Posted on 12/01/2011 9:29:16 PM PST by Stonewall Jackson
OK.
Around here most of the hill folk carry .45 colt (revolvers)... No matter where you go in the Rockies, .45 Colt ammo is always available.
I carry a .44mag now, but I am more accustomed to a .45... And I think I like the .45 better - the .44mag has more poop, but it also has a considerable kick - which means more time off target. And if you are pulling a hogleg against a griz, the difference between getting four or six off is a very substantial consideration, as that is the last-ditch effort before hand-to-paw/fang.
...Last-ditch because if you have a lick of sense, you probably already got at least one shot off with the .45/70 (which should be carried at the ready in a mountain sling if you are anywhere near brush) before ever resorting to a pop-gun.
... And this is against griz, not browns, so take the word of the AK folks before me...
PS, Revolver: I like a revolver because it can be operated with one hand from any position, is less prone to gunk/brush/sticks/leaves/freezing causing failure in rough country, and tends to have a simpler (and more robust) action... If you pull the hammer and let it go, it will go bang.
PS, 454 Casull: Not a fan. Too much kick, too much time off target.
If you can’t hold the recoil to get the 2nd shot on target, caliber don’t matter.
I carry an S&W Model 686 in Griz country (7 shot .357).
It’s loaded w 200 grain hard points.
Aim for head & shoulders.
Don’t worry about skull thickness stories.
You need the bear dead or distracted from a head shot, or bones broke to stop the charge.
4” barrel so you can clear the shoulder holster in time.
This isn't an easy video to watch but it's worth seeing to understand the kind of tissue damage a large animal can absorb and remain on it's feet.
Do not watch this is you are squeamish
I rode “shotgun” for Castle Mountain Outfitters in Chickaloon AK on their trail rides back in the 90s. I carried a rifle - not to shoot any bear but to hopefully scare them off. We made enough noise that in the 4 years I did that (week-end volunteer during the summers) we never had a close encounter.
You want to run them off before they claim territory.
Ive only been around black bears.
I have been in Griz country at Glacier park in Montana, but did not encounter them, and I am kinda glad.
Maybe he doesn’t need a gun at all. Here’s a guy who killed a grizzly with a hunting knife.
http://outdoornewsdaily.com/index.php/archives/546
Last summer the husband of one of my sister's coworkers was mauled by a black over in the Red River Gorge but some other hikers were able to beat it off him (it took 175 stitches to close up his wounds). This past summer one of my coworkers was hiking up in the Knobs State Park when he was attacked by a rabid skunk, but he was able to kill it with his .357 before it reached him. And then this fall another friend was treed by a pack (or do you call it a herd?) of feral pigs over in Bernheim Forest. Fortunately he saw them when they were still a ways off and he shimmied up a tree to get out of their way.
Adolescent bears can get real crazy.
Here's a picture that Mr. Scott took of the bear as it was approaching him. Experts speculated that it was a young adult male, around 175 pounds, who was looking for a mate and territory. They never did find the bear responsible, although they did spot several possible suspects.
Normal ones head the other way when they get a whiff of ya.
When they get that bold, they are a problem.
The most critically important detail here is that you do not deal with a grizzly bear. You can knock down a rabid skunk, handle a black bear, but if you get yourself in a situation where you're being charged by a grizzly, the vast majority of the time you'll hardly have a chance at all to draw a firearm, much less use it effectively against a charging grizzly.
This was from a very very experienced AK bowhunter, who carried a 1911A1 with him in Alaska. If there is a confrontation with a grizzly, you've already broken most of the rules in paying attention to your environment, and most likely, you are stupidly trying to defend a carcass from a hungry grizzly. Standing around firing a hand cannon, rather than seeking immediate cover, is a very quick and orderly path to becoming yet another statistic.
A .45ACP is simply not enough fire-power to kill a grizzly. Most .45s have muzzle velocities of 800 - 1100 fps and muzzle energies of 380-500 ft-lbs. You need something much larger and heavier with a muzzle velocities from 1200 - 2000 fps and muzzle energies from 1500-3100 ft-lbs. An ideal sidearm for Grizzly country would be a Ruger Super Red Hawk Alaskan snub nosed revolver chambered in .454 Casull Super Magnum or .480 Ruger.
This is why I am going to take my 1911A1 with me next week when some friends and I head over to the Gorge. One of my friends is not much of a gun person (he doesn't mind them, but he doesn't own any) but he always asks me if I have my pistol before we head out. He used to work for the National Park Service and has seen firsthand the damage a bear can do to a person.
Both my wife and I carry Ruger Super Red Hawk Alaskans, in the .454 version. Nice thing about them is that they also shoot .45 long colt, for practice it’s an easier load. We are right smack in the middle of Grizzly country in south-central Alaska. Also provides protection against the much bigger threat here.... moose.
I have to stop by work tomorrow, so I'll tell him the top recommendations. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
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