9mm vs 10mm for Bear defense.

[Fireflyfishing]

I didn't watch - whatever you shoot best is what you should carry.

This is the correct answer.

 

[johnnycake]

I’m confused by what you’re saying here. I totally agree in principal…double lung a bear and they stop quick. At least that’s been my experiences and what I’ve observed.

But….to double lung black bears I aim nearly middle of the middle. That same shot would gut shoot a deer. A perfect shoulder crease shot on deer could miss the bears lungs.

Deer have larger lungs proportionally to their bodies and hearts that are farther 'back' than bears do.

 

[rclouse79]

I just love to show up to these threads to be an asshole and point out that for 90+% (my own made up number) of people recreating in Grizzly country a handgun is just extra weight and indulging some fantasy of gunning down a charging grizzly with ice in their veins.
There are a lot of dudes with brand new 10mm in tacti-cool chest rigs in the elk woods every fall who don’t have any first aid kit or even a tourniquet in their bag…

There’s also about a million granola crunchers who backpack through the area that aren’t turning into bear food most of whom aren’t packing.

I also saw an article recently where grizzly bears are repelled by patchouli oil. I just sold my 10mm to buy a 9mm, but maybe I will save myself a bunch of money and give the hippy method a try.

 

[gbflyer]

I also saw an article recently where grizzly bears are repelled by patchouli oil. I just sold my 10mm to buy a 9mm, but maybe I will save myself a bunch of money and give the hippy method a try.

Mixed with a good dose of BO it is rather effective on anything that breathes.

 

[Kurts86]

I went down the 10mm route a decade ago when the popular consideration was .44 mag vs 10mm. It took a few thousand rounds of 10mm practice to even feel like I could use it halfway competently even with experience on a 9mm. Still with practice my split times are going to be ~50% slower with 10mm than a 9mm.

10mm pistols have gotten better in recent years but ergonomically they tend to much worse than a 9mm from the same model line. 10mm’s also tend to be more compromised from a reliability standpoint than 9mm’s all other things equal.

I’m committed to the 10mm world right now from holsters/ammo/gear for this application but I would seriously consider just shooting 9mm in the future for bears with the right loads. A lot of people already have a good 9mm so it’s hard to spend the time and money for marginal ballistic gains that aren’t without compromises.