Pink Kate

So you sneak up on Mr. Grizzly, close enough to place the muzzle of a 22 right between his eyes, then do him in with one shot? Reminds me of a story, about mice debating the best way to put a bell on a cat. I don't claim to be a big game hunter, but with my Physics degree I understand that stopping a big animal is more about energy transfer, than it is about penetration. The 44 would seem to be a better choice in that regard, than the 357. The thirty ought six is a formidable piece of ammunition, but where do you find a thirty ought six pistol? If you work in grizzly country, but are not necessarily hunting them, then a pistol is bound to be more convenient, than a rifle.

Of people who have been there, that I have talked to, most recommended the

44, with some recommending the 357. Bathing can be a problem, with the bear, who is after all lazy, waiting on the bank, next to the backpack with the 44 in it, while Mr. Surveyor is standing naked in the middle of a near-freezing Alaska river.

My coworkers in Virginia hunted black bear with shotgun slugs, but they didn't always do the job. One told me he was sure he had exterminated a young black bear, so he started carrying it back to the pickup, whereupon Mr. Bruin commenced to complain. I'm told that it is a strange feeling, having a wounded bear come to life on your back.

Earle

"Earle Horton" wrote : My coworkers in Virginia hunted black bear with shotgun slugs, but they : didn't always do the job. One told me he was sure he had exterminated a : young black bear, so he started carrying it back to the pickup, whereupon : Mr. Bruin commenced to complain. I'm told that it is a strange feeling, : having a wounded bear come to life on your back. : : Earle :

Did he mention if he needed a change of pants or not? That would be a really bad feeling I think.

Yet another good reason to field dress your game I guess.

Kate

i would be hesitant to depend upon any handgun for bear protection, to include the .500 due to its limited capacity. it would be awful tough to remain calm enough to aim effectively at a charging bear. if i was going to limit myself to handgun protection it would have to be a glock 20 (16 rounds of 10mm in a semi-auto). grizzly bear interaction is quite common, especially up around the breaks and the blackfeet reservation/glacier. i had one stand up less than 50 yards away from me.....appeared out of nowhere and didnt seem to like that i was pissing on his tree (see

half way down the page for his picture).

Although I usually carry a .45 (11 rounds), if I was needed a handgun with a large capacity magazine, I would probably choose my TEC-9 with the 50-round mags... A 9mm is not the best round, but since I have 4 of the mags, I figure 200 rounds of 9mm might be enough to annoy the bear a bit and convince him to go elsewhere...

Of course, the real question is whether I can annoy him enough before he seriously puts a crimp in my day...

I've had to put down cattle before and have used a .22LR... Cattle have pretty damn thick skulls, but it you do it right, you'll get a no reflex kill... Perhaps the .22 bounces around inside the skull after entering it? The problem with this technique on a bear is that when you are most likely to need to use the firearm on the bear, he is not just sitting there letting you get a perfect shot... If he's charging at you, it's quite possible that you'll end up aiming at center of mass... Waiting for him to rear up and open his mouth so that you can shoot through the roof of his mouth is probably not exactly the most survival oriented behavior that you could choose...

the most critical aspect to stopping anything involves depositing energy. metal piercing doesnt expand, therefore it wont deposit energy and will instead blow right through an animal without upsetting much (in comparison to a soft or hollow point). dont be mislead.....the .357 magnum is an awesome man stopper but it would be little more than an annoyance to a charging grizzly bear. .44 is minimum and even then its an absolute last resort.

i met a man last year that had his scalp ripped off by a grizzly bear that attacked him while he was gutting an elk that he had just shot. grizzlys commonly stalk elk hunters in in certain parts of montana, but they usually wait and act as scavengers to eat what the hunter leaves after gutting it. in this case the grizzly attacked the hunter who emptied a .41 magnum at point blank range before hobbling away while holding the top of his head in place.

if youre gonna carry a .45, get an aftermarket barrel (if one is available for your particular weapon) to enable you to shoot .45 super (.45 magnum, auto). it gives you true .44 magnum performance in a .45 automatic. an hk usp .45 is capable of handling .45 super out of the box with no other modifications, although hk recommends replacing the buffer spring after every 3000 rounds of .45 super.

you better hope he falls in the first 50.....there wont be time to reload. :-)

better shoot him in the eye......i dont think you could penetrate a grizzly bear skull with a .22. ive seen craters cut in bear skulls from .30-06 ricochets due to the extreme angles of the bone structure.

Awh, I'm not counting on him falling... I'm just hoping he'll mistake the buzzing for some bees and start looking for the honey...

Hell, if you can shoot him in the eye, go for both eyes... Maybe you'll have a chance to outrun him if he's blind...

Seriously though, *if* you can get a perpendicular hit to the bone, you might be able to go through it... Once it's inside the head, if it ricochets around, great... In the meantime, I'll be putting on my sneakers... Don't need to be able to outrun the bear, just whoever might be with me...

I've been shot with a .38 before... Didn't even feel it... I suspect that I would have definitely known if it had been a .45 or a .357...

.45 super is a great round, but the recoil is generous.

.....get back to me if youre able to pull that one off. ;-)

Well, there are Thompson Contender barrels for 30-06... It's a 15" barrel, IIRC... Slightly more compact than a rifle, but with only a single shot, I think I would be more inclined to shorten a rifle a bit and carry it...

Hell, I seem to remember where someone created a .50 BMG pistol... Maadi-Griffin and Thunder, I believe...

I suspect that a pistol can be made for any rifle cartridge if one is motivated enough... At the very least, it can be a single shot pistol... Whether it is a practical firearm is an entirely different question...

On a more practical note, there is the S&W Model 500 -- .500 magnum, 5-round revolver, 440 grains, 2600 ft-lbs... Handloaders have experimented with 500 grain bullets developing 3000+ ft-lbs...

Oh, you can be assured that I'll be "strutin' my stuff" if I managed to take down a grizley with a single .22LR... Of course, I'm pretty safe from them here in Texas...