quote:

Originally posted by TrailWalker:
Doesn't the manual of arms, action type, and "mission" drive the holstering decisions? In other words, what appears to be a collection of good reasoning, above, seems suited to only one situation at a time in each post.

I hike the backwoods often. It's doubtful that I will encounter a "tactical" situation or a fire fight. My Sig goes along for the four-legged apex predators and/or other serious threats that aren't likely to present as immediate surprises or with a significant startle factor. And yes, I have fallen on various handguns in the past while climbing up or down advanced terrain (including condition 1 1911's) So:

I carry a 320x Compact with a full mag, alternating cartridges, empty chamber. I practice a C-clamp, off-hand racking out of my OWB holster, and never re-holster with a loaded chamber or a dangling jacket or pack strap in the way. I'm an accomplished hiker and a hobbyist shooter.

Please advise or comment - I'm sincerely interested.

TW

It doesn’t really matter what gun or caliber you use or carry. It may matter a bit what type of ammunition you use, depending on application. Mountain lions are typically a light animal, no larger than a man. A 9mm or .38 will handle one, whether loaded with highly penetrative ammo or JHP. They are not a tiger or an African lion. Mr. Shoemaker killed an attacking Alaskan grizzly in defense of his fishing clients with a DAO S&W 3rd Gen a couple of years ago. In that case, the load mattered: Underwood hardcast penetrators, IIRC, did the job. Pick one load that functions in your gun and will do what is needful for the animals in your area, and carry only that load. Do not mix loads in the magazine.

It may matter quite a bit if your one hand gun needs two hands to get into action. A cow that decides to stomp you, or a lion or bear that decides to try to eat you, aren’t going to wait for you to fumble a round into the chamber while you run away or try to fight them off with your off hand.

Modern guns take getting dropped without firing. So long as your 320 has the upgraded parts, you may chamber a round and fall on it as often as you wish, so long as it is in a proper holster, and will not likely get convinced to fire in that holster. The same is true of a stock Glock, DA revolver, or Beretta or SIG or S&W TDA.

If what you are comfortable carrying ready to use is a DA revolver, I would recommend carrying one of those instead of a condition 3 semi-auto. If you need a smaller one to be able to carry it concealed and comfortably while engaging in your outdoors activities, I suggest a 2” or 3” SP101 or S&W 60 or 640 loaded with wide flat nose hard cast .357 Magnums that are clocked at about 1100 FPS. Such bullets will penetrate several feet. If you can go larger, a 3” GP100, or K or L frame loaded the same.

If you prefer to stick with the semiauto, please get comfortable carrying it ready to go, or get a different one you are more comfortable with doing that with. I suggest loading it with Underwood Extreme Penetrators. The all-copper 9mm load is particularly noted for penetrating several feet of tissue. Range cattle are quite large, and much more common than aggressive bears and lions. It may be necessary to penetrate that much to defend yourself from one.

Just some things to think about.

Excellent post; thanks.

Just one of the many reasons I don't like striker fired pistols.


Rod

This is why I’m not a fan on appendix carry. Really lucky person