Handgun caliber for use against black bears

What caliber?

  • 10mm

    Votes: 42 54.5%

  • .357mag

    Votes: 33 42.9%

  • .45ACP

    Votes: 2 2.6%
  • Total voters
    77
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Where's the option to not mess with bears unless you've got a large bore rifle or 10/12 gauge with slugs?:D
 
I never understood the point of finding a weapon that was just adequate. Especially with bears. I've had a lot of encounters with black bears but very few with browns. In general, I'm not afraid of bears but I wouldn't want to be between a sow and her cubs or near a bear's kill.

Personally, I would pack something with superior characteristics and the power to stop anything. Currently, I carry a Super Redhawk .454 in a shoulder holster as backup while hunting. I agree that your .357 has the capability of killing a bear but I'm not willing to risk my skin to prove a point against a charging sow bear.

In Flight School, they taught me that "there are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old, bold pilots".

Anyone who stakes his life on a barely adequate weapon has only himself to blame. Good luck.
 
Posted by Alan Fud



Rob96, what gun clubs do you recommend around here? And where is a good place (good service, fair prices, etc.) to buy guns, ammo & accessories?
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I shoot at Ontelaunee Rod & Gun in New Tripoli. Anual membership is $10 a year. They have 25yd pistol, 50, 100, 200 and 300 yd rifle ranges, International Trap, Internation Skeet, Archery, Walk Thru Archery, fishing pond, and an indoor rimfire range. You also have Guthsville in Orefield, but they are more pricey and you don't get as much.

Places to buy: A.F. Boyers Hardware in Slatington, Keifers in Walnutport, and the Army&Navy in Whitehall. If you need directions to any of these places drop me an e-mail.:)
 
I'd go with Remington 870P with rifle sight (night sights) and slugs. Or, I'd go with a relatively short barreled rifle (30-06 and up) with heavy bullets (200 gr and up).

I like the 10mm as a cartridge better than the .357Mag, but if the bear got on you, a revolver should be more reliable than a semi auto pistol that can have the slide pushed out of battery.

If you have money after buying a shotgun (as someone else mentioned) a 5" S&W 629 .44Mag would be nice. If you can handle a something bigger, go for it.

Good luck,
Rich
 
Thanks Rob.
Posted by nemesis: ... I never understood the point of finding a weapon that was just adequate ...
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I'm not a hunter and I just moved out into the country less than a month ago. The guns which I own were purchased for two-legged creatures and that's all I got at the moment. As I said about, I plan to save up for a .45/.70 rifle. Or would a shotgun be better?
 
All you need is your bare hands to fight off a bear....at least that's what happened last week in Minnesota by a woman north of Duluth......
The woman opened the door leading to the attached garage and a mama bear and cub were eating sunflower seeds out of a container in the garage, the woman and mama bear were face to face and the woman tried to close the door, but, the bear came into the house, grabbed the woman, threw her down and bit her in the head, both shoulders, both thighs, and then the woman got mad, thought about what her grandfather had told her about bears. She grabbed the bears nose, and started shaking the bears head and yelling. Mama bear released her and ran out of the house into the woods.........
Now, why would you need a handgun when all you have to do is to grab the bears nose and head and shake it??????
This is actually a true story......
 
We have black bear on the property regularly.

A little over a week ago, one killed and ate a llama (yep - not a mountain lion, a bear) about a half-mile from here.

The .357 with hard & hot 180gr loads will work, but keep your cool when you shoot (know where to aim).

I handload 300gr solids for my .44 magnums, and carry either the Super Redhawk or the Desert Eagle whenever I go out around dusk or dawn.

Trisha
 
The deal is that black bears are generally pretty small, and not very aggressive. I know they can get large in some areas, and I know that they do occasionally attack people or livestock, but come on!

If someone was asking for advice on a back-country gun for bears, I'd advise a bigger gun. But really, having black bears around is just not that big a deal. They are more like raccoons on steroids.
If you want a special gun for it, get a shotgun or Marlin Guide Gun to park next to the back door. In the meantime, your .357 with some heavy wadcutters is plenty good medicine for all but the largest black bears.

Keep in mind that having a bear in the yard is not reason to shoot the bear - in the eyes of the law. If you don't want bears in the yard, keep your trash locked in the garage and don't put dog food or bird feeders out there.

Keith
 
... Keep in mind that having a bear in the yard is not reason to shoot the bear - in the eyes of the law. If you don't want bears in the yard, keep your trash locked in the garage and don't put dog food or bird feeders out there ...
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Our garbage IS in the garage and we don't have any bird or dog feeders outside. It was just me and my sister-in-law's dog out there and 'it'.

How close does a bear have to get to me before I have reason to shoot it in the eyes of the law. With a handgun, I wouldn't attempt a shot unless it was closer than 50 feet away and closing (eyes ain't what they use to be a decade or two ago) and I was an equal distance, or more, away from the safety of my home or garage.
 
You probably won't have a personal, up close encounter around here Alan. One item you may want to carry with ya while walking is a good fog styly pepper spray, like Fox brand.
 
In Alaska you are allowed to kill a bear in defense of life OR property (your pets for example). You should talk to your local fish and feathers people for guidance in your state.

They usually give you the benefit of a doubt on this, particularly with black bears which are just a nuisance nearly everywhere.

There are no hard and fast rules (in Alaska), but generally if the bear is close and shot in the front (it's facing you), you are OK. "Close" is usually defined as ten yards, but if the bear is behaving aggressively (or you say it was...), further is OK too.

It really is bad news to shoot a bear unless you are absolutely sure you can kill it. A bear raiding garbage is a nuisance, a wounded bear is a very real danger to everyone around.

Keith
 
Trisha............When I go berry picking in Wisconsin, I carry my Ruger SBH with Garrett's 310 gr. heavy cast 44 mag ammo at 1325 FPS.......these Minnesota and Wisconsin black bears get plenty big, and there have been bear attacks in the last couple of years here in the upper midwest and it pays to watch your step in the woods.....
 
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How did I miss this thread earlier? You need to get some DoubleTap 200gr. FMJ/ FP @ 1270fps for that 1006! It will do the job if youplace the shot. I have hunted black bear with my G20 using my 200XTP load and an 180gr handload to successfully harvest two black bears in the 200-250lb range. I have yet to recover a bullet! (complete penetration)
-Mike
 
I didn't vote either, because I do not like the choices. It's true that in a lot of parts of the country it's rare to see a bear bigger than 150 pounds or so. And with these little guys, a .357 or .10 will probably work just fine, with proper loads, assuming you're able to set up correctly to get off a good shot or two. But I don't like bears, and I believe that you're most likely to encounter them when you're least prepared, and that means that you want the "margin of error" to be in your favor. Just get a .44 and some Garrett (or similar) rounds, or at least some Federal hard cast hunting loads.
 
Any of the above will do fine - - -

- - - With the proper ammo. Just forget all about hollow points. Use your favorite anti-alligator armament, Alan.

Johnny
 
Any of those calibers should work. I vote for the 10mm it should be plenty enough gun for a black bear. Now if it were a brown bear, I'd stay in the house til I got a 12ga with slugs of a bolt action in 300 or 338 Win Mag, minimum.
I have two friends who hunt black bear with 45 ACP's. They have no problems downing them. 10mm would be better, no subsitute for heavy bullets at a even higher velocity.
 
something I cannot do with a .44 mag, and have yet to see anyone that can.
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A wise man once said, "Don't judge others by yourself."



I've seen enough folks who CAN to know the problem is not with the caliber.
 
44 Magnum ! ! !

Black Bears are the reason I want a 629 Mountian Gun :evil:

Until then I've been carrying one of my 4" 357 Magnum's loaded with 180gr Partition Golds while in Black Bear country (with a 12ga near by loaded with some nice slugs!)
 
I was hoping to use one hand to hold the flashlight -- it's pitch black out here with no street lights and no moon to light the way.
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Screw that -- use a headlight. They aren't that much more expensive.
 
Take both guns....if attacked and you unload both of them on a still charging bear....throw the dog as a disctraction and run like hell.

Ok...kidding. Sheesh...relax. Take a 44, 480 Ruger or Casull.....
or at least BOTH guns and the dog....in case you need the disctraction :D

Shoot well
 
This may become less of an issue soon as my sister-in-law is leaving in a few days with her dog. Although it'll still be an issue when I take out the trash and do other stuff around the house at night & twilight.
 
Ahhh. Don't worry Alan. The bears will soon be denned up. This has actually been a very quiet year around here for bears. In the past couple of years with the lack of rainfall, the bears were making their way all the way down to the Lehigh Valley Mall in search of food. With all of the rain this year they really haven't had to travel. Are you sure it wasn't a coyote that you ran into, beings you didnt really see it?
 
I wonder if a bear wouldn't be more deterred by a big ol' stick than a handgun.
It sounds like he won't usually die if you shoot him, at least not with a handgun. And he doesn't know he's supposed to be scared, because he doesn't watch TV. :)
But I suspect that a bear would think a guy with a long stick was "difficult prey", and leave him alone. If not at first, maybe after a couple of whacks.
Does anyone know the real answer here?
 
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