Woods gun ammo question

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I'm looking to go hiking and am going to be carrying my .40 as a woods gun. Other then CCI Shot-shells for the snake issue, I'm wondering what would you all recommend as a complementary carry load. Right now I am looking at three options specifically from double-tap, a 200gr hard-cast, a 200gr FMJ, and a 200gr controlled expansion JHP load. What I want to know specifically is is there any advantage of a hard-cast bullet over FMJ or is it personal preference? Would you all also say that a FMJ/HC is superior to a JHP as it will retain better penetration and sectional density, or is that something that from practical experience seems to be a non-issue? Additionally, what distinguishes a controlled-expansion JHP from a regular JHP? Is it just marketing hype or an actual feature?

For reference, I will be hiking up in N. Georgia/Tennessee area so I am not looking to run into anything more then black-bears in the 150lb or less range (still quite deadly, I do realize).

 

[markmc753]

By far and away, your biggest threat would be a human growing/manufacturing dope and you stumble across them,,, far more of a concern than a black bear or a snake... so load accordingly. Also, you can walk around snakes 99.99% of the time.. so please dont shoot'em.

 

[TAB]

Good quality FMJ will work just fine, for both 2 legged and 4 legged criters you might incounter.

 

[AK103K]

I load my handguns for people while in the woods. Critters are rarely a problem.

If I were worried about critters, I'd carry more than a pistol.

 

[BackCountry]

If you are worried about anything larger than the two legged variety, I would recommend a 10 mm auto or a .41 Mag or larger.

 

[19-3Ben]

When I walk in woods, I carry the 158gr. Speer GDHP from DoubleTap.
I figure something that is heavy, fast, and still expands well is a nice blend of performance on 2 legged problems, and penetration for good performance on 4 legged.

So I'd go with the hollow points that you mention.

 

[dstark]

By far and away, your biggest threat would be a human growing/manufacturing dope and you stumble across them,,, far more of a concern than a black bear or a snake... so load accordingly. Also, you can walk around snakes 99.99% of the time.. so please dont shoot'em.

I agree with you on the human factor, but I spent a little time in the Tenn. woods last summer and I cant count the copperheads I saw. You can walk around them most of the time but one little sucker got my boot, he was only about 4" long so nothing to worry about. I think I suffered from multiple heart attacks in that three weeks.

 

[Baron357]

Leave the shot shells at home. Too many people think that crap is useful. If you see a snake walk around it. If you are so close that you can't walk around it then you are already bitten. There is no need to be firing your gun for no good reason, all you would do is draw attention and needlessly kill a snake.

That being said load your gun with both good hollow points and the FP rounds from Double Tap. I would start with two HP then load up with FP's. Or you could alternate HP-FP-HP-FP and so on.

 

[Halo]

My parents live in the NC mountains, and there have been an increasing number of mountain lion sightings. It's probably not out of the question that there could be some further south too. So you can add those to your list of critters to look out for . I imagine a good defensive JHP load would work for those too, in the very unlikely event you had an encounter with one.