The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Hide > The Hunt

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old July 11, 2005, 10:45 PM   #1
scoobydoo6906
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 10, 2005
Location: Portland, Or
Posts: 306
back-up guns for bear

I am looking for sugestions for back-up guns for bear or while out in the wild. Semi-autos. I am thinking like a .40 s&w or a .45 acp. Any help would be welcome.
scoobydoo6906 is offline  
Old July 11, 2005, 10:57 PM   #2
22-rimfire
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 19, 2005
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 5,323
For hunting, I don't think you need a back up gun. Take a large bore handgun that you can shoot well or take the rifle. Why carry an extra hunk of iron around with you when you already have a lot of gear with you?

Hiking and so forth: I favor a revolver in 357, 41, or 44 magnum with a 4" barrel.
22-rimfire is offline  
Old July 11, 2005, 11:35 PM   #3
locked'n'cocked
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 8, 2005
Location: MN, USof A
Posts: 214
what kind of bear are you talking about? a griz. wont be stopped by either one of those.
__________________
locked 'n' cocked

"Make haste, slowly." Wyatt Earp
locked'n'cocked is offline  
Old July 11, 2005, 11:50 PM   #4
buffalo_bore
Member
 
Join Date: June 21, 2005
Posts: 57
Maybe a teddy bear. I suggest a Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan....if you can get your hands on one.

I've been wanting to start a thread on this very gun, but Jim Beam seems to stop me from it every night. :barf:
__________________
You're no daisy. You're no daisy at all.
Val Kilmer-Tombstone
buffalo_bore is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 01:54 AM   #5
scoobydoo6906
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 10, 2005
Location: Portland, Or
Posts: 306
I live in washington so a cute cuddly brown or black bear. Maybe a mountain lion nothing huge. I think you could kill a grizzley bear if you shot in the head with a fmj.
scoobydoo6906 is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 04:53 AM   #6
LAK
Junior member
 
Join Date: May 14, 2002
Posts: 2,251
Many rifle bullets can be deflected from certain angles on a grizzly or brown bear skull. Do not count on a FMJ pistol bullet doing anything - unless it strikes an eye socket, slips down an earhole, up a nostril ...... or you get just plain lucky
LAK is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 10:29 AM   #7
Apple a Day
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 29, 2000
Location: Poquoson,Virginia
Posts: 1,524
Why would a bear need a backup gun?
It's keep and BEARARMS... not keep and ARM BEARS
Sorry, I just couldn't resist!
__________________
THose who use arms well cultivate the Way and keep the rules. Thus they can govern in such a way as to prevail over the corrupt.
- Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Apple a Day is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 11:42 AM   #8
mete
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 14, 2004
Location: NY State
Posts: 6,575
The best you could do is to carry a 10mm pistol. You ought to find some videos of charging animals !! Then you would enter the real world .There was a fine film of a grizzly running down an elk calf.I recently saw one of a hunter getting charged by a lion that injured the hunter.Also a head on shot of a lioness attacking and swerving off at the last second. They accelerate quickly to 35-40 mph and they have enormous strength.Come out of the Disney/teddy bear world !
mete is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 11:47 AM   #9
Twycross
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 26, 2005
Location: Montana
Posts: 1,187
If you really want a semi-auto, then 10mm is about the meanest it gets. Unless you have a Desert Eagle in one of the magnum cartridges. You will have to go to a manufacturer like Buffalo Bore, or reload your own, to get its full potential, though. Most of the time, it is loaded similarly to the .40 S&W. For more reliable protection, a revolver would be better. That being said, I carry a .40 S&W (couldn't find a 10mm :barf: )
__________________
The test of character is not 'hanging in' when you expect light at the end of the tunnel, but performance of duty, and persistence of example when you know no light is coming.
- Vice Admiral James Stockdale, USN (ret.)
Twycross is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 12:15 PM   #10
zeisloft
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 7, 2005
Location: Amarillo TX
Posts: 419
Skip the auto, bring a wheel gun .41 or .44
~z
zeisloft is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 02:59 PM   #11
Skeetin'870
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 11, 2005
Location: Tulsa,Ok.
Posts: 288
.454 casull or .500 S&W big cartriges huge animals
__________________
Mental prep for skeet
1 Look for the Bird
2 Gun speed to target speed
3 Head on the gun
4 Follow Through
Skeetin'870 is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 07:50 PM   #12
butch50
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 15, 2005
Location: Republic of Texas
Posts: 1,403
How about a CZ-52? From the responses to a question I asked on another post, these pistols seem to have fantastic penetration and are accurate. It is a semi-auto that fires a round originally designed for an SMG.

With animals you want penetration and location.
__________________
‘‘Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest.’’ ~ Mahatma Ghandi, "Gandhi, An Autobiography", page 446

‘‘The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun.’’ ~ Patrick Henry
butch50 is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 08:05 PM   #13
CarbineCaleb
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 27, 2004
Posts: 2,745
I agree with 22-rimfire that if you are hunting with a long gun, there is no benefit to adding a handgun on top of that.

For general woodsiness where you are worried that you would be attacked by bear, I'd say you want a revolver, in .41 or .44 Magnum, ideally with a 6" barrel. Not only are these more powerful than the 10mm, but there are readily available loads appropriate for bear for these magnum revolvers.

The odds are that you'll never have to defend yourself against a bear, but, if lightning strikes and you actually need to, I'd want to use something that has a real good chance of working. IMO that's at least a .41 Magnum with big game loads. For grizzly, .44 Magnum is more appropriate.

Handguns designed for antipersonnel use aren't going to be reliable on bear. Bear are thicker and have bigger bones than people. Your choice of firearm and load has to take that into account.
__________________
“Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think.”
Niels Bohr
CarbineCaleb is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 09:55 PM   #14
stevelyn
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 19, 2004
Location: Fairbanksan in exile to Aleutian Hell
Posts: 2,655
I live deepna hearta bear country. It may be surprising to you if I told you I carry a BHP loaded w/ 115 gr FMJs when I go running.
Your best defense is awareness early enough to give yourself other options rather than just shooting.
I know that my BHP isn't the best bear medicine available. I also know that they are likely out there watching me pound the pavement, but it's not going to be deployed until I'm at arms length.
However, when I'm purposely out in the boonies I carry either a 12 ga. loaded w/ Brennekes or a rifle loaded with premium ammo.
__________________
Stop Allowing Our Schools To Be Soft Targets!
http://fastersaveslives.org/

East Moose. Wear Wolf.
stevelyn is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 10:05 PM   #15
CarbineCaleb
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 27, 2004
Posts: 2,745
Quote:
Your best defense is awareness early enough to give yourself other options
+1 on that - avoiding a bear attack, which isn't terribly difficult, is the high percentage way to look at this. If you plan on taking on all comers, gunfighter style, I'd get the .44magnum. Once you start shooting, the chances of an attack escalate considerably.
__________________
“Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think.”
Niels Bohr
CarbineCaleb is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 10:37 PM   #16
22-rimfire
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 19, 2005
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 5,323
I'm no bear expert but I think that there is a big difference between what handgun you would carry for protection from bears depends on the species of bear that are in the area you're in. I know that if you are walking at night or just after dark in the woods and you come into an area where you can "smell" bear all around you, it will make you more than a bit nervous. They really stink! I've had black bears come very close while archery hunting from a blind. In the case of black bear, the standard big bores are fine in my opinion. If you are in the northern Rockies, I would carry at least a 44 magnum revolver and preferably something a bit larger. But as was mentioned, I think that awareness of your surroundings is the key. The recent predatory attack in Alaska was a very a-typical example of a grizzly attack. You can't defend or plan for every possible situation with either a handgun, rifle, or shotgun. I would never shoot a bear except as a last resort with a handgun (when not hunting). With the grizzlies and big brown bears, the chance of esculation becomes real after you start shooting. Better to move away slowly if you can and exhibit no behavior that would be challenging to a bear.
22-rimfire is offline  
Old July 12, 2005, 10:45 PM   #17
Big Yac
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 23, 2005
Location: Ohio
Posts: 422
I'd say in no particular order(revolvers):
1. 500 S&W
2. .454 Casull
3. . 480 Ruger
4. . 475 Linebaugh
5. . 45-70

If you want something in a rifle then I'd say:
1. .458 Win Mag
2. .416 Rigby
3. .375 H&H

I love big guns
__________________
"...and that's the bottom line, because Big Yac said so."
Big Yac is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:48 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.08459 seconds with 10 queries