I've always preferred a 12 gauge. But my nighttime Griz/brownie load has other applications as well.
Posted on 08/19/2015 10:29:13 AM PDT by marktwain
Thank you for my first belly laugh of the day.
I must now go change shirts because of the Pepsi that vacated my nose.
I read an account of a Canadian Indian woman picking blackberries who killed a large grizzly with a .22lr single shot. When she saw the grizzly coming for her she three herself in the middle of the large thorny blackberry bushes hoping the bear wouldn’t try to get in the thorns himself to get her. He did and she fired one shot at point blank range.
It does have a lot of penetration close up.
*threw herself
I think I read about that too but I have a .22 mag semi auto and I sure would hate for that to be my line in the sand with even a black bear. LOL!
Hitting the target with a 22 is better than missing it with a 45. That’s why many people prefer the smaller caliber pistols. I watched a marksman put a 22 through a 1 inch board (the measure of lethality) from one quarter mile. The bullet doesn’t pack weight, but it’s virtually the same diameter as the 556 used in the M-16.
I also watched a video showing a rock thrown from a lawnmower at 400 fps, because of it’s weight, was more destructive on impact than a 357. Lends credibility to the David/Goliath story.
Against a Grizzly?
My choice would be a 105 with HE on super quick fuse at 10,000 meters.
Yep, gotta practice clearing the .45.
True for all semi-auto’s, but more so for the stiffer .45’s.
Lot’s of video for standard clearing and tapping of the 1911’s.
.22 rifle used to kill world record grizzly:
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2014/11/what-22-rifle-did-bella-twin-use-to.html
That may be the story I’m remembering, it’s been a while.
It is a remarkable story. I will ping it to the group, as it seems relevant for the discussion of shooting grizzlys with .22 rifles.
Bella Twin shot a world record grizzly with a .22 in 1953.
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2014/11/what-22-rifle-did-bella-twin-use-to.html
.22 rim fire will only annoy a griz.
Maybe if you hit it in the eye just right, or down the ear hole, but you’re going to need better plan...and a much big weapon.
“.22 rim fire will only annoy a griz.”
Much depends on the size of the grizzly, as well as shot placement.
There have now been two stories about adolescent grizzlys killed or mortally wounded with a .22 to the gut.
There are a few incidents (I recall three) where adult grizzlys have been killed with .22 rimfire with head shots. One is Bella Twin in B.C., with a shot to the temple. She followed up with multiple shots to the head at close range when the bear went down. She was using .22 longs.
Another was a prospector walking on the tundra with his dog. The bear and dog got into it and he only had a .22 single shot and a box of shorts. He just kept shooting. Eventually, he got a lucky shot in the bear’s open mouth, through the roof of the mouth, into the brain. It was likely a smallish adult, given where the incident occurred.
The third was on Kodiak island, where a couple of teenagers suprised a brownie (we now know that they are just overfed grizzlys) that stood up right in front of them, on its hind feet. One fired one shot from the .22. It went in under the chin and into the brain, killing the bear.
I would not pick a .22 as a bear gun, but if it was what I had, I would not hesitate to use it in an extreme situation.
,,,and now there’s four .
Actually I would say five. The two adolescents include the one in this story.
Then there were the three adult head shots that I recounted.
Of course, those are only the ones I know of.
There likely are some shot far from anywhere by Indians (grizzly) and Eskimo (polar bear) that we do not know of.
Yes good point.
I’m sure there are many , many more amazing stories of .22 hits.
I have agreed with the experts that it’s Placement more than Caliber size that puts meat on the table.
The fist pumping about this or that cracks me up,
it’s what ya Brought!?!!
Bro,,,
The practice was a cop tactic, from the day in which the most common NYPD carry pieces were the 4-inch S&W revolver for uniformed carry, and the 2-inch Colt Detective Special for [obviously!] detectives, undercover work, and as a backup. It pretty much went out the window when the Glock 17 came into use with NYPD, though for a while, NYPD was using 9mm ball, not a real reliable manstopper.
I've always preferred a 12 gauge. But my nighttime Griz/brownie load has other applications as well.
Willy Pete. If you don't kill him with a dead-center projectile strike, you'll set him/her afire. And if you're way off, he/she won't be able to see/smell you through the smoke.
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