I’ve long thought about an appropriate handgun for critter dispatch.

On the one hand, there’s the thought of hunting with a handgun. On the other, there’s the thought of wanting a beefier sidearm when out in the backcountry should some 4-legged critter (or even a 2-legged one) decide to become a problem.

First thought is a .44 Magnum revolver. It’s got the history, the proven track record. But it’s also big, bulky, a pain to shoot well (massive recoil, big heavy trigger), and limited to 6 rounds. Still, you could view it as the standard to measure against.

So there’s the big boys like .460 S&W, .500 and so on, but that’s just getting to be too much. Sure the .460 has some appeal since those wheel guns could also shoot .454 Casull and .45 Colt, but is this getting to be too much gun for the purpose? Sure it’s useful for hunting, but toting around for back-country defensive needs?

Then there’s 10mm. This appeals to me because you can get it in a semi-auto handgun, which has advantages of better triggers and more capacity.

But if you’re going to go 10mm, why not consider .460 Rowland? I think foo.c was the one that clued me in to .460 Rowland. You can’t deny the ballistics data, that it beats the .44 Mag. Of course, it needs a compensator to help make it more shootable, but that’s not too big deal. I mean, if I was being run down by a mountain lion or something of that sort, being able to peel off multiple shots rapidly is a big plus and part of what I’m looking for. And you get this out of a 1911-style gun. There are even conversion kits for Springfield XD’s and Smith & Wesson M&P’s. The cool thing there is the increased capacity, that you can carry in familiar holsters, and the overall cost for the gun and the kit is reasonable — cheaper than a lot of those .44 Mag revolvers.

When I mull it all over in my head, .460 Rowland seems like the best all around consideration.

I’m just talking aloud right now… I don’t have the funds to make such a purchase, but I do think about this from time to time. While my 9mm is better than nothing and certainly fills the bill for 2-legged predators, some ugly 200# hog will just be tickled… having a little more power would be welcome.