Looking forward to the upcoming Fuunshow at the County Fairgrounds, and the night-before-dinner-and-raffle at the American Legion Post. I could win a Glock – something I had never considered before – becoming a hunter doesn’t change that, but buying a raffle ticket opens up the prospect. The “Pick A Glock Raffle” offers the Weiner a choice of (notice the gaps in the lineup): 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39. I ave no idea, they all appear to have those “finger divots” on the grip that need to be removed with a Dremel tool and re-stippled with a soldering pencil. Since this is a fantasy-camp exercise thing I’m leaning towards the leetle ones in standard caliber, 26, 30, 36… The .45GAP and .357Sig could be interesting too. Not sure about a teeny .10mm but that could be fun too!
UPDATE: No Banana-glock — but the banquet was fun and done by 9:30, in a smaller and more intimate setting than the Big Friends show, and I sat-in with a nice group of local people and had a good time for a good cause.
Not Clauswitz 
Don’t forget the Coonan in .357 Magnum.
I wish they would come out with the .41 Magnum version that was originally planned. I don’t recall which iteration of Coonan was intending on making it, though. I think they even got to the advertisement stage, but it never appeared on the shelves, that I’m aware of.
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I’d stay away from the .357 Sig and .45 GAP, anything else would be fair game. IMHO! 🙂
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I like Sigs but in .357 I think a S&W is most appropriate. Or a Colt.
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No, no .41 magnum needed. No standard service pistol cartridges are acceptable, in my opinion, so I rule out the 9mm, 40 S&W, the .45acp, etc. 10mm is the excception, and only Glock offers a modern, striker fired, lightweight, reliable option. I have carried, but do not willingly choose, a 1911 or CZ pattern pistol for carry, although both can be had in 10mm.
The problem is, every pistol is marginal to stop large bears. My hunting partner used to be a professional bear guide in New Mexico, killing dozens of treed black bears up to 400 pounds with handguns almost exclusively. I spent most of my vacations in southeast Alaska for about 30 years, and my little brother still lives up in Juneau . We all agree that any bear over 300 pounds is a problem for just about every pistol. You must be able to shatter the skull and put a bullet into the brain in order to stop a bear before it can maul you. .357 magnum will do the job with the right bullet, and toward the end of his life Col. Cooper suggested that may be the best compromise for the average outdoorsman, though not his choice. He preferred 10mm 1911’s or 44 magnum revolvers.
My choice is constrained by my wife’s carry gun, whenever we are together. If I’m solo, I’ll carry whatever strikes my fancy in .357, .44 or 10mm. My wife, who is not a hobby level shooter, latched on to her Glock 19 as her preferred operating system years ago and is uninterested in anything else. So she keeps a Glock 9mm around the house, and switches to the 10mm when carrying in bear country. She knows the operating system, and is comfortable with it. After a few halfhearted attempts to get her to broaden her selection, I realized I was creating more problems and making things worse, so I finally hung up my hobbiest tendencies and stuck to what she knows and is comfortable with. I carry the same system so that in an emergency she can use my gear, ammo, magazines, etc., and I can do the same with hers.
To kill a bear is not anywhere near the problem that stopping one is. If the bear is treed by dogs, as was usually the case with my hunting partner, or busy mauling another member of your party, and you have a nice shot from the side, it requires only that you be able to reach the heart, and wait for blood loss to do it’s thing. The good news for the maulee is that bears are very inefficient predators, and seldom kill quickly. You’ll probably survive a bear attack if any member of your party is armed with almost anything and is willing to enter the fray on your side. I have told my fishing companions for years that my pistol is to shoot the bear off of them, and their pistols are to shoot the bear off of me. I also carry a 12 ga or a large rifle in Southeast Alaska, and try to keep it close by at all times. Given any warning, or when chasing down stragglers, or leading the group from one area to another, I will be carrying an appropriate STOPPING firearm. The pistol is last ditch, emergency rescue equipment.
Bottom line, use anything you are familiar and comfortable with that will break the skull and scramble the brains. If you can convince your bride to carry, then a very strong case can be made for matching her equipment. Your Mileage May Vary.
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If I could convince her to wander into the woods I would end up with a .357 revolver because she will not abide semi-autos, which is OK with me and follows the same behavior pattern you arrived at. 🙂 She really wants to shoot my AR though.
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A peculiarity of the little 10mm is that the mags from the larger versions are not compatible. For some unknown reason, the feed angle is different.
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Thank-you that’s Interesting!
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If you’re going to start spending time out of doors in bear country, I recommend the tiny 10 mm. The model 29 holds 10 California legal rounds in its magazine, and puts out more energy than a 357 magnum, almost as much as a 41 Magnum. My wife and I carry Glock 10 millimeters when camping hiking or fishing in bear country, whether that is Washington, Nevada, or Alaska.
Great for peace of mind, and the only modern striker-fired setup available in a truly dangerous-animal caliber.
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OK Pat thanks, that’s recommendation I value! I was carrying my .45 Sig but it felt perhaps a bit unsubstantial – besides a 10mm sounds like a fun handful! So for my wife who dislikes semi-autos and won’t carry one I need a .41 Mag to do bear work?
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If you’re really serious about dangerous game, get a .44 Mag with a chest rig.
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I’m not particularly serious about hand-gunning for dangerous game, but who knows?
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BTW, I just bought a Glock 34 today (well, paid for it anyway). Glock’s 34, 35 and 41 are the long-slide, competition versions in 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP, respectively. They are proportioned very close to a full-size 1911, have the slides sculpted out so they weigh about the same as their standard-size brethren, and come stock with an improved trigger and oversize slide and magazine releases. Therefore, they cost $100 more than the standard-size models. Just something to consider if you should happen to win….
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Hmmmm…
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