Bears

If I am going to wonder a round in a area that holds bears, I want to be over gunned, I want a one shot kill, " BANG DEAD " !!!! :D
 
Well then you dont want to use a gun because most bear self defense cases with guns did not end with one shot and most ended with injury to the victim...
 
A big bear (brown) is a beast that is most likely not going to go down DRT unless you shoot him with a RPG. You would have to disrupt the central nervous system to put the bear down instantly, especially if it were charging you. You will not have the shot placement made available to you to shatter both front shoulders. One shot one kill? Sure. One shot, one instant stop? Not very likely.
 
Bear spray has been proven to be more effective than guns...
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I don't believe bear spray is more effective than guns. What I do think is that bear spray is more appropriate for people with little or no firearm experience. Sure people have done stupid stuff with bear spray (like spraying it on their kids as bear "repellent") and we certainly don't want these kinds of people handling guns.

I went on a 2 week long caving expedition deep in brown bear country. I didn't want the hassle of flying with a handgun (I doubt the yuppies on the trip would have been comfortable with it anyways), so I picked up a can of bear spray ASAP.

In my area of Alaska there are no brownies, and black bear are fairly skittish and non-aggressive. I still carry a gun. But if I was dealing with browns on a regular basis I'd carry bear spray as a backup in case my gun went dry.

Its better than your fingernails.
 
. But if I was dealing with browns on a regular basis I'd carry bear spray as a backup in case my gun went dry.
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Thats kind of an interesting plan... If your gun went dry, what makes you think you will have time to switch to bear spray to use something you feel is less effective?

There was a study put out years ago comparing guns to bear spray, the vast majority of victims that survived used spray and came out un-injured, of the people that used guns... That lived, the vast majority of those suffered serious injuries.
 
What were the firearms in the study? 9mm Luger? 38 SPL?
For the study to be useful to me personally, I would need to see a study of "Effectiveness of Bear Spray VS. effectiveness of 445 Supermag."
 
What were the firearms in the study? 9mm Luger? 38 SPL?
For the study to be useful to me personally, I would need to see a study of "Effectiveness of Bear Spray VS. effectiveness of 445 Supermag."
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https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/42173184/Survival Spray.pdf

in short: Bear Spray: 90% successful. Pistols: 84%, Rifles: 76%. Bear inflicted injuries on firearm users: 56%. (pg74)

I'll let you figure out where your supermag fits in...

I got nothing against a gun for bear defense but all Im saying is 90% better odds.
 
I don't have a manual that shows it, but I seem to remember bask in the day when Ruger was making the 44 mag in a rifle that there was a load specifically for the rifle that was heavier than the pistol cartridge.
Can someone add to that, please.
 
As said lead semi wad cutter, LSWC, not HP. Get something from Buffalo Bore. Black bear is different than grizzly. But something is better than nothing.



I carry heavy 44 specials in wolf an black bear country. Hopefully never find out.


Never heard of 223 being used,unless at a distance.

A shotgun with slugs is probably the best. But long guns are carried less.
 
The brass will still limit pressure, even if in a rifle. Granted I would feel better about a hot load in a lever.

Some people claim reloading manuals have seperate sections for super blackhawks, but in all the manuals I have, I have never seen one. Maybe years ago.

Yes, I realize it is over 81 days, which sure isn't much. But no one answered.

Maybe this will turn up in a search someday. I know I have read lots of bear threads on lots of sites.
 
Bear spray is a way more effective for self defense against a bear as it requires literally 3 seconds to aim and shoot and covers a much wider target than a bullet. Cost's about $50 a can and is available without permit at most hunting/sporting goods stores (cabelas). The odds on someone being able to draw a gun and aim at a charging animal with zero warning are about 1/1000 and when you do miss or worse hit somewhere other than the brain box your done. I don't care how many bullets the gun has. Your getting one shot maybe.
 
Never, NEVER, shoot a charging bear in the head. The skull of a bear is shaped like a radar resistant boat and built like a tank. It is extremely difficult to penetrate a bears skull with even the biggest magnum rifles. When they charge the head is lowered and bobbing around like the dancers at a rave party. Shoot into the area below the head - the neck and chest is there and you can do some real damage.

The guy that ran my favorite gun store in Seattle was a guide in Alaska and known for shooting bear through the eye socket after a hunter failed to hit vitals. He quit as a guide and came to Seattle after he shot a grizzly which dropped immediately as they do when shot through the eye but just after slitting the bears throat he noticed that he had missed the eye and the bullet had scraped the brow and top/side of the head knocking the bear unconscious. If that bear had come to before he had cut its throat he would have been done. He figured his string of luck was used up and he walked away.
 
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