... a man's handgun. An encore in the pistol setup in 30-06 or 300 win mag in a 15" barrel.
"A man's handgun?" A single-shot is a fool's handgun, in the applications we're discussing. I have a Contender with seven barrels, but I wouldn't be caught dead with any single-shot handgun as a back-up piece.
Or to put it another way -- I'd expect to be caught dead, sooner or later, if I were fool enough to count on a single-shot (
two-handed) handgun as my back-up piece in a sticky situation.
Question: how many who've commented here have
had to use a back-up handgun on a dangerous animal? I have -- more than once.
In 1960, my .44 Magnum Blackhawk was enough to put down a bull moose that attacked my wife. My .44 Magnum Redhawk (1981) was enough for one Keith bullet to put out the lights for a 350-plus-pound wild boar. I fired two warning bullets close over the head of the moose but then had to go for the brain. Couldn't've gotten those rounds off fast enough with a single-shot handgun, Fortunately, one warning shot from the Blackhawk was enough to make a bear turn and lope for the nearest cover (Alaska, 1959). I didn't dare think that only one bullet would be enough for the boar -- was of course pleased that it was enough -- but glad too that I'd been well equipped in case it hadn't been enough.
