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Thread: Revolver Road Trip

  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Behind the redwood curtain

    Revolver Road Trip

    I'm just back from a slightly over three-week cross country road trip. The primary reason for travel was work/project related, but unlike the typical project where anything over a couple hundred miles is by air, I decided to drive this one and take some time off on the way back.

    My travel companion was a Colt King Cobra 3-inch, what follows is probably applicable to any K-frame or slightly smaller 3-inch revolver of similar weight.

    Eastbound was a mad four-day dash down I-80, northern California to Chicago, staying in hotels each night. On the Chicago end... not in the city, in the outer suburban fringe... it was two weeks focused almost entirely on work and on training a new team. In a legal sense it was interesting, because while my permits cover almost every western state and all of the ones I drove through (and many of them are now permitless carry anyway), it's not currently possible for a California resident to obtain an Illinois permit, apparently we don't report to some obscure database that is required for the "substantially similar" clause under Illinois law. Never mind that we're stricter on almost everything else. End result is that the revolver was locked up for the duration of the time in Illinois.

    Westbound was the more relaxed and spontaneous part of the trip, making fast time the first day through the cornfields and then getting off the interstate at Grand Island NB and wandering up through the sandhills on backroads, then through Wyoming. Nothing much was planned prior to each morning, other than heading generally west. On the advice of an acquaintance in Casper WY who said Yellowstone was still off-peak crowds after the recent flooding I decided to take US Rt 20 the rest of the way. He was right about the park, at least in the morning the crowds weren't bad at all for what should be peak season. Afternoon it started to get busier and I had several opportunities to watch tourists get crazy level too close to bison, it's a wonder more stupid humans don't get eliminated from the gene pool each year. From there is was through southern Idaho, Oregon, and back into California. There were lots of short to moderate hikes along the way, usually in the relative cool of the morning hours. Evenings were spent camping in a succession of National Forests. The return took a relaxing and intentionally inefficient seven days, with many photos taken.

    Revolver takeaways:

    The Colt was comfortable to carry and easy to conceal even in hot weather under a loose-fitting lightweight shirt, it was 80s and 90s most of the way. In a Simply Rugged OWB holster and with the 3-inch barrel, it never bothered me in the slightest, whether driving or hiking.

    Ammo for most of the trip was 38 Special Gold Dot short barrel. Entering big critter country in Wyoming, that was swapped out for 140 grain 357 Barnes Vor-TX. If I'd done any serious hiking in brown bear habitat... I was south of the range except for the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, and did no lengthy hikes there this time... that would have been swapped for hardcast, and if plans had included extended time there I would have brought a bigger revolver. The ability to quickly and easily swap loads is a plus for revolver carry, in this case. A speed strip was always available, and I had a couple of speedloaders but didn't carry them much.

    One thing of note, even driving across the mountain west there were only short segments where I felt a need for full magnum loads. The vast majority of the trip I was not within the range of any large and dangerous wildlife, and 38 +p felt plenty adequate.

    Overall it was a positive carry experience, and contributed to my ability to travel light.
    Last edited by Salamander; 08-13-2022 at 10:32 PM.

  2. #2
    Member Zeke38's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    North Cenral Idaho
    I live in the panhandle of Idaho and I'm glad you enjoyed you tour time in Red states. Sounds like a fun adventure. As a fellow owner of a Colt KC 3" I understand your findings and sentiments.

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