The author is an avid hiker and backpacker, even having completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. The handgun he decided to carry for that thru-hike was the Smith & Wesson Model 340PD. This is a "hammerless" J-frame made of Scandium with a titanium cylinder making it very light weight. It is rated for .357 Magnum, but as the author makes clear it is very painful to shoot .357 through the weapon (he recommends using .38 Special). However, he picked this weapon for three primary reasons: (i) its light weight and small size made it easy to carry concealed while hiking, (ii) its Scandium (an enhanced aluminum alloy) and titanium construction made it very corrosion resistant, and (iii) it shot a round sufficiently powerful to deal with both human predators and dangerous animals including bears. He also describes his experience carrying it and some tips, including some general self protection tips that don't involve using a handgun. He does mention potential threats on the trail, including the possibility of encountering people engaged in "chemistry" that might have set up in the woods.
He did, in fact, draw the pistol on one occasion when he was charged by a mother bear after stumbling across her cubs. Fortunately by the time he had drawn and was ready to fire (he was busy hastily backing up), the bear had already scooped up her cups and was retreating, so he didn't wind up needing to discharge the weapon. (He reasons that bear spray would have been enough, but if she had been intent on attacking him I doubt it would work--bear spray is for discouraging curious bears and will not stop an angry bear).
VIDEO: "Ultralight Pistol for Backpacking and Hiking"
On The Scout (23 min.)
Pistols don't have a stock, they have grips. Rifles have stocks.
ReplyDeletePoor trigger posture... Using your entire finger inside of the trigger guard is not proper technique. 5:55 Use first digit and finger print pad only on trigger.
ReplyDelete340PD for bear? Only 5 shots on tap, especially out of a 2" barrel? Better than nothing, I suppose, but - to me, at least - quite a bit underpowered. In similar situations I carried a 329, Smith's Scandium 44 magnum. Both the 340 and the 329 "kill on one end and wound on the other," the 340 being - IMHO - worse than the 329 in that respect, due to grip frame and stock size - more gun to hold onto for control (I carried a 340PD as backup for years, loaded with 125 grain Cor-Bon HPs, until Sig created the P365 and Federal made HST, and didn't miss the 340 one bit) ) but the 329 delivers a LOT more energy (and, admittedly, has only one more round than the 340) but the price is more weight and bulk. (I've also owned a 4" S&W 500 Magnum, which is undeniably More Horsepower, but the weight and bulk goes up a LOT and you're back to 5 rounds, and with Cor-Bon's full house 440 grain hard cast solids, recoil is absolutely brutal (1 ounce bullets at 1340 FPS in a handgun are lke that....) and recovery time to the second....and third....and fourth shot is much longer than even the Scandium 329).
ReplyDeleteThere's no substitute for a Beretta 1301 and 8 rounds of Brenneke Black Magic slugs (3 inch, 1 3/8 ounce slug at 1400 FPS), but in Dangerous Critter Country the first rule is "immediately at hand" which a long gun might not be (although, it's not unreasonable for one member of the party to always have a 12 gauge at port arms). It comes down to: How much power can you carry on-body, how accurate can you get with it.
A recent case (in Oregon, I think) showed that a bear (IIRC, a ~350 lb black bear) was killed with 7 rounds of Hornady 5.56X45 55 grain Critical Defense out of a 11" barrel. It worked that time, but not how I would want to bet out in the woods - the bear was rummaging in a kitchen, not with cubs, not in its own home territory, and not charged full of adrenaline. So, maybe a 340 with the right 357 magnum ammo might work, but....
Irv