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Details of .22 Pistol Defense Failure against Polar Bear in Norway
Ammoland ^ | 23 October, 2019 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 10/24/2019 6:11:19 AM PDT by marktwain

Details of .22 Pistol Defense Failure against Polar Bear in Norway; AndreAnita, iStock-940461304

Details of .22 Pistol Defense Failure against Polar Bear in Norway; iStock-940461304

U.S.A.-(Ammoland.com)- While searching for cases where pistols were used to defend against bears, three failures have been found. In the last published results, of 73 cases, that was a 4% failure rate. The very small sample size means a few cases can change the percentages of success or failure significantly.  It is useful to know what happened in each case to determine how the failures and successes occurred.

The three failures involved the three species of North American bears. One case involving a polar bear and a .22 pistol in 1995, one case involving a grizzly bear and a .357 magnum in 2010, and one case involving a black bear and a .38 revolver in 2015.

Reasonably detailed accounts of the failures for the 2010 and 2015 attacks have been given in the last update, where 73 cases were examined.

The failure of the .22 pistol defense against a polar bear had little information.

3.  1 September, 1995, Norway, Svalbard Island, .22 rimfire, Failure Polar Bears:  Proceedings of the Twelfth Working Group

On 1 September, 1995, two male tourists were attacked by an adult male bear on a remote island in eastern Svalbard. The two tourists defended themselves with a .22 calibre pistol which proved ineffective. One man was killed, the other injured. Police later shot the bear.

After considerable research, a more

(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: 22pistol; banglist; bearattack; norway; notnews
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To: Red Badger
I have read that even rifle rounds have ricocheted off a bear’s skull.......................

I have read that also.

I think it is mostly a myth, based on missing the brain.

It is possible, if aiming directly between the eyes, to hit a tiny bit high, and miss the brain.

Bullets that hit on a very oblique angle can be deflected by bone.

There have been several cases where .45 ACP pistol bullets have been deflected by human skulls. Sometimes the bullet goes under the skin, travels part way around the skull, and exits.

The bone between the eyes of a large bear slopes at a very oblique angle. It is tough and strong.

The nose channel runs directly to the brain.

21 posted on 10/24/2019 6:44:20 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: READINABLUESTATE
Don’t need to be the fastest guy, just faster than the slowest guy.

Darwin was wrong.

It's not the survival of the fittest...
...it's the culling of the weakest!

22 posted on 10/24/2019 6:45:59 AM PDT by null and void (Convicted spies are shot, traitors are hanged, saboteurs are subject to summary execution...)
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To: marktwain
Bring 'em a Coke!


23 posted on 10/24/2019 6:47:55 AM PDT by budj (combat vet, 2nd of 3 generations)
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To: 17th Miss Regt

< golf clap>


24 posted on 10/24/2019 6:48:26 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: marktwain

What you do is shoot your buddy in the knee with the .22 and escape while the bear takes interest in your buddy.


25 posted on 10/24/2019 6:52:58 AM PDT by SkyDancer ( ~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
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To: marktwain

“If the bear is looking at you, you can shoot it in the eye and miss the brain.”

True, but you’ve given his uninjured brain something else to worry about besides eating you, in addition to making it [insert math here]% more difficult for him to see you.


26 posted on 10/24/2019 6:53:27 AM PDT by PLMerite ("They say that we were Cold Warriors. Yes, and a bloody good show, too." - Robert Conquest)
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To: Red Badger; All
This case was the World Record Grizzly Bear in 1953, killed with a .22 long (not Long Rifle) from a single shot rifle (a Cooey Ace #1).

Notice the location of the eye sockets. The side view does not show it well, but the brain is between the eyes, and does not extend out to the side behind the eyes.

Consider the slope of the bone between the eyes. Now put a couple of inches of muscle, fat, and hide above the bone.

27 posted on 10/24/2019 6:55:07 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: marktwain

That is one record I would not try to break!...........................


28 posted on 10/24/2019 6:56:48 AM PDT by Red Badger (Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain...................)
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To: marktwain

Good info.


29 posted on 10/24/2019 6:57:01 AM PDT by samtheman (Never underestimate The Stupid on the left... or the evil in the heart of a bureaucrat.)
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To: budj

Polar Bears say "things People go better with coke"


30 posted on 10/24/2019 7:10:27 AM PDT by Perseverando (Liberals, Progressives, Islamonazis, Statists, Commies, DemoKKKrats: It's a Godlessness disorder.)
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To: marktwain

When a polar bear invites you for dinner and a coke, just say NO and run.


31 posted on 10/24/2019 7:15:53 AM PDT by Perseverando (Liberals, Progressives, Islamonazis, Statists, Commies, DemoKKKrats: It's a Godlessness disorder.)
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To: Red Badger

Moral: Take your .357 magnum instead of the .22.


32 posted on 10/24/2019 7:49:52 AM PDT by Savage Beast (Pray for the Soul of America! Pray for President Trump! Pray for Truth, Justice, and Liberty!)
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To: samtheman

Where is that exactly, and if you are stuck with a low-caliber weapon where is the best place to aim?

Definitely NOT his testicles.


33 posted on 10/24/2019 9:24:55 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings)
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To: marktwain

In an older bigger bear the skull grows much wider.


34 posted on 10/24/2019 9:26:14 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings)
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To: 17th Miss Regt

Oh, of course that is the answer. 8>)


35 posted on 10/24/2019 9:30:14 AM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: tired&retired
In an older bigger bear the skull grows much wider.

Does the brain get bigger?

In Humans, the brain case does not change much. Six year old humans have 90% of the brain size of adults.

36 posted on 10/24/2019 9:44:36 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: marktwain

The brain, like other parts of our body, there is shrinkage as we get older!


37 posted on 10/24/2019 10:12:41 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings)
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To: David Chase

Bear hair is a big impediment to penetration.


38 posted on 10/24/2019 11:33:21 AM PDT by gundog ( Hail to the Chief, bitches!)
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To: Dundee
Taking a .22 pistol into polar bear territory is dumb. They would have been better off dropping their pants, waving their Wangs at the bear and hoping it dies laughing.

"Dumb" is right! Just about anything would be more effective than a .22 rimfire (probably including a "super soaker" filled with ammonia, and maybe even a laser pointer "cat toy" for distracting the critter ;^)...

39 posted on 10/24/2019 12:12:56 PM PDT by Who is John Galt? ("He therefore who may resist, must be allowed to strike.")
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To: samtheman

Place pistol in the bear’s mouth and and direct fire upward?


40 posted on 10/24/2019 3:15:25 PM PDT by Ozark Tom
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