Handgun for a lower 48 black bear encounter

[Three44s]

Tar Heel,

Yes sir, Yes Sir!

+10!

Three44s

[memtb]

Tar Heel....you have it figured out! memtb

[Tar Heel]

Tar Heel....you have it figured out! memtb

When a 300 pound pissed off animal with teeth and/or tusks is coming at you in a full charge, intent on slicing you to ribbons and flinging your visceral contents among the trees, time is of the essence, and power is of critical importance. I have hunted both bear and hog with handguns. J.D. Jones used to tell us when we took our annual Handgun Hunters International hunting trips that when a Russian Boar is at you, you need to DROP TO A KNEE and shoot him right up the snout. A revolver is always loaded - in that a round is always chambered (no forgetting). I can't begin to tell you how fast a charge is. There is barely enough time to react.

While a 22LR may kill a bear if you shoot it in the eye or some other such nonsense, you need HORSEPOWER to get the attention of an enraged attack and to have enough penetration to reach a vital from a head-on attack. You can smack me all day with a pencil but to really get my attention, use a baseball bat.

To appreciate a full-on "I'm going to kill you 23 times" charge, you really have to experience one first hand. You get scared AFTER the fact if you either shot the critter or got safely up a tree, or the charge was aborted by the animal and you realize there is a God that just saved your heathen butt.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

A long slide Glock 10mm would be my pick. I'm out in the wolf and black bear woods a good amount and I don't worry too much about what I'm carrying, as long as I am. A model 60, G 36 or SW MP 9 are all a boatload better than nothing. We have bears right in town too.

[Three44s]

When I read “Sixguns” by Elmer Keith the first time, I had already acquired my (then) three revolvers in .44 Mag.

What I additionally gathered from reading another of his books, “Hell, I Was There!” made me real glad I had chosen wisely.

Elmer rightly points out the deficiencies and disadvantages of autoloading hand guns, particularly when human nature is factored in.

In my humble opinion, there are two main “selling points” that favor packing an autoloading pistol. One is the cool factor. Let’s face it, semis are with it. Revolvers are just old news!

The other reason is round capacity. “This gun holds fifteen rounds”. Yes, but how many are you going to fire before Mr. Bear gets to where it’s going?

How many of that “stack” of ammo are really going to add to you ability to stop that charging beast?

The good news is this just my opinion and we still live in a country where we each get to chose what we pack in most of the “addresses” where these sorts of decisions really matter.

What you pack is your business as my safety is my business and yours is yours. Just because I have a different idea on what is ideal to carry, it’s not “law”.

Best regards

Three44s

[barnetmill]

I .....
99% of the time I favor a 44 Special for the woods. For some reason the S&W 67 (38 Special) was handier and I put it on that time. I have been playing with a Lyman 200grn round nose in the 38 and had a cylinder full.

.......

With bear when using a smaller caliber pistol, if possible you shoot for the head. I fear that a round nose might glance off the head. The bullet that I would want for a black does not likely a exist. I would want a 200 grain hard cast wad cutter.

[Chill Wills]

With bear when using a smaller caliber pistol, if possible you shoot for the head. I fear that a round nose might glance off the head. The bullet that I would want for a black does not likely a exist. I would want a 200 grain hard cast wad cutter.

Agreed! Or a short nosed SWC.

[Eddie Southgate]

One of my .44 specials with Elmer's load .

[barnetmill]

Agreed! Or a short nosed SWC.

Well SWC is better than round nose, but I would want a hard sharp corner full wadcutter of 195 or more grain wt getting as close to a 1000 fps as is safe relative to pressures.

[35 Rem]

I'd chose my Super Blackhawk 44 Mag 5 1/2" loaded with 10 grains of Unique and the Lee 310 grain bullet. I can shoot that load way better than full house loads yet it still hits real hard. Also it's subsonic which means you aren't going to instantly deafen yourself with the 1st shot.

If I thought bears were really likely to be encountered, I'd gravitate towards a lever action 45-70 along with the Blackhawk on my hip.

[barnetmill]

I'd chose my Super Blackhawk 44 Mag 5 1/2" loaded with 10 grains of Unique and the Lee 310 grain bullet. I can shoot that load way better than full house loads yet it still hits real hard. Also it's subsonic which means you aren't going to instantly deafen yourself with the 1st shot.

If I thought bears were really likely to be encountered, I'd gravitate towards a lever action 45-70 along with the Blackhawk on my hip.

I might elect to go somewhere else without the bear issue.

[Three44s]

I might elect to go somewhere else without the bear issue.

Agreed, better yet send a "bear hugger"!

Three44s

[Frank V]

I might elect to go somewhere else without the bear issue.

Shoot, I’d have to leave Montana to do that!

[Castaway]

Headed to Colorado later this month to try my luck with elk. Although the odds of a bear/lion encounter are slight, I’ve decided against carrying my 7.5” Black Hawk in 45 Colt. Too long and too heavy to be comfortable with. Even though I can stoke it to around 1,200 f/s with a RCBS 270 (280 actual) bullet and smokeless powder, I’ve decided to take my 4 3/4” barreled Uberti copy of a SAA. I’ve stuffed 40 grains of 1.5f Swiss under the RCBS bullet. Not as fast as the Black Hawk but I’m pretty sure 280 grains of lead moving close to 950 f/s doesn’t leave me too exposed. Who knows, maybe the boom and cloud of smoke may have a deterrent value.

[Tom_in_AZ]

44 special with some skeeter loads would be plenty effective, I’d imagine.

[Chill Wills]

44 special with some skeeter loads would be plenty effective, I’d imagine.

That is my thought too. That big 44 bullet is gong to penetrate, even at special velocities.

[MT Gianni]

As one who has seen a 45 acp glance off of a sheeps head, I can state it isn't the bullet as much as the angle. Shoot straight into it and it will penetrate. A glancing blow will not.

[brasshog]

I always carry when aloft. If I am hiking and trying to get some miles or fishing in my boat (Mossberg 600 in the boat also) then generally my Glock43X with 15rnd shield mags is on my chest. It serves well for the most likely problem of two legged critters and cats, boar, etc. If I am hunting and my sidearm is my primary weapon then the SW Model 69 4" barreled 44 mag with 240gr LSWC-HP (Keith) going at 1200 fps are my choice. If I am in the lower 48 and anywhere near bears then the 44 mag is loaded with 240-300gr XTP's at full throttle or 310gr WNGC bullets. I used to carry a BFR in 45-70 as a sidearm to my High Wall 45-70 both loaded with 475gr bullets at 1200 fps but my hands aren't as good as they once were.

That being said...in all of my years the biggest constant issue that I have faced is people. Now I have had to put down a gator that was following me in the cat tails while wading in waist deep water, rabbid squirrel in my tree, yote(s) by campfire light, and more snakes than I care to count including a 47" water moccasin at my feet that were either too curious for their own good or just being mean. If I had to pick the perfected balanced carry gun for the woods out of all of my current ones it would have to be my Ruger Blackhawk 41 mag with a 4 5/8" barrel and 210gr HP's.

[brassrat]

I consulted my extensive list of animal calls that I assembled off the net. Under "Bear" was a 3 sec. recording of the subset "black bear" and labeled "roar" Sure nuff it was a roar. The Grizz roar recordings are really scary.