Hiking Loadout in a 38 snub?

Hiking/fishing I carry my snub with the first shot as a shotshell and the rest gold dots. Mostly this is due to my adventure fishing a few months ago where I ended up killing a rattle snake with a rock. It almost got me a couple of times! Normally I would leave them alone but it was in the middle of a public trail with kids and dogs running around.


Also... the prevalence of wolves in my area now is making my rethink my hiking carry choice all together! Bears don't worry me too much but I had a buddy getting stalked by a pack just 2 weeks ago. My security six or my M&P 40 are sounding more practical!

Ive never really had a moment where i needed a very fast shot for snakes, lol i grew up in georgia too. lots of them water moccasins. LOTS, 3 JHP for human then your snake rounds. truth is ive never personally needed a quick shot for snakes. im sure some have needed it before.

41magsnub:

Well I would think your namesake would be pretty good for canines. From what I've gathered, the .41mag/.357mag/357SIG would be good for animals of that size. A full size 357SIG autoloader would sound good to me. Thought I would go that way if needing to hike in cougar country.

Canines in groups are pretty formidable, from what I've read.

yeah.. I sold my namesake I really need to get around to requesting a name change!

Or buy another namesake....

As Bill Jordan...

...(a pretty savvy & fast draw guy IMAO) said,"You AIN'T faster'n Brother No-Shoulders.If he's close enough to get you you won't get him first,& if he's far enough off that you can beat him he can't get you so why bother him?"
Load for 2-legged predators & carry the stick for no-leggeds.

I dont use handgun shotshells.. I do carry a 38 while in the woods but its loaded with jhp,fmj,jhp,fmj etc. If I have time to shoot a snake, then I have time to either move away from it, move it with my walking stick or drop a pack between us.

Most snakes can be avoided or will flee from you. My defensive posture would be aimed at (pun intened) the "meth morons" or other larger threats. Disregarding this, your choice of ammo is perfect.

Honestly, I'd take a heavier wooden pole over those lightweight alloy poles if you plan on using it for anti-snake purposes. Alloy poles are too light to have good "follow-through", so it may get caught up in something while trying to bat the snake away.

Also don't put those lame rubber cups on the bottom of the hiking stick unless you like to have it hang up on random objects when swinging it at a snake. For making my own hiking stick, I like taking a 1-1/4" thick hardwood rod (I prefer hickory, but oak or maple will do just fine), stain it, put a brass end cap on the bottom to keep it from splitting, wrap the grip area with bicycle handlebar tape (the Cinelli stuff, it's thinner and feels better). The end cost is around $10-15, but you'll have a stick that will probably outlast it's owner.

I do carry a 38 while in the woods but its loaded with jhp,fmj,jhp,fmj etc.

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Why would you stagger-load it like that?

A .38 spl load from a 2" barrel isn't exactly overflowing with any extra ft lbs, so bullet performance can make a big difference. To lessen that bullet performance by 40% seems ill-advised.