Hikers Companion Pistol?

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

Not a centerfire, but a Keltec PMR 30 makes a great backpacker gun.


Spend the time to learn to load the magazine correctly, shoot it accurately, and it is something to contend with.

31 rounds x 320 ft/lbs muzzle energy = not that bad

And you can shoot a squirrel or a grouse for the pot with a fmj without much meat destruction.

The fmj's work pretty good on hogs to boot!



(It weights about 14 ounces empty)

A follow-up 2.5 years later after I created this thread.

The lady chose not to have a firearm at all on her hikes, but she did accept a gift of some pepper spray.

Her teenage son will accompany her on many hikes, and in the woods he'll probably be carrying a belt knife with a 6 inch blade.

I just fondled a Kel-Tec PMR 30 earlier today at a pawnshop, and it felt really good. Super light. Long enough barrel to give it a good balance and pointability. Excellent fiber optic sights.
The grip is long, front to back, to accommodate the 22 magnum cartridges but it is not thick, not bulky like a Glock or a Beretta M9. It's similar to a 1911 with slim / low profile grip panels.

That's got to be one of the best self-defense and survival handguns out there for a hiker especially when you consider how little the ammo weighs,
& how easy it would be to have 30 in your gun and maybe another 30 in a Ziploc bag in your backpack.

(Shooting a gun as a distress signal after you're missing and you know people are looking for you can be useful, but if you don't have a bunch of ammo on hand you'd probably be reluctant to use it, fearing it might be wasted just making noise.)

 

[greg vess]

I heard there was a host of problems that accompanied those. Not that all are bad but they got bad rap from the guys who actually did get a dud. I guess that comes with all new guns. I am sure there are good ones. Also the 22mag is my favorite small caliber choices.

 

[RiverBend]

My PMR 30 was fired a min of 500 times, and never once failed to function and hit where aimed.

 

[MidniteFlame]

Guy that worked for me many years and was a former Navy master marksman, always hiked with a PMR 30 and it was his bedside also.

 

[John Moses]

What's a light weight, but not tiny sized, centerfire pistol suitable to carry for defense against wild animals, feral or rabid dogs, wolves or mountain lions?
Gun MUST be light... when hiking 10 miles up and down hills, every ounce counts.
Gun need not be small... it should have a decently long barrel and sight radius.

No snubby revolvers.

No pistols weighing 30 oz. or more.
16 oz would be nice.

What's on the market that fits these criteria?

My Sig p239 357 sig is great for Krogering or the Appalachian trail but thinking maybe I need something bigger.

 

[spencer60]

I don't do a heck of a lot of hiking these days, but my 'woods gun' is a Ruger LCRx 4" barrel in 357 Mag.

It's extremely light and tough. The LCR family has some of the best revolver triggers out there, and even with 357s they are very comfortable to shoot. You can carry a few reloads in your pockets easily with some Speed Strips, and mix and match rounds to what you need.

When I'm in the woods I figure the most likely problems will be:
#1 - snakes
#2 - humans
#3 - bears/big cats

It's only 5 rounds but the first two are snake shot, followed by two Hornady Critical Defense loads in 357 Mag., and and then one round of Buffalo Bore hard cast lead 357 Mag. The Speed Strips carry a full cylinder of each 357 load, but if I get that far into trouble I'm probably SOOL.

I figure even if an attacker is human they won't like a couple of loads of snake shot in the face, and if it's a critter, the noise may warn them off before I get down to real ammo.

The CD could probably stop a small bear, but I'm guessing that it would be the hard-cast lead bullet that would be the most effective. The only question would be whether I can get 4 shots off quickly enough to get to it.

But I don't want to go all hard-cast lead (after the snake shot) because those would probably just icepick through a human.

I've shot the Critical Defense stuff into water jugs (several times) and through gel (once) and I was always impressed with the results. Good, consistent expansion and the recoil isn't bad at all, especially in the LCR.

Never had to use any of this 'for real' and maybe I'm over-thinking it, but it's what I'm comfortable with.

 

[Les638]

Ruger Blackhawk with hot .45 long colt about 300 grain bullet should do it

 

[GFB]

The Danish SF ( humbly referred to as the Jagermeister) yea they are a bad ass group,
They carry G20 with hard cast ammo, because it’s the only sidearm that can stop a bear.And yes they have big ass bear there.

G29 for the win if weight is an issue. I am not a Glock guy!

or a single stack 357sig with hard cast ammo

I know this old but I am wondering about the bears in Denmark.

 

[Jackie Graham]

G48, my wife shoots it better than her Smith revolvers and it can carry 11 rounds of PD ammo.

 

[shootsacanon]

I recently did about 30 miles over three days, with about a mile & a half of elevation gain, carrying an LCP 22. I went with the LCP due to weight & attire concerns, but by the second day I realized I would have been fine with my edc Shield 9.