Is my S&W .45 acp strong enough?

[FrankieP]

I live in bear country. My back sliding doors are right next to acres of woods.
I keep bear spray in the house and a firearm in the rare case that a black bear decides to knock my sliding doors down and enter my house one night.
My question is, Is my S&W .45 cal acp handgun strong enough to take down a black bear? I recently sold a Ruger .357 mag with hollow points cause I don't trust revolvers around my 10 yr old son. No safety as the semi-auto have, like not keepin a round chambered, and having the safety on. But as I was reading some of the other posts, I'm beginning to think I made a mistake. Is my .45 strong enough?

FrankieP
[email protected]

 

[Highland Ranger]

Million threads on this.

Short story: How about its better than the spray but not as good as the magnum . . . . and thats not as good as a shotgun.

Also - if you are relying on the safety on the auto to prevent a kid having an accident . . . . well you need to not do that.

There are a many quick access handgun safes. Get one.

 

[BullfrogKen]

All conventional, easily carried handguns are marginally effective at best. Its 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other.

 

[Jim Watson]

If I had bears in the neighborhood, I'd have a rifle or a shotgun full of slugs handy. Pistols are marginal weapons against human criminals. Bears? Forget it, especially at home where you don't have to carry it around.

 

[greyfeathers]

I think whats more dangerous then bears is your thinking that a ten year old wont be able to disingage a safety and rack the slide & load a round into the chamber. Please make sure he cannot gain acsess to your weapon.

 

[mountainclmbr]

Get child safety protection with a suitable gun. I don't have children, live in bear country, had 1 bear break-in, and use 12 GA with 00Buck and Breneke Slugs. On my person I keep .40 or .45 with heavy loads.

 

[cookekdjr]

Use fmj, or ideally, hard-cast lead bullets and you should be fine.
Ideally, for home defense, you should have a 12 gauge loaded w/slugs or a large-caliber centerfire rifle.

 

[MadMercS55]

I'll say a rifle or shotgun for bears. Some people I've talked to recommended a Marlin lever action in 45-70.

 

[Socrates]

If you want to stop a bear, use a REAL stopping caliber, like .458 Lott.
Even the 375 H&H I've got is FAR above a shotgun in energy, and, NOTHING out does a 375 with solids, in penetration.

S

 

[Baba Louie]

I guess the original natives used things like pointy rocks on the ends of sticks to kill bears... but I don't think that's a really quick way to dissuade Mr. or Ms. Bruin into ceasing & desisting whatever they're doing at the moment.

Train that 10 year old. What if he's the one that encounters said bruin?

I'd not trust a 230 gr @ 850 fps to stop a P.O.'d or hungry bear... preferring a 20 ga. slug from a Rem 870 Express Youth... which by the way might be just the ticket for teaching a certain son certain firearm safety procedures, etc. (I know this is Handguns: General Discussion, but there it is)

Just my $.02

 

[cookekdjr]

I guess the original natives used things like pointy rocks on the ends of sticks to kill bears... but I don't think that's a really quick way to dissuade Mr. or Ms. Bruin into ceasing & desisting whatever they're doing at the moment.

Train that 10 year old. What if he's the one that encounters said bruin?

I'd not trust a 230 gr @ 850 fps to stop a P.O.'d or hungry bear... preferring a 20 ga. slug from a Rem 870 Express Youth... which by the way might be just the ticket for teaching a certain son certain firearm safety procedures, etc. (I know this is Handguns: General Discussion, but there it is)

Just my $.02

Louie is right that the 870 is preferred. However, this load from Buffalo Bore should suffice:

230 gr. FMJFN @ 950 fps (461 ft. lbs.); available at:
http://www.buffalobore.com/ammunition/default.htm#45acp
At this velocity, a 230gr bullet should blow right through the average black bear.
Although this load should work, traditionally a handgun is used to fight your way back to your long gun or to buy you time for your hunting/fishing buddy to get his long gun. Black Bears are usually small enough to be stopped/repelled by a decent handgun, but sometimes they get pretty big. A recent article about a pit bull attack has given me pause about the effectiveness of most handguns on four-legged creatures.
I guess what I'm saying is, the .45 ACP should work. For a guarantee, go with a shotgun loaded with slugs.
-David

 

[MICHAEL T]

First off teach your 10yr some gun safety then make sure he can shoot also. He might need it to get the bear away from you. I like a 44 mag lever gun. short barrel trapper . Or a 30 /30 either will take care of Blk bear.
Spend some training time with son. I have a 12,14,15 daugthers all can shoot 22 thru 45auto.They perfer to shoot 22 25 and 380. except 14 yr old likes shot gun

 

[HankB]

If you don't trust your 10 year old around a revolver, you shouldn't trust him around a .45 semiauto pistol, either.

Black bears are usually not dangerous, but several well-placed .45s ought to dissuade Yogi if he decides he wants to taste you. Use a heavy bullet (230 grains) and a hot (+P) load.

 

[Cayoot]

I'm going to break from the crowd here.

I live in the country (black bear and wolf country) and have had blackies break into our fences and rabbit cages before, so I'm familiar with that problem. Also, since we breed and raise quarter horses, I'm also worried about wolves going after the young foals.

My children are all grown now, but I do have grand children who come around and I want them to be safe from foolishness with guns, but still have one handy.

While the 12 ga is nice (and very effective) it still requires keeping the guns loaded to be on "alert status".

This was my solution years ago, and it is still what I use today for home/ranch protection:

We keep an inexpensive SKS rifle next to the back door. On the stock, I have (screwed to the stock) a leather pouch that holds 3 stripper clips of SKS ammo. Each stripper holds 10 rounds of soft point ammo (SKS is very similar to the 30-30 in power and balistics). I can shove a 10 rd stripper clip into my SKS in about 4 or 5 seconds. The SKS is cheap ($149 for the latest one I bought this spring-I now own 5 of them ), extreamly reliable and very fast shooting (semi-auto). It is also a short, carbine length gun that is easy to manage in a tight spot.

If something happens in the coral or behind the barn, or on my porch I just grab the carbine, shove in a stripper and go....I know I have 30 rounds on the stock at all times.

This is what has worked for my ranch/home defense rifle for years. Cheap, fast and absolutley reliable while being powerful enough for the bear/wolves that we have here in the Frozen Northwoods. Recoil is light and I can put 10 rounds on target and reload very fast.

It also makes a nice swamp rifle for deer hunting out to about 100 yards or so.

I can't believe that every country home in America doesn't have one. I think they are the perfect ranch rifle!

 

[MCgunner]

My opinion, the .357 with heavy loads/bullets is better, but you can handload the .45 to +P levels and it could serve. The problem is all the bullets available for .45 are geared to personal defense. If you could find something in a flat nose truncated cone bullet for the penetration loaded to +P levels, it beats throwing rocks. I much prefer the penetration potential of the .357 and 180 grain hard cast loads, but if all I had was my .45, I could live with it. It's certainly not the best handgun for black bears, but you can at least fire the thing rather rapidly. I have a +P load using a hard cast SWC that puts up over 500 ft lbs that I originally developed with hogs in mind. Then, I got a more acceptable caliber and the 25 rounds of the stuff I loaded for use sits collecting dust.

Black bears ain't that tough, but the .45 ain't much gun, either. In autoloading rounds, I think for outdoor uses like that, it all starts at 10mm. Revolvers are my preference in large calibers and ones that are followed by "Magnum" except in the case of my trusty .45 Colt Blackhawk which is as good as a "Magnum". Best be able to hit with whatever you're shooting, of course.

I've got a couple of SKSs, too. Handy buggers, aren't they? They're cheap and effective for such duty. The ol' thuddy thuddy has commie competition now days. The only problem with 'em is, once you get one, you'll wanna dress the thing up. Stay away from aftermarket catalogs like "centerfire systems" and stuff, don't be tempted. It's kinda like owning a 1911 or a 10-22, you'll be spending your bonus money on stuff for the SKS what you might could spend on a new gun. LOL One of my rifles I got for $75. Well, one Chote camo stock, ambidextrous safety, ventilated hand guard with case deflector, five round flush magazine, scope mount with scope later..... :banghead:

 

[dairycreek]

Hello FrankieP:

Is my .45 strong enough?

In a word, NO! I have had the experience of encountering a black bear in the woods who was angry at me. Usually, black bears in the wild will run the other way - but not this one. I had a 44 magnum and needed it. If I was anticipating that I might encounter a black bear as you suggest, I would keep a slug loaded shotgun handy or a lever rifle such as Marlin's Guide Gun in 45/70 loaded with something big and hot. Believe me, black bears are nothing to fool around with.