I have had an ATC for remote wilderness carry for 7 years now and I've had a lot of people contacting me lately asking what handguns/cartridge combo I would recommend for remote wilderness handgun carry with a valid ATC.
So instead of continuing to answer the same quetions over and over here are the remote area carry handguns I recommend and carry/carried.
I went thru a bit of an education phaze when I first started I carried a blued 6" Barsto barreled Colt Delt Elite in 10mm awesome accurate/powerful gun/cartridge combo but due to the weather I was always in I was always worried about rust so purchased a 5" KKM barreled Glock 20 10mm now this is a gun that is impervious to any weather conditions loaded depending on the season from 135gr HP's to 200gr WFNGC's.
Things change I started working further from the Fraser Valley and was starting to bump into more bears and the occasional grizzly I was shooting Cowboy Action at the time so got my 5.5" s/s Ruger Bisley Vaquero's in 45 Colt added to my ATC permit.
Loaded up the hottest safe loads I could from 240gr to 345gr and headed out but when you spend hours alone in the bush with only your dog you think and my thoughts after a few bear encounters was how do I reload these revolvers quickly if I I ever needed to?
So after a little research I found and bought two 7.5" Ruger Super Redhawks in 454 Casull (they can also shoot 45 Colt) loaded all of my 45 Colt loads but was now able to go to heavier bullet weights 240gr @ 1900fps to 405gr @ 1420fps.
Found Gunnar @ Armco in Prince George had him shorten one of the 7.5" SRH's to 4.25"and install his sight rib & .332" green fiber optic front sight post I installed a set of Crimson Trace laser grips.
After some testing I saw that with the heavier bullets I only lost 90fps with the shorter barrel I get 1330fps with 405gr WLNGC's which is almost equal to the original 45-70 Trapdoor loads except I had 6 in the chamber and 2 6 round speed loaders on my belt.
I purchased a Glock 29 10mm but the RCMP fireamrs officer would not let me have it on my ATC something about semi-auto's being unreliable.
Those were my choices but here is what I would recommend today.
The S&W 460/500 revolvers are powerful but they are huge/heavy guns packing one of them around is more than I want to do on a daily basis and I feel a Ruger SRH is the largest heaviest handgun that I would pack.
Ruger revolvers are bullet proof not dissing S&W or any other make just stating a fact they are tough and can and do handle the hottest loads.
I would recommend either the 4.20" or 5.5" Ruger Redhawks in 44mag & 45 Colt http://www.ruger-firearms.com/products/redhawk/models.html my personal choice would be the 4.20" 45 Colt but I see a 5.5" 44mag for sale on the EE and if I was in the market for another handgun I would snap that one up in a heartbeat.
and of course I would recommend a SRH in 454 Casull as well.
I shoot a lot of top end loads which is why I prefer Rugers but any of the under 6" barrel length S&W 629 44mag's would make awesome carry guns as well 41mags are very powerful as well if you consider they are .410" compared to 4.29" I just recommend a 44mag due to component availability.
I hope this answers the questions so you guys don't have to keep asking me and d*mn the more I look at those 4.20" Redhawks the more I want to hold one, I'm thinking that they are about the best over the counter handgun for ATC that we can get in Canada.
If I could only carry 2 different handguns they would be my 4.25" Ruger SRH in 45 Colt/454 Casull and the Glock 29 10mm, I would carry the SRH in the Spring/Summer/Fall unless I am jumping in and out of my truck a lot then I would have the G29 on far easier/faster to load/unload a semi and in winter I would carry the G29 exclusively.
Here are a couple pictures of my handguns that I had on my ATC I sold the 7.5" SRH and the new owner has now had that one shortened to 4.25" as well the rifle is a LSI Puma M92 454 Casull that also handles my 45 Colt loads.
Colt Delt Elite 6" Barsto barrel
Glock 20 5" KKM barrel
Glock 29 4.25" Storm Lake barrel
Glock 29 with G20 mag/Scherer mag sleeve.
The 7.5" SRH that I sold shortened to 4.25" the new owner tells me "shooting full power loads she is a handful.... but 45 Colt for IDPA is a dream"....
I really like Bob Mernickle holsters so all of my leather holsters are from him being that I know him personally and that he was from my gun club before he headed south may have something to do with it but his stuff is very good and he will change the design to my specific specifications.
Ruger Bisley Vaquero cross draw/belt/shell holder
Colt Delta Elite strong side
CDE cross draw
4.25" SRH cross draw/belt/speed loader pouch
4.25" SRH cross draw shoulder holster (my wife came out to the job site I hadn't seen them in a week she snapped this pic of me with my little guy)
The holster has exactly the same thumb break as the cross draw belt holster above so the draw is almost identical except this one sits a couple of inches higher.
I also have an Uncle Mike's belt holster set up for the SRH & G20 for when I am out in the worst weather but don't have a picture of that set up.
So instead of continuing to answer the same quetions over and over here are the remote area carry handguns I recommend and carry/carried.
I went thru a bit of an education phaze when I first started I carried a blued 6" Barsto barreled Colt Delt Elite in 10mm awesome accurate/powerful gun/cartridge combo but due to the weather I was always in I was always worried about rust so purchased a 5" KKM barreled Glock 20 10mm now this is a gun that is impervious to any weather conditions loaded depending on the season from 135gr HP's to 200gr WFNGC's.
Things change I started working further from the Fraser Valley and was starting to bump into more bears and the occasional grizzly I was shooting Cowboy Action at the time so got my 5.5" s/s Ruger Bisley Vaquero's in 45 Colt added to my ATC permit.
Loaded up the hottest safe loads I could from 240gr to 345gr and headed out but when you spend hours alone in the bush with only your dog you think and my thoughts after a few bear encounters was how do I reload these revolvers quickly if I I ever needed to?
So after a little research I found and bought two 7.5" Ruger Super Redhawks in 454 Casull (they can also shoot 45 Colt) loaded all of my 45 Colt loads but was now able to go to heavier bullet weights 240gr @ 1900fps to 405gr @ 1420fps.
Found Gunnar @ Armco in Prince George had him shorten one of the 7.5" SRH's to 4.25"and install his sight rib & .332" green fiber optic front sight post I installed a set of Crimson Trace laser grips.
After some testing I saw that with the heavier bullets I only lost 90fps with the shorter barrel I get 1330fps with 405gr WLNGC's which is almost equal to the original 45-70 Trapdoor loads except I had 6 in the chamber and 2 6 round speed loaders on my belt.
I purchased a Glock 29 10mm but the RCMP fireamrs officer would not let me have it on my ATC something about semi-auto's being unreliable.
Those were my choices but here is what I would recommend today.
The S&W 460/500 revolvers are powerful but they are huge/heavy guns packing one of them around is more than I want to do on a daily basis and I feel a Ruger SRH is the largest heaviest handgun that I would pack.
Ruger revolvers are bullet proof not dissing S&W or any other make just stating a fact they are tough and can and do handle the hottest loads.
I would recommend either the 4.20" or 5.5" Ruger Redhawks in 44mag & 45 Colt http://www.ruger-firearms.com/products/redhawk/models.html my personal choice would be the 4.20" 45 Colt but I see a 5.5" 44mag for sale on the EE and if I was in the market for another handgun I would snap that one up in a heartbeat.
and of course I would recommend a SRH in 454 Casull as well.
I shoot a lot of top end loads which is why I prefer Rugers but any of the under 6" barrel length S&W 629 44mag's would make awesome carry guns as well 41mags are very powerful as well if you consider they are .410" compared to 4.29" I just recommend a 44mag due to component availability.
I hope this answers the questions so you guys don't have to keep asking me and d*mn the more I look at those 4.20" Redhawks the more I want to hold one, I'm thinking that they are about the best over the counter handgun for ATC that we can get in Canada.
If I could only carry 2 different handguns they would be my 4.25" Ruger SRH in 45 Colt/454 Casull and the Glock 29 10mm, I would carry the SRH in the Spring/Summer/Fall unless I am jumping in and out of my truck a lot then I would have the G29 on far easier/faster to load/unload a semi and in winter I would carry the G29 exclusively.
Here are a couple pictures of my handguns that I had on my ATC I sold the 7.5" SRH and the new owner has now had that one shortened to 4.25" as well the rifle is a LSI Puma M92 454 Casull that also handles my 45 Colt loads.
Colt Delt Elite 6" Barsto barrel
Glock 20 5" KKM barrel
Glock 29 4.25" Storm Lake barrel
Glock 29 with G20 mag/Scherer mag sleeve.
The 7.5" SRH that I sold shortened to 4.25" the new owner tells me "shooting full power loads she is a handful.... but 45 Colt for IDPA is a dream"....
I really like Bob Mernickle holsters so all of my leather holsters are from him being that I know him personally and that he was from my gun club before he headed south may have something to do with it but his stuff is very good and he will change the design to my specific specifications.
Ruger Bisley Vaquero cross draw/belt/shell holder
Colt Delta Elite strong side
CDE cross draw
4.25" SRH cross draw/belt/speed loader pouch
4.25" SRH cross draw shoulder holster (my wife came out to the job site I hadn't seen them in a week she snapped this pic of me with my little guy)
The holster has exactly the same thumb break as the cross draw belt holster above so the draw is almost identical except this one sits a couple of inches higher.
I also have an Uncle Mike's belt holster set up for the SRH & G20 for when I am out in the worst weather but don't have a picture of that set up.
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