I have shot two brown bears with handguns The first was J Gallagher brown in the AK peninsula the bear was dead and proped upright for pictures the buler a .512 435 lbt at 1250 penetrated both shoulders and exited. The second was in Prince William Sound this one was still breathing when we got to it he was laying on his brisket with both front feet flat on the ground. The bear was not moving I sat about ten feet from him and shot so as to hit the big bone on the front leg. The bullet shattered the bone put a inch and a half hole in the spine and broke the off leg bone and exited. The bear quit breathing. A .500 SW will shoot right trough a brown with the light Barnes bullet or with the 500 gr. The .44 mag will give full penetration on side shots with with 300 gr or better with hard cast bullet 22 Brinell or better. The bear will move as long as he has blood flow to the brain or the spine or brain is hit. The bigger the hole in the circulatory system the sooner the blood flow stops. A bear shot through the nose straight to the brain will probably die as there are no bones to stop the bullet. How lucky do you feel today Joe Polanco

Bear Hunter,

A few questions for you if you don't mind:

quote:

The first was J Gallagher brown in the AK peninsula the bear was dead and proped upright for pictures the buler a .512 435 lbt at 1250 penetrated both shoulders and exited.

Was this bear shot with a .500 Linebaugh? What was the shot distance? How many times was the bear hit? How far did he run? How much time passed between the first shot and when you found him?

quote:

The second was in Prince William Sound this one was still breathing when we got to it he was laying on his brisket with both front feet flat on the ground. The bear was not moving I sat about ten feet from him and shot so as to hit the big bone on the front leg. The bullet shattered the bone put a inch and a half hole in the spine and broke the off leg bone and exited. The bear quit breathing.

What gun and load did you shoot this one with, same as above? What was the shot distance and angle on your first shot? How far did he run after the first shot and how much time passed before you came upon him "still breathing"?

quote:

A .500 SW will shoot right trough a brown with the light Barnes bullet or with the 500 gr. The .44 mag will give full penetration on side shots with with 300 gr or better with hard cast bullet 22 Brinell or better.

Since you described the two bears that you have taken with handguns, I was just wondering where/how you obtained the additional information? I assume that you have accompanyied other hunters who have shot bears with the 500 S&W and the 44 Mag?

Which Barnes bullet are you referring to with the 500 S&W? The 275 gr, the 325 gr, or the 375 gr? Also, which 500 grain Bullet...the 500 grain Hornady?

Sorry for all of the questions but I like hunting with handguns and I find this information very interesting!

The two bears were shot with a Linebough 500. The first bear was dead after being shot by J Gallaghers 375. We propped the bear for pictures and then shot the bear to see what the bullet would do. It broke both shoulder blades and flew. The PWS bear charged after a hit with a 300Win 180 gr. The bear was then hit with a 375 270gr, a 300 Barnes 411 and a 300 180gr. After reversin course and running away from us I put another 300gr 411 up its but. The bear stop running but had its feet flat on the ground. It was still breathing but unable to move I sat about 10 feet from the bear so as to het the bib bone in the legs even with the spine, the 435 LBT wfn broke both uper leb bones and put about a 1.5 in the spine. the bear quit breathing. Dick Williams shot a Brown beat with a 500 SW 275 gr bullet article in website Polancobearhunts.com. The 500gr 500SW was a pick up done in Olga Bay while flying for Andrew Airways in Kodiak. They had a couple of deer in the tent with them. No trees to hang meat from. Bear was shot at about 8 ft 5 times bear died about 2ft from shooter. No bullets were found, shooter did not remember recoil or muzzle blast hearing was a little funny for a couple of days. JP

I thought that you were killing these bears with handguns, not shooting dead ones! Thanks for the clarification and additional details.

500 S&W Article

I enjoyed the article on the .500 S&W. I only wish that it had fewer details on the handgun and loads, and more on the bear hunt!

When I started hunting in Alaska I 1978 I was confident in my 411 and its 400 gr bullet at 2200 fps. With the hand guns I was not so sure. I though it would be pretty stupid to trust the 44 mag on bears. After trying several loads on wounded and dead moose and caribou I settled on a 300 gr WFN at 1300 Water quenched. When I had the Bisley re chambered to 500 Linebough I settled on a charge of 400 gr at 1250, more speed and recoil gets to me the barrel is only 4.5 in long. On game as long as there is blood pressure to the brain the animal is functional the bigger the hole in the circulatory system the sooner the bear stops Brain and spinal shots are faster but the target is small. Dick Williams shot a brown bear with a 500 sw at about 100 yards with a 275 the bullet hit behind the shoulder and exited the bear made it to the black spruce. The blood trail was about 3 ft wide. The bear made it about 40 ft up the 60 deg slope were it. Stopped. We could not see the shoulder for a good shot I moved and the bear got up and started up the slope we both fired me with the 411 and Dick with the 500 sw the, bear rolled down the hill dead. I have a lot of respect for way the bears on occasion can absorb bullets. If you are counting on a hand gun for defense against bears make shure you have enough gun, not all of then run away after being shot.

quote:

Originally posted by the bear hunter:
When I started hunting in Alaska I 1978 I was confident in my 411 and its 400 gr bullet at 2200 fps.

What caliber are you referring to here?

I started with plans for a heavy rifle to use in Africa and Alaska. The original was a 350 Rem mag case necked up to 411. The plan was to equal the 450-400 that is. 400 gr at about 2150 the Capacity of the case would be the same as a 30-06. Keith said the shoulder looked too small. The 350 Rem mag has the same capacity. I had P O Ackly chamber a Mouser 98 so the base of the Barnes 400 gr .411 was even with the bottom of the neck. This set up gave me about 2180 fps from a 21 in barrel. When I started hunting the AK Peninsula I found the shots could be longer that what I wanted so I went to the .338 case neked up to .411. I am getting about 2280 fps with the 400 Swift .411. The ballistic coefficient and the sectional density are about as good as is available.I shot and the animal dies, looking for proper name I came up with the fat lady when she sings it's over.

the bear hunter -- why don't you post this over in the handgun hunting forum.

By the way, X-caliber, who posted above, knows something about brown bears and handguns.

I understand Joe completely for posting here, the Alaska Hunting Forum is our comfort zone! I would kill a brown bear with my pistol but I would treat it almost like a bowhunt in range and shot placement.

quote:

Originally posted by waterrat:
I understand Joe completely for posting here, the Alaska Hunting Forum is our comfort zone! I would kill a brown bear with my pistol but I would treat it almost like a bowhunt in range and shot placement.

He has nine whole posts, how comfortable can he be already??