Moving to grizzly country

[Keys1971]

Hey all, I'm moving to the Flathead County area of Montana and I was wondering what type of sidearm you would carry while hiking. My thought would be either a S&W 629 in .44 or a Glock 10mm. I'm leaning more towards the Glock due to my experience and training. However a .44 has its upside. Thoughts? Any response would be appreciated. Keys.

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[DB is Here]

1) Bear spray
2) .45-70 lever gun
3) handgun vs Grizzly would be a disaster IMO

 

[slimmer13]

44 magnum is the very beginning of effectiveness on bears. Below that, you might kill it, but it will probably kill you first.

 

[Keys1971]

1) Bear spray
2) .45-70 lever gun
3) handgun vs Grizzly would be a disaster IMO[/QUOTE]


What I forgot to mention is that I have bear spray as well, the handgun would be for the spray not working or that aggressive two legged predator.

 

[Ura-Ki]

10MM anything semi auto is an effective chambering for Grizzlies! If your after a wheel gun, a .44mag or .45 Colt would be the minimum!
I live in Large Grizz country, and I know of several put down with all three!
that said, a good fast handling shotgun loaded with slugs or a Lever in .45/70 makes for very effective bear medicine!
Make sure you choose good projectiles for what ever you use!
I run a 220Gr Buffalo Bore Solids in 10 mm and it works!

 

[AirResq]

No, no, don't do that! Don't do that. If you shoot him, you'll just make him mad.

Edit:
In all seriousness, 12 gauge slugs out of a pump or 45/70 lever gun.

 

[Keys1971]

44 magnum is the very beginning of effectiveness on bears. Below that, you might kill it, but it will probably kill you first.[/QUOTE]


I agree with your statement, however I have shot thousands of rounds through a Glock, and maybe a dozen with a .44. So its that familiarity or lack there of (.44) that weighs on my mind.

 

[Keys1971]

10MM anything semi auto is an effective chambering for Grizzlies! If your after a wheel gun, a .44mag or .45 Colt would be the minimum!
I live in Large Grizz country, and I know of several put down with all three!
that said, a good fast handling shotgun loaded with slugs or a Lever in .45/70 makes for very effective bear medicine!
Make sure you choose good projectiles for what ever you use!
I run a 220Gr Buffalo Bore Solids in 10 mm and it works!
View attachment 571338

Is that a hard cast bullet?

 

[AirResq]

I'm jealous! Good luck to you sir!

 

[Ura-Ki]

Is that a hard cast bullet?

Yup!

 

[NW Backpacker]

22 rifle.

Hunting: Bella Twin, Little Woman with a Little Gun, a Big Bear and a Cold Front - The Truth About Guns

 

[Kruel J]

22 rifle.

Hunting: Bella Twin, Little Woman with a Little Gun, a Big Bear and a Cold Front - The Truth About Guns

Not this story again.

If it has to be a pistol I would vote for a Glock 20 and some heavy hard hitting Underwood medicine. 15 rounds beats 6.

 

[Greenbug]

Grenade launcher?
RPG?

 

[Dozer99]

I grew up in the northern Rockies. Hunted bear each year as a teen, sometimes drew two tags- bow and rifle. My back up gun was a Ruger Blackhawk .357 mag loaded with a 158 JHP and as much powder as I could fit in the case. I only had to use it once and it dropped any angry Momma Black bear after three shots. YMMV but I did harvest a mule deer or two with that gun. Still have it to this day.

 

[Keys1971]

I'm jealous! Good luck to you sir!

Thank you

 

[Keys1971]

22 rifle.

Hunting: Bella Twin, Little Woman with a Little Gun, a Big Bear and a Cold Front - The Truth About Guns

That's awesome.

 

[JedB]

If you are looking at 10mm automatics, you may also want to look at the EAA Tangfolio Witness.
Some of their models are quite reasonable and have significant capacity.
LINK

 

[HighlandLofts]

When it comes to big dangerous game that has intentions to do bodily harm to you bigger is always better.
Just keep in mind handguns just don't have much kinetic energy compared to longer barreled firearms.

 

[Kruel J]

If you are looking at 10mm automatics, you may also want to look at the EAA Tangfolio Witness.
Some of their models are quite reasonable and have significant capacity.
LINK

Who wants a gun from a manufacturer most folks can't even spell correctly?

It's Tanfoglio, BTW. Not Tangfolio.

 

[Alexx1401]

Hey all, I'm moving to the Flathead County area of Montana and I was wondering what type of sidearm you would carry while hiking. My thought would be either a S&W 629 in .44 or a Glock 10mm. I'm leaning more towards the Glock due to my experience and training. However a .44 has its upside. Thoughts? Any response would be appreciated. Keys.

No hand gun is ideal for the big browns but many just are not going to carry a rifle at all times. If it was me? I would go for a 10mm. Some are light enough to be easy to carry and make a GREAT all around hand gun to boot. The Glock is fairly cheap compared to others. My hands down favorite would be an STI with 17 round mags but, they cost as much as several Glocks and of course are not going to work any better than the Glock which can be had to take 15 round mags.