For well over ten years I carried a .44 revolver, eventually upgrading to the pistol of my dreams, a S&W Model 69 .44 Magnum.
The M69 is, in my opinion, the (almost) perfect trail gun: Light enough to carry all the time without too much hassle but capable of chambering and safely firing the heaviest magnum loads (if necessary: You won’t like it but you can do it.) The one thing I didn’t like about it, and this always perplexed me because it otherwise seemed designed for trail use, was the tiny trigger guard that forbade use with even unlined gloves.
A couple of years ago I began rather sadly questioning the need to walk around all the time with 3 pounds of iron and an assortment of .44 loads. This place has gotten kind of boring, to be honest: All the interesting animals have gone away. I wasn’t going to go unarmed, that doesn’t suit me, but I got to thinking maybe it was time to downgrade to a general-purpose 9mm. A good pound lighter, 17-round mag, no need for speedloaders, good for anything but maybe bears – and nobody’s seen a bear around here since 2011. In April of this year, courtesy of my friend Ian, I finally acquired one. Arex Delta Gen II. Took some breaking-in but we finally became friends.
Then winter started sneaking up on me and the question arose: How does this thing work with gloves? And the answer was…
Well, it works better than the S&W. Not quite what I would have designed but it does work. The trigger safety is a bit of a bother.
And this morning, standing on the porch just prior to the first pee, I got my chance to try it for real. Tobie was bothered by this cottontail in the yard which wasn’t the least bit bothered by him. Tobie, bless his heart, didn’t just charge off after the rabbit. He wanted to, but obeyed his training and didn’t do it. But this stupid rabbit just stood there, unaware and/or uncaring about the disruption in procedure it was causing. I keep the magazine loaded with tragically expensive super ammo but the chamber has one round of cheap FMJ just for situations like this. Not even thinking about the glove situation until I’d done it, I drew and fired from the porch. And even though I was wearing a lightly-lined glove it didn’t cause any problem at all.
So that’s a problem that’s gone away. Couldn’t do it with a heavy glove, but the most common sort don’t get in my way.
Went out and cleaned up the mess after breakfast, carrying it out to the wash to make some coyote’s day. One of the things I always held against Elmer Keith, whose work on pistols I’ve read fairly extensively over the decades, is how casual he seemed about using live animals for target practice. I get it, we’re from different cultures but I don’t like killing things for sport. This rabbit had moved into my yard, though, and had to go or he’d always be upsetting my dog. Had the same problem with Little Bear, who never learned not to chase them when we were supposed to be doing other things, and sometimes I had to go around and clean them out of the yard with a .22. Maybe it’s time to do that, they seem to be getting common again.
Regarding 9mm and bears: Phil Shoemacher who guides for bear in Alaska carries a 9mm. Phil is a thoughtful and careful guy. He did not pick his “ride” on a whim.
https://www.wideopenspaces.com/alaska-man-kills-charging-brown-bear-with-a-9mm-pistol/
Yes….a 9mm can handle a bear, especially a smaller black bear. Even a .22 rimfire can do the jon if the shooter does their job. But if you miss that perfect shot, for whatever reason, a large bear will grab that 9mm and stuff it up your arse before ripping you a new one. If bears are a possibility carry enough gun. A large caliber rifle or 12 gauge with slugs if possible. Many a hunter has killed a grizzly with their handgun…..and then spent weeks recovering from the chewing they got.
Rabbit stew?
Rabbit ew.
I’d go for the rabbit stew rather than just throwing it in the wash. The world record grizzly was taken by a native lady in Canada using .22 longs. The trading post manager helped document it. I’d go for the .44 mag if bears were around.
I second the stew idea. I’ve had rabbit done in a crock pot with bouillon base and veg. Pretty tasty. Better than tossing it at least, or cook it up for the dog.
“Rabbit ew” 🤣
I remember the .22lr and the grizzly bear story. That happened on May 10th, 1953. The person was Bella Twin, who was hunting small game with her partner along an oil exploration cut line south of Slave Lake, in Alberta, Canada.
On the subject of 9mm and bears, one thing to remember about bears is the body fat. Yes, 9MM may work, but the round needs to be solid. Hollow point rounds will open and the all the energy of the round will be spent in the fat before reaching any vital areas. If you look at the link that Eaton Rapids Joe posted, it talks about the guide using hard cast bullets made by Buffalo Bore, designed specifically for deep penetration, which is what’s needed against dangerous animals.
I know, there will be those who say “go for the head” but that’s not realistic. It’s nice to talk about headshots, but when a thousand pound bruin is bearing down on you, your pucker factor will toss any accuracy out the window.
Amen, Mike. A bear’s head would be a darn small moving target with only even smaller pieces that if hit would stop a bear. I’d say Shoemacher did the best he could with the gun he had available . . . and a ton of luck.
If I had to be in a place where running into a bear was even remotely possible I’d be carrying serious firepower and trying to get out of that situation as quickly as possible. But then, I’m no serious big game guy.
Kentucky, you are absolutely right on the ton of luck part. 😊 The article made for an interesting read. As for me, when I’m in bear country, there’s a 12G coach gun with 1oz slugs in my pack. That’s one of the few nice things about being north of the border, no need for a short barrel tax stamp.
If I had to worry about bears, I have a 1974, slick as snot Western Auto, Mossberg 500, will digest 5 + 1, 2.75″ slugs or 4, 3″ slugs. Two and three quarter are quite adequate. Economy cannon! Have buck shot with you for “lesser” wolves and big cats.
Back in the day, I was a critter murderer. Somewhere along the way I acquired awareness. Now the only killed critters, are problem critters, like your bunny. We have no shortage of bob cats, lynx and coyotes, but the only thing that needed killin’ was a coyote that was way too interested in the chicken coop. So interested, I had time to go in and get an AR pistol in 300 BO. Hit the yote at the base of the neck for a spinal column hit.
Then a possum killed 4 chickens before I caught him at 3 ish am, dogs, alerted me. My go to farm gun is a 10/22 Ruger Charger with a cheap dot sight and a bright light. My dot sight is a no-name $18, Chinesium, red/green dot sight with 5 reticles and 5 brightnesses. It’s been on duty for about 8 years now, I’m SO surprised and happy about it. A few years ago I left it outside, got rained on, didn’t die, yay me! More than once I’ve left the sight on accidentally, then changed the battery because I assumed it just ate em up. As an experiment I left it on and kept it at my desk so I would remember to monitor it. It lasted over a month before it got too low for daytime use. Was still great for night duty.
When we first got here, we had to dispatch a number of bunnies because of our gardens. Second year we fenced them, so the bunnies were safe from gun shot trauma.