.45 acp for a mountain gun?

Any of the "big three" auto pistol calibers would be a good choice for your intended use. Bullet choice is what will make the difference.

Ball ammo may not produce enough of a wound channel on the 2 legged's.

HP's may not penetrate enough for the 4 legged's.

A SWC, TCFP, or RNFP solid bullet should put you right where you want to be.

A reliably feeding bullet among those choices in that order is what I'd take. Gun familiarity would trump buying a new one simply for a different caliber.
 
Hold on here

Just a thought. How are you planning to carry a .45 through all the states you will have to pass through if you intend to do the A.T.?
I know for a fact, that if you are caught in NY without a valid NYS Pistol Permit, you will be spending a lot of time dealing with the Police and the courts.
Unless you are an active or retired LEO, with the correct papers, fuggedaboudit.
Just a bit of advise, take it or not, your choice.
 
FWIW

Guns are still not allowed in the Great Smoky Mountains national park – at least not yet...

Firearms that are loaded have been long banned from the Great Smoky Mountains national park since President Regan signed into law that guns in national parks must be unloaded and inaccessible.
 
I don't know about all that
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I do.

I live up here. Humans share this island with the largest carnivore on earth, don't you think I'd be well-versed in the best tools for stopping bears? I've only been charged thrice... Bear spray made them all tuck tail and run...

What are you confused about? Ask any reasonable, sane person what weapon they would rather enter a fight with, when encountering any animal or human. Most all will tell you they'd rather enter a fight with a long gun.

But if we would rather fight with long guns, then why do we carry handguns?

Because handguns are much easier and less cumbersome to carry. And rifles/shotguns are kinda hard to conceal... It really is as simple as that...

The Herrero and Higgins study found sprays 94% effective in actual encounters but no study I know of has ever been done on handguns.
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The state of Alaska looked at statistics compiled by ADF&G over a number of years. They looked at all cases of reported bear attacks, and what weapons were used to stop each. Even in considerable opposing wind, the sprays were effective.

I guess there are some who refuse to accept that they don't know of everything that happens...:rolleyes:
 
While it wouldn't be my first choice, it beats heck out of having nothing
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Yep. The best gun is gonna be the one you have on you.

I have 45 ACP pitols, and .357 mag. They both get carried about the same amount of time when out in the boonies, and I have never felt undergunned yet.

When I am out hiking/hunting/camping, my self defense gun isn't so much for four legged vermin, but to protect my self from the two legged kind.
 
While it wouldn't be my first choice, it beats heck out of having nothing
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e
Is 'nothing' now the standard against which we gauge self defense choices? I think more often than not, the issue isn't whether something is better than nothing but whether something is better than some other viable choice.

The state of Alaska looked at statistics compiled by ADF&G over a number of years. They looked at all cases of reported bear attacks, and what weapons were used to stop each. Even in considerable opposing wind, the sprays were effective.
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I can't find the report on this. Got a link?

I did see where ADF&G thinks carrying a gun is more dangerous to the carrier than being attacked by a bear...

You are allowed to carry a gun for protection in state parks. Remember, though, that more people are hurt by the guns they carry than are hurt by bears.
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http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/safety/bears.htm

This Ph.D. in Alaska cited Herrera's work, but noted of the Alaska cases he studied, pepper spray was only effective 87% of the time.
http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/brownbears/pepperspray/pepperspray.htm
 
Ask and ye shall receive...

http://gf.state.wy.us/downloads/pdf/RegionalNews/dh-bear%20spray.pdf

"Of all persons carrying sprays, 98% were uninjured by bears in close-range encounters. All bear inflicted
injuries (n¼3) associated with defensive spraying involved brown bears and were relatively minor (i.e., no hospitalization required). In 7% (5 of 71) of bear spray incidents, wind was reported to have interfered with spray accuracy, although it reached the bear in all cases."

This isn't the study I referred to in my initial post, but it brings up some of the points... I'll have to find the good one, I read it over a year ago...
 
Excellent, and thank you. However, no wonder I could not find it. While the data are from Alaska, the % was off (which befuddles search engines) the report isn't by the ADF&G, but by several scholars not part of the ADF&G and jointly published in JWM.


It should be pointed out that residue from the spray can have negative effects and be an attractant. In the cited study in JWM, there were folks who reported everything from minor irritation from the spray to near incapacitation. So after using pepper spray in an attack, a thorough washing might be in order.
http://books.google.com/books?id=gF...nepage&q=pepper spray bear attractant&f=false

Still, pepper spray seems to be a very good way to go against bears.
 
If you use the search function you can find a story of an Oregon man killing a bear with a 1911.

The only problem I've heard of with bear spray is that bears find the smell attractive. So make sure there's no residue or leaks from the sprayer, or you'll smell like a taco with hot sauce.:eek:
 
Excellent, and thank you. However, no wonder I could not find it. While the data are from Alaska, the % was off (which befuddles search engines) the report isn't by the ADF&G, but by several scholars not part of the ADF&G and jointly published in JWM.
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I noted this in my response:

This isn't the study I referred to in my initial post, but it brings up some of the points... I'll have to find the good one, I read it over a year ago...
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As far as a pistol goes, a .45 is dammm good. Especially for the big critters. If you're seriously treading in wild bear country, consider a carbine. You'd have better aim, less recoil, and more firepower. Even a little .223 carbine, like a mini or an AR, would suit you better. Wouldn't be able to carry it on your hip though! That's the thing with pistols vs. carbines.
 
huh

i know little about bears however i have had alot of experience with armed people in defensive situations and people are not even CLOSE to 87% accurate in a situation like that. and when in doubt listen to the man who live on KODIAK ISLAND!!!!! isnt that like bear attack headquarters
i say take both and use the pistol as backup due to legality issues.



oh my two sense btw yes it would kill the bear as it was walking away from your cooling corpse :p
 
In answering your question, I have killed one black bear and one whitetail buck with my .45 ACP. First off, the whitetail. I had been hunting, walking, and was totally tired out, having walked all day and had seen nothing. I was in a big deep canyon, that had a little dry creek in the bottom that was washed out about 4 feet deep. I had been walking that canyon when I decided to rest, and had sat down and leaned back against a big hackberry tree about 10 feet from the little dry creek. I dozed off then woke up to see the head and rack of this white tail buck ***** footing towards me in that little creek, and not being able to get my rifle, I pulled my .45 out of my shoulder holster and popped him in the neck when he passed by me. Grave yard dead right there.

The bear. About 20 years ago I had taken a youth group into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Southern Colorado. From previous experience, I knew that area had bears, and I took my .45. One full moon night, I awoke to find Yogi with his head in my tent. I reached under my pillow and got my .45 and pointed it up at him and he took it in his mouth, and I pulled the trigger. I must say that it did the job.

There wasnt time to get scared in that situation, however the next half hour was traumatic. God and I had a personal visit. Technically, the .45 ACP will work. However, it is not a legal cartridge in many states. You need to contact the different states and get their advice. If I were to do that again I would certainly take my .45 Colt.

It is better to be judged by 12 than to be carried by 6.
 
Bear spray is between 99%-100% effective at stopping bear attacks, regardless of wind conditions.
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hahahahahahahahaha im gona go ahead and disegree with that the last bear that tried to eat me did it though a glass door!
 
We have quite few large black bears in N.H. and the last bear attack was well over 100 years ago. Many people run into then picking berries, not that it couldn't happen but the 2 legged would be my greater concern. As far as the 45acp, I would rather have a Ruger GP100 357 with 180gr Nosler partitions for bear. The GP100 is rugged, accurate and small and light enough for easy carry. If I were set on the 45acp I am not sure if I would opt for ball ammo for bear, but then again a good bonded 230 grain may be the answer. As far as 2 legged predators I would want a good hollow-point.
 
mountain gun

a .45acp in my opinion is not enough gun for large game like a bear. I would take my ruger chambered in .454 casull that will take care of any game in the woods.
 
kill or stop? (using only a handgun)

Want to kill the bear in 2 hours+ or stop the bear from closing the last 2'?

At minimum, I'd want a hand-loaded 180grain "hard" cast alloy bullet full charged in a 357 revolver, but I'd feel safer with a 44RM, 454 Casul, or S&W 460 revolver if I wanted to stop a bruin.

My all-steel 44RM revolver's bear-load I buy from Garrett Cartridges.
garrettcartridges.com/products.aspl
 
357magfan You do know as a 357 fan you can get 200 gr and 180 gr rounds that are hotter than the baddest 10mm and out of a rifle,, better yet, If you can access it when needed. Good to have a gun but do by a bear spray, one of those big bottles just for them bears. And rely on a pistol/rifle only as a last chance or personal protection. A 12gauge with remington buck hammers in it would also be tough on anything and would keep people away. !8" barrel and folding stock would carry in top of pack with little notice. Just keep the spray handy.
 
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