I could live with my Buckmark and a ton of ammo with the suppressor on it. It would kill anything around here if I got too hungry.

The problem is a big gun will do 99% of everything a small gun will but a small gun will only handle about half of what a big bore will, depending on the exact cartridge of course. My smallest in a revolver would be a 44 Mag, Semi Auto would be my R1 1911 in 460 Rowland because it will also cycle 45acp without a hiccup. In single shots it would be a 375 or 338JDJ in a Contender and in the Encore It would be a minimum of a 270 or 280 but probably a 300Win mag as I've had excellent performance with it on paper and on animals. With a 180gr bullet it's a hammer and hits as hard as a heavy 06 rifle load or lighter 300 load.

I LOVE BUCKMARKS AND THE OLDER CHALLENGERS!

I have enjoyed reading all these posts.

if i can have only 1 handgun the world has gone the rest of the way to bull bleep. ( it 3/4 there as it is) i dont want a semi, bent feed lipe, finicky about ammo,ect. 357 would be just about right BUT i aint got one. so i still say my single six.

Even though I don't own my idea 1 gun, it would be a Ruger Super Redhawk in 454 Casull. Cut the barrel to 5", and send it to TK for a .45 ACP moon clip conversion. Then you could use 45 ACP, 45 LC, & 454 Casull factory ammo or handloads. Save your sights for the 45 ACP with defensive h.p. ammo. Have 2 Weigand bases with optics sighting into to your 45lc & 454 Casull loads. Just be sure to clean your cylinder chambers real good between cartridge changes. Thump small game with roundballs, home intruders with flying ashtray H.p's, birds & snakes with shot capsules, xtps & cast for big stuff.

With the 22 ammo shortage of 2013, my new choice would be my 357revolver. Can reload for nothing given enough primers and powder. I have molds, so bullets no issue. I have some gas checks for hot loads. So my choices change about as often as my undies.

A Ruger Super Redhawk or in second place any SS 44 Mag with 6-7.5" barrel, one can always download 44 Mag to 357, 38 SPL power levels

GP100, 686 6" for all of the reasons stated in the thread above.