.357 for bear

BEAR SPRAY IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN A GUN AT STOPPING A BEAR ATTACK!!!

WHY DON'T YOU PEOPLE LISTEN?!?!
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-jgcoastie

Hey, some people just like to go play "Vegas" with their life. I would think that they would know that the odds are usually better for the house.

My research has put numbers for bear spray at 97 - 100% effective, and 100% being in Alaska (source: www.adn.com/bearattacks/story/381252.html ) while handgun at roughly the 50% effective mark (big range of numbers depending on where one looks, but never anywhere near 100%), and have posted this in a number of bear threads here, yet the gamblers still come out and want to play.

Odds are that you will not need to defend yourself against a bear when visiting Alaska (So, for the most part one can carry a good repertoire of insults for the bears and a handgun of their choice and be just fine); living here odds are that I do carry spray and 10mm, one for each hand - spray first, sound familiar jgcoastie?
 
Nice to know I'm not completely alone here...

I do carry spray and 10mm, one for each hand - spray first, sound familiar jgcoastie?
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Sounds very familiar for some reason... Gee, wish I'd thought of it...;)
 
Everybody want's to take on bears, how macho. The only .357 that will hurt a bear would be a belt fed 357Mag machine gun. Put a side of bacon in a ziplock. When Yogi shows up throw the bacon west and start walking east. Bacon tastes better than you.
 
This makes sense, if time permits

draw both a can of bear spray and your weapon
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I spend a lot of time in bear country, but have yet to be charged.

I have tested OC outdoors, as I said in varying situations. The RIOT control/bear canisters are effective in calm conditions out to probably 20 feet. Realise that if you deploy OC you cannot run away and will likely get hit with some yourself. You must know what if feels like and be able to fight and shoot even after getting it in your eyes, nose and throat. Many people panic when they get hit, so there is a risk there. If the wind is in your face and you try to hose down the bruin, you just flavored his meal with pepper sauce for him. Some studies have suggested that bears actually like pepper on bait. Another thing to think about.

One does not have to live on Kodiak Island to have oudoor survival experience. From NW WA, BC through coastal AK there are many bear. You also need to watch out in parts of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.

The spray has a place, but it is not the end-all be-all of bear defense. A large caliber handgun or preferrably rifle/shotgun is great insurance in case your bells and pepper spray fail you.

Funon1
 
Unless it was a very small bear, never.
I would not go with anything less than a Marlin .45-70.
I am old and can not run as fast or far as I once could, although a large bear would cut my time considerably.

mark
 
I'll stick with the flamethrower. Oh, almost forgot, you can hit them with a truck.
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Only if you hate your truck and everything in it... It would be worse than hitting a horse or cow... I wouldn't want to do it...

try a .410 slug
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That's not something I'd want to try...
 
For as big as a bear can get, and one going 30 mph I would think that a bear minimum :p would be a .44 magnum; with a .500 S&W being what I would think to be suitable.
/Why no, I haven't fired a 500 S&W: Why?
 
You need something you're familiar with, accurate and competent with, and can put a decent number of rounds on target without having to reload. If you happen upon a mother and her cubs close enough, it's going to be you or her so you better have something to take her down that's powerful and ready to fire. Don't know if this is the right time of year for that, but I think the cubs stay for over a year anyway.

Might wanna think about some speed loaders and target practice. Wouldn't suggest buying a new gun, maybe take the 357, speed loaders, and buy a can of bear spray for backup incase the 357 isn't enough and the bear gets on top of you where you can't really reload. Maybe keep the bear spray around your neck so it's easy to get to.

Good luck man. I'd be going with a 454 if I could.
 
Let's see you pull a revolver out of anywhere but a shoulder holster when a bear is on top of you eating your face. Let alone operate it.

Edit: A gun is nice when you have some time before the thing is tossing you around like a rag doll, however if the bear is going to attack you it's usually because you're so close you don't have more than a few seconds to do something about the situation, which is the same thought the bear had that made it attack you. The closer you are to them when they discover you're there, the more likely they are to attack you because they figure you got the upper hand on them and they can either run away and be chased or keep you from chasing in the first place, especially when they have cubs they have to protect.

Edit 2: It's much like walking through a dark alley and someone bumps into you when you weren't even aware there was someone else in the alley. You don't know if you're about to get robbed or the person is just gonna continue on their marry way.

To sum it up, putting up an offense keeps you alive better than turning tail and being chased down. If they have any reason to think you'll follow them, especially as a predator with a defined range, it's either you or them at that point.
 
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You might want to read through a few of my posts on this topic.

The reason I said it was bass-ackwards is because your first line of defense should be bear spray as it is much more effective than a handgun.

Second line of defense should be a handgun.

The reason I say this has been discussed, at length, in the previous pages of this thread. Read up.
 
I would rather carry two extra salmons in a double holster set up and give them to the bear.
I would rather have a 357 than nothing but I would not feel comfortable with it. At least I would carry a hard cast flat nose solid by Buffalo Bore. I do not think Garrett Cartridges even makes a heavy bear load in 357 as they do not want to lose any future customers. The only comfort I would have with a 357 is that the bear will have a little painful reminder of me while he eats me.
 
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