One Shot Bear Kill, .44 Magnum

[Scott707]

I'am also not surprised a 44 mag could take down a brown bear . Personally
i think a 44 with a 4-6 inch barrel would be ideal for bear country. Easier to carry than a long riffle . And with good loads like a 270 grain going 1,400 +
fps it's still a very powerful load . I think some of these pistols like 454 , and
S&W 500 are overkill . The recoil is so huge that if you needed a follow up shot it would be too slow . Not that 44 is fast but faster than those 2 .

 

[Legionnaire]

Here's a link to the article cited by the OP. Good read.

http://sportingclassics.net/component/content/article/23-archive/43-article

I must admit I don't understand what one could hit in the chest of a charging bear that would drop him instantly. Maybe penetrated through to the spine? But quoting the author ...

I stood in a dumbfounded stupor. I had no expectation the pistol would kill the bear. I only hoped the flame and loud report, along with the impact of the bullet, would scare him away. As the bear sagged to the ground, I shot him three more times in the head as quickly as I could thumb the hammer and pull the trigger, primarily out of fear and anger. I still believe that the Lord’s hand had more to do with my shot placement than my meager pistol experience.

So one shot dropped him, but the author did, in fact, follow up with three more shots to the head.

 

[Scott707]

Interesting article thanks for sharing . Further proof that it doesn't take a 600
Nitro to stop a bear lol

 

[Bronx]

Another bear kill...

Here's a good one:

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22978

20 yards and charging.....

 

[Suwannee Tim]

Martin from The Bronx huh? I think you are an imposter. I don't think you have ever even seen The Bronx. If you were from Da Bronx you would say Da Bronx.

 

[Bronx]

Martin from The Bronx huh? I think you are an imposter. I don't think you have ever even seen The Bronx. If you were from Da Bronx you would say Da Bronx.

Hehehe! I didn't want to sound too New Yawk!

 

[tipoc]

Don't always work...

http://trueslant.com/scottbowen/2009/11/19/behemoth-bruin-sneezes-at-44-mag/

http://www.sierrasun.com/article/20091130/NEWS/911259998/0/FRONTPAGE


tipoc

 

[Warlokke]

Eagles6: "The sidearm most often carried by professional hunting guides in Alaskan bear country is a .22 revolver. They shoot the nearest tourist in the knee then run like hell."

I don't care who ya are, now that's funny!!! Unless of course, you are the nearest tourist!

 

[Dr.Mall Ninja]

I always wondered what 8 rounds of 45acp would do to a bear

 

[gglass]

So one shot dropped him, but the author did, in fact, follow up with three more shots to the head.

In terms of self-defense, the One-Shot-Stop has never meant that the animal or man has to die. It simply means that the threat has stopped. One-Shot-One-Kill is the terminology that is appropriate for sniping or hunting.

 

[T. Bracker]

FWIW, Bell killed most of his tuskers with a .303 or .318 Westley Richards

 

[Legionnaire]

In terms of self-defense, the One-Shot-Stop has never meant that the animal or man has to die. It simply means that the threat has stopped. One-Shot-One-Kill is the terminology that is appropriate for sniping or hunting.

No argument from me. The OP described the situation as a "one shot kill." The article provides more detail. But I'm still interested to know the physiology of how one shot to the chest drops a big bear. Instant kills are actually pretty rare unless the central nervous system is hit.

 

[BCRider]

I stood in a dumbfounded stupor. I had no expectation the pistol would kill the bear. I only hoped the flame and loud report, along with the impact of the bullet, would scare him away. As the bear sagged to the ground, I shot him three more times in the head as quickly as I could thumb the hammer and pull the trigger, primarily out of fear and anger. I still believe that the Lord’s hand had more to do with my shot placement than my meager pistol experience.

I wonder if he managed to get him in the bear equivalent of the solar plexus and the bear had to stop and get his wind back when the guy finished him off...

Could be that he got the bear in the heart? Or I wonder if it is possible that there IS a bear equivalent to our solar plexus nerve bundle and the shock to that bundle paralyzed it for a moment. Probably a very fortuitous moment.

 

[cz85cmbt]

The .44 is still king! The .357 the queen and the .454 is the third in the world all around trail guns. The .44 made in modern guns can be fairly light to pack, or heavier for managed recoil, and the .454 is the most you'd ever need in a handgun. The .460's and 500's are for serious handgun hunters, they have serious recoil and even in those ridiculous snubnose version they still weigh a ton. I would trust a .44 to stop a bear of any kind, a bull, or whatever else came at me. The .357 I trust even taking most grizzlies with the right load, and is the best combat magnum caliber to double as an in town carry gun. The .454 is also a great choice especially to the handloader, but to me isn't worth it unless you are a handgun hunter, which I have never understood, the handgun is a compromise, and with that said if I were fishing in alaska, I'd want a 4-5" .44.

 

[orrwdd]

I always wondered what 8 rounds of 45acp would do to a bear

Not enough.

Even though the 45ACP is a serious round, it does not have the velocity to provide enough penetration to reliably reach any vital area on an adult bear.

On NTGEO I think, I saw where they had to kill a sow Brown Bear in Alaska that had become a nuisance bear inside city limits. When they skinned her out, they found a whole bunch of 9mm bullets under the skin that she had been carrying around for years.

Save the 45ACP for 2 legged threats.

Bill