Best wheel gun setup for griz protection?

[Kobuk]

A couple things to consider when picking out your revolver is barrel length. Not as much for weight but performance. I am a reloader and revolver fan and have learned a couple things over the years. My first snubby was the Ruger Alaskan in 454 Casull. Super short but not super light! haha I figured it was the best carry gun for me. While working up some loads and shooting through my chronograph I was super suprised on how much velosity I lost with that short barrel. For my heavy loads I use a slow burning powder like H110 and with the short barrel you get some crazy muzzle blast and no speed. I got more performance out of my 4 7/8" blackhawk shooting the same bullet but in 45 colt! Of course, it wasn't a standard 45 colt load but still. And my Blackhawk is quite a bit lighter and shoots the heavy loads better as far as felt recoil. I get how a lot of people want a double action revolver but you pay the penalty in the recoil arena. I haven't tried playing with a faster powder for my Ruger Alaskan to see if it would help and any factory loads would also use a slow powder. I'm not trying to tell anyone to not go with the lightweight revolvers, I town carry a S&W 340 in 357, just to not only think about weight but performance. Anyone that has been around a brown bear or grizzly won't be thinking about weight but will be thinking about performance! haha Or a bigger gun!

 

[tcpip95]

I bought a S&W Model 610 4” barrel revolver because it shoots both .40 and 10mm. I’ve never owned a revolver (all my handguns are S/A) but this was bought for 5 reasons: 1) in the event of a life or death situation while hunting in bear country a revolver will most likely NOT fail, 2) I can use a Dangerous Game 10mm round (Underwood Xtreme Penetrator), 3) I have a ton of .40 S&W ammo that I can practice with, 4) it’s not going to break the bank shooting it, and 5) while large, I can still carry it in a chest rig that makes it readily accessible. I feel that the 10mm is the minimum Dangerous Game round for bear country.

The 610 is a large N-Frame revolver so it’s definitely not concealed carry. I carry it in a GunfightersINC Kenai chest rig under my bino case

 

[snipe10]

Have a Ruger Redhawk 45 Colt customized with a Colt Anaconda barrel from Bowen Classic Arms and 365 grain loads from Garret Cartridges. Have some 405 grain but I shoot the 365's better.

 

[MikeDeltaFoxtrot]

Let me start by saying that I know how to shoot a revolver. I know that many guys who have learned to shoot handguns in the last twenty years do not, but I started shooting handguns in my teens at a time when reliable semi-autos were not as common as they are today. I have made a point to refine and hone that skill. My thinking is that if you can learn to run a double action revolver and get good hits at speed, then you can shoot pretty much anything. The biggest thing is to learn how to work the trigger without moving the sights. That takes practice, and the best way, in my opinion, is to learn how to stage the DA trigger. Eventually, the staging will just collapse into a smooth, fast trigger pull. This can be done with reduced power hand loads and dry fire.

I hear a lot of guys talk about a semi-auto pistol having a “good” trigger by which they mean a light break with very little take-up. It is certainly easier to shoot such a trigger accurately, but there are safety concerns with carrying it, and in many ways it is a crutch.

Presumably, however, the point of this thread is to recommend revolvers for those who have decided to carry one. I have a Glock 20 that I like a lot, and it makes a fine woods gun on the east coast. I spend a decent amount of time (but not as much as I might like) fly fishing in the mountains of NC and TN, which are loaded with black bears. I am perfectly content to carry my G20 there. I feel like it is sufficient for black bears, and its greater shot capacity is nice in case I need to deal with any two-legged predators. I also frequently carry the same gun when afield in my native Virginia with pretty much the same analysis.

That said, I like revolvers, and I sometimes carry one in the woods just because I want to.

However, when hunting and fishing in brown bear country, I feel like I have reason for something that will put more energy on target with a single shot. I have carried a 4” 629 on two trips to Alaska. I saw some brown bears, but did not need to fire the revolver.

A few years back I was taking my family on a summer trip to Glacier National Park, and I bought a Ruger SRH Alaskan in .454 Casull for the trip. I practiced with it of course, and prior to the trip, I did some testing on a chronograph to compare the real energy from several different handguns. The results are below. I also shot some drills from the holster with each gun. I found my times for both first shot from the holster and split time to the second shot were not all that much different from gun to gun. I could shoot the Glock 20 slightly faster, but not by much. I think there was about a quarter second difference for the two-shot string between the fastest and slowest gun, the exception being the single action Ruger SBH. I was shooting an 8.5x11 piece of copy paper at 7 yard and did not count the strong unless both shots were on it.



Ruger Super BlackHawk 4.75” bbl, 240 gr XTP Hand Load, 1186 fps, 740 ft./lbs.
Ruger Super Blackhawk 4.75” bbl, 240 gr. Hornady factory 1355 fps, 978 ft/lbs.
S&W 629-1 4” bbl, 240 gr. XTP Hand Load, 1135 fps, 686 ft./lbs.
S&W 629-1 4” bbl, 240 gr. XTP Hornady factory, 1275 fps, 866 ft./lbs.
Ruger SRH Alaskan 2.5” bbl, 325 gr. Hard cast HSM factory loads, 994 fps, 712 ft./lbs.
Ruger SRH Alaskan 2.5” bbl, 300 gr. XTP hand loads, 1381 fps, 1270 ft./lbs.
Glock 20 Gen 4, 200 gr. Underwood JHP, 1145 fps, 582 ft./lbs.

My big take away is that barrel length is your friend. The 2.5” barrel on the SRH Alaskan is a pretty serious compromise. I worked up the 300 grain handload staying within the published data in the Hornady manual (10th edition). The cases were pretty hard to extract. I am certainly not doing any speed reloads with that load. The primers looked fine, however. I had trouble with the bullets jumping the crimp, so I have never carried those in the field. The HSM hard cast loads have proved reliable although still hard to extract.


I ended up taking both the SRH and the G20 to Glacier. I carried the Glock in town and the SRH when hiking and fishing. I took the G20 on my archery elk hunt in the Idaho panhandle this year.

I guess I am indecisive, but hopeful this information will be helpful to someone.

 

[Flyrodr]

Excellent info MikeDeltaFoxtrot, and I expect the relatively close splits is a clear indication of the time you spent with those different guns - - - something I expect a lot of us don't do with our handguns. I started with revolvers, beginning with my late Uncle's K-22, moving up to a Smith M19, and then a M29 and SBH. But spent a lot more time with semi-autos, mostly a 1911, but also a host of others. Thus, my preference for them. But then I'm also in NC, and don't have to worry about those big bears!

 

[gapfriz]

Does anybody carry a 44 spl?

 

[MikeDeltaFoxtrot]

Does anybody carry a 44 spl?

I'm sure somebody, somewhere does, but it does not make a lot of sense unless that is just what you have. The ballistics are pretty similar to .45 ACP, but the gun weighs more and holds fewer rounds. I'd grab my USP 45 or Glock 21 over a 44 Special revolver, and I would prefer a Glock 20 to any of those.

 

[sanddanw]

329 Night Guard…… 44 mag View attachment 349882

Let me know if you want to sell it Ive been searching for one.

 

[Thinkingman]

The S&W Model 69 44mag with 2.75 barrel would probably make for a good option.

Unless you're a really good pistol shooter or you practice with them a lot which I don't know is very realistic any of the big hand cannons, IMO, just aren't good options. I have a 4in S&W 500 and it's a real hoot to shoot but they're a big friggen gun and they have a significant amount of recoil so if you don't make it count on your first shot getting back on target seems like it takes me much longer than it does with my 44.

I would want a longer barrel to really get 44mag velocities and to compensate (a little) for muzzle rise.

Why no love for 41mag?

I carry a SW 386XL, 6" 7-shot revolver.

Buffalo Bore Outdoorsman 38+P 158gr hardcast gets moving out of a 6" way better than shorter barrels.
Buffalo Bore lists their chrono velocities on the website.

I don't delude myself into thinking it's a grizz stopper but it will convince a lot of other threats that I'm not the easy target they were looking for.

 

[sanddanw]

Just remember to file the front sight off whichever pistol you purchase.

Why?

 

[AK Troutbum]

Why?

It's an old joke.

 

[jhm2023]

My Super Redhawk Toklat in 454 Casull served me well when I had to use it. 300gr Swift revolver a-frames over a stout charge of H110.

For what it's worth, I don't carry a revolver for bear defense anymore for a lot of reasons.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[Viper*6]

Colt Anaconda 44 mag

 

[TheGDog]

Why?

Ugh... don't encourage him to answer with that played out Joke you see Bazillions of times across ALL Hunting Forums! Ugh.

 

[Wyoming Nimrod]

From a single individuals weapon, what is the most number of rounds an individual involved in a DL shooting against Grizz or Brown has managed to fire successfully during the charge of said Bear?

Just asking since a lot of times many of us cite having those higher round counts as a big positive about using said weapon. But I wonder honestly... what is the average number of rounds people are able to successfully squeeze off whilst hunting for bears and they've had one of these large bears initiate a charge from 50yd and under?

This is second hand but from a trusted fellow hunter; there was a grizz attack where I live in NW Wy a couple years ago that apparently charged a group of hunters multiple times. Pistols and rifles were discharged reportedly somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 times before the bear succumbed and died/stopped its aggression. Now, how many of those actually ended up in the bear? I have no idea, but if I were to venture a guess I’d imagine very few. Equally realistic however is that many of them hit the bear but in nonvital areas. Hard to say especially since defense of life incidents, while dramatically increasing yearly in the GYE region are hardly publicly reported and when they rarely are there is typically a serious dirth of detailed information that people like us would want to know.

 

[omt223]

I have a ruger alaskan in 454. Its a handfull with full power loads for sure. Lighter bullets moving faster are easier to control than the heavier stuff

 

[keystone112]

You don’t get extra points for missing faster.

 

[Toner44]

I was in the same boat and was dead set on bigger wheel gun. Luckily tried a few and ended up w 2 10mm. In my opinion it’s the best, in the end maybe it doesn’t matter but I can get a lot of hits on target faster. Carries more ammo, easier to keep clean. I’ve often wonder if I’d even be lucky enough to get anything out of my holster fast enough anyways. I live in grizzly country only ever had 1 problem w a pissed off grizzly, he was on a dead carcass. I did get my gun out fast enough on that one. All the other times they usually mind their own

 

[Wyoming Nimrod]

My Super Redhawk Toklat in 454 Casull served me well when I had to use it. 300gr Swift revolver a-frames over a stout charge of H110.

For what it's worth, I don't carry a revolver for bear defense anymore for a lot of reasons.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

I have to ask, if you’re willing to share, what the details of your encounter were? That is a very large bear. Well done, sir. And what do you carry now? Thank you.

 

[jhm2023]

I have to ask, if you’re willing to share, what the details of your encounter were? That is a very large bear. Well done, sir. And what do you carry now? Thank you.

While bow hunting for black bears over bait, my wife and I were charged by what I assumed to be a mating pair of grizz in the spring. We were walking into the bait site and heard something on the bait already. I had my wife nock an arrow and get ready thinking it was a black bear and it would have been her first bear. It was a good sized sow grizz.

The sow charged and all of my practice kicked in instinctively and my bow got thrown to the ground and my 454 came out. Once she crossed my arbitrary 10 yard comfort threshold for an animal that can run 35 mph I started shooting. The first shot slowed her down significantly but I decided to give her took 4 shots total before she stumbled off into the thick brush to my right. I didn't see the second bear, so I opened my cylinder to remove the empties and top off with new rounds. I got the empties out when I heard my wife say something to the effect of "Oh sh*t, another one" quickly followed by the distinct sound of an arrow leaving her bow and hitting something. I slammed the cylinder shut happening like hell the remaining two rounds were lined up. He was coming in hot and almost to the same spot on the trail where I shot the sow. I pulled the hammer back as I presented the revolver and pulled the trigger as soon as my sights came into view. It was a pleasant relief of pain to hear and feel the 454 go off and a large bear laying motionless at around 10 yards. I was sure glad the round lined up correctly and that he only needed one shot. After all, I only had two rounds left and the sow took four. We got the hell out of there for a few hours before coming back in with a dog and more ammo to asses the situation.

It seemed as though the sow was on the bait and the boar was hanging around for her to come into heat. When he heard the commotion of her getting shot, he decided to come in on us up the same trail. We never did find that sow. My wife's arrow hit the boar in the leg and my 300gr swift revolver a-frame hit him just slightly left of center of his chest barely hitting the left scapular and exited near his right hip. He was 7.5' squared. Unfortunately the hide and skull had to be turned over to ADFG, it was a damn good looking bear with an even better story to tell people who would've seen it.

I sold that 454 after that fun filled encounter and picked up an FNX 45 tactical converted to 460 Rowland. 15+1 with quicker follow up shots sure seemed appealing. I'll be carrying an FN 510 this summer and I'd be grateful if I don't have to use it.