Which Combo?

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roy reali

New member
Here is the deal, you plan on going on a nature hike. The main purpose is to explore. You decide to bring a couple of guns along, a handgun and a long gun. How would you pair them up?

The main purpose of having a firearm is probably going to be for plinking and maybe a small rodent or two. Self-protection might also be needed. Not only are you concerned with quadrapeds that might want to eat you, but running into dangerous Homo Sapiens is a possiblility. Here is what you can't decide.

Should your rifle be a rimfire of some sort and your sidearm chambered in something more substantial, or do you go the other way? Is the rifle going to be the big one and your handgun a .22 type?

How would you combine a rifle and handgun in this situation?
 
T

The Great Mahoo

New member
roy reali said:
Should your rifle be a rimfire of some sort and your sidearm chambered in something more substantial, or do you go the other way? Is the rifle going to be the big one and your handgun a .22 type?
Click to expand...

I would take a small-caliber (.22) rifle and a more substantial pistol. Unless actively shooting already, my rifle would be slung or set down in camp, while my pistol stays on my belt. Since any need of self-defense is unlikely to give me a kind fore-warning, I'd prefer to keep such defensive arms on me at all times.

Personally, though, I would be more likely to carry a .45colt or .357 revolver and levergun combo with shared ammo. Fun to shoot, and both platforms are quite capable of saving my skin if it comes to that.
 
K

Kreyzhorse

New member
In that case, I'd take a plinking gun like my Ruger 10/22. That should cover rodents and such but for any critter nastier, I'd want my 1911 or my .357 S&W. That rifle handgun combo should cover just about any thing you'd meet on a walk about.
 
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Ftom14cat

New member
having gone on nature hikes with and without guns i will recount my experiences.

while hiking in california i have encountered every single type of wild animal out there, and been threatened by most of them. personally i can tell you that while carrying a .22 rifle or the like for plinking sounds fun, when you are being stalked by a mountain lion in the dead of night (personal experience), i was much happier that i had an 8mm mauser with me, and would have been a lot happier if i had brought a sidearm to back it up.

therefore, i guess it would depend on where your nature hike is, and what you can reasonably expect to encounter.
 
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InigoMontoya

New member
How far and where are we hiking?

There's a big difference between humping a load 5 miles in Eastern Kansas and humping that same load 50 miles at 10,000 feet altitude in the Eastern Sierras. I really can't answer the question until I know far far and over what kind of terrain we're talking about.

Also, when you mention 4 legged critters... Are we talking Wolves or are we talking Polar Bears? Again, without specifics it's a tough question to answer!
 
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ClayInTx

New member
For the type of hike you depict I see no need for a big bore rifle nor for a high capacity rifle. I would want the lightest I could get.

The handgun would be for defense.

I would take a .22 rifle and a .357, or bigger, handgun.
 
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