Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns backup gun/ammo choice

I'm looking at my guns and trying to pick the best one for black bear protection. what ammo/gun would you pick?<P>.40 USP Compact w/180 grn lead bullets or<P>4" 686 (.357) w/158 or 180 JSP, or JHP?

I would chose a 44 magnum Ruger Redhawk.Of the two that you mentioned I would use the 686.I would use a 180 grain hard cast bullet for the best penetration.If you can not find a good cast load I would use the heaviest jacketed softpoint that I could find from Nosler,Hornady,Remington or others.I would avoid the bullets from 110 grains to 150 grains.This bullets are of lighter construction and are for people defense not for bear defense or hunting.The 40 S&W is a good personal defense cartridge but for bear defense I would prefer the 357.The 357 has more energy and most important there are plenty of hunting type loads for the 357 which is not the case for the 40.However if at all possible i would use at least a 44 magnum with hard cast loads.

I would agree with 45/70 that neither of the guns mentioned could be recommended for stopping a determined black bear. Although attacks do happen, they are remote. Therefore, your gun will probably be carried more than used. The .40 will be smaller and lighter to carry than the .357, therefore you will be more likely to actually carry it. <P>I would also agree that the .357 with a hard cast bulled, like Federal's 180-gr Cast Core, would be the more effective round, but not by much. If you believe the Taylor Knock-Out formulas, the 180 gr .357 Cast Core bullet has a TKO of 11.5, and the 180 gr .40 FMJ has a TKO of 10.2. Both rounds should provide adequate penetration. <P>The .40 is also easier to cotrol under recoil, especially when the .357 is firing heavy 180-gr loads, allowing for additional shots- probably 2 .40's for each .357 round fired. <P>Given that only a shot to the brain/spine will immediately stop a charging bear, a target that is hard to hit when moving, I think you will be better served with firing more .40 caliber rounds than fewer .357 rounds.

Black Bear are not exactly the most violent animle, but under some situation i gess you would like to be able to protect yourslef. On Saturday i came about 25 feet form a mother bear (one cub). I'm glad to say that the cub was not behind me but it was quite oveous that she was vary scared of me. If you ever see a bear that is not scared of human presins it will probaly be in a subburban envionment. A few years back i was at a BBQ on the 4th of July. It was in a densly populated aria neer a lake. A black Bear walked down the middle of the road and then under someone's deck to the water. A friend of mines father works for the burow of Fish & wiledlife and he said that that one bear has been geting it to truble in aria for quite some time. Bears in populated places are much more dangerous becouse thei'r not scared of you. If your in the woods you probily never see bears bcaous they don't want you to see them, unlike deer, they hide insted of runing making lots of sound. <BR>I'm much more scared of runing into a Moose, they are big stupid and get mad for no resen. For your question I would anser, uses the lighter of the two. There not all that big, many people emagen a grizzly sized bear when they think of black bears, but rilly most of them a just a little lager than a person. Anything you would use agenst a person for self defess would work similer on a Black Bear. If a Bear were to atack you, you would have to shoot it in the head or spine to stop it in time and any thing more that a .22 short would work fine. if you were to come to a black bear in the woods sooting at a tree nere the bear would work as well a shooting the bear. Just remember stand your grownd, and look at what the bear is doing. Stamping of rubing frunt feet on the grown, making grunts, quick huffing from breathing quicly, and quicly snaping teeth together repetivly, are all sines that the bear are distrested. If you rilly think you need a gun for this then use something that you would be able cary esaly. A lighter round, prefribly a hollow point of soft point, that you could fire lots quicly would be best if you were to be atacked, it would be shooting at the diretion of the bears head not aming in most situations.