Hunting handguns and hunters' handguns are not necessarily the same thing. A hunting handgun is what a handgun hunter uses as his primary game-taking tool. Something like a scoped big-bore single-action revolver, a long-barreled single shot, or a bolt-action pistol.

S&W's new Emergency Survival kits include sidearms plus emergency tools in a waterproof,floatable case.

A hunters' handgun is what a rifle hunter or shotgun hunter carries as a sidearm to supplement or serve as a crisis backup to their primary hunting gun. Even handgun hunters carry such companion sidearms--as do smart fishermen and backpackers in bear country.

Of course, small and lightweight .22 rimfire or .32/.38-caliber centerfire "kit gun" revolvers have long been popular as hunters' belt guns. But here I'm talking about something different. I'm talking about serious, powerful, backup and point-and-shoot survival tools, where a .357 Magnum is the absolute minimum and the maximum is as much as you can handle.

The problem was that until very recently a truly heavy-hitting handgun needed to be a heavyweight handgun. So many big-game rifle hunters and bear-country fishermen have found themselves needing a Magnum-level companion gun in the field but didn't have one just because they weren't inclined to have that additional weight on their belts as they clambered across rugged terrain or waded the streams.

These days we have much better choices. Four of our leading revolver manufacturers are offering entirely new generations of "companionable" powerhouse double-action revolvers, in traditional heavy-frame designs and also in new full-size ultralightweight formats engineered from high-tech titanium and scandium/aluminum alloys that weigh as little and are as easy and comfortable to carry as a compact personal-defense pocket pistol. Here's a quick survey of some top-end models of both types.

For an emergency sidearm, magnum cartridges with deep-penetration bullets are required.

Emergency Survival Kits
With more models of field-companion and survival revolvers than any other maker, both heavy all-steel as well as ultralightweight, Smith & Wesson is clearly the current leader in each category. At the top of the list are S&W's new Emergency Survival Kits, unveiled at this year's S.H.O.T. Show and developed to provide outdoor enthusiasts of all types with a variety of tools for emergency situations.

The 460ES kit contains a massive Smith & Wesson Model 460XVR .460 Magnum revolver featuring a safety yellow rubber grip with a 23/4-inch barrel; the 500ES kit contains a Model 500 .500 Magnum revolver of the same barrel length with a safety orange rubber grip.

One benefit of the Model 460 version is that it will also fire .454 Casull and .45 Colt loads. The kits are packaged in an extremely rugged waterproof and floatable yellow (460ES) or orange (500ES) crash-resistant case. Each ES kit contains several survival tools: heavy-duty folding survival knife, flexible tree/firewood saw, signal whistle, compass, signal mirror, strike lighter, fire starter accelerant packets, two emergency blankets, and a book with tips on preventing bear attacks. The book is a nice touch, but the idea is that once you've read it, you'll leave it at home and use its compartment in the case to store whatever holster you buy for the gun.