Posted on 10/19/2017 8:24:35 AM PDT by w1n1
It’s often prudent to be armed when in bear country. Here are our picks for the 10 best bear defense guns that are available on the market today. When you head into bear country, you must accept that you are no longer at the top of the food chain. Luckily, most bears usually do not want any trouble and will leave the area as soon as they detect you.
However, this is not always the case and you should be prepared to defend yourself if you get in a tight situation. A good bear gun should be a part of your defense plan.
That being said, an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. By using your brain and taking a few basic precautions out in the woods, you can dramatically reduce your odds of being attacked by a bear. Here's a few bear defense gun to look at.
Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan
The revolver is available with a 2.5-inch barrel which makes it very compact and easy to carry. However, the short barrel comes with a price of increased recoil, muzzle blast, and slightly reduced power. Even so, the gun still packs quite a punch and has been successfully used by many people to defend themselves against bears.
Ruger GP100
Many shooters are able to shoot both faster and more accurately with a .357 Magnum than a .44 Magnum or other larger cartridge. With this in mind, a high quality handgun chambered in .357 Magnum, like the Ruger GP100, can be a very effective bear defense gun.
Taurus Raging Bull
The revolver features the famous red “Raging Bull” backstrap on the grip, which considerably tames the gun’s recoil, making it another good choice for bear defense. Read the full description of the Top 5 bear defense guns here. What's yours?
Indian guide up north once told me to file the front sight off a handgun. That way when the bear shoves it up your ass it won’t hurt as much. LOL!
ridiculous advice. having been charged by a bear, including two bears at once, i can assure you your chance of stopping one with a handgun in a real world situation is next to zero. you would have to hit the brain, which is a rapidly moving target.
They do not seem to be out there.
But we have at least nine cases where handguns were used to good effect against bear attacks.
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2016/10/where-are-bear-attack-pistol-failures.html
A guy I knew who worked in Alaska was issued a 375 H&H Magnum (300 grain bullet at 2600 fps). He had to qualify by shooting it from the hip. He considered it a little small for his taste.
I DO NOT target practice with those rounds, they hurt too much! If I’m charged the plan is center of mass. I have a buddy who was charged by a brown bear about a year and a half ago up here, he only had a .40 with him. He was backing up and just shooting through the tunnel which was all he was able to see you on the beer as it got closer… As he was backing up trying to keep distance between him he tripped and went to the ground. If you shoot a bear in Alaska because it’s charging you and you don’t have a bear tag or it is not bear season you have to prove that the bear was charging you. Not a big problem for my buddy, when he went to the ground he kept shooting and ended up shooting off his big toe!
Karelian Bear Dog...
He did kill the bear however!
The Smith & Wesson .500 only has a five round capacity, with those .700 grain bullets, I’m caring a half a pound of lead with five rounds. It’s heavy! If you can’t break down you’re not gonna stop them, I’m not looking for a headshot or any other part in particular. I’m just looking to break bone.
What projectile within the sabot? Normal lead slug? Or something else -- a copper pettled variant? I have long wanted a Marlin in 45-70, but all I have at this point is their 16.5" carbine in 44mag.
If I had to go into bear country, I'd want something quickly deployable. There is no discussion here of carry rigs (the author assumes a handgun, and thus a holster). But if one were carrying a shotgun or level-action rifle, then one of the tactical slings with forward carry makes sense. It needs to be an "always on you" solution, if the intent to provide ever ready bear defense.
Sabot slugs penetrate better than foster slugs. Smaller diameter. I don’t think the coating makes much of a difference. I bought my son a Marlin guide gun in .45-70. I have it loaded hot for Marlin in lighter weight slugs (300 grain). This is deer medicine only. I also load them up to 500 grain bullets. The hotter loads would blow up my 1884 trapdoor Springfield. So I have strict labeling to prevent me from using them in the wrong gun
If you don’t hand load 450 Marlin might suit you better. It is basically internally identical to 45-70 only the rounds won’t chamber in a 45-70 gun for safety sake and is much more powerful than stock factory 45-70 round
I think marktwain covered that story.
So, I would need a rifled barrel for the shotgun. Correct?
It was his middle toe, and a 10mm. He did an excellent job!
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2016/08/exclusive-details-on-10mm-bear-defense.html
Bears tend to be pretty sensitive to politics. Republicans need to carry a 12 gauge shotgun with slugs. Democrats don’t need to carry a gun at all. Just shout, “Hey, I’m a Democrat!” and rub the charging bear between the ears.
“12 gauge pump guns are the gun of choice in Alaska.”
Yep, alternate 00 and slugs.
Or I aint goin’.
$299, even in CA.
I've shot the .454 Casull version of that gun with full-house loads. It's not as bad as you might think. You won't be shooting more than 25 rounds of that stuff, though.
With mild .45 Colt loads it shoots like a .38 Special, and you can do that all day long.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.