What is the smallest caliber you trust to protect yourself?

[CAMPMEAT]

That 5.7 sounds like a really cool round

They are for around $1200.

[jeepster]

  my AK (if its not hunting season)

i always thought you couldnt have more than a certain ammount of rounds in your rifle durring hunting season... (maybe i just bird hunt too much)....





You can legally hunt with an AK. I have done it. It's a 30 caliber bullet and meets the WDFW impact requirements at 100 yards. For big game, if I recall, there is no mag restriction.

[BULLBLASTER]

Not that it matters but I don't think there is a minimum energy requirement. Just 6mm and centerfire for hunting.

[GrainfedMuley]

Yes there is. For big game, a bullet must create more than 350 foot lbs of impact at 100 yards. That is why the minimun caliber to hunt big game in Washington is, I think, .243. I have heard about this rule since I was a kid. You can not hunt deer in Washington with a .223 but you can in Oregon.

[BULLBLASTER]

Yes there is. For big game, a bullet must create more than 350 foot lbs of impact at 100 yards. That is why the minimun caliber to hunt big game in Washington is, I think, .243. I have heard about this rule since I was a kid. You can not hunt deer in Washington with a .223 but you can in Oregon.

can you direct me to where it shows this rule?
page 74 of the regs "big game, except cougar must be hunted with a minimum of .24 caliber (6mm) centergire rifle."

i dont see anything about any energy requirement. 6mm-223 is legal as well. the way i read it, even a .25 auto is legal as long as it meets barrel requirements.

[high country]

380 wont penetrate a coat.....laffin. read down to where the 380 penetrated the officer completely and then some.

 http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/Have%20No%20Faith.htm

And a study by the FBI on handgun wounding and effectiveness.....

 http://www.firearmstactical.com/hwfe.htm

[JimmyHoffa]

I haven't seen any energy requirement for WA.  Other states spell it out in their regs, here it is just a caliber size and barrel length.  Especially with all the reloaders out there....they would have to test every gun in the field to prove it met the requirement, even up to 50 cal.

[dawei]

I can only draw from my personal experience, and training. I've had the misfortune of being in a gunfight; however, I had the good fortune to have survived. Perp had a 9mm & I had a 357 Magnum. The smallest caliber handgun I will carry is a 38 Special. I prefer the 357 Magnum as my primary CCW piece, and alternate between two 357 Mag snub nose revolvers. Both are carried with 357 Magnum ammunition. I further carry a J frame size 5 shot 38 Special as my BUG. Reloads FOR ALL GUNS are 38 Special for obvious reasons.

My belief is you should choose the largest caliber you can shoot effectively, accurately, and repeatably (ALL THREE). For me, at my present age (62); that is the 357 Magnum. For my wife (63), that is the 38 Special. There will come a time, I imagine, in the not too far distant future; where the 357 Magnum will be too much for me to handle. At that time my primary carry gun(s) will change to be a 44 Special and 38 Special.

[huntnphool]

That 5.7 sounds like a really cool round

 It is! Long range, high penetration and low recoil.

feature=related

[Sitka_Blacktail]

I try to avoid places where I feel I need protection. If I have no choice, then I'll take  12 gauge with 00 buckshot over any pistol. I guarantee that big old barrel is scarier to a tweeker or other bad guy than any pistol, and I'm less likely to miss. But seriously avoidance is better than any gun, and sometimes guns give you a false sense of security, which can make you careless, where when you aren't armed, your hackles are up and you are paying attention to what's going on around you.  I've been all over Alaska including 6 years on Kodiak and I've probably been unarmed as often as armed. I'm usually only armed when I'm hunting, but I also hike and fish and pick berries a lot in bear country and never pack then. I've had three close bear encounters hunting and luckily never had to defend myself. And three very close encounters, two fishing and one hiking and again was fortunate to have things go my way. In all of the hunting cases I was surprised by the bear, and in two the bear knew I was there before I knew the bear was there. One the bear was standing staring at me at about 50 yards, and the second seemed to be charging me from about 40 yards when I first heard then saw it. In reality it was running to a vantage spot to look for me as it had smelled me. It stopped on a knoll about 25 yards away and spotted me when I yelled to my partner that there was a bear. It then spun around and departed the area with speed you can't imagine for a creature that large.

By contrast when unarmed I was very aware there was a bear nearby once while fishing and once hiking. I heard brush popping and saw bushes moving both times before a surprised bear popped into open ground and was surprised to find me there where it wanted to go. Both times we made it around each other at fairly close distance without incident but I'd be lying If I said I was completely comfortable with the situation. the third time a friend and a gal I knew and I were so into fishing we completely missed 5 brownies walk out on the opposite bank about 25 yards away until the gal looked up, dropped her pole and walked quickly to the truck, got in and locked the doors. We asked "what's wrong Sue?" And she pointed and said...."There's 5 of them!" And we looked and she was right! So we said "open the door and let us in!", and she said, "Nope". So there we stood until the bears wandered back in the bushes. Then she decided we could drive her home.

Another time 4 of us boated across Shelikof Strait from Kodiak to dig clams for crab bait commercially. We were digging in Kukak Bay and Switshak and had bears going by us every day and they basically ignored us. Or pretended to. They had to know we were there, but they wouldn't acknowledge us in the slightest, even when we yelled at them. We finally ignored them and just dug clams and they did their thing. This was in the general area Tim Treadwell ended up getting himself killed, But we weren't camping on bear trails either.

[Deep Forks]

22 lr will do but when carrying it's the 40 sw.  In the mountains 44 mag.

[rasbo]

hope this works,Im not sure of his accent or where he is from,but this could be the result of gun bans....

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[gotshot]

Most of the time a 40 but occasionally I pack a revolver in 32-20.

[dawei]

hope this works, Im not sure of his accent or where he is from, but this could be the result of gun bans....

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Oberfranken = Franconia
Franconia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franconia
Thus he is German.

[jeepster]

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/162922/aguila-minishell-ammunition-12-gauge-1-3-4-4-and-1-buckshot-11-pellets-box-of-20

has anybody ever used those? they are 1 3/4 inch 12 gauge shells

ive often wondered about those, i bet i could put 10 of those in one of my shotguns, and they seem great for home defence, i wouldnt bother with something that small in the woods, and definatley wouldnt hunt with em but yeah... always wondered...