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If Only He Had A 9mm
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Amputee Marksman
NES Member
Two real life situations.
An old friend of mine has lived north of Anchorage for at least 20 years. He is a hunting and fishing guide among other thing. He carries a S&W 4" 44 Magnum revolver with him all the time when he is in the bush.
My sister lived in Anchorage for about 10 year. She worked as an Environmental Engineer for a company contracted by the Feds. She traveled all over inspecting oil drilling sites and rigs to make sure they were meeting environmental regulations. Her mode of travel in most cases was small single engine planes to the area and then quads or snow machines to the final destination. She carried a 12 GA loaded with slugs.
An old friend of mine has lived north of Anchorage for at least 20 years. He is a hunting and fishing guide among other thing. He carries a S&W 4" 44 Magnum revolver with him all the time when he is in the bush.
My sister lived in Anchorage for about 10 year. She worked as an Environmental Engineer for a company contracted by the Feds. She traveled all over inspecting oil drilling sites and rigs to make sure they were meeting environmental regulations. Her mode of travel in most cases was small single engine planes to the area and then quads or snow machines to the final destination. She carried a 12 GA loaded with slugs.
we need to ask for a comment those who did have a chance to hammer a grizzly's skull with G17, i guess.I dunno... I'm still thinking (hoping? praying?) that five or six (or twelve? fifteen??) 9mm rounds of Federal HST into Yogi's face/eyeballs/mouth/etc would buy me enough time to get the fuq outta there before Boo-Boo arrives to help him out...And if he's still charging at me? My G17 holds seventeen-plus-one, therefore I'd have enough left to off myself quickly (rather than being ripped to shreds slowly) LOL....
Just sayin'
it is quite a skull. mother nature worked well there.
ccm75
NES Member
If you can hit a charging grizzly in the face with a flare gun you should be in the movies....
fencer
NES Member
I have a Canadian friend that worked the oil rigs out in BC when he was young. It was mandatory that you traveled armed. Everyone carried a 12ga, everywhere they went.
I have read (here, prolly) that .357 is the minimum caliber in bear country. I know I would not want to shoot at one with a 9mm. Just a few weeks ago there was some lady musher who's dogs were attacked by a bull moose. She emptied her .380 into it to apparently no effect. Someone eventually shot it, I believe, but I forget the details.
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.25 acp
Bigfudge16
NES Member
I watched a series about air crash investigations in Alaska recently. Those guys take a 629 out of the locker when they go out in the field. If you can make the up the snout or in the mouth shot, then maybe even a 9mm would find the off button, but I'm guessing a 9mm or .45ACP to the chest or shoulder of a charging bear would leave a nasty bruise. I'm kind of surprised by the love for 12ga slugs in this context. Maybe there's a particular kind of slug in mind? Seen a bunch of ballistic tests of Foster slugs and have not been impressed. Seems like .45-70 with heavy hard cast bullets would be better, but what would I know about it? Nothing, really.
Are there depleted uranium or tungsten penetrator sabot slugs commercially available? Might have the punch you need for brown bear if you don't already have a 45.70. Fidy beowulf AR might be another option but just screams way too tacticool if any other hikers saw one slung over your pack.
Enzo
NES Member
It’s both, diabetic clowns.
LittleCalm
NES Member
I think NH F&G carry 12ga with slugs for any bear call. But here we only have black bears, which don’t compare to brown bears at all. Didn’t Chrissy boy carry the big Marlin in Jurassic? Good enough for T-Rex.
ldi
NES Member
Boghog1
NES Member
Bella Twin, the .22 Used to Take the 1953 World Record Grizzly, and More
On 10 May, 1953, Bella Twin was hunting small game with her partner, Dave Auger, along an oil exploration cutline south of Slave Lake. She was 63 years old.
www.ammoland.com
I get that it was a self-defense shoot in reality, but functionally it was a hunting-style shot at close range from a position of concealment on an anatomical target only available when the bear is not looking at you.Bella Twin, the .22 Used to Take the 1953 World Record Grizzly, and More
On 10 May, 1953, Bella Twin was hunting small game with her partner, Dave Auger, along an oil exploration cutline south of Slave Lake. She was 63 years old.
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Hetzer
NES Member
Definitely clowns. They taste funny.
I just did a search on "bear slugs". Lots of people talking about sabots, not Foster. Makes more sense now.
![[cheers]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/018.gif "Cheers [cheers]")
People focus too much on caliber. Yet, I bet the only practice they get is a few well placed shots at a paper target.
People need to focus more on training. When you can draw and hit 5 steel plates in 5 seconds or less with the .357 or .44, go ahead and carry one.
The nice groups at 25 yards when you are relaxed at the range and can take several seconds or minutes between shots dlnt mean sh*t, it does mean you can aim, which is good and the gun is capable, which is also good. But that is all it means.
If I go by paper targets, I would tell you a 45-70 BFR is a great option, but in reality, if a bear is charging at me, I doubt I can do a good job of placing all 6 shots before it gets to me.
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45-70 loaded with 34grains and 500gr bullets makes for a pleasant gun to shoot and one that would be effective (in a lever action).
Won't be the most powerful, won't be the weakest either, but it will allow several well placed fast shots.
In my opinion, carry a trench gun with a bayonet. If the bear is still running after you slam shoot that gun, now you have a spear. (Not serious).
FIFY.
AHM
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cathouse01
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From the folks I know who have spent time in Brown Bear country (Montana and Alaska), your best bet is bear spray. With a grizzly running at you at around 30 mph, it can cover over 20 feet in half a second. Few people can draw and fire any gun accurately in that time frame with the stress involved. Bear spray has the advantage that the bear will be running into the stream and you have a semi-decent chance of hitting it in the eyes, which will generally cause them to retreat. Here’s a video from Yellowstone National Park Service:
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Does anyone make a semi-auto 50BMG in SBR configuration for hiking?
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