• If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership  The benefits pay for the membership many times over.

What's a good caliber for bear?

free said:
Best caliber for beer?

View attachment 651802
Click to expand...

Again, 40 for the win!

image_large.jpg
 
I have to say, I’d have lost that bet. When I’m at my NH property, I have a 44 and 12 gauge….guess that is overkill.
 
BOBKATT said:
.44 mag is a little light for my comfort zone with big browns. Remember, you're not hunting something that doesn't know you're there. You're trying to kill a pissed off animal whose adrenaline is through the roof and its trying to kill you.

.44 mag in a rifle is a little light for big brown bears. .44 mag in a handgun doesn't make me comfortable.

When I lived out west I carried a 45 colt that was hard cast lead 330 grain bullets loaded up to surpass the .44 magnum in every way. These loads approached .454 casull power. The reason I did not carry a .454, was because it was far too much gun for me to handle and get a follow up shot with. (your miles may differ).

I basically loaded up extremely heavy and hard .454 caliber bullets past .44 mag ballistics, but less than .454 casull balistics.

Now, you can buy a very similar load from buffalo bore ammunition. They make a 325 grain +p load for the .45 colt.

Beware that you can't shoot these in colt revolvers or anything but heavy duty revolvers like rugers, freedom arms, etc.
Click to expand...
They make special “Ruger Only” loads for the Redhawk and Super Blackhawk. The thick cast construction of those two models enable you to hot rod a 45 colt.
 
Old thread, but I worry about moose more than bear. Worried about moose more than bear when I lived in AK too.

G20 with good hardcast projos works for both.
Keeping a decent head on your shoulders works better for both you and the animals.
 
AFAR/PFAR said:
Old thread, but I worry about moose more than bear. Worried about moose more than bear when I lived in AK too.

G20 with good hardcast projos works for both.
Keeping a decent head on your shoulders works better for both you and the animals.
Click to expand...

And I worry more about the 2 legged animals than anything else (including squatches)!
 
Ughhhh. Aim for the goddamn neck/mouth not it's skull and you no longer require a m134 to stop it. Why do people act like bears are bullet proof? You can take them out with an arrow.
 
In God We Trust said:
I’m surprised by all the calls for 10mm. I have the compact Glock in 10mm and while it barks, it kicks less than my .357 snub.
Click to expand...

Most factory 10mm practice ammo is loaded to near 40S&W specs. Try Underwood with 200Gr hardcast or similar loads from BB or DoubleTap for factory ammo as that is woods stuff. Reload with hardcast as well if you're set up for it. With the right loads, 10mm will smoke a .357Mag and do it in a pistol which is easier to produce well aimed follow up shots while often being lighter than larger caliber revolvers.

Do some searching around the Alaska Outdoors Forums. Lots of folks carrying 10mm(primarily G20) in the woods for defensive pistols.
 
M60 said:
Lol.. Good luck with that. I have some Garrett's as well, but Im not in a hurry to go after a Kodiac with them.
Click to expand...
They came highly recommend for my Alaska trip, at the very least, I know they'll be able to kill me with one shot as I'm getting my guts torn out
 
Zappa said:
It took ten years, but the question has finally been answered; .40 S&W for the win!
Just make sure you have a mag that holds more than nine rounds.

www.9news.com

Steamboat Springs man fatally shoots bear that broke into home

The homeowner shot the 400-pound bear multiple times after he found it rummaging through some dog food.
www.9news.com www.9news.com
Click to expand...

Hey, I knew that bear, man! He dindu nuffin to nobody! He was a good bear, just turning his life around and he got shot by some cracka ass cracka just for gettin all confused like lookin for a snack! I want Jussiss for my boy!
 
If you mean a handgun, usually 44 Magnum is considered minimum for killing bears with body shots. 454 Casull is considered better. But if you aren't going to carry these hand cannons, get yourself a Glock 20 (10mm). If you get charged by a bear, you really want to shoot through the skull and it shouldn't be that difficult because that skull is coming right at you. You just might need to act quick to get a shot off. Hopefully you can get off more than one. Generally want to avoid places where you can be surprised in bear country, for example thick timber. It's important to use hard cast bullets especially for a brain shot. The truth is that if you shoot a bear in the head with a hardcast bullet, you are going to penetrate the skull easily and kill the bear instantly. Even a 9mm is going to do that just fine from point blank range. But still, better to go 10mm because you can potentially stop the bear better with wider range of shot placements especially if you can quickly fire a handful of rounds. But only the brain shot is going to guarantee the bears drops dead before it kills you.

Shotguns are good. Rifles are good. But these are best when there is more room especially if your rifle has a scope. If it is already close range and you're jumping around, you might find the pistol more useful. Like with handguns, the brain shot is best. If you are taking body shots (possibly inadvertently), you need a very hefty rifle to take a grizzly. Think 30-06 and up.
 
Sniper (+) said:
Ughhhh. Aim for the goddamn neck/mouth not it's skull and you no longer require a m134 to stop it. Why do people act like bears are bullet proof? You can take them out with an arrow.
Click to expand...
The point is not to kill the bear. It's to kill the bear before it kills you. A bear is not going to notice that it's bleeding to death from an arrow until it's done eating half of you.
 
A bear charging at you is going to look something like this. A headshot is more or less the only shot you have. They have very big heads and it's what your eyes are going to be staring at anyway. So it's probably what you always want to be shooting at.
 

Attachments

  • screenshot 825.png
    screenshot 825.png
    386.8 KB · Views: 6
crookedteeth said:
A bear charging at you is going to look something like this. A headshot is more or less the only shot you have. They have very big heads and it's what your eyes are going to be staring at anyway. So it's probably what you always want to be shooting at.
Click to expand...
Given a choice, I prefer not to have a bear charging me.
 
crookedteeth said:
A bear charging at you is going to look something like this. A headshot is more or less the only shot you have. They have very big heads and it's what your eyes are going to be staring at anyway. So it's probably what you always want to be shooting at.
Click to expand...

I think I told this story on another thread, but I was hiking through Denali with a buddy of mine in 2012, both of us carrying .44 Mags with the Garrett hardcast (as stated above) and were bluff charged by a Female Grizz at about 30* feet as she came out of the bushes and alders stopped 15 feet from us spit and chomped and barked, and ran back into the thicket, neither one of us could have got our weapons out before she piled into us if she wanted, for a number of reasons. Our plan was always if something like this happened we separate from each other as quickly as possible so the bear would need to go one way or the other, and then the lucky one would try and take out the bear. Like they say, everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth because we did nothing but stand there until she stopped and turned. We decided to take another route that was more open and in another direction.
Suffice it to say, if you don't see them coming from at least 50-100 feet away you're probably not going to be able to pull your weapon, any closer and you aren't getting any headshots at all. f***ers are fast.

* I reserve the right to change the distance as I get older and re-tell this story.

It was probably less than 5 minutes after I took this shot, put the camera away, and just walked into another clearing when we got the visit. We could see some moose running through the valley below and I tried to get a shot of them.

IMGA0921.JPG

===
Unrelated but interesting on the same trip

A little hibernation spot near our campsite, it was about 4' tall at the opening and massive inside.

P1020231.JPG

first couple of nights campsite at Wrangell St Elias
P1020236.JPG
 
AFAR/PFAR said:
Most factory 10mm practice ammo is loaded to near 40S&W specs. Try Underwood with 200Gr hardcast or similar loads from BB or DoubleTap for factory ammo as that is woods stuff. Reload with hardcast as well if you're set up for it. With the right loads, 10mm will smoke a .357Mag and do it in a pistol which is easier to produce well aimed follow up shots while often being lighter than larger caliber revolvers.

Do some searching around the Alaska Outdoors Forums. Lots of folks carrying 10mm(primarily G20) in the woods for defensive pistols.
Click to expand...
This...10mm factory is loaded weak. Underwood is the answer to that...and runs probably near 41 mag specs. Its going to have some recoil.
 
Zappa said:
If you're really worried about bears, maybe you should get a Pomeranian, bears are scared sh*tless of these vicious little ankle biters!


View: https://youtu.be/tavh6Qzj35g


[rofl][rofl][rofl]
Click to expand...

LOL...my brother has a video of his Maine Coon cat chasing a pretty big Bruin out of their yard...the bear acted like it was terrified.
 

Similar threads

Need a good 2A attorney for a friend
2 3 4
Replies
96
Views
2K
Len-2A Training
Len-2A Training
Bear Creek Arsenal
2
Replies
31
Views
771
greencobra
greencobra
Looking for a smith good with AKs
2
Replies
47
Views
1K
MisterHappy
MisterHappy
Looking for a great gunsmith!!
Replies
6
Views
316
42!
42!
Arrested for having a Starter set
2
Replies
34
Views
1K
Thirwell1216
Thirwell1216
Back
Top Bottom