Best Grizzly defense weapon

[Night goat]

ok....

 this is a topic which nearly cost me my leg, and i am going to be genuine and serious in this post

i was commercial fishing up in Alaska 7 months a year for a number of years in what could be called another life of mine (more like a phase). i was spending summers in south east and PWS on tenders and seiners for a number of years, and got to spend plenty of time in the back country on my days off when i could just hop in a skiff and go explore. often id go up some inlet by myself with a 6 pack of beer, a fly rod, a box of hand tied flies, and lunch, and take a 14 foot aluminum boat wherever i wanted, as long as i returned back to the big boat at a reasonable hour.

needless to say bears were all over the place, and it was not uncommon to walk up on a bear minding its own business in a berry patch only a few yards away.

Black bears do not scare me, every single one ran off like a giant dog and i never felt threatened by a black bear, but knew full well that a true monster of a coastal Alaskan brown bear could be lurking behind any tree rock or stump. there were signs everywhere and never stayed put long enough to find out.

i used to carry a pump action 12 gauge the first season or two, but wanted something a little more compact so i purchased a Ruger super blackhawk 44 magnum with a 5.5 inch barrel when i got home that fall. it was a used gun with unknown history but i bought a box of shells and went to a private shooting pit at my friends house. we geared up and hiked down to his pit and prepared to shoot. it was cold out and i had on a thick flannel under my Carhartt jacket, and thick fleece lined jeans. i had the pistol in a hip holster, and i put my ear plugs in, glasses on, pulled out the gun, loaded 6 in, re-holstered to talk to my buddy (Key point here), and amid laughs i drew and upon drawing, as soon as the muzzle cleared the holster, there was a thunderous boom and my right pant leg was shredded from hip to ankle.

we both looked at each other and went white as ghosts. i pulled my pants down and i was missing the top of my knee. there was roughly a 5x9 inch chunk of my leg missing of what roughly was all the meat on the upper part of my knee.

it missed bone, cartilage, ligament, and all of the important stuff by about 1/8th of an inch but gave bad powder burns and vaporized whatever was in its path. a 240 grain hollow-point would have made damned sure my leg would have had to be amputated probably at the hip because of the sheer amount of force even the most basic store bought loads those pistols are capable of shooting.

i have no idea why i was still standing. i felt nothing and was left standing. i proceeded to empty the cylinder in a fit of rage, and i will tell you first hand in a trauma situation a 44 magnum is no cartridge to have to fire quickly. i was so angry at myself that i chucked the gun as far into the woods as i could, screamed a bunch of F^%$S and things, and to prove to myself i was still ok i hiked back to my friends house and eventually made my way to the hospital.


the simply answer to what is the best bear defense gun is the one you are the most comfortable shooting. while i will not ever advocate using a 9mm for grizzly bears, there are guys who will. buffalo bore makes loads for things like the 9mm and 45acp, with the big thing being on how proficient a shooter is with his most trusted gun.

when it comes to a grizzly bear, if that bear is going to kill you, it has already made that decision for you and there is very little you will be able to do to change that.

ballistically speaking the best shells for bears are heavy slow moving big bore stopping calibers with the most affordable, reliable and easiily accessable being a pump action 12 gauge with a folding stock and magazine extension, a 45/70 is another good choice as 30/06 or 300 win mag. some moose hunters i know prefer 454 casul for close proximity shooting, and size of gun because they are often flying in bush planes where gear weight is paramount.

bears will false charge, make bluffs, and make you very aware of what you are dealing with and education on bear behavior is just as important as firearm choice, but by far the vast majority of guides, pilots, and back country experts say the 12 gauge shotgun is unbeatable because of the sheer trauma a slug can induce at short range.

if that bear wants to kill you, its going to, no matter how many bullet holes are in it. a bears heart can keep pumping blood minutes after its officially dead. the 12 gauge slug is the best choice because its going to shatter bone, joints, and the things that make movement possible. blowing a shoulder apart or shattering body parts is the only thing that is going to inhibit a large bear dead set on killing you, and in a panic trauma situation a two handed gun offers far more control and accuracy.

trying to hold onto a pistol is next to suicide in those situations

[Fl0und3rz]

OP, there was an SBL in the classifieds here not too long ago.

https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,254526.msg3445417.html#msg3445417

[Night goat]

The zoom on the bear was minimal, thats 20 foot away or so.

[Night goat]

I love bears and I love guns but there is a stigma of having to buy a big.bore.revolver as means to a reason. Unless said 44 mag or 454 casual is your CCP or daily shooter by far it is more of hazard than any protection can offer.

Hunting is more popular than ever and there is this horrible new fad of buying a big bore hand cannon because you are going on an Alaska trip for the first time....

Big bore revolvers are the new Rolex change my mind

Please excuse the smooshed mosquito on the camera lense

[Gobble Gobble]

I love bears and I love guns but the stigma of having an excuse.to buy a big.bore.revolver as means to a reason. Is more of hazard than any protection can offer.

Hunting is more popular than ever and thete is this horrible new fad of buying a big bore hand cannon because you are going on a true Alaska trip for the first time....

Big bore revolvers are the new Rolex change my mind

Your comment made me think of the Taurus Judge when it first came out and its ability to shoot both .410 and .45LC. It seamed to me like everyone had to have one for home defense and dangerous game defense while in the woods. I like the idea of a 3" .410 slug but the .45LC will pack just as much punch. I personally carry a .45acp when archery hunting but there typically isn't any bears where I hunt.

[KFhunter]

There's one thing the Judge does good for,  that's personal defense at close range,  with one particular round,  the .410 000 handgun specific buckshot.   



A Judge with handgun specific 000 flight control buckshot is nasty.  The pellets fly great and pattern well, anything else the pattern is horrible. 

[Smokepole]

Well you can use an 870 shotgun with the plug removed.  One or two six shot, backed up by slugs aught to do the trick. 

[KFhunter]

Why backed up by slugs?   I'd do slugs first, then back up with buckshot

[JJB11B]

They make the 500 S&W Magnum in a lever gun now😍

[JJB11B]

https://www.bighornarmory.com/product/model-89-carbine-18-500-sw/

[Gobble Gobble]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uueUsukEmBA

Looks like it might be a little heavy to carry for extended periods of time but 1 shot 1 kill. Skip to 42 sec.

[Gearhead1940]

For me when I was in AK I carried my lever 45-70 and ALWAYS carried my smith .44 mag with hot loads even going to the crapper

I was in SE Alaska on a fishing trip last September. Went to the bathroom at round 10pm. As I finished up washing my hands, I heard a funky noise. Couldn't figure it out. Thought it would be a good idea to have a peek out of the bathroom window before I opened the door. Looking out, there was a brown bear about 2' from the door. The noise I had heard was him sniffing the door jam. My .44 was sitting in its holster back in the cabin. Waited in there for quite some time then hauled a$$ back to the room. Took quite some time to get back to sleep LOL.

[Skyvalhunter]

He probably smelled what you were doing, surprised he didn't run.

[Gearhead1940]

LMAO!