Alaska bear gun

[Buckhunter24]

I'm a rookie when it comes to handguns. Going to spend some time in thick bear country this summer an am looking for recommendations from anyone who has experience with this. Cheap is ideal

[hal]

It's all about the cal. .454 Casull id the cal of choice for natives. I have several friends and all use this. Different guns for sure from Tarus (cheap) to Ruger super reds. My son has a casull and the other has a 480 rug.

[hal]

short bbl for thick brush.

[Houndhunter]

Not an expert but spend a lot of time with grizz and browns. .357, .41mag, 10mm is what I've used in a hand gun, I like the .41 best but with ammo availability I'd prob go with the 10mm. Obviously you can go bigger calibers but if you can't shoot them accurately they're useless. 

[Skillet]

Fun discussion, always attracts a lot of opinions all over the board.

I'm going to go on record with saying - if you're truly in thick grizz/coastal brown country, any gun in your hand is better than the ideal one in a holster.  I require crew to carry the Win SXP Marine defender 12guage loaded with slugs/buckshot if we're on a brown bear island and they want to go to shore.  Black bear island, it's up to them to bring it or not. 

I've never had crew bring their own sidearm, but if they had a 9mm they could mag dump with accuracy that would be something I would consider going along with, but would prefer to see a short-barreled big bore revolver in a chest holster, to be honest. 
 

[Buckhunter24]

Thanks for the replies so far I thought there would be a lot of experience here. I see that 41 mag in the classifieds and it caught my eye. All I know for location so far is along yukon river somewhere

[Gringo31]

I assumed you are talking a handgun?  I'm not sure some of the differences in caliber matter that much (357,40,41,44,45,10mm etc).  The noise maker part is second only to your awareness.  IF you were to really need it to stop a bear where bullet size and velocity matter, you're probably hozed anyway.

I wouldn't over think it.  You do the best you can and march on with life.     People need to be prepared but they WAY over worry about bear attacks IMO.

[Fidelk]

I'd be looking at a Glock 40 (or 20) 15 + 1 in 10mm and a Kenai chest rig.

[mountainman]

I assumed you are talking a handgun?  I'm not sure some of the differences in caliber matter that much (357,40,41,44,45,10mm etc).  The noise maker part is second only to your awareness.  IF you were to really need it to stop a bear where bullet size and velocity matter, you're probably hozed anyway.

I wouldn't over think it.  You do the best you can and march on with life.     People need to be prepared but they WAY over worry about bear attacks IMO.

1 in a 100, 1 in 1,000?
Point being, it happens. As we hear on the news quite often. Yes, don’t overthink it, but yes, be prepared, even if 1 in 10,000…

[CaNINE]

S&W 460V in a chest rig.

[jrebel]

Wheel gun for reliability.  454 casull or 460 smith would be my pick.  I like both because you can shoot lighter loads for every other aspect of life and the big ones for alaska brown bear. 

454 casull can also shoot 45 long colt
460 can shoot 454 casull, 45 long colt (verify with the actual pistol manufacturer but should be able to).


My 454 is very manageable with 325 grain bear loads.  I have shot it one handed without a problem.  It is very accurate as well.  Love it.

[pianoman9701]

https://backfire.tv/9mm-for-bear-protection-best-ammo-tips-and-if-its-enough/#:~:text=Have%20people%20Killed%20Grizzly%20bears,brain%20on%20the%20first%20hit.

[Wetwoodshunter]

I have a 329pd and load these Lehigh bullets. The gun kicks, changing the grip out made a huge difference switching away from wooden grips.

I forget who makes my chest rig. (Gunfighters inc)

[KFhunter]

I don't hand BFR's to rookies 
(Especially cheap ones)

Carry spray 

Or work hard with a competent instructor and build your way up to a BFR or BFA

We don't even know what species of bear 

[KFhunter]

If you were over here I'd line you up with one