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kposey · 05-05-2005, 02:13 PM

Ruger makes a good 9mm.

05-05-2005, 02:28 PM

I like the CZ P0-1. www.cz-usa.com Luger handguns if the link doesn't work.

Silvertwinkie · 05-05-2005, 02:33 PM

Ditton on the Ruger....I think that if I were in the market for another good weapon, I might look at the Glock 10mm. I think that's what the Secret Service uses....maybe the FBI or some gov .org.

http://www.glock.com/g20.htm

rseagle · 05-05-2005, 04:31 PM

I think the Feds use the .40 S&W round in their Glocks and MP-5s. The 10mm is still around, but isn't as popular as the .40. The .40 also has substantially more stopping power than a 9mm. The Kahr K-40 is a great semi-auto and is double-action only (very safe). Paired with 185 gr. Hyda-Shocks loads, you have a excellent weapon.

Also, many people are partial to the .45. S&W, Kimber and Para-ordanance have several .45 semi-autos in different sizes and finishes. The 230 gr. Hyda-Shock has a proven man-stopping rating above 95%.

05ModPod · 05-05-2005, 05:55 PM

It is a sad sad sad day when guns and camping are muttered in the same sentence.

driftwood · 05-05-2005, 06:14 PM

Take your guns to another Forum ... lets discuss our Airstreams!

85MH325 · 05-05-2005, 06:53 PM

Steve, I'll give you my two cents worth... probably ALL it's worth... I've carried a gun every day (actually two guns) for nearly thirty years as part of my job. First, I won't recommend that anyone carry a gun for 'protection' unless you are completely prepared mentally and physically to kill another human being. You don't carry them to scare folks, or to 'wing' 'em. You carry and use a gun to stop them from doing whatever it is you need to shoot them for. You shoot center of mass, and you don't stop shooting until they stop doing whatever it is they're supposed to stop doing.

With that proviso, there is no point in carrying a gun that WON'T stop someone on the first or second shot. The .45 ACP, beloved by generations of U.S. military folks in the 1911A1 Colt (and variants) has a hundred year history of 99% one-shot stops.

Handguns are difficult to be proficient with, and frankly, aren't very intimidating. Most folks who are intent in doing harm are more intimidated by an axe handle or shovel than a handgun, for a couple of reasons. We've all been whacked by something at one time or another and know that it hurts. Few of us can imagine being shot. Unless you're exceptionally comfortable with handling a handgun, clearing a misfire (jam), combat loading, and holstering a handgun I just can't recommend one for the average person.

The most versatile and easiest to use 'defense' weapon out there is the 12 gauge pump shotgun with an 18" or 20" barrel and full stock. There is no sound in the world like the action of a pump shotgun being racked. It has a variety of loads available, including #4 buck, 00 buck and slugs for combat, and lighter #7 or #8 loads for sporting potential. They're easy and intuitive to operate. Best of all, they're intimidating offensive weapons.

I can tell story after story of cops trying to take hardcore crooks down at gunpoint with handguns and being taunted by the crooks until someone showed up with a 12ga. Game, set, match. The incident is over. Folks understand that they'll probably not walk away from a shotgun wound.

So, the moral is don't carry or display a firearm unless you're fully prepared to shoot someone. If you display a firearm, use a gun that will produce a one-shot stop. Having to shoot a crook repeatedly will eventually produce the desired result, but perhaps not until they have the opportunity to hurt you severely. Last, practice, practice, practice. Things happen quickly in a gunfight, and you don't have time to reason out your response. You will respond the way you train to respond.

Packing a gun into the boonies is a reasonable and proper thing to do. I have never camped without one. Just make sure you've properly prepared yourself if you do it.

Roger

norbert · 05-05-2005, 07:01 PM

amen roger....nuff said.
norby

eubank · 05-05-2005, 09:21 PM

Yeah, we carry a .45 (decommissioned military), but it's purpose is not to kill or even try to, but to make a bunch of noise. It's primary function is to scare off wild animals. (I had a meeting with a mountain lion once, and what I really needed to do was to make as much ugly noise as possible.)

My dad, still flying in the mountains and back country, carries a loaded 30-30 with him. Its function is pretty much the same: If he has to go down, he wants something that will make a terrific amount of noise. The more attention he can attract, the better, under those circumstances.

Lynn

Silvertwinkie · 05-05-2005, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by driftwood

Take your guns to another Forum ... lets discuss our Airstreams!

Well, I could be wrong here, but the thread was started talking about hesitations of boondocking and about weapons and/or stories.

garry · 05-05-2005, 09:44 PM

I have a 357 mag but only "carry" the shotgun when camping for the very reason Roger stated above. I may be a good shot at the range but that dosen't hack it under duress and shaking in my boots and believe me if the situation requires you to pull a gun things are already way out of control and you will be scared and running on adrenalin.

May not hold much water but I also think with the various hand gun laws in most states a shotgun as a hunting weapon may be legal.

Garry

driftwood · 05-06-2005, 04:36 AM

Ok, so I tried ... it's just that I go to this Forum for pleasure and the discussions of weapons and confrontations leave me somewhat uncomfortable.

The Vietnam conflict provided me with more than adequate training in weapons ... and since I travel with a champion hunting dog, I too carry a mini-arsenal.

Rarely will you find my Airstream without a vintage Belgium Browning semi-automatic and an old Model 12 pump on board, with more than a dozen boxes of shells.

The more precarious the campsite feels, the closer to my bed the Browning rests. Usually loaded with shot incrementally larger with each spent round.

Never had any problems entering and leaving the US, just a delay while the serial numbers are verified with the paperwork that was completed on the last entry/exit to our Country.

Fortunately, to this date, only used working the dog.

gadgetat · 05-06-2005, 06:08 AM

Our experiences boondocking have always been positive. We haven't really run into rowdies or troublemakers, but then again, when we boondock it is usually very far from major population centers.

People used to ask a similar question when we were on the Appalachian Trail. "Aren't you afraid of running into a bad person on the AT?" We never worried about that. Like the Airstream community, Thru-Hikers watch out for each other. You may think you're going to be alone on a long hike, but an hour ahead or behind you are more Thru-Hikers. We usually felt safer on the trail then when we hit a trail town for re-supply.

Just like the trail we've found that other campers always seem to look out for us, and we look out for them. Even when we're boondocking we've met great folks doing and enjoying the same activities we are

. Plus, with a pair of 80 lb labs any night time visitors get a stern woof! 9 times out of 10 though the woof is directed at me coming back in after taking a walk without the pups.

jburnes · 05-06-2005, 09:18 AM

Hi,

Speaking of Boondocking...

I need to rebuild my cash supply, so I'd like to stop renting, get myself an Argosy and live in it a while. Thereby getting a permanent payed-for roof over my head and a net positive cash flow. Just me, my wife and 1 kid.

1. Has anyone found a good way to lease/purchase a small plot of land and work out some sort of hookup arrangement for electricity, sewers etc? The area I'd like to live has tons of undeveloped land mostly for farms. Has anyone tried just talking to farmers about leasing a little plot?

2. I need to store essentials in a u-store-it, but I don't want to spend a whole lot on that. Has anyone looked at differnet deals on self-storage companies and found anything really good.

This is my plan for digging myself out of debt, and not back into it. So I'd like to find a well-maintained older Argosy and be done with it. I also know that when winter comes round again I have to be ready to either insulate my Motorhome or move south. Any experiences.

I'd really like to do this, but there are so many unknowns...

Thanks,

JBurns

Boondocker · 07-27-2005, 10:29 PM

The most tragic and frightening experience I have had boondocking (who would have thought there was a special name for proper camping) was when I ran out of mixer for margaritas. I can see where pulling off near well traveled roads might get sketchy, however, most national forest and alot of BLM areas allow "dispersed camping" which are a whole other animial. Dispersed camping in these areas are fantastic (not to mention priced right) and you will meet all sorts of nice folks. As I approach 40, a marked desire for an airstream (20-26' for any potential donors

) over a tent, or my brothers popup increasingly impinges on my world. When I buy the last thing I will check is the electricity. My advice: get out and enjoy our land, and the less things you plug into where you camp the better off you will be.

Rodney

brandsto · 09-17-2018, 05:45 PM

Yes, we have had a few. Once in Hocking Hills, OH and once in Allegheny National Forest, PA.

Hocking hills we had a pop up at the time and a friend with a tent. We all went hiking and when we came back our friends tent was all cut up and their hatchet was missing from under their bed and all of the trees around the site were hacked up as well.

Just this past weekend we were in Allegheny National Forest and had a truck pull up into our site at 1:00 am. They sat in the entrance blocking our truck and had their brights on. We came out of our trailer with our German Shepherd and they wouldn't answer us when we tried to talk to them. My husband then started to approach them with our personal protection and the truck then started to leave.
They drove away down the road and then came back 2 minutes later and fired 3 rounds from their gun towards our campsite. Needless to say we were shaken up. We stayed up most of the night and booked it out of there the next day.

We informed the forest service and they informed us that they have people normally shooting in dispersed sites quite a bit.

Hittenstiehl · 09-17-2018, 06:42 PM

Wow, great thread resurrection, 13 years.

Interesting that many sentiments are the same.

ROBERT CROSS · 09-17-2018, 09:06 PM

Do I or don't I?...you guess...🤪🔫
Bob
🇺🇸

rmkrum · 09-17-2018, 10:02 PM

Yup. You don’t need to advertise. Just be safe.

ke6gkv · 09-18-2018, 12:16 AM

hello Jamie. i have spent my whole life boondocking, bare ground, tents and many trailers. i have never had any problems in any dispersed camping. up and down the sierras. national forest. blm lands- california, nevada. arizonia.the only time we had a problem was in a state park and the cops had it under contol fast. get out and enjoy our lands. common-sense security works well. kurt