Bear Calibers

[Josh17]

Anyone know about .44 special? Wouldn't that work for bear defense, even better than a .357 would? The .44 special FMJ cowboy load I believe is 250 grains.

[44 AMP]

The .44 special FMJ cowboy load I believe is 250 grains.

AVOID "COWBOY" loads for anything but cowboy games!!!!

"Cowboy" loads for Cowboy action shooting games are LIGHTER than standard factory loads. Lower velocity, less power! NOT a good choice for defense against man or beast in any of their calibers. Regular "standard" factory ammo is a much, much better choice.

The original "standard" .44 Special load is no slouch, being a 246gr lead slug at approx. 800fps. Most .44 Special will stand limited quantities of somewhat warmer loads, as well. Quite capable of killing a bear. STOPPING a bear depends on you.

[GeauxTide]

AVOID "COWBOY" loads for anything but cowboy games!!!!

8gr of Unique under a 250 Keith will give about 1000fps.

[Sniper 51]

Geauxtide,

What will this load be capable of? Most ammo I find on the shelf is either cowboy loads or High Velocity Bear loads which punish from both ends. Would a 250 to 260 gr. load traveling at about 1,000 feet take care of black bear on down? I'm not out to kill a grizzly or brown. Just want to be safe from black bear on down to 2 legged SB.

Although I reload, I don't reload for 45 Colt so I will have to get set up with those components. Until then, what is the best off the shelf ammo I could get to accomplish this?

[DeronW]

I've used 250 Keith at 1000 on hogs. Broke 1 shoulder on the way in and the other on the way out. Not exactly like a bear but will probably do about the same.

[TXAZ]

T O noted

Mind you, absolutely nothing, 12 ga. slugs included, will stop anything in its tracks.

Not exactly. A BMG's 10-12,000 ft lbs of energy will.

If you look at some of the counter-Taliban / Isis videos on YouTube, you might note that most any center of mass hit with an AI, Mac or Barrett .50 BMG Does stop the threat in its tracks, and often knocks it back or severs appendages or torsos.

[SGW Gunsmith]

We're in Northwestern Wisconsin, surrounded by white and red oaks. Each spring, as soon as it warms up, the black bears are out and about.





Yelling, an air-can powered horn, a BB gun BB to the butt, and even a water hose does not discourage SOME black bears from challenging their right to be where ever they want to be.



Just like some people, there are some black bears that are just plain ornery, and won't adhere to reasonable suggestions to vacate the premises. That's when a Winchester Model 1300 filled with Triple-0 buckshot is your friend.

[mete]

SGW, if all those bird feeders are filled with birdseed you will attract MANY bears and they won' want to go home !!

[Sniper 51]

Hey guys, I think I may have found just the right off the shelf medicine for Black bears that I have been looking for. I have found some Cor Bon 335 gr hard cast semi wadcutters traveling at 1050 fps with 820 ft/lbs energy. Any opinions????

[22-rimfire]

Bears will clean out a bird feeder over and over again and probably destroy it in the process. The only real option is to bring the feeders indoors at night, but as your pictures indicate, black bears also feed during daylight hours. They will just have be be hung out of reach which makes re-filling them a pain. Raccoons do pretty much the same thing and one has been hitting one of my sunflower seed feeders at night. I started taking it in at night.

[Deaf Smith]

If you want the 'right stuff' for any kind of bear, and don't want to pay a fortune, the words "Mossberg 500" and "Brenneke Black Magic" are to be googled.

Simple cheap 500 Mossie pump stoked with 600 grain slugs, 1 3/8 oz, at 1500 fps.

Basically a 20mm cannon. At bear defense ranges a simple bead sight will do fine as long as you shoot enough to know where that chunk of lead will land.

Deaf

[GeauxTide]

Skeeter Skelton used 7.5 gr. of Unique under a 250 Keith to great affect on dear and pigs. Velocity was 966. My load of a 275gr LFN under 10 gr. of Unique in a 45 Colt poked a hole in a 150# hog that was cornered by dogs. Went in under the eye socket in the skull bone and exited out a ham. More than 3 feet of penetration and a fist sized exit hole. You will be astonished at the performance of a heavy 44 or 45 SWC at 950-1050fps

[Chainsaw.]

Sniper 51 thats pretty durn good bear medicine. That or something from buffalo bore. As mentioned before most blackies wont show you much more than their rump so long as there isnt a cub(s) to defend or a food source to claim as their own.

[44 AMP]

I have found some Cor Bon 335 gr hard cast semi wadcutters traveling at 1050 fps with 820 ft/lbs energy. Any opinions????

I suggest you shoot some of them, before considering if they are the bear medicine you are looking for. I've never shot that particular load, but heavy bullets at speed mean heavy recoil.

My "standard" .45 Colt load is a hard cast 250gr, over 10gr Unique. Max load in the old books for a Colt SAA, no strain for a Ruger like mine, and not uncomfortable to shoot like heavier loads. Out of my Ruger it avgs 1070fps, and while I haven't taken a bear with it, I am confident it would do the job well, if I do my part.

Bears are not armor plated. The skull is the worst part, and while its not elephant or water buffalo thick, it is solid, and rounded, so its not unheard of for any slug (including higher velocity rifle bullets) to be deflected on occasion.

There's nothing I do that requires the extra heavy bullets so popular now, so I don't bother with them. Your mileage may vary...

[Sniper 51]

Thanks 44 AMP. I studied Geauxtides suggestion as well as yours. I finally settled on and purchased some Buffalo Bore standard load 45 Colt 255gr Lead Keith-Type Semi-Wadcutters with a velocity of 1000 fps and 566 ft. lbs. of energy. Does everyone pretty much agree that should handle any black bear problems I may face in western NC? Thanks for all the input.

[44 AMP]

I'd say if you have a bear problem that it won't handle, its because of the shooter,, not the load. You do your part, I'm sure the load will perform.

[Hunter Customs]

Sniper 51,

I would not feel uncomfortable packing the load you chose for the 45 Colt.
I have 44mag and 45 Colt revolvers, if I was going to be in bear country I would be packing one of my 45 Colt revolvers.

The load I shoot in mine is a 270 gr WFN cast bullet moving 1100 FPS, this is a tier two load that I've shot in Rugers and the Colt replicas with no ill effects to the guns.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter

[458winshooter]

Earlier this week the park rangers euthanized a bear,the wrong bear, that weighed over 400 pounds after a hiker was attacked this month.They tagged another one over 200 with a GPS tracker.I live in East Tennessee at the doorstep to the smokies and these are rare events but if your going to carry you had better plan on something like this.I think a 357 with heavy loads would be the starting point.

[Mike_Fontenot]

I think when you are eye-to-eye with one, nothing will feel big enough. I unintentionally walked up VERY close to a big mama black bear and her two 2nd-year cubs before I looked up and saw them ... bad situational awareness on my part. I was carrying my 10mm Kimber Eclipse. It had always felt very big to me, but it didn't feel big enough then. I bought a S&W69 .44mag 5-shot 4-1/4" revolver that very weekend. (Fortunately, the bear didn't move as I backed slowly away from her, but she watched me until I was out of sight). Get the biggest thing you can carry.

[44 AMP]

Get the biggest thing you can carry

I would modify this to add "and use effectively".

many people can't effectively use a .44 Magnum beyond the first shot. Most can learn, few do.

Someone with little or no experience is NOT well served getting the biggest thing they can carry. Not until/unless they actually learn how to use it well enough.

Bears are not impressed by what you carry. Only by what you can do with it, if necessary.

The guy with a .357 Mag he shoots well is better off than the guy with a .44 or a .500 that he doesn't.

[badge851]

It is all about what works best for you. In my case, that is a 41 Remington® Magnum. Powerful enough to do the job; yet much lower recoil than the 44 Magnum.

[Erno86]

I prefer Corbon's 45 Colt hardcast for bears, with my 45 Colt/454 Casull, Ruger Super Redhawk. The ammo is slick feeding both in loading and unloading, and has deep penetration.

Many years ago...I read in an outdoor hunting magazine --- That it's probable, that more people have been killed by black bears than grizzly bears, in the North American continent. People just up and disappear in the woods over recorded history, with the black bear sometimes being the main culprit, because of it's ability to hide a dead body by establishing a food cache; not to mention the black bears stalking and killing abilities.

I think that semi auto pistols are bad medicine for bears...because if you press the semi auto's muzzle against the bear's hide, it might cause a non-firing condition, if the slide retracts rearwards a little bit.

[EnoughGUN]

LAR Grizzly in .45 win mag. I mean its got "grizzly"right there in the damn name ! Thats gotta be the best right? ... right?

[Deaf Smith]

Well there is already a revolver named Rhino... guess it's good on 'em.

Deaf