.357 or .45?

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Hey, Hoser, lay off eh? The GP100 is blued. I'm seriously thinking of using this as an excuse for a Redhawk in .44 mag. I was thinking of taking my .22 to piss off the bears.
 
I appreciate the responses here, but I have to say, a common THR phenomonen has occurred. I asked a simple question about taking a sidearm to Alaska. NOWHERE did I state I wanted it for bear, nor did I state that I was only going to go armed with a handgun.
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So why do you need the handgun? For plinking?

If you are going to Alaska it doesn't matter if you are hunting bear or not, you are gonna be under-gunned if you stumble on one.

But seriously....if you are gonna buy a .44 mag, I would suggest going all out for max power with something like a .480, .454, .460, .475, or .500.

The .454, and if I recall also the .460, will shoot .45 long colts when you don't want to shoot those super magnum cartridges.

(there is a thread on THR just yesterday I saw about killing a bear with a 22) :D
 
I shot a Super Redhawk 7.5" in .480 Ruger. It really wasn't half-bad. I wouldn't pass it around to friends for a casual afternoon of plinking near the campsite, but it's manageable and it doesn't hurt if you don't shoot too many cylinders in rapid succession.

.44 Magnum is just a mid-power round, these days.:D
 
I'm seriously thinking of using this as an excuse for a Redhawk in .44 mag. I was thinking of taking my .22 to piss off the bears.
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I shot a Super Redhawk 7.5" in .480 Ruger. It really wasn't half-bad. I wouldn't pass it around to friends for a casual afternoon of plinking near the campsite, but it's manageable and it doesn't hurt if you don't shoot too many cylinders in rapid succession.
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I have a 5.5" 44 Redhawk. Great gun. If you wanna get one, load her up with 300gr hard cast with H110 or Win296 and an OAL of about 1.725... something that Smith 29's won't take. If that won't do the job, nuttin will.

I shot a 9.5" 480 SRH about 3-4 months ago. I couldn't get enough of it. 325gr Hornady load. Pleasant, accurate... fast follow up shots. Lower recoil than my 5.5" Redhawk. Probably slow draw speed though. I don't know... didn't have a holster.

IMO, just keep your rifle handy at all times. At all times. Between that and 180gr hardcast .357 loads as a last ditch backup gun, I think you'd be fine. You've got a guide or hunting buddy, right?
 
I appreciate the responses here, but I have to say, a common THR phenomonen has occurred. I asked a simple question about taking a sidearm to Alaska. NOWHERE did I state I wanted it for bear, nor did I state that I was only going to go armed with a handgun.
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Well, that's why I think a .357 is the best choice, because you HAVE a rifle on the trip and you don't wanna tote around the weight of another rifle. I wouldn't want the .45 along because it's an auto and not likely as accurate as the revolver, nor as versatile.

I've often carried a .357 along on hunting trips stoked with .38s for the taking of camp meat. Can toss a speed loader full of magnums in it if I really feel the need, for what I don't know, maybe if I crippled a hog in heavy cover where I couldn't maneuver a rifle. I like magnum revolvers, they're powerful and versatile. The .357 might not be the most powerful, but it's hands down the most versatile.

If, by chance, the .45 is the most accurate, go for the accuracy.
 
Side arms are basically worthless when it comes to big bears.
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Less than ideal, perhaps, but this guy (who stopped a brown bear charge with his 9mm--and a lot of luck) probably believes that a side arm can be very useful when it comes to big bears. ;)
 
To survive a bear encounter, all you need is a .25ACP.














For example, here's my plan if I go off into the Alaska woods:
1. Take a friend.
2. Take a .25ACP pistol to hide in my pocket.
3. When bear attacks, pull pistol from pocket, shoot friend in knee, then run like hell.
 
The Brenners and Pennington had dull knives and no idea of how to skin a bear. It took them hours to get the hide off.

"We had no idea of what we were doing," Garen said. "Knowing what we know now, I don't ever want to go bear hunting."
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ROFLMFAO!

That Garen hit the fast-moving bear with his handgun was fortunate, he admits. That one of the 9 mm, full-metal-jacket bullets -- woefully inadequate for stopping a charging brown bear -- happened to slam into the socket of the bear's front shoulder might almost be considered a miracle.

That bullet blew up the shoulder. The bear went down, rolled over and spun.
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Now that there's total BS. I was assured by EXPERTS that the 9mm would simply bounce off bone, if not flesh in a MAN, let alone a 450 lb bear! This could not have happened, no way, BS. The experts told me so (see the Maybe the 9mm isn't very effective! thread for absolute proof!:p
 
Quote:
Pennington threw down his fishing rod and began wrestling the pistol-gripped Mossberg, pump-action 12-gauge off his back. He was unsure whether he'd been able to chamber a shell when he realized the bear was almost on him.


Talk about being behind the curve. Bears don't give advance notice.
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Yeah, but, this sorta shows why I don't think a shotgun, alone, is the best thing to have for chance bear encounters. It's PITA enough tossing decoys or picking 'em up with a shotgun slung over your back, let alone fishing with one. And, getting it into action ain't exactly quick, as Pennington figured out. A nice Ruger .45 Colt Blackhawk in a shoulder holster is probably my best chance in that sort of situation. If I lived up there, though, I'd have danged good reason to spend $1500 on a Freedom Arms .454 Casull. :D But, apparently, the experts ain't exactly correct about the effectiveness of the 9mm, eh? LOL! It ain't much against a bear, but better'n nothin'!
 
If you are gonna fish in Alaska and you want to pack a handgun, I suggest an AK pistol. That's right, a AK-47 pistol like M2 Carbine posted on Glocktalk. 20 rounds (or more!) of basicly 30/30 balistics in a very reliable package. In 7.62x39 it is a formable package.

It will be pretty hard to make a dead on shot with a hand cannon that is slow at second shots (like a .454 or .460) yet the AK would do nicely at both power and firepower.

And hey, I'm not being funny here. It would look kind of weird fishing with one hanging down your chest, but it would do the job real well.
 
I would suggest to keep your eyes and ears and nose open. Be aware of the wind and don't go walking upwind through cover. I have seen a disturbed mama grizz and it was a scary sight. Scary enough to make my 870 feel like a air rifle.
 
If I'm going to carry an AK anything, I'd rather just put a 12 ga over my back. :rolleyes: 7.62x39 doesn't impress me and it's no less bulky than a 12. I shot a deer with it and had to track the danged thing with a good lung shot a good half mile. :rolleyes: That gun's a safe queen, now. I hunt with a real rifle. Even my .30-30 contender has dropped four deer in their tracks and once with worse shot placement, still in the chest, but low. But, one kill does not a caliber make I guess. Still, with that experience, I don't have a lot of confidence in the cartridge. I was pushing a 135 grain Sierra Pro Hunter to about 2200 fps and it expanded well and the deer was a DOE. Even my .357 has killed on the spot! It might be better than I'm giving it credit for, but when you experience a failure like that with that good of shot placement, it makes you less than confident in the caliber. Personally, I'd rather carry my .45 colt Blackhawk with heavy loads than any AK anything. And, I can shoot a single action pretty danged fast. I have always been more into shot placement than spray and pray. Being a hunter will do that to you I guess.
 
If you ever see a bear, even a black bear that pistol is going to look awful small no matter what caliber it is ............ even a single shot 12 gauge would be better unless you are taking the gun to commit suicide to prevent the pain of a mauling .:)
 
you generally need to unload a big bore magnum into a bear to stop it, unless you're an excellent shot. 44 mag minimum. If you go with either of the guns you already have, make sure you're using FMJs and pray a lot.
 
I've never hunted in Alaska, but after reading this thread I've decided that when I do go, I will take my old M-79 granade launcher.
 
Take the Ruger.

You've said you won't be relying 100% on the handgun, so I assume you've got a rifle or shotgun along. For a secondary, I'd prefer the .357 over the .45ACP. As much as I love my 1911's, I also realize that a stoked up load for a .357 is going to beat a .45 load every time.
 
The Alaskan wilderness is littered with the remains of people who've not had enough gun if any at all. Timothy Treadwell, a supposedly EXPERT on grizzly/browns/kodiaks met his demise along with his girlfriends due to his stupidity. If you fell to believe me, PM me and I will give you my buddies email address so you can write to him. I've been from Sitka, Alaska, to St. Lawrence Island, to Adak, to Pt. Barrow, with a few other fine places in between
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I'm watching grizzly man on the discovery channel right now. Trust me, nobody considered Timothy Treadwell an expert in anything. Except maybe at being a nut job. None of the biologists considered him to be a peer, he was just some loon who spent his summers up there until the inevitable. The only ones who thought anything of him were his other insane hippy followers having bambi fantasies.
 
You've said you won't be relying 100% on the handgun, so I assume you've got a rifle or shotgun along. For a secondary, I'd prefer the .357 over the .45ACP. As much as I love my 1911's, I also realize that a stoked up load for a .357 is going to beat a .45 load every time.
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The way I read the original post, he's hunting with a rifle and the sidearm is auxilliary, just to have along. I agree on the heavies in .357 being much better than anything a .45ACP can toss, but also my reasoning for the .357 has as much to do with versatility. He might wanna take a rabbit and a .38 wadcutter is super accurate out of a good gun.

When I'm out with my rifle and a .357 on my belt, the handgun usually has wadcutters in it. There's lots of rabbits out in west Texas and I never failed to take a cotton tail or if things were tough, a jack with the .38 out there for camp meat for at least one meal. That was part of the addiction to hunting out there for me. I'd pick a few prickly pear pads and have nopalitos con conejo. Mmmmm, can't beat it! :D Amazing how much there is to eat out in the desert. You won't starve out there. You'll need to find water or you might die of thirst, but you won't starve. :D

Of course, there's no man eating bears in west Texas, but heck, if you have a rifle, why you worried about a handgun for bears????
 
NOWHERE did I state I wanted it for bear, nor did I state that I was only going to go armed with a handgun. Notwithstanding, many of the responses here (1) assume I am going to hunt bear with handgun, and (2) that I am not taking anything else.
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Handgun + Alaskan wilderness + contingency/emergency use = Bear gun. Which is not to say you're thinking about going bear hunting with a pistol, but an Alaskan "defensive handgun" is not really the same as a Lower 48 defensive handgun. When I was kid growing up in Alaska, carrying a sidearm when out hiking, hunting, etc., was pretty much SOP for every adult I knew (+/- those with zero sense and overly optimistic world views). In every case the carry weapon was intended for bear -- any potential use against two legged predators was just gravy and much less likely.

Of your options, I'd say the .357 and use the word-of-mouth SOP I grew up hearing -- shoot at least once over the bear's head to try and scare it off. An angry or startled bear may decide it's go time, but a wounded bear probably will. The advice about saving one for yourself people have posted is not that bad, either. I can remember hearing possibly urban myths (rural myths?) as a kid about an army lieutenant out hiking who ran into a brown bear and emptied 13 rounds from a BHP into the bear before being killed and partially eaten. The bear was supposedly finished off several days later with rifle fire, with all 13 rounds of 9mm fired found in the carcass post-mortem. The .45 is not going to perform any better against a bear with the same or less muzzle energy and a bigger cross section to reduce penetration.
 
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