45 Acp For Bear?

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slap a GPS on the bear and 911 for reagan orbital satellite counter measures assist :rolleyes:

if you defense starts with 45, its gotta end with at least a 70
 
moooose102, some of us did get the point thats why I said use the regular hardball and keep a couple of slugs in your pocket or in your ammo pouch. I'm 63 and have seen a lot of black bears in the north woods of Wisconsin and a couple in the mountains of southern New Mexico. I have never felt the need to draw and shoot at one and I would rather stand 30' from a black bear than a badger who is only a fraction of the size. Never faced a grizzly but black bears have never been a problem unless you meet one that some dopes have been giving handouts to. Have had them come into my camp and rummage through the garbage can unsuccessfully in a state park near El Capitan New Mexico and even my 2 dogs didn't get excited. Enjoy the show and don't get all excited but if you have to defend yourself the 45 is enough gun.

The reason I carry my 41 or 44 isn't bears or wolves but the wild hogs in my area. Not that they are a danger but they are vermin that need to be eradicated so I want all the gun I can carry. I don't like having to shoot something twice.
 
+1 on the bear spray suggestions.

Before I picked up my 1st .357, my woods carry pistol was a SIG P220 loaded with DT +p 230gr FMJ flat points. While it may not be the 1st choice of many, it was the biggest pistol I had.
 
Okay, the -average- black bear is roughly human sized and carries roughly human weight so any round that is effective against a human is -probably- going to be at least somewhat effective against a bear.
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Really? Boy, growing up in N. Ontario gives me a different perspective. Most black bears up in the Kirkland Lake Ont. area are in the range of 250-400lbs for a female and up to 600lbs for a male. I would generalize and characterize most black bears I've ever seen as between 2-3 times the mass of an average human. And at this time of year, they'd have a massive, thick layer of fat and skin that would likely keep a .45acp body shot from reaching anything remotely vital.

As a kid, I used to carry a 12ga shotgun with rifled slugs when hiking/camping and so forth in black bear country.
 
Bear deterrent

I may get fragged for this.....but several companies make a huge pepper spray canister just for bears and they work quite well. If you ever go to a few of the national parks in bear country they rent em, if you don't break the seal..you can return it.
Guard Alaska ultra hot pepper spray has proven so effective repelling bears, it is the only one registered with the EPA as arepellent for ALL SPECIES of bear!

People pepper spray is not the same as bear pepper spray. Only EPA approved bear sprays may be sold as deterrents against bears and have specific minimum requirements that must be met. Guard Alaska has an EPA registration number on its labeling.
bearspray.jpg
 
I remember as a kid in the 70's going up to a friends cottage up near sudbury, ont. Every few nights we would drive to the local dump and watch the bears tear through the garbage! Those were some BIG well fed bears:)
 
bears

I would generalize and characterize most black bears I've ever seen as between 2-3 times the mass of an average human. And at this time of year, they'd have a massive, thick layer of fat and skin that would likely keep a .45acp body shot from reaching anything remotely vital.
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Perhaps if you threw the round at the bear...

I can see bone slowing a 45acp round sufficiently to keep it from the vitals, and that would be the tricky part. It would certainly be charging forward, so a body shot would likely hit sternum. But if you are talking about fat and muscle, it will react about the same as ballistics gel. A decent hollowpoint round should get 12 or more inches of penetration.

Once again, the man is talking about a "oh @#$%" encounter, not hunting. Best bet would be to plan ahead, especially if you walk the woods in bear couintry. I wouldn't go with less than a 357, but a 44 would be better.
 
i have one of those "pinch collars" for my dog, it barely slows her down when i yank on it as hard as i can. when she gets excited and full of pent up energy, there isn't much that will slow her down. i keep telling my wife we should hook her to a harness, and have her tow a 1972 cadillac to detroit. that would calm her down. but, alas, i do not have a harness, or a 1972 cadillac. as for the 16 gauge slugs, i had thought of that, but unloading the shotgun, then reloading it with slugs is way to time consuming if i have a bear charging at me. i think i will just have to hunt alone (no dog) and when i take her out to the woods to run, take along my 45/70 with 5 - 400 grain flat points plowing along @ 1900 fps. if that does not stop a bear, well then, i guess it will have to eat me. the chances of it happening are small , and i know that. it's just that bears really do freak me out. i dont know why. but honestly, i would rather meet up with a cougar than a bear. i know what the cougar will do. the bear, is anyones guess.
 
After seeing this thread title, I was thinking: A spear would work for bear if that is all you got, but it ain't preferred.
 
While I still am a firm follower of the 1911 in .45ACP for two-legged problems, I have read enough about bears to believe that something on the order of a .44Mag is minimum for bear protection.

In other words, people who have actually had to defend against an attack by a bear, even a black bear, were glad to have the .44Mag and wished they had something larger.

(Oh sure, pepper spray first. No reason to kill it if it can be convinced to run off...)

It took me quite a while to reach this decision, as I just didn't want to give up the comfort of my familiar 1911, even temporarily.

Then I recalled the "It's not supposed to be comfortable, it's supposed to be comforting" statement. While this wasn't intended to answer the .44Mag question, it answered it for me.

If it's bears and not human miscreants, I want a hand cannon. The .44Mag is the biggest one I can shoot with anything approaching control.
 
45 Acp For Bear?

Naaah, a bear doesn't need a .45 if they want to kill you.;)

Seriously though,

My first recommendation is to stuff your pocket full of tiny doggie treats, leash the pup and start training him that he gets rewarded ONLY when he stops jerking your around and starts following your lead. It will take a few patient days, but soon he'll start following you! Then, walking will be a pleasure for you both . . . and also make it safer for you both too!

Here in Georgia, I probably would not have a problem toting a .45ACP automatic OR my chopped, 3" barreled Model 25-2 .45ACP revolver in black bear country, for the odds of needing it for bear are slim.

A properly placed head shot will put a bear right down . . . even with a .22LR bullet. BUT . . . miss by a little and things go downhill REAL fast!

Yep . . . your loyal dog BY YOUR SIDE would be a great deterrent too!

T.
 
black bear is roughly human sized and carries roughly human weight
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ive seen some pretty hefty people in my time but none quite as large as a full size black bear, the females i have seen have been from 120 to almost 300 lbs. the males anywhere from 200 to 400 lbs. use buckshot or use your dear rifle. i love the 30 30 for blackies
 
Who gets attacked by Black Bear anyhow?
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You must not read much.

black bear is roughly human sized and carries roughly human weight
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Uh, not really. The fat, the muscle, the skin, the bone structure, the hair (dry/wet)? All of it works against a bullet. Heck, use whatever you want.
 
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Amazing the differences in peoples reaction to the question. I was trained in tracking at the Tremont school in the Great Smoky Mountains and had a chance to talk with Ranger/trackers. Black bears in that area are 75-200 lbs. They advocated taking a walking stick and attacking them , beating them severely about the face and especially the nose. They mentioned since PETA came around the rangers were unable to do this and the bears became nuisances in the campgrounds. Of course these gentleman were also armed with .357 magnums, which were rarely used.
Interesting that the sound of a gun reportedly doesn't deter a bear, but the sound of Pepper spray does?
Bear Spray they claim is 1.4%-1.8%. Human Pepper spray typically is 5%-15%. A lot of this info doesn't make sense.
lloveless
 
I thinks I would want a little more punch than a .45 ACP, as many have suggested here a mag. cal. revolver would be better, which is what I would want, preferably a .454 Casull or bigger. If an auto pistol is desired then I would start with a .45 Win. Mag. as you can get up to 300 grain bullets loaded up to 1400 fps. Another auto option would be a Desert Eagle .50 AE. LM
 
as for the 16 gauge slugs, i had thought of that, but unloading the shotgun, then reloading it with slugs is way to time consuming if i have a bear charging at me.
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Is there any reason you could not have the slugs loaded up and ready to go? I'd rather happen upon a squirrel and have the wrong load than happen upon a bear and have the wrong load... :)
 
According to them, something like 80% of bear confrontations are resolved without injury to the human if they use a good bear spray,
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Yeah, but if you're part of that other 20% and you're not sufficiently armed, it's gonna suck.
 
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