B Shipley, I guess that you haven't seen my related post with regard to the alligator attack. But to briefly sum up, we don't have a pool and while playing in my backyard, a gator came after my little one who was just learning how to walk and run around. He ran toward her and so did I. I was closer and grabbed her in my arms first. The gator kept coming. I emptied ten rounds of .40S&W into it. I suspect that the bulk of the bullets missed as I was running away and shooting and not really using my sights because I completely paniced. Although some of the bullets must have hit their mark because I drew blood and caused him enough pain to convince him to give up the chance. When the sheriff arrived, the animal was no where to be found. By the way, there is no pool or standing water on my property.
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.45ACP or 10mm
- Thread starter FUD
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As a native of Florida reading about stopping gators is kind of like "what handguns to use on bears"? None if possible! First with a gator try to run away (and not in a straight line) as he will be faster than you. If you must shoot him then go for a head shot as that is the fastest way to stop him. As protection against him use a 30/30 rifle or larger. In a semi auto pistol I would use the 10mm as IMO the 45cal doesn't have the penetration needed as these lizards have very very tough hides.
K
KilgorII
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FUD,
Didn't you build a fence? So this would actually be a nonissue wouldn't it?
BTW I would feel ok about it with a full cap Glock 17 9mm, but I would feel better about it with a fullcap Glock 20 10mm. I agree that numerous shots are probably the way to go if you have allowed a gator to get close enough to your or yours to have to shoot it.
P.S. I never responded to the other thread. I'm glad that you and your little girl are ok. It's a good thing you were carrying and saw the gator in time.
Didn't you build a fence? So this would actually be a nonissue wouldn't it?
BTW I would feel ok about it with a full cap Glock 17 9mm, but I would feel better about it with a fullcap Glock 20 10mm. I agree that numerous shots are probably the way to go if you have allowed a gator to get close enough to your or yours to have to shoot it.
P.S. I never responded to the other thread. I'm glad that you and your little girl are ok. It's a good thing you were carrying and saw the gator in time.
KilgorII, yes the fence is there. Thank you. If it wasn't, I suspect I would have the .308 with me every time I ventured outside. Althought, I don't want to rely just on the fence as the sole means of protection. It has helped a lot but I would still like to have a back-up firearm JUST IN CASE.
Bullwinkle
New member
Would an electrified fence work/help? You could put the hot wire on the outside so the little one does not get ahold of it.
It may be that you have no water on YOUR property, but I've never read about gators living far from water, even if that's a swimming pool in suburban FL. How close is the nearest water? They do trek to new sources of water, I assume when the hunting is poor where they were.
Gators can't eat anything that they can't swallow in a gulp unless they are in the water and can use their entire body strength, as transmitted through their jaws to make smaller pieces of their prey. They have no ability to tear, and the fact that they have pointed, cylindrical teeth with no cutting edges bears this out. The thing would've tried to drag your child to the nearest water.
No one said that gators are cute and cuddly, and your experience bears this out. My point is that if you stay the hell away from spots where they are likely to live, such as canals and ponds, or hole up for a while, such as a pool, you stand a much better chance of not meeting one. It sounds as though you are on the path between a couple bodies of water and do need to take extra care.
As to the original issue of caliber: 10mm sounds good to me. Leave that .454 stuff to Dirty Harry wannabes. Hitting the thing square in the head, blowing its walnut sized brain out will have delayed effects at best. The tail will still thrash and the jaws are still sensitive to the slightest touch along the tongue (a drop of water here is enough to make the jaws spring shut like a leg hold trap).
Gators can't eat anything that they can't swallow in a gulp unless they are in the water and can use their entire body strength, as transmitted through their jaws to make smaller pieces of their prey. They have no ability to tear, and the fact that they have pointed, cylindrical teeth with no cutting edges bears this out. The thing would've tried to drag your child to the nearest water.
No one said that gators are cute and cuddly, and your experience bears this out. My point is that if you stay the hell away from spots where they are likely to live, such as canals and ponds, or hole up for a while, such as a pool, you stand a much better chance of not meeting one. It sounds as though you are on the path between a couple bodies of water and do need to take extra care.
As to the original issue of caliber: 10mm sounds good to me. Leave that .454 stuff to Dirty Harry wannabes. Hitting the thing square in the head, blowing its walnut sized brain out will have delayed effects at best. The tail will still thrash and the jaws are still sensitive to the slightest touch along the tongue (a drop of water here is enough to make the jaws spring shut like a leg hold trap).
Another thing, the skull of gators are very porous (the bone is filled with tiny channels to lighten it in water and add buoyancy), so this isn't nearly as difficult to penetrate as solid bone. The scales and ridges on the back also make excellent ballistic armor. I'd try to aim low so as to hit it in the side and avoid the ridges on its back.
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