The Woods Gun: What We Carry When Nobody's Watching

by Shane Jahn

What is a woods gun? Depending on where we are, what we’re doing, and what our anticipated targets are, a woods gun can be most anything. Handguns, handy rifles, and even a short-barreled shotgun can serve us well for woods bumming. My unofficial definition most often relates to a revolver worn while out and about in the great outdoors, because they are what I prefer. I’ve always enjoyed hiking in vast stretches of uninhabited country. My woods guns can often do double-duty as a hunting handgun or serve as a defensive handgun if necessary.

For the most part these wheel guns wear barrels no longer than 5.5-inches, although I have been known to carry longer guns at times. The cartridges chambered in these guns are ample to fill any gap required of them and good bullets are certainly a must. The 38 and 44 Specials can be puny when loaded with mild-powered round nose bullets. Top them with a good hard cast bullet with a wide meplat or jacketed hollow point of ample weight and velocity, and they become an entirely different animal.

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