I'm heading into bear country with 12 lbs of honey this weekend and packing a 1911 Government Model .45 ACP. Now, understanding that a .45 Auto is not bear medicine, what's the best factory load (preferably +P and FMJ) to use as a deterrant against a 250+ lb black bear. I've got some +P 230gr Hornady XTP handloads on hand, but I'm not sure a hollow point bullet is the best choice.

sounds to me like that load would be about as good as your going to get out of an autoloader.
just keep shooting till it leaves or dies. Hopefully you wont need it

I might try a Nosler load or Cor-bon's DPX load which is a Barnes all copper bullet which seems to give penetration and expansion !

The 230gr XTP will penetrate almost as far as a FMJ & give you some expansion. Itis a decent choice. DoubleTap makes a FMJ that is hot, but I don;t care much for the RN profile.

I would think your best bet would be Cor-Bon Hunting ammo. When hunting DG and I consider bear DG. You should go with a solid projectile. You want max penetration and be able to break bone. The .45 ACP would not be my choice, but that is me. Do some checking around as you are doing but Cor-bon or Pro-Load would be my choice.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Cheers

That 230 XTP will work just fine. Shoot and don't stop. I would be more concerned about extra clips.

i personally would choose fmj ammo. the best penetrating round would probably be a 200gr or 185gr truncated cone fmj at 1050-1150+ fps they break into the 500+ lbs of energy and if you can find a bullet that wont turn into mush they will penetrate further. i doubt 230's would penetrate far enough to hit a vital they barely give a through and through ona decent size human (but thats why there effective on human). black bears are still pretty though. youd have to really piss one off to get attacked. a friend of mine dropped a 400 pounder with an 8" taurus 608 and factory remington corelokt 158gr .357. just my 2 cents

good load or use the remington golden saber in 230grain its a nasty hollowpoint with good knockdown power

12 lbs of honey, a 45 ACP for a black bear? Save one for yourself.....