Personal Protection from Big Critters

[ski2me]

I've been reading articles that suggest max loaded hard cast boolits have a better penetration than heavy factory loads like Buffalo Bore. I carry a 10mm on my ranch for protection against bears. We even have an occasional grizzly wander through. Carrying a shotgun is not an option. Trying to carry tools and fix fence pretty much makes a long gun a real hindrance. So which would penetrate bear hide and do the most damage? What would be the best weight?

[Sven]

I have a 10mm Delta EliteBut have not gotten to the point of "loading for bear". Future plans call for a 200 gr WFN loaded to 1200fps. Without looking, I believe both BB and DoubleTap have what you're looking for.

Although, in griz country, I have a .44 mag load of 300 gr WLN at 1300 fps I would use in my S&W Mountain Gun.

[jmort]

My first choice would be the Buffalo Bore Heavy 10mm Ammo - 220 gr. Hard Cast - FN (1,200 fps/ME 703 ft. lbs. if I carried a 10mm.
I'm with Sven, a 300 grain WLN would be what I would use except it would be a .45 Colt Ruger Blackhawk. The 10mm is comparable to a .357 so if that is your choice for a big bear go for it. I would have pepper spray and a large bore revolver at 1,000 plus ft lbs. 10mm fans always mention fire-power, but how many rounds do you think you will get off if charged by a big bear? Especially when you are out working and in condition yellow at best.

[Dan Cash]

Ski,
I don't have any experience with commeercial 10mm ammo but I hand load for and shoot a .41 a good bit. I am here to tell you that a 220 grain bullet at 1200fps is a formidable piece of work. It is comparable to a .41 Mag, not a .357. Would you want to hunt a grizz with that cartridge? Probably not but for your stated purpose, it should serve you well.

[fredj338]

I am not a big 10mm fan for anything that is bigger than a dog that wants to hurt me. I'll stick to a 44mag or heavy 45colt in a 4" tube. The 10mm is a good service caliber tha can be stretched to hunt deer size game w/ in close but not my first choice for a large carnivour, but better than any other semi.

[375RUGER]

solids will penetrate better than HPs or soft pointed.

270+g in a 44 mag or 300+ in a 45colt or 454 loaded heavy would be my choice for handguns.

[EDK]

I had a pair of 5 inch S&W 610s about 20 years ago....yeah, sellers remorse has kicked in. I wish I still had them, but I don't. The first 12 shots at 25 yards cut down a 3 inch tree behind the target! AND that was with 175 grain lead and about 5 grains of TITEGROUP or 231....it's been a long time.

A 10mm auto is considered roughly equivalent to a 41 magnum revolver, with similar boolit weights and velocities. Either one should work well...with a higher end holster and belt. I'm picky about leather because I carried for a lot of hours doing the same things you're talking about on the ranch. If it's uncomfortable, you leave it at home and it ain't much use back there when you need it!

Way back when, the neighbor who rented the pasture from the wife BEFORE we got engaged had a bad a** German Shepherd dog that had bitten the mail carrier, surveyor, meter reader, etc....nowadays the owner would be in court and filing bankruptcy after being sued. Just before his lease ran out, Betty and I were walking across the pasture and he turned the mutt loose on us...while hiding behind the barn to watch. Dog came up pretty quick...stopped even faster when I produced the nickle plated model 29...circled us while I kept the front sight on his chest and the hammer back. The dog lover came out and retrieved him, asked if I was really going to shoot him and declined the offer to "turn him loose and you can find out." He wasn't very happy with the thought "You don't let any
SOB...two or four legged...tree you on your own place. You don't need the mutt to fill your cattle feeder and he ain't a herd dog. Keep him in your truck and maybe keeping him at home would be a better idea." BUT I never saw the dog on MY property again.

That 10mm with ammo of your choice and at least two spare magazines will save your skin...or at least, make a lasting impression on whatever offended you enough to rate being shot. I'd rather have my M1A SQUAD SCOUT...and a couple of friends similarly equipped! but that isn't likely. Avoid confrontations if possible and "go through life with the cold confidence of a christian with four aces."

:redneck::cbpour::guntootsmiley:

[mpmarty]

If I had to, and I don't have to I'd carry the jacketed FMJ 200gr bullets over 14gr of AA-9 for around 1200 fps or so and try to hit mr bear in the roof of the mouth or eye. Not enough gun to break down his skeleton by smashing bone. The 10mm would just punch through.

[MT Chambers]

Get you a .454 Casull, 475, 480 Ruger,500 wyo, or minimally a .44 Mag.....a grizzly would eat the .40 gun and you. I find the big Smiths like .460 and .500 too big and heavy for handy carry.

[9.3X62AL]

After a bad time with a bear in Summer 2002, I found it much easier to adapt my outdoors ambiance to having a RIFLE slung or close at hand. I own a 10mm self-loader, 41 Mag, 44 Mags, and a 45 Colt/Ruger......and we just celebrated our 10th anniversary of Always Having A Rifle Nearby in the back-country. Having an actual confrontation with an upset nasty critter skews your thinking away from convenience and portability and back to reality......and reality states that even monster handguns can't match a good rifle for critter-convincing.

[cadjak]

Thanks for giving us a chance at a favorite online firearms thread....BEARS. I'll give my bottom line opinion up front. Stopping a charging grizzly with ANY firearm, long or short, big or little, is definitely not a slam dunk. It requires speed, skill and, most of all lots of luck. I carry bear spray as well as a gun. (4 inch, 500 S&W). Having the bejeezus scared out of me when I rattled a bear on a trail by the Talkeetna airport, in 2005, was my only close encounter with a grizzly. Before that I'd managed to let them know I was coming, or see them far enough away, to back off myself.The bear ran out of the brush, up the trail towards me, and was past me before I could even understand what was going on. All I managed to do was get out of it's way. I'm glad I didn't take a shot at it. If I had, I wouldn't be able to tell this story. And my friends will tell you, I truly love telling the story.:drinks:

[x101airborne]

Well, I PRAY you never need it. And, I dont live in Griz country. BUT,,, I do carry a revolver most every day. And, one of my favorites is a blackhawk in 41 mag loaded light. I am guessing this meets your 10mm specs. I am loading a 210 grain round at just over 1000 fps with blue dot. I love it and it is better than a 22 anytime. I dont load for the 10mm, but I wish you well and let us know if you have success. As for my 41, I have YET to have it not penetrate a hog fully. You have a good platform. Run with it and load as heavy and as hot as you can get away with. I like 50/50 WW-pure water quenched for pure penetration. Choose a lube that will stay on the boolits well. In short barreled arms, I like Lee Alox. Not the best, but not the worst and doesn't sluff off in the heat.

Like I said along with others before me, a 10mm in the hand is worth 5 44 mags at home in the safe. Have confidence and if you have any other questions, please let me know.

[Three44s]

You could get in a mess a thousand different ways when it comes to bears.

So one has to assume that if the charge is from out of the blue without warning from close quarters, no gun could get employed in time.

But if there is an opening with a firearm, I want it to be the best chance I can afford.

Mine are .44 mags and just lately a .480 Ruger in a Super Redhawk. I have two .41's and when they are fed a 265 gr. FN/GC at max they are just a shade off of the .44s ........

If you can have a long gun when and where it counts more power to you. I don't think I'd ever be that lucky to find myself that prepared at that instant but if I did have a long gun there, I'd want it to be a well stuffed Marlin lever in .45-70

Three 44s