Old Vs. New - What is the better bear defense?

[Ura-Ki]

I also second the .45/70 as a great choice long gun for anti Ursus work. For hand gun choice, ether a .44 mag, or .45 Colt wheel gun are my first choice in really big bear country, but I always carry a 10 mm auto daily, and it's also well proven for bears, so that's the way I run, and we have humongous grizzly where live, i don't feel undergunned with a 10 mm!

 

[Reed]

The best Bear Defense is having out of shape friends that taste like Cheetos and pizza.

 

[ArtBrownSr]

My choices would be: Handgun 10 mm 1911 Full Size in a chest rig,with Buffalo Bore 220 gr. Hardcast bullets. Long Gun either a Marlin or Old Henry Lever action .45-70 Guide Gun. OR an 870 or 500 18.5 inch barrel 3 inch chamber 12 Gauge with Brenneke Black Magic slugs.
Why did I specify the ammo for the other guns and not the Guide Gun? Because I either have used or have known them to be used with effectiveness, I still don't know which cartridge I'll be putting into the Guide Gun that is on my list to get!
BTW do NOT make a head shot with ANYTHING on a Brown Bear. The most damage you would do is possibly blind it The eyes are set aside of the actual skull *0* NOTE: IF you think you are a good enough shot YOU might try to hit directly in the middle of his nostrils to the back of the channel where the bone is only an inch thick and less angled.
otherwise empty everything into his chest and pray that it stops him before he reaches you He can come at you at 30 miles an hour or soand you might have 60 yards to react which gives you about 4 seconds to stop the threat .

 

[DeanMk]

Handgun I would want a 10mm but if I went long gun then I would take my 45-70,
12 gauge is good but they are 525gr slugs where my home cast 540gr 45-70 are a bit heavier and I load them myself to what Garrett Cartridges does so I feel more then secure that they will take care of any animal I would run into.

...actually, TM-Salem, if the 12 gauge is shooting Brenneke Black Magic's, they're 602 gr.....jusssayin'...

 

[2A-Jay]

I vote for a Mossberg Cruiser 12Ga with Slugs.

 

[DeanMk]

Bah! Ya' ain't livin' 'til at least 4 gauge....

...

 

[Ura-Ki]

Ain' no workie

 

[DeanMk]

???...trying to post just the link, but it keeps coming up as media.
Click on "youtube" in the bottom right corner of the video and you'll be taken to the youtube page with the video on it.

 

[joken]

Glock 20 or 40 16 rounds of 10mm or 6 rounds from your revolver? I'll take the Glock.

 

[RMc]

Gents, if you're gonna be in the neigborhood with really big predators try loading that 12 bore rifle (or cylinder bore) with the Dixie IXL-DGS.
This massive hunk of hard cast, heat-treated lead weighs 870 grains @ 1200 FPS.

 

[DunRanull]

This.^^^

I've owned a 500 S&W, a 41 Mag and 357s.
If you want to put a bear down and want something besides the rifle that will do a far better job than any handgun, a 20" 12 gauge shotgun with slugs is the ticket. In my "hammer" I have two rounds of buckshot, followed by alternating slug and buckshot.

A black bear is more likely to turn tail and run than anything. If it decides differently, you had better be able to drop him where he stands. Unless you have the ability to hit consistently with something like a 500. 460, 454 or a super hot 44 or 41 mag, you're far better off with a slug gun.

This is mine. I carry it often.

View attachment 384475

Dang... wasnt gonna say anything but that there looks like mine right down to the sling and handle on the faucet!

 

[RMc]

Of course if you are planning on turkey hunting with a big, tightly choked smoothbore this spring in bear country, perhaps having some really big buckshot handy just might be a good idea.

Three 315 grain hard cast buckshot - pattern at 40 yards.

 

[DeanMk]

I'd like to see a video test between that Dixie slug and a brenneke black magic slug.
...870 gr....that's almost 2 oz.

 

[RMc]

I'd like to see a video test between that Dixie slug and a brenneke black magic slug.
...870 gr....that's almost 2 oz.

It is my understanding that the Brenneke Black Magic slug has an antimony hardened swaged core with an external layer of softer lead rifled vanes to swage down through choke bore and the smaller bore diameters of European shotguns.

 

[RMc]

"With a muzzle velocity of 1,275 fps, the new 180-grain ... shoots flat and packs a powerful punch... the load gives hunters the power to take down deer, bears or hogs."

Federal Premium Ammunition - News Releases

At first reading, I would not blame you for thinking the quote above could have been from an 1881 circular for the then new 180 grain load, introduced in that year, for the 38 WCF. Paired with a Winchester model 1873 lever action rifle of course!

Most rifle aficionados would be quick to paint a 38-40 rifle as marginal for deer hunting. On the other hand, todays handgun hunters consider the 10mm to be a perfectly adequate deer and black bear hunting cartridge. The reality is a 19th century 38-40 black powder cartridge rifle and a modern 10mm handgun fire the same weight and diameter bullet at about the same velocity. Both firearms strike the same blow!

 

[Certaindeaf]

.12 bore rifle (or cylinder bore)..

I thought rifled 12ga tubes were cylinder bore/not choked.

 

[RMc]

I thought rifled 12ga tubes were cylinder bore/not choked.

Todays shotguns encompass barrel bore dimensions, choke and chambering options unheard of just a few decades ago.

That said, I did not mention rifled choke tubes in my reference to the special purpose Dixie Slugs IXL-DGS 870 grain slug for one reason - the full bore slug will over-torque a rifled choke tube.

A full bore hard cast, heat treated slug must only be used in .729" to .730" cylinder bore barrels, such as found on the Mossberg 500/590 and Remington 870 or in industry standard fully rifled shotgun barrels. Many shotguns of European origin have smaller bores than American shotguns.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Todays shotguns encompass barrel bore dimensions, choke and chambering options unheard of just a few decades ago.

That said, I did not mention rifled choke tubes in my reference to the special purpose Dixie Slugs IXL-DGS 870 grain slug for one reason - the full bore slug will over-torque a rifled choke tube.

A full bore hard cast, heat treated slug must only be used in .729" to .730" cylinder bore barrels, such as found on the Mossberg 500/590 and Remington 870 or in industry standard fully rifled shotgun barrels. Many shotguns of European origin have smaller bores.

Alrighty then. Don't forget the "lowly" (hard-cast by end-user most often) "pumpkin ball".. they are generally heavier than the commonest slugs, weighing about 1 3/8 oz and are hard and solid. lol
And rifled bores are in actual fact cylinder bore.. but are rifled.. and a cylinder bore is cylinder bore but not rifled. just saying.. once again

 

[RMc]

Regardless of what rifled long gun or handgun you carry in bear country, the use of hard cast heat treated lead alloy flat nose bullets, FMJ - flat nose hard core bullets or monolithic bronze flat nose bullets are the ones to choose if at all possible.

Straight line extreme penetration is the core requirement. And flat nose non-deforming bullets are the key.

 

[RMc]

Alrighty then. Don't forget the "lowly" (hard-cast by end-user most often) "pumpkin ball".. they are generally heavier than the commonest slugs, weighing about 1 3/8 oz and are hard and solid. lol
And rifled bores are in actual fact cylinder bore.. but are rifled.. and a cylinder bore is cylinder bore but not rifled. just saying.. once again

Interesting perspective. Do you mean land to land or groove to groove when describing a rifled cylinder bore?