just a bit of info, from a related experience, (hunting out west and packing out some ELK!)
always test your equipment before you go on any hunting trip you might find some amazing and UN-expected equipment failures, and once you load up a hunting revolver actually test it for both accuracy and penetration, with the ammo you load and will use.
about 23 years ago I had my best friend Ron, buy a 6"-or 6.5" barrel mod 27 S&W 357 mag.
He wanted to have a pistol on his belt ,because on a previous trip he had shot an elk, and hung and quartered it and on the return second back packing trip to retrieve and walk out the meat ,and on returning to the hanging elk he was greeted by a large not too friendly black bear, who just assumed the Elk was now HIS!
Now the bear ran off after his buddy with him who had a rifle fired a shot into the ground, thus scaring off the bear.
But my buddy Ron, being as he had already shot and killed his elk,realizing that he was defenseless, stated he was nearly having a heart attack as the bear advanced.
because he had left the rifle back in his truck to save weight rather than pack what was in his opinion, now useless dead weight carry capacity and effort in and out of a steep canyon, weight he felt was better used for transport, a carry capacity he felt was better used packing out meat.
well the next year he had that 357 mag, he loaded up some 158 grain soft points using a suggested load of 15 grains that was supposed to be ideal.
he used some 2400 powder that he had, had sitting on his loading bench for about 10 years un-opened.
The result was that just after we were packing to leave on the next years elk hunt he decided to test those hand loads on a stack of dry wall, about 20" thick and was amazed and disappointment to find he got only about 3" of penetration because the powder, unknown to him was defective, and had lost about 70% of its punch.
similar loads made later ,with a new can of propellent,and the same powder were far more impressive easily punching 14" of stacked dry wall.
http://handloads.com/loaddata/default.a ... pe=Handgun
If he had used those defective hand loads on a bear I doubt it would have done more than piss off the bear.
I'd also point out that Ive seen several pack frames on cheap packs crack under the loads incurred, with the stress, of stuffing shifting loads ,as a pack with 50-70lbs or more of meat , move and shift then walking several hours out of some remote canyon.
viewtopic.php?f=95&t=2809&p=7253&hilit=pack+frame#p7253
viewtopic.php?f=97&t=1095&p=15182&hilit=pack+frame#p15182
viewtopic.php?f=91&t=3744&p=9926&hilit=pack+frame#p9926
keeping any handgun in top mechanical condition helps
http://www.harborfreight.com/25-liter-ultrasonic-cleaner-95563.html
BTW an ultrosonic cleaner and a mostly dis-assembled pocket pistol,with each major component being cleaned seperately, so parts wont touch each other, while soaking in a good cleaning solution, for a 1/2 hour, can do amazing things and remove a great deal of micro trash you might not otherwise find and remove.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/58...pf_ci_google&gclid=CLiE2_HfxscCFRIFkQod6ZYDtg
follow with a good high pressure air dry and the proper rust preventative oil coating
READ THE LINK
http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667
a quart of hoppes #9 a tooth brush and a bore brush can do wonders for reliable function.
always test your equipment before you go on any hunting trip you might find some amazing and UN-expected equipment failures, and once you load up a hunting revolver actually test it for both accuracy and penetration, with the ammo you load and will use.
about 23 years ago I had my best friend Ron, buy a 6"-or 6.5" barrel mod 27 S&W 357 mag.
He wanted to have a pistol on his belt ,because on a previous trip he had shot an elk, and hung and quartered it and on the return second back packing trip to retrieve and walk out the meat ,and on returning to the hanging elk he was greeted by a large not too friendly black bear, who just assumed the Elk was now HIS!
Now the bear ran off after his buddy with him who had a rifle fired a shot into the ground, thus scaring off the bear.
But my buddy Ron, being as he had already shot and killed his elk,realizing that he was defenseless, stated he was nearly having a heart attack as the bear advanced.
because he had left the rifle back in his truck to save weight rather than pack what was in his opinion, now useless dead weight carry capacity and effort in and out of a steep canyon, weight he felt was better used for transport, a carry capacity he felt was better used packing out meat.
well the next year he had that 357 mag, he loaded up some 158 grain soft points using a suggested load of 15 grains that was supposed to be ideal.
he used some 2400 powder that he had, had sitting on his loading bench for about 10 years un-opened.
The result was that just after we were packing to leave on the next years elk hunt he decided to test those hand loads on a stack of dry wall, about 20" thick and was amazed and disappointment to find he got only about 3" of penetration because the powder, unknown to him was defective, and had lost about 70% of its punch.
similar loads made later ,with a new can of propellent,and the same powder were far more impressive easily punching 14" of stacked dry wall.
http://handloads.com/loaddata/default.a ... pe=Handgun
If he had used those defective hand loads on a bear I doubt it would have done more than piss off the bear.
I'd also point out that Ive seen several pack frames on cheap packs crack under the loads incurred, with the stress, of stuffing shifting loads ,as a pack with 50-70lbs or more of meat , move and shift then walking several hours out of some remote canyon.
viewtopic.php?f=95&t=2809&p=7253&hilit=pack+frame#p7253
viewtopic.php?f=97&t=1095&p=15182&hilit=pack+frame#p15182
viewtopic.php?f=91&t=3744&p=9926&hilit=pack+frame#p9926
keeping any handgun in top mechanical condition helps
http://www.harborfreight.com/25-liter-ultrasonic-cleaner-95563.html
BTW an ultrosonic cleaner and a mostly dis-assembled pocket pistol,with each major component being cleaned seperately, so parts wont touch each other, while soaking in a good cleaning solution, for a 1/2 hour, can do amazing things and remove a great deal of micro trash you might not otherwise find and remove.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/58...pf_ci_google&gclid=CLiE2_HfxscCFRIFkQod6ZYDtg
follow with a good high pressure air dry and the proper rust preventative oil coating
READ THE LINK
http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667
a quart of hoppes #9 a tooth brush and a bore brush can do wonders for reliable function.
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