A big factor in the "field gun' issue

by Catoosa, Monday, February 17, 2014, 15:50 (3938 days ago) @ stonewalrus

is where the field is. My field is middle Tennessee/southern Appalachian mountains. There's not much around here that can't be handled with a medium-weight, flat-shooting bullet. Think .357 Magnum and then put it in a flat-easy-to-carry autoloader.

Now, if I was to go messin' around out west where the critters likely to be encountered were bigger and hairier, I would CERTAINLY agree that more whomp 'em is necessary. In that case the 10mm would be the thing. I am well known to be a fan of the 1911, and the 10mm is kinda hard on the basic 1911 platform. Also, in my limited experience, the 10mm in it's more effective loads wouldn't be a whole bunch of fun to shoot all afternoon.

No doubt Bob Ruark was very correct when he advised "Use Enough Gun", and I doubt that anyone who has ever had to use a gun to save his life has ever felt that he had brought a big enough one. I didn't, and I had the biggest one there. That said, a gun you can and do shoot a lot, and that you are confident you can hit with when necessary, is the best one to have in any situation.

My $0.02 -