9MM ammo for bears defense?

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,972
Location
Corripe cervisiam
Having shot a handful of elk and deer with a .40 and a 9mm all I know is that hollow points are garbage. I started carrying a magazine with fmj in it and so far they have all produced 1 shot kills. I cant imagine a bear skull being that much thicker than a bull elk.


I would agree that Hollow points aren't the best.

I've shot a lot of charging hogs back in my hogs with dogs depredation days and saw some crazy things with those HP's; Bullets bouncing off hog skulls, not penetrating, etc. There were more that a bunch of times those .357 HP's left me scratching my head. So I bought a .44....and though I only have a few cases to compare, I had similar issues with .44HP's.

The ammo is definitely key...though the hardcast you are using Felix has a rounded nose. I don't think thats what a guy wants though its hard to argue with your results. There has been enough testing on these solid wide meplat bullets and their effectiveness to make a strong case for them as a game changer....compared to other ammo. Same goes for the Lehigh penetrator stuff.....incredible penetration with devastating result.

So you miss the skull of a charging bear...but the bullet keeps penetrating and takes out the back hip socket of that bear stopping them dead.......or spine.....thats the kind of bullet a guy wants IMO.
 

Tmann1990

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 21, 2019
Messages
160
I carry Buffalo Bore hardcast in my G19. Haven't killed a bear with it but I've dropped near a dozen hogs with it at work and they're a little more tankie than bears in my experience. 147gr GoldDots have served me well too.
 

Mike 338

WKR
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
678
Location
Idaho
I would suggest loads with the Lehigh defense extreme penetrator or extreme defense bullets. They give a wound cavity similar to a hp, but penetrate much better. Underwood and black hills ammo have loads with it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This

Also, increase your life insurance and disability benifit.
 

mtnkid85

WKR
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
918
Location
Beartooth Mtns, MT
Can someone who has a box of the 9mm 147gr Outdoorsman load measure the OAL for me? I went ahead and order a box of bullets from Rimrock and would like to see what Buffalo Bore is loading them at.

Thanks,
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2017
Messages
575
Location
sw mt
just shot my last one last night. They looked to be loaded pretty short, made me wonder what kind of powder they were using with the bullet using up that much case.
 

Mtaylor

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
209
I read the same article as JMDEN, the smaller bullet is supposed to penetrate better. I think if your comfortable with it. Do it!!
I still believe it comes down to shot placement, if you don’t practice, it doesn’t matter if your carrying a 9 mm or 375 HH, you won’t hit the bear where you need to, and you will just piss it off. We all think we can shoot good and all our bullets can hit a grizzly 20’ away. But the reality is quite different
 

mtnkid85

WKR
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
918
Location
Beartooth Mtns, MT
just shot my last one last night. They looked to be loaded pretty short, made me wonder what kind of powder they were using with the bullet using up that much case.

I emailed BB because I’m wanting to load these for a CZ PO9 which has a super short throat. I’m needing to seat them all the way down to 1.045” before they’ll pass a plunk test.
They didn’t tell me the OAL but did say that they load them to specifically fit the short chambers of CZs.

So yea, that doesn’t leave much room for powder.
 

mtnkid85

WKR
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
918
Location
Beartooth Mtns, MT
More so the 10mm. but yea they saw deeper penetration from the 9mm hardcast loads than comparable loads from the 40sw & 45acp. Also the ease of being able to put multiple hits on target quickly compared to the bigger revolver cartridges.
 

mcseal2

WKR
Joined
May 8, 2014
Messages
2,725
My S&W 69 44 is brutal compared to either of my 10mm’s with “bear loads” in each. Cant imagine shooting hundreds of magnums through the 44 in a short course. I could with 44 special practice ammo no problem. I would bet his course doesn't require all hot ammo. I have not looked up the course but did hear that podcast.
 

Vandy321

WKR
Joined
Feb 5, 2019
Messages
2,424
Just sold my .454c was all set to go G20 in 10mm...when I looked at the pile of cash in my hand, and the Vickers G19 in my nightstand that I carry daily and practice with often, I decided that cash will be better spend on a new WM bag and tripod setup.

Picked up 100 rnds of buffalo bore 147gr to ensure it cycles reliably in my glock. That Hunt Backcoutry podcast that was linked earlier was what sold me.

Not intending to revive the thread, but more to say thanks, as always to rokslide for the continuous flow of information.

I live in CO...if I hiked/hunted in griz country, I would have kept the 454.
 
Last edited:

Trial153

WKR
Joined
Oct 28, 2014
Messages
8,225
Location
NY
I am actually thinking of selling my G20 in favor of using one of my 9MMs , most likely my FN 9C, maybe use the proceeds on a bear tag ...
 
Top