Lumberjack Handguns

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An axe with stag grips in a flap holster....................................












:banghead:
 
ruger blackhawk .45 colt ,blued, 5 1/2 barrel. hand loaded ammo 250 to 300 grain hardcast keith style bullets at 900 to 1000 fps stainless guns ain't got no soul............
Roy
 
Rugers seem to be popular amongst our Lumberjack community :cool: What kind of grips? Rugged laminated wood? Or some durable Pachmayrs? Simple Hogues?

Not just Rugers, but all of these choices? What kind of grips and finishes? Durable and flashy stainless? Simple and understated Blued? What and why?
 
Probably a lot of tool oriented are like that. You use a tool so much throughout the day that you know its balance intimately and probably get curious and start seeing if you can throw it or whatever. When I worked for the Forest Service we were pretty good with the double bit ax, Pulaski, and sharpened fire shovel. We could stick any of them on a stump for about 15 paces. throwing a shovel like a spear is no big thing, but throwing it end over end and sticking it took some practice.
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I never could quite get the knack of throwing my chainsaw :)
 
Well, when this lumberjack is out cutting firewood to feed my outdoor furnace, I carry a Taurus 94. snub with CT grips in a belly bag under the flap of my bib overalls so as not to get sawdust all over it. However I have plenty of other weapons at my disposal: 3 chainsaws, 2 hookaroons, 1 machete, 2 axes, 1 long handled lopper, and misc. lengths of chain, along with my pocket knife. :D
 
A real manly man would just need a large knife, but a nice SA .44 mag. on the hip and a Pre-64 M70 in .30-06 slung over the shoulder would have a modern mountain man kinda look. :)
 
I see in my mind's eye a DA 4" stainless .44 spl. (okay, magnum). With a lanyard of some sort.

Big enough to be effective on deer, bear and other man sized game;
Small enough to fit under my mackinaw;
Stainless, so the pine sap can be scraped off;
Enough bbl to take the head off a backwoods grouse;
Decelerator Grips, because I need something sure to hold after 8-10 hrs on a Stihl 880...

I could go on.
 
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Geeze, 2 Cold ... what kind of trees in MI do you have to need that big of a saw :confused: :what:

I assume you must be cutting some real hard hardwood.

My current saw is an 046 Magnum with 30" bar. I used to use the older and heavier 045's - I even still have one lying around that still runs.
 
I cut down trees, eat my lunch,

I originally posted a 460MS, but, heck, I'm playing lumberjack on the innnernet!
Going for the gold and you call me on it :D :D :D

(Actually, I run a 361 - 20" high-kickback; unarmed. :eek: )
 
You guys wouldn't know a real lumberjack if you saw one.....so let's set the record straight who may have been the greatest lumberjack of all time....and he didn't use a chainsaw either.

John "Liver Eating" Johnson was probably the manliest man that ever cut wood. It's well documented that he cut firewood for the river boats in exchange for money. There never was a "Jeremiah" Johnson, just made up for a Hollywood movie for that wussy Robert Redford.

While "Liver Eating" Johnson did posess a Hawkin rifle, he was best known for his custom matched rosewood handled Colt Walker revolver and 14" Bowie knife....he also carried a stone encased tomahawk.

Various times through his life he carried the latest in firearms, a matched pair of Remington .44 six shooters, a .45 Colt, Spencer repeater, and had various Winchester lever action rifles. Contrary to the movie, he didn't get his Hawkin rifle from the frozen body of Hatchet Jack.....he bought a new Hawken 30 caliber in St Louis for $50.

The movie, (while good entertainment) doesn't hold a candle to the book and John Johnson's real life exploits. Stood 6'2" weighed 240lbs....killed approx 500-600 indians (300 of which were from the Crow tribe), and left his trademark of partially eaten Indian livers so they would know who did the killing. Was a Mountain man, Civil War veteran, and sherrif who died in 1900.

One story is that Johnson was ambushed by a group of Blackfoot warriors in the dead of winter on a foray to visit his Flathead kin, a trip that would have been over five hundred miles. The Blackfoot plan was to sell him to the Crow, his mortal enemies, for a handsome price. He was stripped to the waist, tied with leather thongs and put in a teepee with an inexperienced guard outside. Johnson managed to chew through the straps, then knocked out his young guard with one crippling jab between the eyes, took his knife and scalped him, then quickly cut off one of his legs at the hip. Allegedly using the leg as a blunt weapon, he made his escape into the woods, and survived on the Blackfoot's leg until he reached the cabin of Del Gue, his trapping partner, more dead than alive, a journey of about two hundred miles.

His real life story can be found in the book "Crow Killer". Here's a photo of Johnson with one of his Winchesters.

johnson.gif
 
If a mountain man

Had a 45-70 sharps, wouldn't he want a handgun that uses the same cartridge?:D
 
Other than being an "old school" caliber, I don't understand the affinity for the .45LC... it has sufficiently less stopping power than the lowest of Magnums, no?

Or am I wrong...?
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You are sorta wrong ....;)

In an original or replica SAA you are correct, though still it is a powerful round (comparable to .45ACP IIRC).

In a Ruger or comparable modern revolver, the .45LC may be handloaded up beyond .44 magnum levels. Some "hot-loaded" commercial ammo is also available.
 
Interesting. Does this ability apply to the modern Ruger, Cimarron, Uberti, etc. replicas of the original design or only to the Ruger Super Redhawks of the gun world?

It can be handloaded to Plus .44 Mag levels, but does anyone make a commerical load of this quality?

Thanks again!
 
Interesting. Does this ability apply to the modern Ruger, Cimarron, Uberti, etc. replicas of the original design or only to the Ruger Super Redhawks of the gun world?
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We're getting into a whole 'nother subject, of which there is quite a bit of information about on the revolver forum.

But in brief: the Ruger single actions (Vaquero and Blackhawk) are not really "replicas" at all, but modern handguns that look a lot like a Colt SAA. Better and more steel (bigger), and completely different internal mechanism.

The true replicas (Uberti, etc ...) are safe only with loads approximating the original black powder specifications. You don't want to mix up your ammo or you might blow yourself up :uhoh:

Jim March is the resident expert on single action revolvers, and he knows which ones are replicas and which ones can handle "magnum" loads. I just bought a Vaquero and be done with it ;)


And yes, there are some commercial loads for hunting, etc with the .45LC. I have a box of of 300 grain loads for carry in grizz country. Can't remember but I think they are PMC (?). They have a warning on the box that they are ONLY for Ruger handguns, and a few brands of lever rifles (Marlin, for one).

Personally, I just load my handloads a little "warm" and don't mess with pushing the limits. I had a buddy who did, and I shot some of them out of his Bisley Vaquero - and that was the only time that my hands have ever hurt from handgun recoil (including .44 magnum).
 
REMBRANDT - "John "Liver Eating" Johnson was probably the manliest man that ever cut wood. It's well documented that he cut firewood for the river boats in exchange for money."

Yep, as you said, aside from being a fur trapper, Johnson was a successful "woodhawk." This was at a time when cutting firewood for the steamboats on the "Big Muddy," or the Missouri River and its tributaries, was very dangerous work.

Johnson's woodyard was on the banks of the Musselshell River, in present day Montana.

To emphasize to the Indians that he was not to be trifled with, Johnson placed a long row of stakes in the ground, along both sides of the steamboat landing at his woodyard, and on each was the grinning skull of an Indian he had killed.

Johnson's motto was "Never give an Indian an even chance," and he practiced what he preached.

For modern loggers and their handguns, there is a man on levergunluvers.com, named "JaycoCreek." He's logged all over Idaho and the northwest for 35 years. His packin' pistol is a Taurus Raging Bull in .454 Casull.

FWIW.

L.W.
 
Colt SAA revolver, one he won in a poker game.
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I was going to say something else, but I guess this is a winner.

.45 Colt in a no frills, untactical, simple rugged gun. Yep, that embodies the man's man spirit.
 
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