9mm vs 10mm for Bear defense.

[UpNorth89]

After I killed the bear with my 10mm I backed off to 9 and 40. My shot went home and killed him instantly.....but the follow up shots on the 10 are simply slower and in the event of injury the recoil is substantial enough to possibly not allow the gun to cycle correctly.

Whatever you choose.....shoot it a lot.

This. If a bear is on me I want it to go bang when I pull the trigger and not have to worry about limp wristing a 10mm.

 

[taskswap]

This. If a bear is on me I want it to go bang when I pull the trigger and not have to worry about limp wristing a 10mm.

Honestly, "bears" has to be the one topic where debates over "6 shooter reliability" vs "15 in the mag" actually still have some meaning today.

If Mr Bear ever does come for me, you can just call me "spray and pray"...

 

[Ak kid]

I live, work, and play around both brown and black bears in Southeast Alaska. I've had 100s of bear contacts including being charged and having to shoot nuisance bears. (Former LEO) This is a very informative video and I have considered carrying a 10. Currently I always carry a 44 mag in bear country.

 

[HMU023]

9mm all the way. That has always been my defense but will like to give 10mm a try

 

[Elkhntr08]

Always enjoy the “what would you carry” threads.
Ballistic gel is not flesh and bone. Bullets react differently depending on where they hit. Carry what you can shoot accurately and then work on speed. I carry a Glock 20 and practice weekly, but if I shot my 9mm or 45acp better, I’d carry that. I’d rather hit a bear 10 times with a 9mm than miss him 15 times with a 10mm.
Thankfully, I’ve never had to put it to the test.

 

[BRTreedogs]

10mm Buffalo bore 220gr stops any and most everything pretty quick

Tell us a few stories about the animals and charging bears you have killed with it, I would be interested in your first hand experience.

 

[BRWNBR]

I’ve put numerous holes in browns with my 10mm. None were impressive. None were life threatening situations.
A handgun is just a convenient way to carry something to make us feel better and safer. To be our own first responder.
Whatever gun you have is a bear gun when a bear shows up. 9mm, 380 or 454. Carry what’s comfy and gives you the confidence to spend time in the woods and not be helpless if a situation comes up.
And forget “bear stopping” power. It’s placement, if a bear is charging and your lil 22lr turns the charge, mission accomplished. A handgun is there to keep you and others alive. That’s it. It’s not there to kill the bear. It’s there to save you.

 

[mtnbound]

I carried a 10mm for several years, but I could not shoot it as fast or as accurately as a 9mm. I also went with a 40S&W but the 9mm was still faster and more accurate. How I tested this is, 7yards to target, the target is an 8" circle, pistol in the holster, 1 mag/15rds in the gun, 1 spare mag also with 15rds, on the beep of a timer, fire the first mag into the 8" circle, at slide lock, reload and fire 1 round from the second mag. Passing time is sub 11sec, and all rounds are in the 8"circle. This drill sold me on the 9mm.

 

[gtriple]

I think I'm pretty well sold on going from my 10mm to a 9mm... now the next step is getting down to a 22wmr. That might take a while though. Is there any similar testing done with a 22wmr?

 

[chucko]

I am a lifelong Alaskan and have land surveyed and hunted here my entire life .I have had the unique opportunity to survey every existing dump in Southeast Ak. My go to gun is a single shot 10 gauge with handloaded number 1( 3-1/2) buckshot .As a rule I did not allow my crew to carry a handgun because I think only 5 guys out of a hundred can hit a moving target accurately at 25 feet .I kinda like the fact that my one round throws 21 30caliber balls- point at center mass shoot and end of problem blows a hole you can put a soccer ball in

 

[dtrkyman]

I'm no pistol shooter but sheesh, these boys need some range time!

 

[TADSR]

10 MM

 

[jpmulk]

I once walked up to a wounded caribou and finished her off with a 10mm to the head. It drilled a perfectly neat 10mm hole through the skull, same on the exit side. She was dead but you could barely see the hole. Later I finished off a caribou with a head shot from a .358 Winchester. That was dumb, it blew chunks of bone back at me and it was too gross for a photo. So a 10mm is nowhere near what a rifle will do to an animal. I just sold my 10mm before seeing this video because I figured it my 10mm was only going to make neat (but long) holes through animals I might as well go with my old Glock 19 that I'm more comfortable with. I doubt a moose will know the difference if we are talking hardcast bullets.

Rifles create hydrostatic shock. Pistols don’t. Sounds like your 10mm did exactly what it was supposed to if you were shooting hardcast or mono metal.

 

[fletch3742]

A pretty interesting video. My vote goes to the 10mm. Fatrascal.

I'm using: Buffalo Bore 9MM +P OUTDOORSMAN
147gr. Hard Cast FN ​

 

[CasNed]

A lot of talk over the years about if an individual doesn’t hit the central nervous system, it’s not a hit. Anyone have any data on how many bears stop the attack / charge, from the noise of the gun going off? If an individual just simply and quickly shoots a round into the ground while the bear is charging or attacking, what % of the time does the encounter end immediately?

 

[Miflatlander91]

I’m gonna guess it’s low enough I don’t wanna bet my life on it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Luke S]

I took a bear defense class back in 2018. I forgot the numbers but statistically gun shots are not a big deterant. Just a loud noise. But I think non CNS hits are helpful just not 100% effective. Lots of bears get shot and run off into the bushes. Your average tourist is probably going to miss the entire bear with a handgun. Amateurs seem to have better luck with spray because it's just harder to miss entirely. Lots of documented cases of that. Obviously a bit different ball game if you can shoot well. My example of the caribou was to make the point that a 10mm probably isn't going to hurt a bear more if it's a chest shot.

 

[Flyjunky]

It’s interesting to me that THE small caliber promoting website has so many people who think they can shoot a 10mm more accurate and faster than a 9mm. It’s been discussed on here time and time again….pistols, shotguns, rifles…lighter recoiling will be more accurate and faster.

A 9mm or 10mm will do damage when shot in the correct location….which one can you put in a good location under pressure, rapidly?

 

[Corey0372]

It’s interesting to me that THE small caliber promoting website has so many people who think they can shoot a 10mm more accurate and faster than a 9mm. It’s been discussed on here time and time again….pistols, shotguns, rifles…lighter recoiling will be more accurate and faster.

A 9mm or 10mm will do damage when shot in the correct location….which one can you put in a good location under pressure, rapidly?

My logic has always been that as long as you're hitting something on the bear that can cause the bear to be less dangerous to you then you're making the situation less dangerous.

You don't have to get that immediate kill shot to save yourself. If you get lucky and do get that immediate kill... great! However, if you pull your pistol out and can hit somewhere on the bear that makes him less effective at killing you, that ain't bad either.
If you manage to get a couple bullets into a shoulder and shatter bones, causing that arm to not work anymore, that's one less set of claws. Limiting the bears mobility, or even stopping the charge so he's doing the old "spinning around biting the wound" thing they do gives you more time to put more rounds in him at least. The military still considers shots to the pelvic area valid for the same reason, might not kill the guy right then... but its a big area to hit and the guys mobility is going to be drastically reduced.

I currently carry a Glock 29 with a Glock 20 mag (with Xgrip gap filler), so 15 rounds. However I have considered switching to my Glock19 and running Glock 17 mags in it for the simple fact I have substantially more trigger time with it and I can get that full mag into a bear faster than I can with the 10mm.

 

[IDVortex]

It’s interesting to me that THE small caliber promoting website has so many people who think they can shoot a 10mm more accurate and faster than a 9mm. It’s been discussed on here time and time again….pistols, shotguns, rifles…lighter recoiling will be more accurate and faster.

A 9mm or 10mm will do damage when shot in the correct location….which one can you put in a good location under pressure, rapidly?

I actually would love a 10mm, but, when it comes down to it, I can dump more rounds more accurately and faster with a 9mm than a 10mm on a target. That is why I carry a 9mm in griz country and could careless what someone else may think.