Crossed another one off my wish list. I’ve been wanting one of these as a trail gun for quite a while and the stars just lined up today to present me with the opportunity to acquire this lovely paperless hand cannon:
This is not my daily driver. I’ll leave that to the likes of Ted Nugent. I’m quite happy toting a 9mm around for my day-to-day. But, for tromping in the woods, this little number is exactly what I’ve been wanting. I need to swap out the factory sights for something nicer, and I’m on the fence about the red dot, but once that’s done all thats left is a good field holster and I’m set.
Love.my G40. Easiest shooting gun I own.
Good choice for where bears roam.
(Note to Editor. This is better edited)
Bring Enough Gun to NW Montana
NW Montana in Grizzly country, is where I live. A 9mm would only be a handi noise maker. Bear are so numerous here that black bear and Griz live in close proximity. They compete for food, yet they are still very well fed, and are the largest examples found in the lower 48.
The USFS indicates that we have the highest concentration of Grizzly CONUS. And indeed the area is just crawling with bears here. Therefore it is best to carry in my woods a .450 Marlin, or a 12 ga with Benneke slugs, the blue colored box with the Grizzly bear on it. Federal Truball slugs penetrate a tad deeper, 36” in ballistic gelatin, but the Brenneke slug expands slightly, and so, penetrates only 32”. Either could do the job, and one might be better if large bone must be penetrated on it’s way to the vitals. Federal Truball would be less likely to be deflected. It does not expand, but as a .60 caliber round, it does not need to. A .45 caliber round needs to be carefully designed to have a similar terminal effect despite the much higher in velocity of a .450 Marlin. Large animals need larger holes to bleed sufficiently. Producing enough hydro static shock to kill quickly requires large caliber high powdered cartridge that impacts the animal at 2,200 fps, or greater velocity. A .375 H and H is only just enough gun in Alaska. Experienced hunters avoid Griz at all costs.
If I have to annoy the bear, the biggest amount of muzzle blast that is possible should be provided, then it’d be best prepare to attempt to kill it if it does not scare off. The 12 ga is a better noise maker than any hand gun, and can be carefully aimed above the bear when trying to scare it away. I also carry one bean bag round, if that does not work. Yet if the bear appears to be considering a bluff charge, or a real charge with it’s ears back, the bean bag round is chucked, and the slugs are next. This why a pump gun has an advantage. Ammo management is less of a problem, yet train with it often so as not to short stroke the action under stress.
If there is time, crouch down so as to be inline with the axis of the bear and hold center of mass, and hope it piles up before it runs you over. Using Applied Physics loosely, we can figure 600 pounds accelerating to upwards of 30mph is gonna hurt, even if it is only dead weight. Likely it will not be….dead yet, and not after it does damage to the shooter intentionally, or not.
This Sunday I’ll be throwing up an electric fence. A neighbor was charged by a Griz while in her car just a few days ago. I spoke with them last week about the dangers during their walk with the dogs and a 9mm. Thank God she was in her car. Perhaps she’ll take these bear seriously now. The left wing media suppresses reports of bear attacks, and make them out to be cute and cuddly. The only reason a bear hugs a tree is to mark it’s territory. Grizzly are the most dangerous because they are unpredictable, but a Blackie with cubs can be just as dangerous. There is a local gal here who had her face shredded by a Black bear, and survived. It’s not pretty…
Yes, well done. Agree on sight retrofit. Perhaps a more ruggedized steel type with tritium/fiber optic “glowie” option. Adjustable sights feature may not be needed for your intended application. Discard the electronic sight, if your going “INNAWOODS” with it. Lanyard it to your kit of course, because. Happy trails with that.
Thanks to the Anti’s Michigan now has the highest number of black bear since before the turn on the 20th century.
I live in southern Michigan. In the last two tiers of counties just up from Ohio and Indiana.
For the last thirty years bear encounters have increased. Grand Rapids which is in Kent County has seen many occasions of black bears ending up in the backyards of homes with privacy fences. The home owners build the fence with the smooth side in. The stringers and framing to the outside which gives a toe hold to the bears. Once inside they can’t get out unless they break into the house and find an exit that way.
South of there is Barry County where I was born. My dad and uncle used to encounter bear tracks in several remote areas of the county. Never did see a bear but the CO from the Hastings office did confirm the tracks were bear.
Battle Creek had one come wandering into town one night. That was dispatched by a police officer with his duty gun.
Hastings area had a yearling cub killed when hit by a car near the cemetery where my great great great grandparents are buried. And you can bet that yearling wasn’t alone. Had to be a sow with additional cubs with her.
Some people think this increase in bear activity is just vunderbar. With the DNR planting coyotes and cougars in the state without informing the public some of us are rightfully concerned.
Bear encounters up. Cougar sightings up. Including two cougars killed after attacks on horses and cattle. And those weren’t to far away from where I’m currently located. In the same county.
I’m thinking very seriously of buying another 45/70 lever gun. And a Taraus Raging Bull in 454 Casull. So far haven’t found one of either in any of the emporiums that carry such things.
Fortunately the bears here rarely get over 400 pounds. So my 30-06 or an 8mm can get the job done if needed.
But I fully expect that soon one of these Bruins with a case of wanderlust might just come ambling along someday. Nothing surprises me at all these days.
I’ve wanted a 10mm for a long time but, have more urgent needs. What I did instead was swap out the recoil spring on my M&P45 for a 25lb unit and run 45 Super. Exterior dimensions are the same as .45 ACP. Internally, the Super cartridge case has thicker walls to handle the higher pressure. The M&P has a fully supported chamber and no further mods were necessary. My trail load is Underwood 255gr hard cast bullet motoring along at 1075fps. It doesn’t recoil appreciably harder than a 10mm or 357 Mag. The ammo can be hard to find and is in the same price range as premium .45 ACP offerings. Still cheaper than buying and outfitting a whole new gun. Not that I don’t like doing that.
I think you might be losing the supposed advantages of “paperless” by posting it online but I will say that 10mm is a cartridge I like a great deal on paper. I don’t live anywhere where it’s advantages really make it a priority but if I were in your part of the world I’d have added one to the collection years ago.
Springfield Armorys new Ronin in 10mm is a real nice piece of work. I wouldn’t mind having one follow me home someday soon.
Being the creative type I can imagine all sorts of uses for one.
Be cautious about gun pics which show serial numbers. There are programs which scour the internet recording serial numbers and preserving the info.
Love the package!
The SN is on the other side of the Glock and on bottom of frame. Nothing to see here!
I like my Ruger Alaskan in .44 mag and it’s companion my Marlin lever gun in .44mag….but I’m only in the Smoky Mountains…..
Good choice. Although I have the S&W M&P 10mm and am very satisfied with it. Mounted a Swampfox red dot and practicing often have come to like that combination ( red dots on pistols take a bit to get it down, at least for me ). I handload so have some max loads with 200 grain hard cast for larger vermin and such. Brass is a bit hard to find but at my public ranges I frequent I can always seem to pick some up, and from a couple of my buds that shoot they scavenge for me also.
My EDC in grizz country is a S&W 29 with 4″ barrel. Been carrying one for 30 years.
I bought a Ruger Redhawk for the same reason…but…15 shots versus 6 is a compelling argument. The .44 Mag does put out more stop than the 10mm, but the 150% increase in available followups is hard to discount.
bears are always something to consider in the back country. don’t forget the big kitty cats that can come from overhead or a small bush. they are sneaky little devils and can be on you before you can clear leather. I have been surprised by two in my life in Nevada. I always carry something in my hand.
If keeping the red dot, make sure and replace the factory sights with suppressor height sights. Standard height sights are too low to run with a red dot.
Was going to say the same thing. Need those suppressor height sights. The red dot is an amazing device especially for aging eyes and can be very fast getting hits on target especially at longer distances. Took a red dot class from modern samurai project and just amazed how much it improved my shooting.
Yep,
Graduate here also of Scott’s RDS training! Brother Jedi
I have a Glock 20 as well. It is well worth it only if you use custom ammo. Most of the 10mm for sale is only about 100 fps faster than a .40 s&w.
There are some really potent custom loads out there, especially the hard cast bullets for bears. The Glock does not work with the Glock barrel when using hard cast lead bullets. There are plenty of good barrel makers out there to chose from for Barrels using hard lead cast bullets.
In case a Glock 40 handgun putting a 10mm round easily through BULLET PROOF glass is of any interest to you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDvzul3rvTk
Funny how that works. The ballistic engineers always find a way around the improvements of the protection engineers.