Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns .38 special for bear?

You sir are an experienced hand in the woods, and have far more experience with black bears than most.

FWIW in most all the accounts of black bear predation on humans I have read is that the bear basically just walked up and started chewing on them. In such a situation, you armed with a .38 snub, my money'd be on you coming out on top, using the snub at contact distance.

For my own part, I carried a .357 Mod 60 j-frame in the woods for years, then this past summer I ran into a 400lb wild boar that weren't inclined to run. Didn't come down to actual shooting but it DID make an impression, more so than the black bears I encountered once in a when I used to live up North.

Upgraded to a 10mm Glock 29 and ain't looked back, shoulda done it years ago, about the most foot-pounds per ounce of any easily-packed, easily-shot handgun out there....



Birdwatcher

A 38 special is all I carry when bowhunting........couple reasons. First there are no Grizzlies where I hunt. And one time of carrying out an elk in the dark by myself unarmed was enough. Even just a little .38 feels way better than nothing on those strolls in the dark. I have owned a 44mag and 45 colt - neither of which go with, because they are too big, heavy and bulky for backcountry bowhunting trips. So my plan if necessary is to make a lot of noise possibly a .38 shot in front of Mr Bear (or Wolf) then give him one heck of a belly ache before the foot race starts....most of the bears I have encountered were pretty skittish and would prefer to be left alone. Exception-20 yards from a campground bear in the dark last summer - it took a bit of hollering to get him to move on, but he finally did. NO shooting of any type in that situation. If I though there was a high chance of confrontation, then .44 mag would get the nod.

I've only killed two Black bears so in no way, shape, or form, am I an expert on "bear killin'". I will say that I know the structure of a Black bear's skull, considering I have one I killed on my office bookcase that is B&C measured 19 1/16", which is a pretty good sized Black bear.

I would not try to stop a charging Black bear with body shots from a .38 Special.

If Abner is going to continue carrying his .38 Spec., I strongly advise doing a lot of practice with it with regard to hitting a charging Black bear in the nose, or mouth. If either of those two targets can be hit head on, the bullet will travel straight into the bear's brain. End of problem.

Nose or mouth a difficult target? Of course, but hitting straight into the mouth or nose will certainly stop "Mr. Smokey" right there.

Practice on some close up, moving forward targets, if possible.

I say again, those are difficult targets.... but that's what practice is for, isn't it?

L.W.

That;s a great idea!
Wound your buddy in the foot!

birdie, i would get some specialty ammo for that 10mm. most of the factory stuff i have seen loads to be loaded pretty much like a .40 s&w.

That's the ticket ColsPaul! The 38 may not be a good bear stopper, but I bet I could wing a buddy and slow him up a bit.

I watched the Outdoor channel tonight and they had a program on bears and what to use if your being charged by a grizzly or black bear. The conservation people said it is more likely for a person to scare off the bear rather than try to shoot it with a firearm, pistol being the main tool of defense.

They stated that one would have to fire from the hip in order to got the shot off.........Ummmmmmm OK! They were really pushing the bear spray because it carries such a broader path in order to hit the bear in the first place and most hunters under strees would be more apt to miss the bear while it was charging.

The fellow deminstrating the pistol had a Western type rig on his hip line in the Cowboy movies. I myself don't carry a pistol that way for starters and would have instead a .444 Marlin with hardcast bullets or my .338-Win mag and 250 grain bullets. So what do you guys think is the better defense for warding off a charging bear period.

A 475 Linebaugh, 500 JRH or Linebaugh, they will put the samck down on a Bear BTDT

???? What the fhug kinda 10's are you buying?
and what .40 S & W shoots 200 grains to 1300 fps?

I am not buying 10mm i reload my own to the original specs mostly
what is was refering to was if you check the ballistics on a lot of factory ammo, not the double tap, etc., you will see similar ballistics to .40
i know full well .40 doesn't push 200grainers to 1300, but find some remington etc that does in 10mm
even the loading manuals have detuned the 10mm compared to some of the older manuals.

You'd be much, much better off with bear spray. Lighter, cheaper, and much better statistics than any conceivable 38spl load. If you can't gain proficiency and carry something of reasonable power level, then go with spray. Plus spray gives you a non-lethal way of dealing with somebody's "loving" pet.

You'd play He!! trying to end your pain with spray.
But Yogi might enjoy the Cajun spice!

I have no problem with a good dog having a handgun....

10mm ain't falling off the shelves due to overcrowding around here

But thanks for the heads-up. I've been using Hornaday 200 grain XTP, mostly because I can find it. But turns out they only claim 1050 fps/490 ft. lbs. Quite an eye-opener.

Like you said, no a whole lot hotter than the .40 S&W (at twice the price ).

Birdwatcher

Consider leaving it home. Taking a .38, regardless of load, might fool you into thinking you had a gun. You're better off acting like you're unarmed and taking appropriate precautions than fooling yourself into thinking you're adequately protected.

Otherwise, consider carrying whatever load you'd take for 2 legged pests and get some bear spray.

Tom

I would go with the 150 grain hard cast wad cutter

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