It seems like a neat idea at first

Im tired of running. I will just try to defend my hoard or die trying. When I was a kid back in NY state I was obviously different from other kids and some of my friends parents told me I didn't belong there, like I didn't fit in. As a young adult I was more than once asked what I was doing there , and again I didn't belong there or fit in. I have been running a long time and though when I made it to Alaska I finally found a place where I was not so different from many and nearly normal.
Now where I am in Dell MT its been ten years here and I have run the gauntlet of newbies and made it out the other side. I am getting old and tired of running so this is my last stand. I will die here peacefully or violently defending depending on the choice of others.

At this point in life, and where I live I would have to go with a 44 mag, but I would take a rifle too. 44 mag from a carbine delivers almost double the muzzle energy as it does out of a 4” barreled handgun. Right now my go to would be a stainless 4 5/8” barrel super Blackhawk, and a smith and Wesson lever action 44 magnum with a short can on it. Shooting 44 specials subsonic out of the rifle with the suppressor allows for nearly silent shots, but still plenty of energy for moose of bear with 300gn full power magnums. The can I have breaks down to about 3” in its shortest form, and you can add 1/2” long segments to it to extend it out to about 8” for more sound suppression. In the short form, it still significantly reduces noise even with full power magnums, and barely adds any bulk to the rifle. The whole can with all baffles only weighs 8oz.

I wouldn’t pack reloading supplies though. I would take about half and half full magnum loads and lighter plinking loads, and go. The 44 mag is very popular up here, and ammo will be fairly easy to come up with in old cabins and other places one might be able to scrounge.

If I was in the lower 48 and now worried about moose and bear, it would be a similar combo in 357 magnum.

At first thought anyway I most likely would choose a 44 mag like JR. My choice probably comes down to having more experience with the 44 than the 38 or 357 cartridges. JR also reminded me of a “class” we’ll call it from my Army career when some very “special” people came and taught an intensive combat pistol class. The biggest takeaway from that class for me, and later on during combat situations I found totally accurate was when he stated “ any rifle beats any handgun any day!” When I first heard that I honestly didn’t know if it was necessarily true or not. What he further explained was for the average Joe, a rifle having a longer sight radius is most often easier to shoot than a handgun is for most people. Of course there are always exceptions. Just thought I would mention it to see what the folks here have to say. Thanks!

I agree and I should have been more clear about the rifle statement. When you were falling timber and that bear got your bag a pistol is probably just what you needed! They taught us that if an enemy can get within 21 steps, not sure how many yards that might be, if he has a knife he can get to you before 99% of people could get their pistol in action. So I suppose the answer is no one gun can do it all in every situation!!

Daniel, not many people know this about me, but as a non athletic kid raised on a farm in eastern Ohio, my parents had told me that they didn't want to hear about me fighting in school, so, I literally ran instead of fighting. In high school, i was basketball team manager in charge of balls, uniforms, & other associated requirements. On days that we had evening practices, I was allowed to drive the family car a 1954 Ford Ranch Wagon, that the rear seat folded down. I had a Mossberg bolt action .22 rifle, that along with a box of cb caps, I would put under the folded down seat, & on the way home, on back roads after dark, once in a while would pop a rabbit. At home, I would clean it in a corncrib, the put it in the freezer. One evening, during practice, one of the players jumped me as I was collecting practice jerseys in the shower room after practice. When I went to go home, my car was missing. I hadn't locked it, & 4 of the players pushed it down hill into the muddy playground. As I was looking for it, those 4 came running past me. I located the car, took the rifle out, made sure that it was unloaded, ran to the end of the driveway, & pointed it & yelled at them. 3 of them disappeared in the dark, but the biggest one, an avid hunter & fisherman, slowly walked back towards me, begging me not to shoot him. I then told him that the gun was unloaded, but the next time it would be. The word got around quickly, & 2 days later, my father questioned me about it. I lost my car privileges for a month, & my rifle for 60 days. After that, I never had any more problems at school. Many years later, while sitting at the counter in a small bar, eating a burger, Bill walked by me, stopped & asked if I was Gary. We hadn't seen each other since we graduated in 1961, & he went to Viet Nam with the Marines. He asked me if I remembered that night after school, & I said yes. He told me that in V. Nam, he was never as afraid of dying as that night. We both learned a big lesson from that. I once almost shot a man that was breaking in my semi, with my .44 Mag. Flat Top Ruger. I scared him off without firing a shot, & have never carried a gun with me since, except for hunting or pleasure shooting. I'm afraid that under the right situation, I might shoot someone.

On the topic of self defense I’ll share what I told my son once he was of age to be out and about on his own with a gun and especially a handgun. My opinion on the topic of self defense is pretty simple and straightforward. If a villain has designs on doing physical harm to me or someone I love I will do and use anything available to me to stop said villain from accomplishing his mission. I told my son this and also told him to think long and hard to see if the situation warrants producing his handgun. In today’s backwards society it’s a sickening fact that in most cases a person would be in more trouble for brandishing a firearm than they would for actually shooting a villain. So my final thoughts to him were that if in his best judgment the situation warrants pointing a firearm at an adversary the decision of shooting or not shooting should pretty well if been made by that point. If push comes to shove to stop a villain from hurting you or the ones you love follow through and use the tools you have at the time and know in your heart you are right no matter public opinion.