[ripcurlksm]

Which would you pick for wilderness protection?


.45 or .40

[SniperStraz]

I think the .45 is the clear choice.

[Skywarp]

10mm!


Ohh....40. More rounds to pump into wildlife.

[razorburn]

Isn't the .40 a superior penetrator? SD and speed. More important when dealing with animals.

[hexidismal]

Neither caliber is particularly suited to wilderness protection. If as you say you had to choose one or the other.. I think when you tried to use it defensively against an even medium sized bear, you'd quickly discover your choice didn't make much difference one way or the other.

[Sunray]

If you're afraid of the creatures in the bush, stay home. The only beasts you have to fear in the bush are the two legged kind. You smell of nothing but trouble to Yogi and his wilderness friends. Pepe or Rocky, if they're out in daylight, are more of a threat than Yogi. Pepe or Rocky, out in daylight, are likely rabid. This not being a common thing. Either calibre will do for that, but neither, like hexidismal says will help if you get between Cindy and her brood. Wear some jingle bells if you're just out hiking. The local fauna population will avoid you like the plague.

[tomhorn]

44 mag S/W 29 stainless 4 Inch 300 grainers. oh yea 40 or 45 it would be a 45 grizzley ....

[lee n. field]

If those are the choices (and not, say, 12 gauge pump w/ extended magazine, alternating slugs and shot), .45. But what do I know?

The Internet is best for spreading ignorance around.

[GunNut]

For mountain lion either will work fine, so choose the one you shoot best.

For black bear if it ain't some whiz bang rip your arm off caliber(ie:.454cassull) it won't matter(or so i've been learning lately:neener: ).



Given your choices I would pick the .45ACP w/some type of hard cast SWC bullet for the deepest penetration possible.

Steve

[MCgunner]

Forget anything ending in ACP, I choose .45 Colt.

[Shear_stress]

Which wilderness and what do you want protection from?

[Brian Williams]

.40 or .45
in 38-40 or in 45 colt I would not have a problem with either.


For those who did not know the 38-40 uses a 40 cal bullet.

[velojym]

.45, cuz it's what I have.
14rds of it in my XD.

[Ala Dan]

Wilderness = a .45~!;) :D Long Colt that is.

[Jamie C.]

Wilderness use?

Forty-five..... seventy. :D


J.C.

[bestseller92]

Either is a good choice, but I'd probably pick my Glock 22 over my Ruger P97, for the simple reason that it holds double the rounds. The .45 and .40, with proper ammo, are roughly comparable power wise.

Actually, in a true wilderness situation I might take along my Ruger Super Blackhawk over either of these.

Heck, I might take it in addition to one of these. :)

[MikePGS]

If I had to pick, i'd get an XD45 filled with hardball... and of course, with the front sight filed off :)

[10-Ring]

How wild are we talking? I prefer the 45 acp for most things but if I run the risk of running into a bear, I'd want at least a 44 magnum

[pete f]

if you are afraid of the two legged type, then which ever you shoot better.

Four legged, well then where are you going? Black bear country, driving off a curious or hunger bear is usually pretty easy. If not, either a .40 or .45 would work, a nice 41 or 44 mag is better, but many black bear have been killed with 180 grainers. so you just have to hit it right.

West country with angry hungry brown or grizz to deal with, or with amorous buy misguided moose, well then a heavier load in a .41 .44 or .45 caliber in a revolver.

[DogBonz]

and load it with some 185+p's

[461]

.40 or .45? You could sell either one easy enough and buy a Blackhawk in a decent caliber. :what:

[jeepmor]

Quit kidding yourself, 10mm.

45 with Double Tap +P

[BobTheTomato]

40 in left hand 45 in right hand :)

[ripcurlksm]

Hah thanks Jeep

[stevelyn]

What kind of "wilderness'? A .40 or .45 will work just fine on anything you need to protect yourself from east of the Rockies.

[MCgunner]

There are black bears east of the Rockies. My minimum for that is .357 Magnum and out of a decent length barrel is preferable and I'll use heavy hard cast lead bullets. I certainly want at LEAST a 4" gun in that caliber. I feel better carrying my .45 Colt, though.

To stop a big hog, I certainly want a .41, .44, .45 revolver. But, this ain't a hunting thread. :D Hogs ain't that dangerous unless you're pestering them with a knife or a bow or something. Truth be told, a black bear ain't that dangerous either if you use your head and don't sleep with your food cooler every night. I look at 'em as big racoons. Ain't like they're lookin' to eat humans, but if you got close or they got close to you, they could hurt you.

I reckon a .40 or .45 would be enough for a big cat, but I want more for bear. I have a .45ACP, but I don't think of it as a woods gun. I have carried it, though, because it's accurate, it's stainless, and their ain't nothin' around here that would eat me except gators and I ain't swimmin'.

[MD_Willington]

I know that up in BC Canada, the Conservation officers use .40 Calibre Glock pistols. Previously they were issued Smith & Wesson model 681 pistols.

Plenty of critters in BC, Bears, Cougars etcetera...

MD

[MCgunner]

Law enforcement is almost 100 percent autoloader anymore. I'd think those .40s were for law enforcement. If a game warden wants to take out a problem bear by shooting it, he ain't gonna use a handgun. And, they ain't gonna issue 10s to law enforcement for a multitude of reasons. I wouldn't take that fact, that BC wardens are issued .40, as an endorsement for its use on griz, black bear, what not.

As they say, you wanna fight a big boar bear with a .40 or .45ACP, be sure and file off the front sight.

[TimboKhan]

My guess is the canadian coppers are carrying .40's for use against people as opposed to bears and cougars. Personally, I have carried my .45 into the wilds, and I always felt like if the .01% chance of getting attacked by either came up, I would probably be screwed. Frankly, my biggest hope was that popping a couple of shots off would scare the bear away. When it comes to cougars, it isn't the cougar that I can see that I am concerned about!

[Juna]

.45 ACP

I see no point for .40 S&W b/c the recoil of .45 is tame, and the capacity of a 9mm is larger. I don't think that .40 S&W fills any gap, IMO. Go for potency (.45 ACP) or capacity (9mm). Why go in between? The ammo's not really any cheaper than .45 ACP, either. Also, 9mm FMJ penetrates pretty well according to the Box-o-Truth.

In all honesty, for bears, since someone mentioned them, I wouldn't think either one would do. Both would probably just tick the bear off. In that case, I'd opt for a 9mm or .22LR in hopes that the loud bangs would scare it off (and you'd have higher capacity = more loud bangs with a smaller caliber).

[Glockfan.45]

As they say, you wanna fight a big boar bear with a .40 or .45ACP, be sure and file off the front sight

Ok I must be stupid and missing out on a inside joke but why would you file off the front sights? If I could only pick between the two then .45acp loaded with Corbon Powerball is as potent as you will get from either of the two for big game. If I had to pick any auto loader either 10mm or a Desert Eagle in .50AE. If I could pick any handgun then give me a 500 S&W magnum. The last one has been used on big game including Cape Buffalo, and Elephant :what: .

[GunNut]

The reason to file the front site off is so it doesn't hurt when the bear takes it from you and shoves it up your XXX.


Corbon Powerball .45ACP is worthless when it comes to defense against bears. It's a light for caliber load that is designed to expand and will not penetrate very deep.

If stuck with the .45ACP for self defense against black bears, then choose either a heavy 230gr+ SWC or a FMJ round for penetration.

Steve

[crunker]

Skywarp, you're damn right 10mm is the way to go.

I'd say .40S&W as I would swap out the barrel for a .357SIG barrel, or I'd just go all the way and convert the gun to 10mm.

[mljdeckard]

If you would go so far as to swap out the .40 barrel for a .357 sig, why not swap out the .45 barrel for a .400 Corbon?

(I know it's not EXACTLY like a 10mm, but it's close enough for not needing a new gun.)

[mashaffer]

.45 Long Colt all the way.

mike