i have lived in Black Bear country my hole life and have carried a 6 inch single six, for woods bumming, for 40 years and never felt under gunned. then i may be dumber than most. having bear at the end of the drive way while not common is not a shocker ether. in answer to your question, S&W m65 4 inch or the like, 44 spl or up would do fine. as you don't reload or care to at this time would get a 357 or 44 mag that way you can find ammo anywhere. JMHO if it was going to be an auto it would be a 1911 45acp.

YES!

Problem may be finding factory ammo. Several good choices available but not on every shelf. Plenty online sources.

Dan

I carry a 4" .357 Mag. GP-100 when in the woods but if I was going to change I'd go with the fairly new 5" Ruger GP-100 chambered in .44 Special (Mdl. number 1765).

There may be better deals out there but I believe Bud's Gun Shop has them in stock for $622.00.

Thanks everyone for the help here!!! I have been to multiple LGS and have found that I like the feel and balance of the Single action Ruger Super Blackhawk in 44mag. I like the stainless models the most. I have looked at the 5.5, 4.62, and 3.75 and can not decide on what I like the most.I like the 3.75 because it will carry well while I have my long single shot CVA with me, But I feel that it may not have good performance out of the shorter barrel.

Does anyone have experience with these 3 different barrels that can tell me if it will make much difference?

I'd go with at least the 4-5/8" barrel if for no other reason that some states require at least a 4" barrel for hunting big game.

Ballistics by the inch have results for .44 mag factory loads against different barrel lengths. http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/44mag.html
While informative, performance is often more about the human factor, so the question will be how well the sight radius and balance work for you.

The level of performance is related to the task. For self defense, a two inch barrel .44 magnum may be adequate. With the right load, it could reach out much further. Ease of use and comfort will suffer. If 50 yards or so is all you intend to use it for, I think any of those lengths should work well enough. Just understand the shorter barrels, while as intrinsically accurate as the longer tubes, are much harder to shoot accurately. Elmer Keith seemed to love his 4" guns. Hard to argue with his results!

Thanks guys. I hadn?t thought much about the fact that other states have minimum barrel length laws. Thanks for bringing that up.

I also like the info about Elmer Keith liking his 4? guns.

I guess I will take another look into the 4-5/8 barrel it sounds like the best compromise between carry and shoot ability.

Good advice. FWIW Wyoming and Colorado require a minimum of a 4" barrel length.

This is hard for me, because I don't think a revolver is the best handgun for the kind of woods, hiking, etc. by me, BUT if it has to be a revolver no question my S&W 28-2 357 mag with Hogue rubber grips.

Revolvers are all that you need. Revolvers come in the power levels necessary to take down any animal worldwide. As a woods carrying firearm the revolver is second to none. It works more reliably than the semi-auto and can handle more kinds of ammunition due to the use of a rim to hold the base of the cartridge and common diameters of bullets. For example, the 460 X-frame from Smith and Wesson can shoot 460 Smith and Wesson, 454 Casull, 45 Long Colt and 45 Schofield all because of the diameter in common and the rim that holds the cartridge from sliding forward in the cylinder.
A 10 mm semi-auto can also be used because of the availability of good ammo made to increase its penetration. But a revolver is as good as it gets in my opinion.

The 4.6in SBH is one of my favorite woods carry guns.

I agree that the variety of revolvers that are available can meet any need as described in this thread. I love my Contenders for longer range and open country but in the woods a revolver is the way to go!

For a 1 gun solution with hunting in the criteria I would opt for the longer 5.5 inch barrel.

I m late to the party, but I'll through my 2 cents in. I carried the Super Black Hawk with a 5.5" barrel for 2 years. It's gone now. That little bugger just didn't shoot worth a hoot for me. Now I m running a Glock 40 10mm for open trail carry during hunting season. I have been for the last year or so. It also has it's pluses and minuses. I m planning on using it for Black Bear over bait at bow ranges this august, but that's not 100% firm especially with my 358 win ready at a moments notice. Now with all that said. My Glock is much easier to carry and much faster into action on the trail. Used it all fall while I was out hunting and in Montana as well.

My 44 SBH was ok to carry and heavy as all get out. I use my 10 mm for our local steel shoots to practice all summer. Couldn't even begin to fast draw and reload with the 44 mag SBH lol. Long story longer, there are many on here with excellent suggestions and more experience than my self, but if I was looking for a do all gun I would hands down go with a DA revolver in at 357 mag with a 4-6" barrel.

357 would be your least expensive to shoot especially with 38 special and trust me a good 38 load is all we need out here on the east coast from Florida to Maine.

GA bear is no more of a threat than the bears here in the ADK or along the PA border. I find dogs and people to be much more of an issue (huge actually). Also we are required by law to CC out side of hunting season on the trail(and in public). I carry a S&W 442 in 38 Special and never feel under gunned. I use a basic 125 gr xtp at normal pressures and feel I could turn any 2 or 4 legged thing around if need be.

My picks would be DA Revolver SP 101 357 with 4.2 barrel. Dream to carry and shoot cheaply. After that I would go with a Smith combat 69 in 44 mag/ special. Finally I would go with G20 or G40 in 10 mm if you where so inclined to consider a Semi.

If you intend to CC with the same handgun I would go either SP 101 / G20 for do all's

Single action bisley revolver chambered in 480 Ruger. 4.62 inch barrel, loaded with 410 grain buffalobore ammunition.

I couldn't find a one size fits all revolver for all of the duties described in the first post. In areas where black bear are the biggest critters in the woods I carry a Ruger GP100 .357 mag Stainless 3" TALO Wiley Clapp for a camping/woods bumming gun. For hunting in those same areas I use either a Ruger GP100 .357 mag Stainless 6" TALO Unfluted or a Dan Wesson .357 mag Stainless 7.5" Ported.

For areas where either grizz or moose are present I carry a S&W 629 .44 mag Stainless 5" for my woods bumming/camping gun. In the areas with big critters I carry a S&W Performance Center 629 .44 mag 7.5" Ported Stealth Hunter for hunting.

All of my revolvers are stainless steel and I prefer 3"-5" barrels for carry and 6"+ for hunting.

If nothing else I justified the purchase of multiple firearms.

If I had to compromise and select one revolver for the OP's chosen duties a 5" GP100 in .357 mag would make a fine piece.