Here’s an article I wrote almost 20 years ago for Backwoods Home magazine.

It’s still relevant today, and I’ll tell you why. I live in an area where deer are hunted in dense vegetation, and a sporting hunter is only likely to have a long shot if they stake out a power line. The deer here are whitetails, not particularly large. I recently chatted with a fellow from out of town who just opened a gun shop in our area, and was shocked to find out how many customers wanted long-range 7mm Magnum rifles or similar to go deer hunting.

On the concealed carry side, I still see a lot of folks who buy a service-size pistol, fit it with an optical sight and an attached flashlight, and then discover it’s simply too large to conceal with their warm-weather wardrobe.

Rifle, shotgun, or handgun, size is a consideration in firearms selection. Tailor the tool to the task…and to the user.

24 COMMENTS

  1. My current carry pistol is a Sig C3 1911, which is an Officer’s-size aluminum frame with a Commander-length (4.25″) stainless steel barrel and slide in .45 ACP. With 7-round Wilson Combat magazines holding 230-grain hollow-points I don’t feel under-gunned at all.

    Here in NW Wyoming I frequently go fishing up some seldom-used trails where meeting a grizzly is a possibility for much of the year. The only time I’ve seen one was when I got to the river and it was there ahead of me. I simply backed away as quietly as I could, and then went back down the mountain. I don’t need to fish the brookies that badly. I’ve smelled bear on the trails once or twice (they’re usually quite distinctive) and simply left the area as fast as possible. But I’ve made the decision based on bear encounter data that I’m not going to “up-gun” just for these rare occasions. If 7 rounds of .45 don’t deter a bear attack (yeah, I’ve got a spare magazine on my belt, but have you ever seen a grizzly RUN? I’d never get the chance for a re-load) probably not much short of a 12-gauge slug would.

    And I certainly don’t feel like I’m under-gunned for 2-legged predators.

    I standardized on .30-06 back in the 70’s because it seemed like the most versatile all-around hunting cartridge for everything from whitetail to elk, as your article noted. You can also find it just about everywhere, and usually in different loads since it’s still so popular. I don’t hunt any more since I can now afford store-bought beef, but while that cartridge may be over 100 years old it’s still effective and versatile. I haven’t taken my bolt guns to the range in over 4 years.

    There are a lot of people who sort of sneer at the antique-quality of my cartridge choices, since I haven’t got the latest laser-trajectory round shooting a light bullet at warp speed. Nor am I shooting some shoulder-bruising .458 Mag just to prove that I can. But as an aging geezer I find that big, dumb, slow rounds will still perform as well as I need. I have no need to beat myself up with a 7mm Mag or full-bore .44 Mags.

  2. I live in the South so wearing a cover garment is out for most of the year. I have too much of a spare tire 🙂 to be comfortable with inside-the-waistband holsters. I tried ankle carry and, while it will work for a small backup gun, I don’t see it as a viable option for daily carry. So, my main carry method is pocket carry which means a fairly small handgun or revolver.

    For fifteen (15) years, I have been searching for the “perfect carry pistol” to fit my needs. I have tried at least a dozen different pistols and revolvers in my fruitless search. I have 3 or 4 models that will work but none (repeat NONE) are ideal. Currently, I wobble between carrying a Ruger LCP Max, in .380, or a Smith J-Frame in 38 special. As noted, neither is ideal but they (mostly) work.

    Later today, I am going to pick up a new model pistol to try (I am reaching outside-of-the-box to Kel-Tec!!!) We will see how this latest contestant works out.

    All that I can say is that, picking an ideal carry gun is extremely difficult despite the vast number of options on the market. I sometimes think that the “perfect packin’ pistol” has yet to be invented. Where is my phaser when I need it? 🙂

  3. Back in the last century, Francis Sell convinced me to make my first new gun a 20 gauge double. Never regretted it, still got it.

    I’ve run into an astounding number of folks who’ve bought 7mm Magnums. Locally, it seems the reason is that they think because it’s a MAGNUM, it shoots like a laser. If they can see it, they can hit it-without any consideration for the range.

    Unfortunately with handguns, convenience seems to be more important to most folks than suitability for the purpose. Then there are those who promptly add an optic (and light/laser) to a micro pistol. Really?

    • Added: back when I lived in Pennsylvania, it didn’t take me long to figure out that if I hunted deer with a handgun, I’d have two hands available to get up & down the hills and also make it easier to drag the critter out. My model 29 never let me down-and it was a heck of lot lighter.

      The only time rifles made any sense was if I was hunting farm fields or power lines.

    • @ WR Moore – “Then there are those who promptly add an optic (and light/laser) to a micro pistol. Really?”

      I agree. IMHO, someone who selects a micro pistol for concealed carry and then loads it up with an optic and light/laser is showing a very confused mind. On a larger pistol used for home defense or for duty carry in a holster, then I can see it. But for concealment and daily carry? Not so much. Lasers built into the gun or grip, and which do not add much bulk, might work but not bulky add-ons.

      One of my many carry experiments was a Charter Arms Boomer in .44 Special caliber. This is a concealable revolver made, literally, without any sights at all. So, Yes, I did add aftermarket grips with a laser built into them. In this case, the laser fulfilled a real need and the laser-grips did not add any real bulk to the gun.

      You see the same thing, sometimes, with the AR platform. People will try to get as light-weight of an AR as possible with components carefully selected for being ultra-lightweight. Then, that same person will turn around and add bulky optics, lights, lasers, forward-handgrips, …..everything but a coffee maker! 🙂

      They take a 6 lb. AR and, before they are finished, they turn it into a 12 lb. rubegoldbergian device. Again, we see a confusion in mind and purpose. Sometimes, I think their only purpose is to spend money on gadgets!

      • Agree on the gadgeteers. But, a 6 lb AR is either from deep in the last century or, as you note, specially made. Product improvement and mission creep has fattened them up before anyone adds extras. I weighed my issue carbine and with only a Trijicon Reflex II added, it went a tad over 8 lbs.

        I wish I’d saved a copy/the link of a picture we had down in training. The AR was buried under a slew of “improvements”. Including a Chevy spotlight and a RR hood ornament. Really loved the ornament.

      • TN_MAN is so right about the “over-accessorization” of ARs. I have been guilty of this myself. Tacticoolness is probably second only to beautiful women when it comes to selling unneeded gun accessories. Like women’s fashions, many gun-gadgets are attractive but not really practical.

        In defense of many such “over-accessorizors”, most of these ARs will sit unused against some future home-invasion or apocalypse and will never be carried any distance greater than from the car to the range firing line. Their main function is to produce Ooohs and Aaahs from friends at the range. ARs and railed pistols are, in many cases, Barbie Dolls for men.

        Actually carrying a rifle some distance is the best cure for over-equipping. Training with the rifle in question is the best way to learn what helps in a meaningful fashion and what just gets in the way of rapid deployment.

      • @ WR Moore – “Product improvement and mission creep has fattened them up before anyone adds extras.”

        That’s very true. I have a “minimal” AR. It consists of a Stag Arms Left-handed upper with a lower by Anderson Manufacturing. This is a pretty “bare bones” carbine. It does not have an optic installed. No lights, no lasers, no night-vision, no bipods, no forward-handgrips, no coffee-maker, or other gadgets installed. Thank you, very much! 🙂

        Instead, it has a M-16 style carry handle/peep sight. I did swap out the safety selector for an ambidextrous one from Wilson Combat. The only thing else installed is a light-weight rifle sling.

        Even so, this “minimal” AR carbine. unloaded but with an empty magazine, weighs 7 lbs.- 4.2 oz. So, as both you and I noted, nowadays, a 6 lb. AR would have to be specially built using selected, ultra-lightweight components.

        No doubt, somebody does offer an ultra-lightweight AR package “off-the-shelf” that will make 6 lbs. or less. However, I am not aware of one, offhand.

      • WR Moore, I seem to recall a photo that Paul Kim staged while he was at Surefire with all that as a goof on the “gear-queer” crowd.

  5. Here in Michigan, I have killed a number of white tail deer, and while I used a rifle once, the rest of the time I used a shotgun, the most recent time with an open choke, 18″ barrel and a sabot slug. The deer that I killed with the rifle, a 30/40 Krag, I could have killed with a 12 gauge and 00 buckshot.
    And I also know those who use the 7mm mag and the .300 Win. Short Mag. to hunt here in Michigan for deer. I carried a .243 Remington caliber one year, and didn’t feel under gunned by any means.
    As for CCW, I recently did away with my 9mm and now carry a 3″ Rossi RP63 revolver with .125 grain Hornady Critical Defense loads, and don’t feel undergunned with this, either.

  6. When I decided that I was going to carry concealed, I took into consideration that I am a woman with broad hips. I shopped carefully for a conceal carry holster that would not show under my clothing. I have a choice between 2 pistols that I have for conceal carry. I was really glad that I did my research and found what works for me.

  7. CCW – Snubby revolver with iron sights in summer; full size auto pistol in winter. Any threat I need to deal with will be 10m or less away. Easily carried and the only way the sights malfunction is if they get torn off. No weapon mounted light required since I don’t do much in the shadows at night away from home. At church, a full size service pistol, also with irons, and two spare mags.

    Home Defense – Service sized semi automatic pistol with a weapon mounted light. Center the light beam on the target for a bullseye at 10m, the longest interior dimension of my house.

    I’m not John Wick, therefore I don’t need to kit myself out as such.

    • Quote of the Day:

      “For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.” Sun Tzu from ‘The Art of War’

      • I think Sun Tzu would really admire the Swiss Military. They had a brief civil war 3–29 Nov 1847, defended their borders during WWI and again during WWII, and that’s it. They are prepared for war, but never go to war. The ideal situation.

  9. Still a timely article! The discussion of shotgun barrel lengths reminded me that some ranges have restrictions on certain shotgun configurations, enforced somewhat haphazardly in my case:

    For the past 4 years, a group of friends and I have entered a local charity sporting clays event (taking team honors two years and runners-up one year). I even snagged the top shot award in 2024. However, when we attended in 2025 one of the roving range officers took exception to my shotgun (a Benelli Vinci “turkey” gun) because it has a pistol grip in addition to the fixed shoulder stock–the same gun used in each of the three prior years’ wins. I find the pistol grip is easier on my 70 year-old wrist, especially when using full-power waterfowling loads. It also eliminates the painful impact of the rear of the trigger guard on the middle finger when using 3″ magnum shells. And, it helps dramatically with buckshot or slugs, such as at tactical course or at The Pin Shoot. (I don’t need the pistol grip for softer-shooting target loads, but still prefer to maintain consistency in traing.)

    In any event, the RO requested (and I, an obsessive rule-follower, fully complied) that I leave the gun in my cart and use one of my partners’ non-pistol-grip shotguns to finish the course. When we attended a second charity event at the same range a few months later, I instead brought my longtime duck gun (a gift early in our marriage from my wonderful bride), a Browning Auto-5, which was conventionally stocked. Because I frequently hunt ducks while standing in waders among natural reeds as camouflage, this gun was outfitted with a 22″ barrel to reduce snagging on the bullrushes. Unfortunately, on the very first sporting clays stand the same roving RO spotted my gun and declared its barrel was too short, as the range had a 24″ minimum. She explained that short barrels might allow the shooter to swing too far right or left in the shooting booth, endangering the booth or onlookers. This struck me as a risk that was much more determined by the shooter standing inappropriately far back in the booth than by barrel length. But, I don’t like arguing with range officers, so I reserved this observation to share only within my party. Once again I was relegated to the use of a borrowed gun for the rest of the event. At least it provided me with a plausible excuse for my less-than-stellar performance that day!

    Anyway, I agree with Mas that shorter barrels are often handier in a variety of situations. Unfortunately, the ATF and some ranges specify minimal acceptable barrel lengths.

    One other drawback of short barrel lengths is increased noise level. The ubiquity of unsuppressed Short Barreled Rifles and AR pistols has prompted me routinely to wear both earplugs and muffs at many ranges.

    • My late younger son used to shoot clay birds at an image conscious club in Northern Virginia. They had a barrel length restriction, probably intended to keep the riff raff out. Or at least force them to rent quality doubles of pedigree.

      You might want to get a copy of the actual rules and read them to see if that ROs whining is supported by fact. If not, burn a copy and keep it with you. Rules commissars who don’t know the actual rules aren’t rare. I wouldn’t necessarily challenge them on the spot, but I would have a word with the match director. People like that can harm the event.

  10. To my mind firearms are a lot like footwear. There is no single perfect one. Doing this, one gun is better. DOing somehing else, a different one will serve better.
    I tend to buy older solid quality used guns, so don’ spend as much per, but mau well spend at least as much to keep myself equipped.

    One gun for daily carry “out there”, another to slip into the back right rear pocket of my cycling jersey when I am out riding. If I were headed out into the woods on foot, a S&W 357 feels about right in an OWB holster. Add in possibility of big bears, maybe my Super Red Hawk 44 Mag.

    Think similarly with respect to long guns.
    I cannot imagine any one firearm that will well suit every situation.Glad I spent time and $$ gathering the herd back before da gummit went nuts and now makes in near impossible o do it now. You may recall, back in the deeper recesses of your cranium when one could walk into a gun show, see something that says “take me home with you”, drop a few Benjamins on the table and put your new tool in your pocket and walk back out, legally. I may be somewhat demented but I do believe those days may return before I begin taking my long dirt nap.

  11. Watching an episode of ‘Criminal Minds’ the other night and a hitwoman used a .50 Desert Eagle.
    Does anyone actually use these for anything?

  12. 90% of the time I’m carrying a American arms 22 magnum. Why? Because I have it on me if it’s legal to carry. I’ve needed a gun for self defense exactly one time in 50 years of carrying. That was against a wild dog pack while walking my dog. They spotted us on the remote wooded trail in VA and started running towards me. My smallish dog doesn’t back down so I knew it would get messy. I reached in my pocket and the dogs read my body language and immediately turned and ran away. I’ve never heard of a bear attack around where I roam but if I thought it would be a risk I’d carry one of the many larger caliber firearms at my disposal. Currently my favorite is a 365 with an optic. I always carry separate light. This conceals nicely inside the waistband. The optic makes it accurate to 50 yards. If I was to use a handgun in bear country I’d take the Glock 29 even though I have a redhawk in 44 mag. Chose the right tools for the right job.

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