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The sound of a gun powerful enough for bears, will travel farther than a whistle. Three shots in quick succession is a widely understood and accepted signal of needing help, in the wild.
Three shots in the "wild" usually means a lousy shot. Up in Glacier area its a dinner bell for the griz. As for sidearm 44mag is MINIMUM. I have carried a 45mag in a desert eagle. Too many people go for a walkabout thinking there is no potential for a problem.
Hand guns over .44 mag are out of my range of experience. Some of these I never heard of. I don't research some guns I would have no use of in NH, and that's why.
Punching paper with a cannon I hold in both hands just isn't much fun unless I get a shot or 2 for free in someone else hand cannon. LOL
I have been bitten on a rare occasion by a paper target sometimes a thumbtack
There is no such thing as a semi auto loader fit for grizz IMO, and maybe 3 handguns over all, that are. It won't do anyone a bit of good to fire 3 shots and find out loading the next 3 shots because a empty gun is no better than a rock, that you just clanged the dinner bell for bear.
Quote:
Originally Posted by steven_h
It'll be nearly impossible to stop a bear with hand gun except for a select couple (.50 eagle, 457mag, 44 automag maybe). Pretty much hand cannons as anything less would probably just PO the bear.
these posts remind me of an article i read a few years ago in a gun magazine. two editors were coming back from a day of hunting when a bear charged them. they each had a weapon that used the SAME cartridge, the .44 special. one was a handgun, the other a rifle.
since the rifle had been put in the cabin they were using, it was not immediately available, but the handgun was. the guy with the handgun fired six rounds, hitting the bear each time. the bear ran back into the woods, but very quickly came back charging again. by this time the second guy had gotten his rifle, and he also put six rounds into the bear killing it. when they examined the bear after wards, they found that the rounds from the handgun had NOT penetrated the bears hide, just mushroomed against it and stuck in place.
perhaps a .50 desert eagle, or the .454 casul rounds MIGHT penetrate a bears hide, but if i were out in the wilderness i want a fairly heavy caliber rifle at hand.
these posts remind me of an article i read a few years ago in a gun magazine. two editors were coming back from a day of hunting when a bear charged them. they each had a weapon that used the SAME cartridge, the .44 special. one was a handgun, the other a rifle.
since the rifle had been put in the cabin they were using, it was not immediately available, but the handgun was. the guy with the handgun fired six rounds, hitting the bear each time. the bear ran back into the woods, but very quickly came back charging again. by this time the second guy had gotten his rifle, and he also put six rounds into the bear killing it. when they examined the bear after wards, they found that the rounds from the handgun had NOT penetrated the bears hide, just mushroomed against it and stuck in place.
perhaps a .50 desert eagle, or the .454 casul rounds MIGHT penetrate a bears hide, but if i were out in the wilderness i want a fairly heavy caliber rifle at hand.
.500 S&W (Pistol Cartridge)...should do the trick...
ANd a 44 special is not the same as a 44 magnum, 2 different animals...
There is a book from Alaska, about grizz attacks....evidently there is proof that a .300 Magnum bounced (not literly but you get the picture) off a bears head....I believe the bear was charging, and the guy took a shot at the head...
Three shots in the "wild" usually means a lousy shot. Up in Glacier area its a dinner bell for the griz. As for sidearm 44mag is MINIMUM. I have carried a 45mag in a desert eagle. Too many people go for a walkabout thinking there is no potential for a problem.
It's taught to anyone who's taken hunter education classes...it's widely known and understood. Of course, it'll likely take more than one set of 3 to grab the attention of anyone nearby. The response if you hear someone's 3 shots is one shot. I am aware of examples even up there where it saved someone's life.
It does take a large handgun to take on a grizzly. .500 S&W would be my choice. I've taken black bears with a .44, I don't want to try it on a grizzly.
well I can't really say I Know, but I do know one way or another some power is lost in any semi auto to run the machine it is. The wheel gun looses some power in the gap, but the wheel gun tends to loose a bit less. It is my opinion that the escaping gasses on a wheel gun end up creating a log jamb of gasses sealing the rest in and for a bit more power in all else equal.
.454 , .500 would be with in reason picks for SD against a grizz I GUESS.
I can find out if any one wants to send me $$$ to play bait
Your perception of time is WAY off. They say that's the first to go when you start losing your mind.
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Up in Glacier area its a dinner bell for the griz. 
As for sidearm 44mag is MINIMUM. I have carried a 45mag in a desert eagle. Too many people go for a walkabout thinking there is no potential for a problem.
