Poll: Best hand gun cal. for bear

[Taurus 617 CCW]

Might as well file the front sight off and prepare to take it up the tail pipe. No handgun caliber is adequate.

 

[nixuser]

Romanian ttc 7.62x25 tokarev with a couple of extra mags 7.62x25 will penetrate 14 inches of pine and the hollow points will penetrate 8 inches into wet phone books and the ammo is cheaper than any other pistol ammo which means you can afford to practice more

 

[flinch444]

FMJ or solid lead is what you need for Bear as you are looking for penetration to vital organs instead of expansion. Either way it takes time for the bear to bleed out and a canister of Bear guard pepper spray would likely be more effective.

In my un-experienced opinion, as i (like most here) have never had to defend myself against a charging bear, I think this is very good advice.
You said yourself that you are not hunting bear, just defending against them. I think pepper spray, and a hangun of any caliber that holds a lot of discouraging rounds, incase the pepper spray doesnt do the trick. Any of the ones you metioned should do fine.
Who cares if you acually kill it or not, self defence is just that, you just want it to keep away from you. From what I have read most handguns wont kill a bear quick enough to save your life once it is on you anyway, I think changing his mind real quick is the answer.

 

[MountainBear]

Mountainbear is only cranky because we are talking about taking out one of his kin.

Its close to home for him.

Very true. Too many years in Alaska as a fishing guide. Too much time amongst the furry four legged fishermen...

 

[MountainBear]

Might as well file the front sight off and prepare to take it up the tail pipe. No handgun caliber is adequate.

Did we do that the last time we went up?

 

[elsie]

I'd go with .475 Wildey Magnum, but that's just cause it's one that I've got (from the "Other" column). Of the ones listed, I don't think any of them will stop a bear unless you get them through the eyes, ears or roof of the mouth. Another option might be to try to break the front shoulder. Frontal head shots though are kind of like taking a frontal shot on a tank with a spitwad. It makes a nice splat but doesn't really do much.

That's an option though; go with the .357 and when he opens up to eat you, stick your hand in his mouth and start pulling the trigger. B-)


elsie

 

[rvmichael]

Excellent question OP. I'm not a bear expert, however I carry a glock 23-40 (14 rounds total) full time, and it's well known in the LEO community that officers have had attackers still advance after being shot with several .45 ACP rounds.

One day at the shooting range, a young hunter asked if Id like to shoot his S&W 500 with about an eight inch barrel. Wow, the kick back shocked me, (with pleasure) lol. Anyway, when I asked why such a canon, he replied: I just came back from an Alaskan hunting trip, and a bear attacked my friend, the bear was still coming after him with 8 rounds of .45 ACP's in him.

Sounds like the best advice came from two previous posters', "nothing less than a 50. caliber, and "pepper spray as a backup."

Have you seen hikers around the world go into wild life areas, with not even so much as a cheap "large" can of pepper spray? Amazing!

 

[4Freedom]

I think a lot of people are giving advice about stopping a brown or grizzly bear. THe OP's original post was what caliber of handgun would be efficient for stopping a black bear in the pacific northwest. I think those advocating a rocket launcher for a black bear and dismissing handguns as futile toys are mistaken.

Really, I think a 44 magnum is a perfectly acceptable caliber for stopping a black bear. There has been many cases of pepper spray not phasing a black bear as their body has some internal resistance to it, whereas as a brown bear does not. Most pepper spray testing is gauged against brown bears.

There is no guarantees in life, but generally the boom from a 44 magnum will scare off the more cowardly black bear, before it will the fearsome brown bear. And again, a black bear is not nearly as large or powerful as a brown bear, a hit from a .357 or a .44, along with the loud blast, will probably send him retreating.

There has probably been instances of coyotes getting blasted with 500 SW and still charging, but we are talkign probability.

 

[terrylf72]

Out of your choices, The .357 Mag.

But personally I'd go get a .44 mag. Another option might be The judge, 5-.410 double 00 or presonal defence slug at close range would do some damage.

 

[RockKrawler]

Rockcrawler,
EXACTLY where did he place the shot. Through the eye?
just wondering.
A1

Nope,behind the ear area where it is soft tissue.

 

[MrNiceGuy]

Excellent question OP. I'm not a bear expert, however I carry a glock 23-40 (14 rounds total) full time, and it's well known in the LEO community that officers have had attackers still advance after being shot with several .45 ACP rounds.

40 has a reputation also.

The Aftermath
Remarkably, Palmer had taken 22 hits from Soulis' .40-caliber Glock, 17 of which had hit center mass. Despite the fact that the weapon had been loaded with Ranger SXTs—considered by many to be one of the best man-stoppers available—Palmer lived for more than four minutes after the last shot was fired.

<broken link removed>

 

[CEF1959]

I don't think any of those would work. With those enormous paws (not to mention the claws), and no opposable thumb, I don't think a black bear could operate a modern handgun.

 

[clearconscience]

The biggest one you can get.....

If I was to go to bear country I would carry at least a 10mm, .44 mag, or .50 cal. I friend of mine had a .50 cal Smith and Wesson and it's a bad A gun. Accurate and more than enough stopping power.

 

[kamshaft]

For me personally, I like the idea of a G29 or a S&W Mountain Gun and a 12GA in the truck. Not sure how concealable the handgun needs to be for the OP's purposes, but if possible, I would carry a Super Redhawk in .44/.454/.480.

 

[terrylf72]

Was in WholeSale Sports today and they had a and S&W 629 Classic Hunter. $839 or something close to that. Was beautiful with red wood grips

 

[eriknemily]

Two suggestions.

1) Carry any handgun you want 22lr and up

2) Hire some punk kid in high school (not an athlete) to ride along with you. When the bear shows up start running. If the kid can keep up shoot him in the foot and then keep running

 

[MountainBear]

Last time I was up in Alaska, I took a break from guiding to let someone else guide me for a change. I was working my way up a stream to get to the hole I wanted (it had about nine silver salmon holding in it), when someone from across the river yelled that there was a bear behind me. I turned around, and sure enough, a very large black bear was walking along the trail by the river (I was 10 feet out in the stream). She got parallel with me and sat down and stared at me. We talked to eachother (a little psycho, but I had no escape route at the time, so I talked to her...) for what seemed like a half an hour (probably less than a couple of minutes). I had intelligently left my .45 ACP back in my pack on the boat. As I walked back towards the boat I watched as every guide out there walked back to their boats to get there guns. I saw at least seven guides. Three came out with pistol belts with revolvers in them, which I assume were at least .44 magnums (as we were in AK). At least four came out with shotguns.

If I were so inclined to go back up to Alaska, I would probably take my 12 guage with me. Most the guides I saw with shotguns had pistol grips, but I would probably put a shoulder stock and carry it with a backpack type sling. So in a very long answer, from my experience, would be to carry a 12 gauge...

 

[torpedoman]

shot dead on thru the heart that bear can live long enough to do you serious harm, best bet is a can of repellant or wasp spray

 

[eriknemily]

shot dead on thru the heart that bear can live long enough to do you serious harm, best bet is a can of repellant or wasp spray

Wasp spray.... Really

 

[coop44]

contrary to what most believe, bears are not out there looking for you. You smell bad, taste bad, and make entirely too much noise. Your best defence is "situational awareness", it's not hard, if you drive up to your delivery and see a big furry butt sticking out of a trashcan, well you figure it out. Bear attacks are not that common, and not always fatal, they will mostly avoid you. The statistics are out there, use google, Mountain lions are more unpredictable and of more concern to me.

People were killing bears long before monster calibers, I would take the .357