worried about them outside of mating season. And a thick walking stick between you and it are all that is normally needed.

I got a P250 in .40 as a gift for my Dad quite a few years back, and he's pretty good with it for a fella in his mid 70's. DA all the time is not my thing, though, but he doesn't mind, as he always had DA only wheelguns until he received the 250.

Folks that grew up on revolvers have a very easy time with pistols like the P250 or several of the HK's and Sigs. Figure the off-the-shelf revolver has a trigger pull of about 10-12lbs. The P250 is 6-8lbs and it's a smooth trigger so for those use to long DA trigger pulls it's pretty much a cake walk.

I'd use it as a woods gun in a heartbeat though. Reliable and accurate if a bit on the heavy side. It's a solid choice.

One of the few actual deals I've seen on FGT in a while. Based on my previous experience with a P250 in 45acp I jumped on it. Like I mentioned above, it's basically a 12-shot revolver. I'll definitely use a 180 grain round, just need to decide if I want to carry it with FMJ or HP's. For the most part I think either would suffice.

[GreyShark]

It would be interesting to know the back story on how it got there.

The two stories I've heard are they escape from zoos by exploiting hurricane damage or they were illegal pets brought in by drug smugglers who view that kind of thing as a status symbol. There are rumors that we're slowly starting to get breeding populations of exotic big cats and other large, potentially dangerous exotics. It's pretty well established that there's a breeding population of jaguarundi in that same area, I've even seen a few in the Northern end of Hillsborough County. They're not much of a threat to humans though, they're about bobcat sized.

The two-legged are always a legitimate concern. As far as gators, not too worried about them outside of mating season. And a thick walking stick between you and it are all that is normally needed.

I basically agree. It's kind of like with the black bears, if one's getting after you chances are you did something profoundly stupid or unethical to begin with. All the same I'm out after dark and by the water's edge quite often so it's something to consider. A number of years ago a young guy in the local area lost an arm on a kayak to one. From what I heard it was in a fairly open section of a fairly wide river and unprovoked, I wasn't there when it happened but I'd guess it was a territorial thing. Funny as it sounds I've been mistaken for an alligator when kayaking. I use a pedal-style yak so all they see is a long dark object silently gliding through the water.

Other than that I was kind of alluding to the exotics as well when I said "crocodilians." We've definitely got caiman which are widely believed to be more aggressive than alligators and we're getting reports of Nile crocodiles(another yikes!) which will definitely deliberately prey on humans. There's a lot of weird stuff going around like that, we're going to have a pretty crazy Tarzan ecosystem down here by the end of the century if this keeps up. For the first few decades of my life I never saw a coyote down here and now they're everywhere. I hear people say they've encountered wolves, may just be misidentified coyotes.

[Deputydave]

The two stories I've heard are they escape from zoos by exploiting hurricane damage or they were illegal pets brought in by drug smugglers who view that kind of thing as a status symbol.

Either one would be plausible. I remember a story of an actual lion, tiger and bear found in the basement of a drug house that got raided. Made the news as well. They ended up growing up together and would never go more than a 100 feet from each other. The bear, as far as I know, is still alive.

Other than that I was kind of alluding to the exotics as well when I said "crocodilians." We've definitely got caiman which are widely believed to be more aggressive than alligators and we're getting reports of Nile crocodiles(another yikes!) which will definitely deliberately prey on humans.

Now that would be of concern. They get bigger than gators and are a lot more aggressive. Possible we'd be looking at the same situation as we are with the pythons in the Everglades.