I have double action for my woods guns, double action is mandatory for me, I can't imagine I can use a single action in a volatile situation. I think they compliment a lever gun just as well as a single action. For actual protection, in the woods, where the problems are cougar or black bear, my preferred carry is 357 (covers two legged creature in the parking lot too).Iplayfarmer wrote:...I'll be shooting primarily targets, but I will carry the pistol in the back country for defense against the four legged type of attacker. I want to be accurate, and I want to be fast. It sounds like I can't have both with one gun....
Here in Colorado I carry a 3" Ruger SP-101 in 357. I don't have any trouble keeping it on target when I shoot one of those "shooting balls" with 158gn full-house magnum loads. For around the camp I also have a Ruger Super Redhawk in 44mag that I had cut down to 4.5". If I was buying my first woods/range 357, I'd get what I bought back in 1994, a 4" GP-100: