45ACP pistol or 9mm against bears and hogs

[Irfan]

If you had two pistols, one in .45 and one in 9mm which one would you take with you as your self defense weapon against bears and boars? Yeah, I know there are much better options like .44 magnum, .357 or .500 but imagine you have just these two.

 

[bad_aim_billy]

take whichever one you want, buy a can of bear spray for your other hip, and get ready for lots of "You need a .500 S&W" responses

 

[kanook]

Still a 45. You will find that most will say the 45 on this forum as well.

 

[mljdeckard]

Real world difference? Negligible if any. These are both rounds designed to stop people.

If I KNEW I was going to be shooting a bear, a 9mm FMJ would probably penetrate further, but a bear or a pig has an armor-like coverage in the shoulder joint, and I think you're going to be lucky to penetrate that at all.

 

[ByAnyMeans]

I would take either one in FMJ with bear spray as my go to in an emergency. I do think if possible a magnum or 10mm caliber would be preferred.

 

[Oonzpoonz]

I'm not a ballistics expert but I could believe that a 9mm could stop a bear. But when a bear charges at you, I don't think that cartridge would be enough to slow it down or deter it.
The .45 may be a better choice but maybe not too much better. Yeah, go with the 500.

 

[bestseller92]

For a black bear, probably the .45 with 230 grain +P JHPs.

For a grizzly or brown...um, no.

 

[wnycollector]

DT makes a .45 230gr FMJ-FP that clocks in at 1010fps/521lbs out of a 5" barrel. This is the load I carried hiking before I pick up my .357 revolver. Here is a link
http://www.doubletapammo.com/php/ca...d=156&osCsid=9a1a0b1b3236dc2f0897bd3ea5aafee4

 

[.38 Special]

Whichever weighs me down less while running like hell.

 

[PandaBearBG]

Both, .45 for your primary defense, and after that full magazine pisses him off, use the 9mm to shoot him as he keeps chasing you. Can't hurt to have a back up if that's all your carrying while your camping/hunting in bear country. Even an extra pistol weighs as much as a can of beans. Carry a 30.06 rifle or shotgun for bear protection if it's that much of a bear risk where you hike/camp/hunt.

 

[Birdmang]

Whichever one you are more comfortable shooting, and more confident in response and accuracy, of course.

 

[buck460XVR]

Either would be better than nothing. I'd take the .45.

 

[PT1911]

take a friend and whichever you think will bring him down.... then you can jog....

 

[Walkalong]

Hogs? Your under gunned with either, although in my crazy YD&FC youth I tried it with a .45.

 

[easyg]

Given that choice.....45ACP without a doubt.

 

[geolemer]

Don't forget grandpa use to shot hogs with a .22. So I would say anything would do it.

 

[riverdog]

It's all about shot placement. 9mm is fine if you shoot the bear thru the snout and penetrate back into his brain. A .45ACP that misses that mark won't do enough to stop the charge. $.02

 

[kdstrick]

Given 2 poor choices I'd use this load 230grn FMJ +P. http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=69

You do NOT want hollowpoint ammunition for bears or pigs. You want penetration.

 

[cchris]

Hasn't the ".45 or 9mm against [insert any living thing here]" thread been covered before? I'm sure something of equal mass or penetrability (is that a word?) might've been covered.

At least .45 and 9mm owners can rest in peace knowing that these are the two rounds most decided between.

 

[intheburbs]

More importantly, given those two choices, I'd make sure I brought a friend who runs slower than me.

 

[surjimmy]

If you don't mind me asking, why did you pick these 2 calibers?

 

[owlhoot]

Over fifty years ago I was very much into hunting bear and boar. I had a large number of dogs that I bred, trained and sold as bear and boar dogs. Believe it or not, I never gave much thought to which gun would do the better job at that time. I had both a 9mm (a Luger) and a 1911 in .45acp. I used fmj as there were no hollow points in those days. I usually, but not always, scored one shot kills - but since the dogs were always holding the bear or boar's attention, I was able to take head shots almost exclusively. However, I must add that a prospective dog buyer wanted to dispatch a bear on one occasion and emptied the Luger's magazine to no apparent effect other than further irritating an already furious bear.

On another occasion using the .45, a very large boar that the dogs had brought to bay charged the dogs just as I pulled the trigger. Instead of hitting the brain, my shot hit the hog in the heavily muscled neck. Through good luck the bullet clipped the lower side of the vertebra and dropped the boar in mid charge. Interestingly, the .45 penetrated both sides of the neck very cleanly.

In my country we have patches, sometimes covering several acres, that we call laurel hells. These hells are absolutely inpenetrable by man. The hogs are very fond of these dense laurel thickets and will have areas inside the hells where they have rooted out the laurel and made themselves sanctuaries. The hogs have made game trails through out the thickets that are almost like narrow underground tunnels. Light barely penetrates. The only way to go through these trails is to low crawl. But there isn't enough room to crawl with rifle in hand. It is necessary to tie a strap to the butt stock and drag the rifle behind you.

Smart people stay out of these hells. A friend of mine wasn't smart, and he spooked a boar that was young enough not to have fully developed his capacity for sheer meaness. The pig charged, not so much to attack as to escape, and ran over my pal who was already prone. He was cut up rather badly from head to heel. He thereafter purchased a Ruger .44 magnum which had just been introduced. His was the first one I ever saw. He figured that he could crawl with the Ruger in hand. A more rational soul would just have resolved to stay the hell out of the hells.

So if you have the luxury of being able to take a head shot, either a 9mm or a .45 will do. If you intend to crawl through thickets that the bear or boar calls home, get all the gun you can stand, and even then, shot placement matters...a lot.

 

[TimM]

Given 2 poor choices I'd use this load 230grn FMJ +P. http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php...ct_detail&p=69

You do NOT want hollowpoint ammunition for bears or pigs. You want penetration.

+1

FMJ all the way

 

[ArchAngelCD]

As you've already guess from the responses you have already gotten neither would be a good choice. Going with your scenario of having only those 2 choices I would think heavy and slow will be a better choice than fast and light when it comes to stopping thick skinned heavily muscled animals. If a semi-auto is what will be carried I'm thinking a 10mm might do a good job. (I think it's in the realm of the .41 Magnum???)

Like mentioned above, having along a slower running friend is probably a good idea too.

 

[Deanimator]

I've heard of people purposefully hunting hogs (and especially javelinas) with a .45acp. I've never heard of somebody hunting them (nevermind bears) with a 9x19mm.