Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 180 grain Buffalo Bore .357 load for grizzly.

Maybe middle ground is the answer.


Big bullets, like the same caliber that the revolver fires, only in a semi auto and driven by a high performance load.

While the 10mm is super popular, lots of people overlook (a big mistake in my view) the heavy .45 ACP loads. When loaded properly, they are extremely impressive and very deep penetrators.


I may know "a guy" who loads them. But I also know that Buffalo Bore, who this thread originally talked about, also loads a 250 grain +P 45 load. Either way you are getting very impressive performance that should not be overlooked, if you are up in the air between 10mm and a .44 or .45 caliber revolver.

I tend to carry a Glock 21 or 1911 quite often, loaded with heavy loads when in Grizzly country, and have zero concerns about the load's ability to penetrate.





As much as I love my revolvers, and I am a died in the wool large bore fan. I have been shooting .44s and .45s since a teen. That said, these days I tend to carry a lighter weight, higher capacity, easier to shoot, semi auto, when it comes to protection against large animals.

Was always amazed at how much critter a 200 gr .45 SWC penetrated, although i never put one into bear...

Moose and large bull elk are harder to penetrate than a bear in my experience which were 2 artic grizzly

Never did that either. I did have a 200 SWC from my 1911 go through a deer shoulder and lodge in the big rolled roast portion of it's hind quarter.

That's a good idea about the 45 ACP, didn't think about that. I see that Buffalo Bore make a 255 grain hard cast +P load that clocks about 900-950 fps.

I have a Ruger P90 45 ACP with three 8 round magazines. I'm now thinking that might be the way to go instead of my Ruger GP 100 .357 with 180 grain pills. I may have to change my slide spring in the P90, but I can test that out.

Lost River Ammo produce near identical loads at a much more attractive price point.

Thanks, will check out Lost River Ammo.

I don't believe Buffalo bore has a 200 grain offering. I'm not sure the velocity rule your refering to applies to hardcast lead since hardcast lead doesn't expand.

I've been carrying Buffalo Bore's 180 grain cast 357's in my 3" Model 60. It's pretty doggone brutal to shoot. I was impressed with the accuracy.

Buffalo Bore rates it at 1300 fps from a 3" barrel and my chronograph confirmed that. Haven't personally done any penetration testing, but I believe that this ammo will penetrate sufficiently.

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=396



I've shot a few bear, one grizz, but all with rifles. Only saw one black bear shot with a 44 handgun - it was at quite close range and my hunting pard dropped that bear instantly with a 300+ grain hardcast.

Regards, Guy

I carry a GP 100 for bear defense and have never had to use it in that capacity. HOWEVER, I recently picked up some of the Lost River .357 hardcast and tested it out on a number of things, from plain old stumps/firewood to carcasses, and it is my new go-to. I used to use 180 gr Buffalo Bore (and still have it around), but Lost River is what I'm using from here on out. Shoots great in the GP 100 and it also seems to perform at least as well (in my tests) as the Buffalo Bore did.

How would these run in an Shield 45? Picked one up awhile back but have only tried fmj and self defense HP so far.

Finally, another grizzly handgun thread. Not being funny here, I enjoy seeing the opinions

Wife just went for a walk in the neighborhood and a 10 year old her there was a Black Bear up the street and a Brown Bear down the street pretty typical this time a year. Here in Eagle River AK, she has a Ruger SP 101 with 180 Gr BB loads or a XDM 10 MM with 220 gr cast loads. Which are usually at home! Shooting my S&W model 29 44 mag that I bought around 1980 and my Springfield XDM 10 mm both with heavy cast loads, the 10 mm was more accurate and easier to shoot fast.

Much more important than the cartridge that is used for bear protection is the ammo that you use. If your useing the wrong ammo I don't care what your shooting your odds drastically go down of being successful. Shot placement is also vitally important IME. It's almost laughable when people recommend aiming for the chest area since it's the biggest area to aim at. As stated in this thread. The 9mm is capable of getting the job done however the feela that was successful with that operation was using Buffalo bore bear ammo and used a head shot to kill the bear. Two extremely important details

IME, full house 180’s in a .357 require a taller front sight to adjust for POI. Easy to do with a Freedom Arms. FA has the taller sight; they know what you need. Swapping FA front sights is easy with an Allen wrench.

Not too sure about light weight .357 guns with full house 180’s. Those heavy loads may not be too easy to handle and POI probably needs adjusting.

DF

After living in Alaska and then reading all about Mr. Shoemaker’s experience with 9mm, If I head into grizz country again, I’ll have my 10 mm loaded with the Double Tap hardcast I have or Buffalo Bore. Might even carry a 9mm if that’s what I have handy. I have 44 mag and 357. Great guns, but when you get that heavy, its hard to get more than one shot on target. Personally, I want as many on target as I can get.

Here in Arkansas with black bears, I’m good with my Glock 19 or CZ 75C with 147 grain Buffalo bore hardcast.

I am not much of a handgun guy.
I carry a 5 shot S&W with a 3” barrel loaded with old Federal 180 hard cast ammo.
Simple and easy to operate under extreme stress. I am focused on hitting a target around 10-12’ away so regard sights as superfluous.
It is compact and acceptably light which means I am more likely to have it when needed.

I see just as many Yetis as most of these folks see grizzlies. Any suggestions as to a handgun that will stop an enraged Sasquatch?

All sarcasm aside, Phil wrote a great article on this subject years ago in Handloader. As he has been there and done that, I would heed his advice. IIRC he was advocating a 4" .357 with heavy, nonexpanding bullets that would penetrate and allowed quicker repeat shots if needed.

I look at the box and my 357 is a model 60 which I really like.

^^^^^^???

Underwood Extreme Penetrator