Alaska man kills charging bear with assault rifle

[kenyerian]

Fox news has an article a Brown Bear being killed with an AK-74. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/30/alaska-man-kills-charging-bear-with-assault-rifle/?intcmp=obnetwork
I would have thought that the 5.45×39mm would be a little underpowered for a charging Brown Bear. Must of been an epic battle. Article said the man fired 13 shots, the bear ran off and later died. Not much information in the Article regarding the size of the bear, how many times it was actually hit etc. I do know that if i was facing a Brown bear I would like to have something a lot bigger than a 5.45X39mm.

[BruceB]

I'd say this was a rather clear case of "Run what ya brung!", wouldn't you? I'm positive that the hiker would have LOVED to have a .338 or .375..... but what he had was a .22 AK and he made it work. (Who says we don't "need" large magazines?)

The bear is reported as being 500-600 pounds". Pretty sizable bruin, and amply large to do a real number on a human's carcass.

[imashooter2]

Concur.

Would I rather have something larger in my hands? Yes sir I would.

Would I empty what I did have in my hands? Yes sir I would.

[grampa243]

where are you guys getting the 5.56mm or .22cal info..?
it's not stated in the article.

7.62x39 is the norm for and AK-47.

[AricTheRed]

where are you guys getting the 5.56mm or .22cal info..?
it's not stated in the article...

They might be getting it from Wikipedia "The AK-74 (Russian: Автомат Калашникова образца 1974 года or "Kalashnikov automatic rifle model 1974") is an assault rifle developed in the early 1970s in the Soviet Union as the replacement for the earlier AKM (itself a refined version of the AK-47). It uses a smaller intermediate cartridge, the 5.45×39mm, replacing the 7.62×39mm chambering of earlier Kalashnikov-pattern weapons."

'Cause the news article clearly states AK-74...

By the way this is proof that almost any projectile can kill almost any assailant, just not always when you need them stopped.

[Love Life]

As I've said for years. Start poking holes in living things with high velocity projectiles and they tend to leave you alone.

Get on the trigger, and stay on the trigger until the threat is gone. Best advice I've ever gotten.

[ajjohns]

Run whatcha brung. Good statement. I'm sure he wouldv'e loved something else in his hands. But, how many elephants have been downed with one brain shot with a 6.5 caliber? Thousands.

[Cosmiceyes]

Fox news has an article a Brown Bear being killed with an AK-74. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/30/alaska-man-kills-charging-bear-with-assault-rifle/?intcmp=obnetwork
I would have thought that the 5.45×39mm would be a little underpowered for a charging Brown Bear. Must of been an epic battle. Article said the man fired 13 shots, the bear ran off and later died. Not much information in the Article regarding the size of the bear, how many times it was actually hit etc. I do know that if i was facing a Brown bear I would like to have something a lot bigger than a 5.45X39mm.

I would imagine the bear died later of infection,and maybe blood loss. I have seen M-80's used quite effectively to run them off. Then go back into the early 1970's though,and two Military young men were found dead,and no one found the bear that killed them. From the amount of spent cases from the different M-16's they had it was described as a war zone.You can probably research this story from the Fairbanks news as the young men were stationed near there.
What I will say is someone got lucky in a Alaska environment with a people killing gun. When I lived there I never went without at least my 41 mag pistol to empty the trash. In the event where a Bear stands up near you, and you look down the sights of your 375 H&H magnum. Why does it suddenly feel as if your armed with a 22 LR? Case in point,if you can't afford a big bore gun then don't live in Alaska. Penetration is everything. What you call bears in the lower 48 are half pints in Alaska. I would carry a Mossberg pump shotgun(and did) loaded with slugs an triple odd buck as I fished in the rivers,lakes an streams. There is a reason someone gets called a "Sourdough"up there,and walking around with a 22 isn't part of it.

[Love Life]

Ya'll act like the man had a pea shooting 22 lr. That round (5.45X39) is a pretty nasty character.

[Dan Cash]

Eskimos have long been fond of the .222 Rem and presumably now days, the .223. It has served them well to bring down such bears as they have required, big brown ones and white ones.

[grampa243]

They might be getting it from Wikipedia "The AK-74 (Russian: Автомат Калашникова образца 1974 года or "Kalashnikov automatic rifle model 1974") is an assault rifle developed in the early 1970s in the Soviet Union as the replacement for the earlier AKM (itself a refined version of the AK-47). It uses a smaller intermediate cartridge, the 5.45×39mm, replacing the 7.62×39mm chambering of earlier Kalashnikov-pattern weapons."

'Cause the news article clearly states AK-74...

By the way this is proof that almost any projectile can kill almost any assailant, just not always when you need them stopped.

sorry i guess i looked quick and seen AK-47 my bad.

[grampa243]

Run whatcha brung. Good statement. I'm sure he wouldv'e loved something else in his hands. But, how many elephants have been downed with one brain shot with a 6.5 caliber? Thousands.

i know a missionary that used a .270 to hunt elephants for food.

[WILCO]

sorry i guess i looked quick and seen AK-47 my bad.

I call that "Chinese Eyes". Happens quite frequently when I'm driving.

[mroliver77]

I had a bear grab me from behind and started to squeeze the life outta me one time!
J

[dilly]

Don't forget these bullets are steel cored and have an air pocket for tumbling instead of expansion. There is much debate about whether the air pocket is a gimmick or effective, but I've seen that round shoot steel and it is definitely a penetrator. I can easily imagine that bullet cracking through "BEARiers" that would stop much lesser bullets.

[seagiant]

Hi,
If any of you guys are into history,the first documented attack was written up in the Lewis and Clark journals! They had never seen one before and when they did meet up with one in a group of about 6 men they all shot the bear with their rifles and still had to jump into a river to try to get away from it and finally the bear DROWNED trying to chase them in the river! Interesting reading!

http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/

[siamese4570]

I bet as soon as the bear ran off, he changed magazines and then changed his shorts.
siamese4570

[Three44s]

It's a good thing this did not happen in NY State!!!

Could not have had more than seven in the magazine there!!!


Three 44s

[Outpost75]

Fish & Game photos of the bear skull turned in
78718
78719
Note the size of the AK74 round on top of the skull for an idea of size, it's 2-1/4" long.


UPDATE: Bergman revisiting the scene of the bear encounter on his blog

http://alaska-evasion-fieldcraft-survival.webs.com/apps/blog/entries/show/32560552-visiting-my-bear-

[enoch59]

Look at those fangs ! Dang. I'm sure that guy has bought a larger caliber weapon after dodging being pooped out of that critter.

[Stephen Cohen]

I picked up a book on their mission from a second hand store, fantastic reading they don't make men like that anymore.

[PB234]

Thanks for this link which should provide hours and hours of entertainment.

http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/

[Love Life]

I had a bear grab me from behind and started to squeeze the life outta me one time!
J

What was her name? I might know her!!

[nanuk]

What was her name? I might know her!!


I just about married her...

[Nickle]

Remember, more elephants have been killed with the 303 British than anything else.

Why? Because that's what the natives had.

[dkf]

Don't forget these bullets are steel cored and have an air pocket for tumbling instead of expansion. There is much debate about whether the air pocket is a gimmick or effective, but I've seen that round shoot steel and it is definitely a penetrator. I can easily imagine that bullet cracking through "BEARiers" that would stop much lesser bullets.

It depends a little on what particular round it was however there are variations. Anyway I will agree the 5.45x39 is nothing to sneeze it. Basically the commie version of the 5.56/.223.

I would still want something with more weight behind it if in areas with big mean furry critters.

[T-Dogg]

assault rifle
There's that word again :?

[303Guy]

Apparently the 6.5 in Africa was not used for brain shooting elephants - it was used for gut shooting them. In those days the 'hunters' could walk into the herd and select his elephant (for the tusks) and gut shoot it then walk away. All he had to do then was follow the herd until one separated from it follow it until it went down. It was the 6.5 Portuguese Mauser they were using. The 7mm Mauser was the elephant gun of the day right alongside the 303 (using 215gr solids). They say the 7mm had better penetration, with the boolit exiting the skull.

I've only seen a bear in a zoo and that was pretty big. I'd feel very naked with an AK74 I'm sure. Apparently the only dangerous animal in Africa that can be turned from a charge is the elephant if one shoots it enough in the face. Do brown bears get turned? That one may not have been charging as such but only approaching - just wondering.

[ajjohns]

Apparently the 6.5 in Africa was not used for brain shooting elephants - it was used for gut shooting them. In those days the 'hunters' could walk into the herd and select his elephant (for the tusks) and gut shoot it then walk away. All he had to do then was follow the herd until one separated from it follow it until it went down. It was the 6.5 Portuguese Mauser they were using. The 7mm Mauser was the elephant gun of the day right alongside the 303 (using 215gr solids). They say the 7mm had better penetration, with the boolit exiting the skull.

I've only seen a bear in a zoo and that was pretty big. I'd feel very naked with an AK74 I'm sure. Apparently the only dangerous animal in Africa that can be turned from a charge is the elephant if one shoots it enough in the face. Do brown bears get turned? That one may not have been charging as such but only approaching - just wondering.

I believe you. Could very well happen this way, it happens still to this day when people are in need to eat. But, if W.M. Bell were here today he would tell you, the 6.5 Mannlicher is a gun he used to to brain shoot elephants. I believe he started with a 303 as a young man though. I think the 7mm was used also.His writings are very interesting. He was told by a guide where the brain was on an elephant, he shot with the 6.5 and it went nuts. He was so mad he made the guides saw the elephants head in two after it had died so he knew exactly where the brain was. He made many one shot kills after this. I think it was 6.5, 160gr solids. If anyone ever gets a chance to read up on this, it is a good story.

[Doc_Stihl]

The other good thing to remember about walking in bear country is the 5.45x39 that hits the target is better than the 375H&H that misses.
Not everyone can shoot a big game rifle reliably. Not everyone can shoot a 44 mag or 500 S&W reliably.
If someone has 458 Win Mag at home and can't shoulder and shoot it, and they take an AK-74 instead cause they can shoot it accurately, did they choose wisely?

[finishman2000]

I have 3 ak's and 2 ar's in 5.45x39 and over 20k rounds stacked deep. great round, cheap, accurate and tumbles quickly in watery soft things and pouches through hard things. I would not feel undergunned with a 30rd mag of it.

[MtGun44]

IIRC WDM Bell killed over 1000 elephant with his .275 Rigby (7x57 to us) with 175 gr RN FMJs, with brain
shots.

The problem with the Rooskie 5.56 is that the bullet is an extreme base loading (air in the jacket in front) as
a design to make it destabilize and tumble quickly. For a big bear you want deep penetration and not
tumbling and blowing up. Of course, it DID work. I had a friend that claimed to have killed a tiger with
an M16 in 'Nam, but it took several guys dumping entire 20 rd mags on full auto to do it. When the
SHTF 'Ya use what ya brung with ya.'

Bill

[303Guy]

Were those 55gr BTFMJ's? They would have the greatest penetration but lot's of shallow holes would be devastating, I should think.

Those 'hunters' were ivory hunters and did not take the meat. The African bearers and tag alongers may well have taken the meat (most likely in fact). Now I got this story from my uncle who lived in Rhodesia as a gunsmith/gun maker and he would have heard many things from hunters and the like plus he would have read a lot. It could be true but I have no way of verifying so that makes it hearsay. Oh, they would have been using the 6.5 Portuguese as they were Portuguese, being in Portuguese Mozambique.

[Lead Fred]

If it had been an assault rifle, he could have just cut the critter in half.

LAIRS

45/70: One shot, bear rug

[finishman2000]

45/70 one shot...miss, human lunch for bear lol

[ell198679]

Ya'll act like the man had a pea shooting 22 lr. That round (5.45X39) is a pretty nasty character.
.22 LR stinger about 25 of em in Ruger 10/22 into bear may stop it,[smilie=b: hope for no jams.

[Outpost75]

Bergman revisits the site of the bear shooting on his blog.

http://alaska-evasion-fieldcraft-survival.webs.com/apps/blog/entries/show/32560552-visiting-my-bear-

[sirgknight]

There's that word again :?

in this case it just happened to be an assault-stopping rifle.

[NLS1]

Read some of the guys blog, interesting. Ak-74 and 45 auto were the standard carry pieces for protection for him in the woods. At least in the parts I read. I kinda like the guy, not PC at all which is refreshing.

Alaska sounds better all the time.

Dan

[singleshot]

If you read the blog (not the phony news stories) you find out the entire insides of the bear were goo. The guy didn't know what the ammo was, used a mixed lot of stuff he'd dumped into a jar, apparently. I'd conclude that 13 shots from a 5.45x39 are sufficient.

[Lead Fred]

45/70 one shot...miss, human lunch for bear lol
I got seven 45/70 shots, (assault lever) the bear wont last past two.

Besides, Its called a self protection rifle & an assault bear!

My scout leader back in the 60s told us that he had a black charge him when he was fishing in AK.
He fired all 20 rounds from his M1 carbine.
The bear dropped at his feet. He did soil himself.

[finishman2000]

kinda funny....I have had a bear in my yard 3 times in the last week. last tine I was half way to my car when I noticed that he was getting my garbage to go lol, about 15 feet away from me. first time I heard something outside, went out all quiet like and lit him up with my fs2000 with the flashlight built into the forend. he looked like a thief that got caught. good looking animal.