Best handgun for a bear attack?

[Guest mosinon]

Every so often I wander across a thread where people are wondering what kind of handgun they should carry in case they are attacked by a bear. .357? .44? .50?

Then things get a little nuanced, sure a .357 is probably enough for a black bear but when you run into a grizzly you'll want that desert eagle. And 9mm is plenty if your worried about the spectacled bear of South America.

Today I learned that a slingshot is over kill. Apparently all you need is two huge testicles made of titanium:

[trblmkr13]

I think I'll still get a 10mm for my back country hiking

[Oh Shoot]

Well, if you wanted to cheat, you could use a single shot .22, like Bella Twin in 1953. Some say it was a short, too.

OC Online - Hunting - Matchmaking

Catfish Gumbo: Grandma's Griz

The Black Grizzly of Whiskey Creek - Google Books

etc.

- OS

[Guest mosinon]

Well, if you wanted to cheat, you could use a single shot .22, like Bella Twin in 1953. Some say it was a short, too.

OC Online - Hunting - Matchmaking

Catfish Gumbo: Grandma's Griz

The Black Grizzly of Whiskey Creek - Google Books

etc.

- OS

Damn, and I recall needing more than a few shots to hit the flipper on your 22 steel targets. I suppose that if I were in her place my name would have to be changed to Bear Food.

[Guest peacexxl]

Well I thought I was a real man but reading that sign makes me feel like I need to go shopping for a pretty blouse.

[Kevo]

WOW.

[mikegideon]

Hell with a pistol. 45-70

[Raoul]

Now that's a real man.

I talked to a guy yesterday who was in a tree stand last week and a bear started climbing the tree after him. He had to fire his BP weapon to scare it off.

[peejman]

Does this classify as a pistol? It doesn't have a shoulder stock...

[DaveTN]

I don’t walk where bears are without a rifle.

However, I doubt that anything…including a bear… will continue a charge into 15 rounds of .40S&W.

[dralarms]

I don’t walk where bears are without a rifle.

However, I doubt that anything…including a bear… will continue a charge into 15 rounds of .40S&W.

Agreed.

[gregintenn]

I'd watch that on Youtube!!!

[bigwakes]

I was in commie Canada on a fishing trip in 2008. I think we could have gotten a pistol in, but it was up to the border guard to allow or not. We opted for not, even though we were at a cabin that was used for bear hunting in winter months. We came back after a few hours of fishing and a bear ran off with our deap frier pan that we cooked fish in for lunch. When the guide flew in to pick us up we showed him a pile of poo that was definately a bear. All I had was a Kabar and luckily did not have to find out if it was enough.

[monkeylizard]

[JReedEsq]

Agreed.

This is probably true for the black bears we have around here. I've been hiking with a Glock 22. The chances of a bear attack in the smokies are so remote that I feel more comfortable with a weapon I'm familiar than I would with a big bore revolver. Out west or up north I'd think a shotgun with slugs would be the way to go.

[guyandarifle]

For "most" black bears (in some areas they can get awfully big, poke around the internet and you'll see what I mean) good bullets (NOT those intended to expand in people, they won't penetrate enough in a bear save for maybe a bullseye in the brain) a .357/10mm would probably be fine. Obviously they "could" work against larger bears but then you can also get into the "elephants have been killed with .30 and even less rifles" argument. Fine, hunt elk with a Red Rider too, what I'm getting at is if it's a serious question put in a little effort to match the tool to the task. Once you get into grizzlies, much less browns, if I can't carry at least a .41 mag I'd start seriously considering pepper spray as first line of bear defense with whatever smaller caliber handgun I have as backup.

Short of getting into the heavy loads in .475 Linebaugh/.500 S&W class any pistol is pretty puny as a big bear stopper and most people aren't up to those anyway. I've got a .500 and while whatever shots I could manage would be a beast the gun itself is heavy,unwieldy and recoil is such that two genuinely aimed shots would probably be all I could manage. OTOH I've got a .44 Redhawk that would be a lot more nimble in both presentation and aimed fire and 320gr hardcast at over 1300fps would probably be discouraging to most bruins. A sturdy .45LC capable of handling what that cartridge can really do wouldn't be a bad option either.

In any case make sure it's something you can HIT the bear with as a 9mm hit is still a hell of a lot better than a .44 magnum miss.

[buck1032]

I was at Benton Shooters Supply this weekend and the salesman was trying rather hard to seel me on a Judge saying it was the perfect bear defense handgun. He then produce one of the newer .410 shells that has three slugs and I think some small ershot in it. I just sort of disagreed with him and he just kept pouring it on. As guyandarifle said, any hit with anything is better than a miss with some large bore magnun. i just think I would be willing to trust my life to a .410 or 45LC out in bear country. LOL

[JReedEsq]

In any case make sure it's something you can HIT the bear with as a 9mm hit is still a hell of a lot better than a .44 magnum miss.

This is precisely why I've still been carrying just a Glock. For me, I think a 10mm Glock would be best, but I prefer to stick with calibers that are readily available, so my .40 is it for now. IMHO I think the Black Bears we have in the smokies generally aren't agressive and sealing up all your food in zip-locks is generally the first line of defense.

[Guest 10mm4me]

I wouldn't walk in bear country w/out a minimum of 12 gauge shotty loaded w/slugs, but if I had to, I would carry my G20 10mm.

[Oh Shoot]

...The chances of a bear attack in the smokies are so remote ...

Just slightly above being attacked by a painter. Or bigfoot.

Carry for defense from Homo Sapiens, not Ursus Americanus.

- OS

[JReedEsq]

Just slightly above being attacked by a painter. Or bigfoot.

Carry for defense from Homo Sapiens, not Ursus Americanus.

- OS

Agreed.

[Guest KCSTEVE]

Beware of black bear and grizzly bear in the area.

Use of whistles and pepper spray is recommended.

To identify bear, black bear scat is dark, elongated droppings.

Grizzly bear scat is large,smells like pepper and has whistles in it.

[JAB]

Just slightly above being attacked by a painter. Or bigfoot.

- OS

Evan Pala might disagree. Susan Cenkus would likely disagree, as well. Ms. Cenkus' daughter, Elora Petrosek, can't disagree because the bear ate her. Of course, the latter was in the Tellico Mountains, not the Smokies but the two aren't that far removed - plus I fish and camp in the Tellico/Citico area, not so much in the Smokies. I agree that such an attack is not likely (although such is certainly far more likely than being abducted by Sasquatch.) That said, I don't carry a handgun for likely attacks from two-legged assailants, either, but for potential attacks.

I heard something that I found interesting while camping in one of the camping areas (Big Oak Cove) in Tellico about three years ago. Some folks a couple of spots down from us were not observing good food storage, etc. The authorities stopped by to have a little 'discussion' with them (basically told them to either store their food correctly or get out.) In the course of that discussion, I heard one of the Rangers (is that the right term?) tell these campers that bear attacks are getting worse and that they had already had ten attacks so far that year. I had heard of no attacks that year so either the Ranger was lying to try and put the fear of God (or bear) into those folks or there are a lot more 'minor' attacks than we ever hear about.

With my lifestyle, etc. I figure my chances of facing an aggressive bear while trout fishing are probably just a little less than my chances of facing an armed mugger/robber, about on par with my chances of facing an assailant who would keep coming after being shot with even a small caliber handgun and greater than my chances of facing off against multiple attackers who are so determined to see me dead that six shots from something as 'low capacity' as a wheelgun won't be enough to stop them. My chances of being attacked by a bear are probably much greater than my chances of being in a Luby's style massacre. None of these scenarios are very likely but that doesn't stop daily discussion and constant worrying from various members of various gun forums about whether or not they have a big enough caliber, high enough capacity, are carrying enough reloads, etc. to deal with the latter four situations.

All that said, I have a six shot Taurus 66 with a four-inch barrel to carry when I am fishing or camping in Tellico. I went with a .357 because - as you say - a bear attack is unlikely and that caliber is otherwise more useful to me than a .44 Magnum (plus I already had a snubbie so chambered so I wasn't adding a new caliber.) I'm gambling that the .357 loaded with Buffalo Bore 180 grain hardcast loads will be 'enough' for black bear medicine - provided I can stop shaking long enough to put the bullet where it needs to go - and probably wouldn't be too shabby for defense against those two-legged attackers, either.

Edited November 16, 2010 by JAB

[Guest bkelm18]

Evan Pala might disagree. Susan Cenkus would likely disagree, as well. Ms. Cenkus' daughter, Elora Petrosek, can't disagree because the bear ate her.

People get struck by lightning too but it's still considered a rare occurrence.

[JAB]

People get struck by lightning too but it's still considered a rare occurrence.

My dad was struck by lightning twice in his lifetime. Not direct strikes but indirect. The first time he was a teenager and had gone to tend to his family's livestock before a storm that was coming in. As he crawled back through the barbed-wire fence, lightning struck the fence a few yards away. He said it literally knocked him off his feet.

The second time he was cutting timber (he worked cutting pulpwood at one time in his life) when heat lightning struck a tree he was cutting. Luckily, wood is not that great a conductor of electricity but he still got a good jolt. I don't think that man was afraid of much of anything but lightning made him nervous as all get out - he didn't even like us kids standing too close to a door or window when it was lightning.

Another bolt of heat lightning got my paternal grandfather, paternal grandmother, one of my cousins and one of my uncles all at the same time. Again, luckily it simply struck a tree they were standing close to but it knocked my uncle and grandfather off of their feet and my grandmother out of the lawn chair she was sitting in.

Rare and doesn't happen are two entirely different things. Hell, instances where a person actually has to fire their carried handgun in self defense against a human assailant are also, comparatively, rare - but we still prepare for such possibilities, just in case.