Posted on 08/24/2013 7:26:28 PM PDT by marktwain
So, my good friend Johnny Walker is in Kodiak, Alaska teaching kids how to ride horses and shoot guns while riding horses. He had to rent the horses for his project and the deal was, he had to help the rancher round up some cattle first. Seems like the bears were eating too many of them.
Johnny: What do you do when you see a grizzly?
Rancher: Shoot em. Shoot everyone I see.
Johnny: What do you shoot them with?
Rancher: My two, forty, three.
Johnny: Really? Why do you use a .243?
Rancher: Well, I can find ammo for it anywhere and at anytime. And, it kills them.
Johnny told me he didnt feel so bad with a .45 Colt on his hip after that conversation.
It makes quite a bit of difference if you are seeking out bears in heavy cover, or if you just shoot them when you see them in fairly open pastureland.
My point with the elk example, is just that some people with lots of experience can find that something works very well for them, that may not work so well for everyone else.
People make out big bears to be monsters that absorb huge ammounts of lead and are hardly affected. Most of the problem is placement and well designed projectiles.
Bell’s 7mm elephant gun worked for him because of precise placement, superb marksmanship, and excellent projectiles.
I do not know of a .243 projectile that I would like to use on big bears, but if a big bear needed killing, and I had a .243, I would not hesitate to use what I had. If I had a choice, I would stuff it Barnes 115 grain bullets.
He said “several thousand”. I love elephants, what a waste.
Many, 45 acp rounds, Ive shot dont even have the muzzle energy to eject the chamber properly. Most rounds are made for home deffence. Their designed to limit penitration threw walls ext. As cool and full of power they may sound. Some have as little as 305 muzzle energy. Just because it says Remington, Hornady or what ever you want to hear; mean it has the right specs. Most 45’s come with domestic factory mods.Those are still domestic guns for domestic rounds.If I was to put 8 rounds of 475 muzzle energy extreme bear hollow tip rounds. Im preaty sure that bear will know the wild side of they 45 acp. Just use two hands, cuz these rounds arent as user friendly. I messed up my right wrist with one, single hand shot. They will hurt you if you get careless. Also keep in mind not all bears are the same.
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