just wondering

[Instinct]

so i bought my buddys .45 cal hand gun for back packing and a side arm. is a 230grain bullet enough to drop a bear 50yrds or less or should i get a higher grain? im also thinking hollow points if they have them. tired of lugging the 30-06 around up the hills for my normal back packing routien. any info would be awsome!

[Gutpile]

Really need more info. 45 ACP, 45 Colt, 454 Casull? 4 " Barrel?  Whatcha got there?

Just a thought. If you are borrowing a pistol it's probably safe to assume your not real good with it yet, so therefore I wouldn't recomend hunting bear with it at all until you are more experienced. Just the fact alone that you didn't say it was a (such and such pistol in 45 so and so) kind of tells me your not real experienced with handguns in the first place.

I'm not trying to be abrasive or cut you down but 50 yard kill shots on a bear with a pistol and open sights requires a bit of skill. Hate to see a wounded bear get away or worse yet, attack somebody due to a poor shot.

Anyhow, thats my take. And again, I do not wish to offend at all so hopefully I didn't. Just your wording of the question makes me wonder how experienced you are. If your not, pack the 30-06.

I assume this is for hunting??

[aaronk]

I got the impression he is looking for something as a defense mechanism (i.e. getting charged by a griz - oh sh*t)  .  Regardless, if he's not experienced with it bear spray may be the better choice but I suppose that depends on your opinion of bear spray's effectiveness.

[Gutpile]

That could be. It sounded like he wanted it for hunting but as I re-read it looks like you are correct. No experience with bear spray myself but for self defense I think something is better than nothing. So in that case any 45 with 230's or heavier would be good IMO. I have seen some pretty impressive footage on bear spray. Seems like it works great but I'd have a hard time betting my life on it.

Also, 50 yards is a long way to call it self defense.

[Instinct]

its totally a defense issue. i fired the weapon plenty times before (my buddy owned it now i do). it is a springfield model 1911 A1 fires .45 auto and belive it is a 4" barrell, havnt looked at the regs to properly measure it. im so used to carrying and hunting wth a 30-06 that since i changed to archery to give it a shot kinda made me nervous since i reciently got the weapon and a concieled weapons permit. so i just wanted your guys openion thats all.

[littlebuf]

i carry a springfield TRP 1911. it will do what you need it to with 230 grain bullets, the 1911 was designed to shoot the 230's. to tell you the truth tho ive stopped carrying a hand gun while hunting. to bulky and just gets in my way. ive got my rifle and my buck knife. if a attack is going to happen its probably going to be fast and unexpected and i wouldn't be able to get to my pistol any how. now down town Seattle is a different story ive always gt the heat with me then.

[carpsniperg2]

will be just fine any bullet out of that gun placed in the central nervouse system will shut down a bear in a second but 50 yards is a bit far to be shootin for pertection