Bear Bullet

300wsmman

Inactive
I live in Wyoming and have live there for almost 7 years, and i put in for an elk tag in a special area, which is home to big grizzles, and alot of them. I own a .45, and i was wondering what is a good bullet for it for self-defense aginst bears, and mountain lions in a .45
 
A .45 what? Colt? ACP?

A 300 or 320 gr hardcast bullet at about 1000 fps in .45 Colt would be good for close range bear defense and would probably shoot from end to end on a cougar.

An ACP loaded with +P defense loads would work okay on the big kitty, but I wouldn't even consider an ACP for bears.
 
I wouldn't consdier my .45ACP as an anti-bear gun unless I got really, really good at putting eight bullets into a three-inch circle in about two or three seconds.

:), Art
 
First, if you do a search, there are probably hundreds of threads on discussing the "best anti-bear handgun", particularly over in the handgun forums. You will find more opinions and info that you could ever hope for.

.45 acp is well below reasonably adequate for trying to stop a brown bear.

Your best defense (other than awareness/precautions/avoidance) is pepper spray. It'll work faster and better than a handgun, by all accounts.

If you run out of pepper spray, and cannot employ your longgun for some reason, you'll want a minimum of .44 magnum with heavy hardcast loads vs. a brown bear.
 
I'd say your best bear defence will be the rifle you are carrying on your elk hunt. I'm guessing you will be using a 300 WSM by your handle, and 180 grain premium bullets are very capable of taking a bear down if needed. Don't hunt alone, that way you can have somone watch for bears and lions when processing your kill.
 
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