Woods Revolver Cartridge

The Buffalo Bore Outdoorsman 38 Special +P load sounds pretty good to me. Enough oomph to put down a big cat, wolf or a black bear.
It's basically what the .38 special was supposed to be in the way back, long ago in the time before.

for hogs bear and lion 44mag.

In the South, or anywhere else outside big bear country, the .357 Magnum is plenty.

Personally I like to carry my .357 in the woods unless I am in an area with the chance of encountering big bears then I strap on my Ruger Vaquero .45 Colt and pepper spray. I carry hand loads in the Vaquero, but in the S&W 327NG I carry Hornady American Gunner .357 Magnum 125 grain with the XTP bullet.
I don’t handgun hunt so harvesting game is not my goal in regards to carrying a handgun. I used rifles for that.

Big, slow and low pressure. So, 38 special, 44 special, 45 Colt, etc.

With a little encouragement, your kids or wife or friends can shoot this gun. As opposed to, for example, a 460 Smith and Wesson. Now if you are doing the stalking, instead of thinking about critters stalking you, then the 460 is a pretty good choice for some people.

My Bisley Blackhawk Flattop in .44 Special tends to jump into my hands whenever I am headed to the woods with no particular plan in mind. On occasion - when I am concerned with big bears but can't or don't want to carry my .416 Rigby - I will bring a .500 Magnum.

There was a time when a .22 handgun often would accompany me in the woods, but frankly, I simply enjoy shooting my centerfires more. If nothing else, pinecones are much more impressed by 250 grains than by 40!

Something starting with .4

Mine is 45 Colt, 250 grs of lead.

For me, .41 mag would be a minimum in a woods revolver these days. Any less powerful of a cartridge and I may as well have a semi-auto.

I see three cartridges as close to ideal.

1. .22 Long Rifle. Mine is a First Model Colt Woodsman, and it's the ideal carry gun in the woods -- I've killed a boxcar load of squirrels with that gun, and a lot of rabbits and armadillos. And the occasional feral dog or cat. It is not, of course a gun for bear and we have a lot of bear here.

2. .357 Mag. Mine is a Colt M357, which I carried in Viet Nam. With power-puff .38 Special loads, it makes a fine small game gun. With full-charge magnum loads it will take anything in the Ozarks -- BUT it will leave your ears ringing, and that is a BAD thing. When your ears ring and you have some "temporary" hearing loss, you have suffered hearing damage. Talk to your audiologist.

3. .45 Colt. Mine is a Colt New Service. I trimmed the barrel from 7 1/2" to 5 1/2", mounted Herrett Shooting Master grips and adjustable sights. An ordinary, run-of-the-mill factory lead bullet load will go completely through a deer and I have no doubt it will do the same thing for Black Bear (and we have quite a few around here.)

In my area of MI we do have black bears and possibly mountain lions. Our DNR denied the big cats were here for years until enough people had trail cam photos that they couldn't lie to us anymore.
Either way my choice would be .357 or 45 Colt.

.44 Mag:

I think the .357 gives a good balance of price, shoot-ability, commonality, ammo availability including 38spc, power, carry-ability.

So not the most powerful, but not the most marginal

This is my woods carry. Just a mid 1990's Model 10 heavy barrel loaded with regular old 38 Special 158gr HP.

IMHO....it depends on what's in your woods.

I really like my cowboy loaded .45colt SAA clone.

Mine is an uberti el patron. Lots of thump with 255gr cast bullets, and accurate too. A SAA has excellent balance and is a naturally instinctive pointer. The .45colt when loaded mild isn't an ear splitter like a .357 or .44mag.

Of course I like my .22s also.
We have no dangerous wild animals here.

I have been nonplussed by the 357 on critters....41mag would be my choice.

I wouldn't have anything less than a 44 mag. Kind of expensive to shoot. If you can find ammo for just 50 cents a round thats just three dollars for a cylinder full. Shoot 24 rounds and you just shot $12 worth of ammo. But no problem for a guy with the scratch. Handloading really helps. So does casting your own bullets.

My current “packin’ pistol” is a 5.5” blackhawk in 44special as far as factory ammo for it I would only use the stuff from manufacturers like Buffalo bore that load the .44spl to what it’s actually capable of.

My I have a 6.5” blackhawk in 41mag that is also an excellent choice but due to thebweight the 44 gets go on walks more often lately. It’s also much easier to find factory loaded 41 that is worth a damn

I have not been caught short of reloading materials since the 70's. Costs me less than 10 cents a round to shoot my 44 mag with cast bullets. about 20 cents a round if I want a jacketed round, but why?? A 300 grain had cast at 1500 fps should do the trick , 1740 fps out of the carbine!

Barbaroja said:

My current “packin’ pistol” is a 5.5” blackhawk in 44special as far as factory ammo for it I would only use to stuff from manufacturers like Buffalo bore that load the .44spl to what it’s actually capable of.

Click to expand...

Sounds like good stuff but at $2 per round I would have to pass.

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=89

Mr. Mosin said:

Ironically, I was just looking at that. SKU: 20H ?

Also, dad has a buddy, hog hunts, claims he emptied his S&W .357 into a hog, and it didn't stop. He bought a .44 Mag, and it doesn't fail. He tends to drink, so I question his stretching of the truth.

Click to expand...

Thats the stuff. 158grn hardcast at 1250fps from a 6" barrel. It's still doing 1000fps from a snubby! That is some serious oomph from an old girl.
20A, the LSWCHP 158grn is also serious business and should expand nicely.

and if buddy can't put down a hog with a .357, perhaps its time to pop some more targets and fewer bottles, naw meen?

ThomasT said:

Sounds like good stuff but at $2 per round I would have to pass.

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=89

Click to expand...

I’ve never used it myself,only handloads but i selected a factory load to suggest as per the OPs question.

I would likely go 357 or .41. .44 is a great option also but gets you (usually) a larger/heavier gun.

I was thinking about a Ruger GP100 in 4 or 6in with 1/2 lug would be pretty good in .357.