Lightest weight, biggest firepower pistol???

[Hornseeker]

When I bought my Smith Mountain Gun 12 years ago, it was about my best option for packable, wearable, serious firepower (grizzly medicine)...

I keep hearing Titanium this and Beryllium that and super light weight, blah blah blah...

What are the options nowadays? As in, 44 or 41 mag that is LIGHT and Packable?

THANKS!!!   

[Wenatcheejay]

Grizzly LAR .45 Magnum (OK, maybe not so light, but firepower? Oh ya!)

http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg/usa/lar-grizzly-e.html

[KillBilly]

This is a S&W Model 329PD it has a Scandium Alloy Frame and Titanium Alloy Cylinder. It only weighs 25.1 oz / 711.6 g empty. It has high vis sights and it feels like it belongs in your hand. That is until you pop off your first 300 gr round. Buffalo Bore makes some very mild .44 mag rounds and milder .44 special that make practicing more enjoyable. It came with wood and rubber grips and a very tidy price tag. It is by far the lightest handgun I have ever worn/packed.

[MuleySniper]

My S&W M&P comes in at 13.2 oz. It is a .357 mag. Technically "firepower" is the number of rounds a particular gun will hold and has nothing to do with caliber. My 340 holds 5 rds. Here it is posed next to a tube of chapstick for size reference. (No it is not my chapstick!) 
MS

[Huntnphish]

FN FiveSeven!!! Light weight, high capacity, Low Recoil, Long Range and Penetration.

Kelly Alwood FN fiveseven 5.7X28 shooting bullet proof vest penetration test

[CastleRocker]

This is a S&W Model 329PD it has a Scandium Alloy Frame and Titanium Alloy Cylinder. It only weighs 25.1 oz / 711.6 g empty. It has high vis sights and it feels like it belongs in your hand. That is until you pop off your first 300 gr round. Buffalo Bore makes some very mild .44 mag rounds and milder .44 special that make practicing more enjoyable. It came with wood and rubber grips and a very tidy price tag. It is by far the lightest handgun I have ever worn/packed.

I've got the same one.  Bought it used last summer from a great member on this forum's classifieds.  My ONLY complaint with it is, when I'm packing it, I have to check to make sure it's still in the holster about a dozen or more times a day!  It's THAT light.  As for recoil, I don't think it's bad at all, (but I don't shoot 300 grainers out of it either!)  It does bark, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would.  My old load of 2400 with 240 jhp's works very well.  Remember, if you are using it for what it's intended for, you will pack it a lot more than you will shoot it.  When I want to do some shooting , I take out one of my 44's with a steel frame and a longer barrel, that will take a steady diet of 300's without any risk of damage to the gun, (or my hand).

[CastleRocker]

As far as lightweight and power goes; just remember, no matter which one you get, you HAVE to be able to hit your intended target.  If you miss, you might as well throw a feather at it.

[Jason]

I wanted a S&W 329 also, but I settled for the Taurus 444 Ultra-lite 44mag 4" 28.3oz 6rds all titanium alloy.

[jdb]

if you handload you might look at the ruger blackhawk .45 colt w/ the 4 5/8" barrel it tips the scale at 39 oz. handloaded a .45 is every bit the gun a .44 is.

[TheSkyBuster]

My Hiking in Bear country gun:








the 10MM auto can get pretty close to 41 rem mag performance (velocity and energy) in a lighter package than alot of revolvers (28 oz empty) plus its 15+1
I load 200 gr FMJ's with 14gr's of AA#9 which gives me a muzzle velocity of around 1200 fps for my "bear deterrent" loads.

[724wd]

http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/the-taurus-raging-judge-28-gauge-revolver/   

[superdown]

Or This

[KeeKeeBlamo]

.454 Casull Ruger Alaskan 2.5". Slightly spendy though.

[TheSkyBuster]

 I'm not really up on all this fancy new stuff so I had to do a little Interweb research.  Sounds like the 50GI was unvailed at the 2008 shot show.  600 bucks for the conversion kit for your glock 20 or 21.  8+1 capacity.   The 50 gi will send a 300gr bullet at 850 fps, that is 481 ft.-lb's @ the muzzle.  Or a 230gr slug @ 1050 which comes out to about 560 ft.-lb's of energy.  With the 185gr bullet you can get close to 600 hundred ft.-lb's of energy.  A bit higher energy wise than a 45ACP but well behind the 10MM auto,  you have the option of 300 gr bullets but you have to trade that for half the capacity.  Looks like a cool toy,  I want one.    

[Hornseeker]

Well, this is what I'm packing...but its heavy.. how heavy? I'll take a look... about 40 oz... I've got a fairly heavy Galco it fits in...it does NOT go unnoticeable... But dam, I can shoot a box of ammo out of it and be happy! I shoot 320 grain Cor bons out of it.... and I practiced a LOT for the first couple years. I hunt almost exclusively in griz country and wanted to be ready if the time came!

The Taurus and the Scandy SW look like what I want...