.357 round suggestions
- Thread starter Irish B
- Start date
Thanks for the input everyone. It has been very helpful in my decision making. Let me reiterate a few points though.
I have an 870 12 gauge with a magazine extension tube with 8- 3" magnum rifled slugs in them. Those loads are hot enough to shoot a hole completely through a bear, through my wall, and into the neighbors house at close range. Thats my gun of choice for the bear I didnt buy the sp101 357 as a bear defense gun. I bought it for home defense and two legged animals and because i love the feel and the action of that gun. I just wanted to know what load i could put in to best be prepared for a worst case scenario where all i had was my 357 and i was faced with an aggressive bear on top of me. If you were stuck with an angry bear on top of you i'm sure every single one of you would chose a 357 with ANY load as opposed to nothing. So i asked what load would give me the best fighting chance. There is no possible chance that a bear could enter into my room while i'm in it at night and catch me by surprise. My house is now bear proof, although i use that term lightly as i've found out nothing is bear proof. I have two very large protective dogs that sleep in my house at night as well as my 870 loaded with bear slugs next to my bed. Like i said i always bring the dogs with me for any walks i go on. This is almost more of a thread on what load to best use for lion as thats much more of a threat but if any of you have ever had anyone break into your house you are almost paranoid on home defense after that. That's the case with me and bears. I want every gun i own to give me the best chance it can of protecting me against a bear even if that's not a very good chance it's still better than not being prepared.
And for the guy who asked about alternating rounds. On a double action gun like the sp101 it takes about 3 seconds for me to shoot off three rounds. Even if i shoot off the FMJ and HC into the ground to get to the HC 180 it'd still only take a fraction of time. Realistically a well placed shot from a 357 at close range is more than enough to dispatch a small bear (100-300 lbs). And as an experienced hunter and weekend range warrior if i can't hit accurate enough in 5 shots at 5 yards to at least immobilize the bear enough to let myself get away then I might as well just let him have me!
I have an 870 12 gauge with a magazine extension tube with 8- 3" magnum rifled slugs in them. Those loads are hot enough to shoot a hole completely through a bear, through my wall, and into the neighbors house at close range. Thats my gun of choice for the bear I didnt buy the sp101 357 as a bear defense gun. I bought it for home defense and two legged animals and because i love the feel and the action of that gun. I just wanted to know what load i could put in to best be prepared for a worst case scenario where all i had was my 357 and i was faced with an aggressive bear on top of me. If you were stuck with an angry bear on top of you i'm sure every single one of you would chose a 357 with ANY load as opposed to nothing. So i asked what load would give me the best fighting chance. There is no possible chance that a bear could enter into my room while i'm in it at night and catch me by surprise. My house is now bear proof, although i use that term lightly as i've found out nothing is bear proof. I have two very large protective dogs that sleep in my house at night as well as my 870 loaded with bear slugs next to my bed. Like i said i always bring the dogs with me for any walks i go on. This is almost more of a thread on what load to best use for lion as thats much more of a threat but if any of you have ever had anyone break into your house you are almost paranoid on home defense after that. That's the case with me and bears. I want every gun i own to give me the best chance it can of protecting me against a bear even if that's not a very good chance it's still better than not being prepared.
And for the guy who asked about alternating rounds. On a double action gun like the sp101 it takes about 3 seconds for me to shoot off three rounds. Even if i shoot off the FMJ and HC into the ground to get to the HC 180 it'd still only take a fraction of time. Realistically a well placed shot from a 357 at close range is more than enough to dispatch a small bear (100-300 lbs). And as an experienced hunter and weekend range warrior if i can't hit accurate enough in 5 shots at 5 yards to at least immobilize the bear enough to let myself get away then I might as well just let him have me!
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FMJ pistol vs bear
I'd go for head shots, because if I'm using a pistol with FMJ vs a bear I'm not hunting, I'm defending at close range.
Buffalo Bore 180gr .357 is supposed to be able to penetrate a bear skull; so are the Buffalo Bore 255gr Keith loads I have in my .44. This is the sole reason I bought that ammo.
Other than a CNS hit, I would not expect fast results from FMJ vs a bear, at least not fast enough to prevent a bad mauling.
I'd go for head shots, because if I'm using a pistol with FMJ vs a bear I'm not hunting, I'm defending at close range.
Buffalo Bore 180gr .357 is supposed to be able to penetrate a bear skull; so are the Buffalo Bore 255gr Keith loads I have in my .44. This is the sole reason I bought that ammo.
Other than a CNS hit, I would not expect fast results from FMJ vs a bear, at least not fast enough to prevent a bad mauling.
I can't understand how any of you can suggest a light bullet for bear, or any large game, especially hollow points. Higher velocity will not make up for what a hard cast bullet (180gr+) .357 round, (and high velocities), will do for penetration, and bone busting. Look at Buffalo Bore ammo. They have a .44 +P+ at 340gr, and 1478fps. That is real close to the 454 Casull round. Look to ammo from Buffalo Bore, or some other hunting loads for what you are looking for. Cor Bon has some in .44, so do a few others, like Garrett. Go to the Buffalo Bore web site, you will find loads on the max end of performance. However, many revolvers are not suitable for their loads, but they will tell you which are ok. Or, as I have, e mail them, they are very good at answering your questions. I am going to see if they on the NYSE, I love their ammo, and their customer service.
My 1st line bear defense:
My 1.5 year old Alaskan Husky/Wolf and my 1 year old Shepard. Clearly ferocious attack dogs!
But i do plan on getting a .454 or .460 too for occasional woodland adventures sometime in the future. Especially with the push on grizzly reintroduction booming here in colorado although I think i'd be just easier to let the bear have me then to deal with the reprocussions of having to shoot a super protected colorado grizzly
My 1.5 year old Alaskan Husky/Wolf and my 1 year old Shepard. Clearly ferocious attack dogs!
But i do plan on getting a .454 or .460 too for occasional woodland adventures sometime in the future. Especially with the push on grizzly reintroduction booming here in colorado although I think i'd be just easier to let the bear have me then to deal with the reprocussions of having to shoot a super protected colorado grizzly
Drummer101
New member
and the hearing damage to go with that sucker.
hickstick_10
New member
Close your doors and hide any pic-a-nic baskets from view of the windows.......
