Originally Posted By: haertig
Originally Posted By: Phaedrus
My SD Enhanced Permit is honored in WY, MT and ID so I will certainly be taking my CCW (generally an HK P2000 in 9mm), but I may opt for the VP9 or P30S this time.

Maybe not the best for bear, but I do admire your choice in handguns! I have the P30S and my son has the VP9. Love them both. Haven't tried a P2000 yet. Equal to my admiration regarding your choice of firearms, is my admiration of the fact that you can actually conceal them. Nothing on your list is exactly "small".

Moving back to the topic at hand - the eternal debate of handgun vs. spray - if you choose the gun, something in .45-70 would be nice:


I'm not a small guy. wink The P30S & VP9 will conceal fairly well if you have a good holster (I have a Garrett Industries Silent Thunder IWB for every gun I ever carry, about eight of them). It comes down to how you dress, too. I'm a pretty low key guy; mostly it's jeans and T-shirts for me, and if it's not real hot I'll often have an unbuttoned and untucked shirt on over it. No skinnny jeans, either!

My P30S has been worked over by Gray Guns (super tuned trigger, optimized for CCW) and wears Trijicon HD sights. My P2000 and VP9 have night sights as well. When I go hiking I often carry a USPf9 with an Inforce APL in a chest rig (Hill People Gear Kit Bag). If I'm way "off the grid" then I will carry one in the Kit Bag and another on my hip.

A 12 ga with slugs would be about as good as anything I could reasonably see having with me. A Brenneke K.O. should shoot completely through an average size bear.
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