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

Would this load work on a hopped up, aggressive grizzly? Before he eats you? Assuming good shot placement, of course. Out of a revolver with a 4 inch barrel.

A friend of mine is saying a grizzly would laugh at this load. Says protection starts with a 44 Mag.

I am not an expert, just asking for opinions on the matter.

I wouldn't hold my breath. Unless the shot is in the exact right spot.

Yes it will work.


https://sportingclassicsdaily.com/d...97-success-rate-37-incidents-by-caliber/

My brother said exactly the same thing until we both shot into a 16" block of hard fir! My 357 out penetrated his 44 mag 300 grain hardcast lead bear loads by a minimum of 6" everytime and sometimes by as much as 10". Bear protection is a function of penetration and hitting CNS period!!! The 357 mag with Buffalo bore 180s does this function better than any 44 mag or 10mm for that matter. Please keep in mind however that you will get a lot of neighsayers who have never done it.....tested it......or know what there talking about. Buy yourself a box of 180 Buffalo bores and make your friend put his ass where his mouth is when you kick his ass good and hard shooting into a block of wood. Just be ready with a tissue to wipe his tears for him when your done

Does it come with a guarantee?

:-)

I'm not for or against. Probably a good load for that cartridge. Likely good'nuf the same way a seat belt is at 80mph.. Same as any other gun/cartridge combination.

You might Google "Phil Shoemaker 9mm charging Alaskan brown bear"....

A good load in a 357 sure beats trying to stick your thumbs in the the bear’s eyes.

I don't want to be snarky, but how many grizzlies has he run afoul of?

Nothing is guaranteed but a good shot would probably do the trick. Of course, that's probably true of anything in the wild. Whenever there's talk about bears, I'm reminded of this article.

https://www.ammoland.com/2017/06/be...-the-1953-world-record-grizzly-and-more/

So your 180s could work but...


Is it the best choice for a fast moving, angry grizzly? I'm pretty sure no matter what you have on hand, it will feel inadequate when you're actually facing an angry charge.

Shot placement with a good bullet design and plenty of them just in case my first couple of panicked shots don't have the desired effect. Remember, I won't have all day to make good hits.

So yeah, it could work. The rest is on You.

How many inches of penetration does it take to get to the CNS? How many inches of penetration does it take to the heart? Assuming frontal shots since this is a bear coming at us.

Hey @Earlyagain, haven't seen you around in a while. Probably because I haven't been around lately but I'm still here.

I would think a .357 Magnum with 180 grain cast bullets should provide some protection, especially if you can hit the central nervous system. It probably gets down to how good your hits are.

But I'll stipulate that I've never shot a grizzly or brown bear, although I've seem them when hiking and fishing. But I believe I read that Phil Shoemaker's daughter used to carry a .357 in brown bear country.

LeontP,

This is the only one of your previous very few posts that might have anything to do with this subject:

"No fearsome wild life around here except an occasional black bear or very rare mountain lion.

Mostly, it's white trash feral humans and their equally feral dogs that are used to guard the wild oregano that's popular out West. So to that end, it's a G23 loaded with 165 grain Gold Dots.

50 years ago, you only had to worry about the occasional black bear or rare mountain lion."

Have you actually ever seen a grizzly bear, outside of a zoo?

It would be very good if we uninitiated could just put Phil in a holster with whatever he had at the time. I’ve heard it’s not so much the arrow as it is the Indian.

Zero.

OK then.

I know what I choose to carry in bear country and why. I practice, practice and practice more. I’m rebuilding my “live action” target but training trumps super magnum-close-your-eyes-and jerk big bore handguns and bullet placement trumps all. I do my best to avoid them but I’ve been around them and watched them enough to have a fair grasp on their behavior and I know that no matter what I’m carrying it isn’t big enough when a real charge happens. 😉

I’ll take a .357 in well trained hands shooting 180HC but I want more than 5 or 6 shots irregardless of caliber if given the choice. When camping in brown bear country the 44 comes along. The 44 can be wielded easily in the confines of a collapsed tent and I don’t have to rely on the slide not snagging on nylon or sleeping bag in the dark confusion. When I’m doing anything else in bear country I carry a G20 with 200gr HC at 1300. I can easily control it and I have 15 total possible tries before I either get a fresh reload or I get to meet St. Peter. Luckily the good Lord has given the bears and I a tentative compromise whereby as long as I stay out of the grasp of their teeth and claws I’ll be perfectly fine. 😀

It doesn't take much. I have personally been involved with two grizzly shootings with a cousin and one black bear shooting with a younger brother. All three bears were attacking and all three bears were killed with one shot to the CNS/Brain. The grizzlies ended up being a huge ordeal since the fish and game decided to try to push it. Since both bears were close enough to find powder residue on the point of impact the case was eventually thrown out of court but not until spending $10,000 in attorney fees.

I do not recommend a heart shot on a bear in a personal protection situation

I'd be curious about Underwood's monolithic philips head loads in both 120 and 140 gr.

some folks got alota bad bar experiences... glad i don't!... u skin thisn' pilgrim, an i'l fetch ye another...