Pistols and revolvers in self-defense against a bear.

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11 July 2014, 20:42

DWright

Pistols and revolvers in self-defense against a bear.

quote:
Originally posted by jwp475:
Bear taken by Larry Kelly

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Yes but as I remember it took several .44 slugs as well as a few from a .375 H&H to finally drop that bear! And I believe Larry had to use a few wet wipes afterwards.

12 July 2014, 00:55

I am pretty sure my Glock 22 loaded with 15 rounds of 40S&W 180 grain hardball should convince any bear not to follow my direction.

12 July 2014, 01:19

jwp475

quote:
Originally posted by DWright:
quote:
Originally posted by jwp475:
Bear taken by Larry Kelly

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Yes but as I remember it took several .44 slugs as well as a few from a .375 H&H to finally drop that bear! And I believe Larry had to use a few wet wipes afterwards.

I am not sure that was this bear. I remember one that broke into Larry's cabin when he was useing JHP's and none penetrated deep enough and the bear was killed by the guide and his rifle. Larry got away from hollow points on really big game after that.

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A 9mm may expand to a larger diameter, but a 45 ain't going to shrink

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.
- Winston Churchill

28 September 2014, 14:41

Cold Trigger Finger

I really enjoyed the article. And I'm very thankful to have larger, more powerful handguns. However it proves that any weapon is no better than No weapon.
Larry, the 40 has been used with very good affect on black bears up here.
Yes a larger handgun would be better if you can hit well with it.
And I do think that a 460 Rowland would be a good choice. Especially if you have a 452 groove and shoot 300 gr bullets or heavier with it.

Phil Shoemaker : "I went to a .30-06 on a fine old Mauser action. That worked successfully for a few years until a wounded, vindictive brown bear taught me that precise bullet placement is not always possible in thick alders, at spitting distances and when time is measured in split seconds. Lucky to come out of that lesson alive, I decided to look for a more suitable rifle."

29 September 2014, 21:12

376steyr

quote:
Originally posted by Cold Trigger Finger:
I really enjoyed the article. And I'm very thankful to have larger, more powerful handguns. However it proves that any weapon is no better than No weapon.
Larry, the 40 has been used with very good affect on black bears up here.
Yes a larger handgun would be better if you can hit well with it.
And I do think that a 460 Rowland would be a good choice. Especially if you have a 452 groove and shoot 300 gr bullets or heavier with it.

Can you provide any anecdotes about 40 used for black bears? I never carried anything smaller than a Glock 20 10mm Auto while hunting in big game country, loaded with 200 grain heavy hard cast truncated cone bullets. I considered the 220 or 230 grain flavors but they didn't stabilize from most reports.

30 September 2014, 16:02

p dog shooter

quote:
Can you provide any anecdotes about 40 used for black bears

I have one on a car hit bear a good size bear in the 350lb range was struck but still alive.

The deputy pulled out his 40 fired 4 times into the neck area of the bear no effect.

Then placed a 12ga slug and killed it.

I used to have the 4 180gr jhps partly expanded bullets laying around.

Knew the deputy that shot them and received the bullets from the taxidermist that skinned the bear.

Very poor penetration of only a few inches and stopped against the spine in the neck area.

The 40 had been out only a few years when this happened

30 September 2014, 16:37

416Tanzan

Thanks.

That anecdote sort of settles things for a something loaded with better penetraton.
Hollow points would be off the list.

Would the 45ACP have made a difference?
How about a 45Colt?

If I ever get a camp handgun I would want to keep its velocity down to 900-1050fps because of decibels.

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"A well-rounded hunting battery might include:
500 AccRel Nyati, 416 Rigby or 416 Ruger, 375Ruger or 338WM, 308 or 270, 243, 223" --
Conserving creation, hunting the harvest.

30 September 2014, 19:02

jwp475

quote:
Originally posted by 416Tanzan:
Thanks.

That anecdote sort of settles things for a something loaded with better penetraton.
Hollow points would be off the list.

Would the 45ACP have made a difference?
How about a 45Colt?

If I ever get a camp handgun I would want to keep its velocity down to 900-1050fps because of decibels.

45 ACP loaded with 255 grain hard cast in +P form at about 950 FPS would be a good load for such use IMHO.

30 September 2014, 20:14

p dog shooter

Loads designed for defense against two legged predators are not all ways the best for larger four legged ones.

01 October 2014, 00:16

Cold Trigger Finger

I know this is a variable but here goes. When I got my first 480 SRH I got a box of 50 Buffalo Bore 410 gr and several boxes of factory 325 gr XTP. I figured that the 325 s would make a low recoiling practice loads.
I was wrong. Tho the 410 gr was chronographing 1200 fps and the 325 gr were 1425-1450 fps. The 325s were less pleasant to shoot. The 410s pushed back more but the 325s had more blast and rise with just a little less push back.
Since then I've experimented with several other revolvers. 44 mag, 45 Colt, 454 Casul. A 240-250 at max velocity is much less pleasant than a 300-360 gr at 1100-1200+ fps.
And that's with 1 handed shooting.

01 October 2014, 00:21

Cold Trigger Finger

The Buffalo Bore 340 gr +P+ ,44 mag load from a 7 1/2" is as close to a 454 Casul as I can get both in terms of recoil and penetration. In a 4 5/8" it is hard to hang onto.