Details of .22 Pistol Defense Failure against Polar Bear in Norway

Ammoland ^ | 23 October, 2019 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

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.

[null and void]

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!

[budj]

Bring 'em a Coke!

[FreedomPoster]

< golf clap>

[SkyDancer]

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

[PLMerite]

“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.

[marktwain]

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.

[Red Badger]

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

[samtheman]

Good info.

[Perseverando]

Polar Bears say "things People go better with coke"

[Perseverando]

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

[Savage Beast]

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

[tired&retired]

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.

[tired&retired]

In an older bigger bear the skull grows much wider.

[Robert DeLong]

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

[marktwain]

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.

[tired&retired]

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

[gundog]

Bear hair is a big impediment to penetration.

[Who is John Galt?]

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 ;^)...

[Ozark Tom]

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