Truck/Camp Rifle?

Very nice Fotis!
I like those snub nose 44 Mags.

JD338
 
Beautiful. Dan Wesson?
Yes sir. Got that one and the 357 mag

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I always have a Ruger SP101 3" on me, my daily carry gun. I load with Hornady 125 grain Critical Defense, but keep a speedloader of Buffalo Bore Heavy 158 grain loads in my pocket for woods carry. If I'm handgun hunting I have a 5.5" Ruger New Model Bisley Blackhawk in .41 Rem Mag in a Diamond D Guide's Choice chest rig I like. I have shot one small buck with that .41 using Remington HTP semi-jacketed flat points. He only went 30 yards but didn't leave a blood trail so I now use 210 gr XTP bullets with a maximum dose of H110.

When I lived in Arizona I used to have a Marlin 917V in .17 HMR that was my truck gun. I had a gun rack in my 96 Ranger and I would put that rifle in it when I was out in the desert or up on the Mogollon Rim. Once while trout fishing at Knoll Lake I saw the only black bear I've ever seen in the wild. With fish smell on my hands and a Springfield Armory XD9 Service I felt undergunned. I normally carried my S&W 4" 686 loaded with 180 grain Buffalo Bore Heavy Outdoorsman rounds when I was camping or bowhunting up there, but that time I was only up for the day visiting and fishing with a friend and had my city carry pistol.

Also in AZ I once saw a Lee Enfield Jungle Carbine in a pawn shop for $200. I looked it over and thought it would make a good truck gun, but I had wanted the Ishipore model in .308 Winchester and this one was .303 British so I passed. I wish I would have bought it.

These days I have a Palmetto State Armory AR15 I built just as a beater truck gun. It originally just had iron sights and I ran a tactical 2 gun course with it. She was great. Over the years it has morphed into my predator gun (even though it is just a 16" barrel) and wears a Burris LPVO. I've upgraded the furniture too with some Magpul stuff. It would make a fine truck gun for self-defense and any opportunistic shots on coyotes. I have a 1975 Ruger 10/22 Carbine and an 18" 870 12 gauge as truck options as well depending on what I was needing it for. About 2 years ago I ordered a side loading gate Henry All-Weather in .357 magnum but it never came in. I called the store recently and they said they never see them. Anyway, I think that would make a great deer gun for brush hunting or a fine truck gun.

One last thought, I knew a mountain man in AZ from Montana who lived in his truck and was always up in the tall pines or out in the desert. He liked a combination gun for his truck gun. I believe he had a .22 mag on top and a .410 on the bottom. I remember Savage used to offer those and they had combos like 30-30 on top and 12 gauge on bottom and .223 on top and 20 gauge on bottom. I think they had others too. Now it looks like they have a take down version with .22LR on top and .410 on bottom.

I love talking about truck guns and thinking about how free you feel when you're cruising the 2-track logging roads on a ridge with a trusty little rifle in the gun rack. Living in Southeast Michigan (unfortunately) now those days are over for me. Unless I can find a way to move to the UP. I went to the gun club today and shot my 10/22 and a Lyman Great Plains Rifle in .54 Cal Flintlock. I can't say I have ever seen a Hawken in a gun rack!
 
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