Charging Bear - 10mm vs 44mag

[FlyGuy]

One point of consideration, based on my personal experience… 2-3 shots may be the mean; however, if events unfold to where you feel the need to fire rounds to haze a bear, you won’t regret opting for mag capacity…. I live and hunt in grizz country. Got bluffed in the dark while hunting solo a couple years back, and have never been so glad to have a full mag…. I couldn’t imagine trying to reload a wheel gun in the dark with a bear testing you.. or trying to determine when to reload a wheel gun (after 3 shots? 4? Etc.).

That’s a really good point that I’ve never considered


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[mntnguide]

I live and hunt grizzly country non-stop. Many years guiding everyday in it, to just doing my own hunts now adays, but that being said, I have had more close encounters than i can count, but never had a real bad one yet. I personally carry a Glock 29, and like mentioned before, I usually have the normal glock 20 15 round magazine in it for extra capacity. . I carried a Ruger Super Redhawk .44 revolver for years guiding, but was a terrible shot with that big thing, and I only had 5 shots, because i never carried it on a loaded tube. In my experience, I'll take a little less knockdown power in exchange for much more shots, cause when these things happen, they happen damn fast, and the more shots you have the better.

I know of 2 friends who have had to shoot grizzlies. 1 was a guide, who had a sow charge him in thick trees numerous times. He used a full can of spray the first charge, then she just kept coming. He shot her 3 times with his .45/70 marlin guide gun on 3 different charges. All shots hit right in the wheelhouse, heart/lungs, but she still managed to charge 3 full times before dying. Other group was DIY hunters who came over a ridge to a bear that immediately spun and charged full. They both were carrying 10mm and unloaded both clips on the charge. It saved their lives. Neither of these scenarios were ones where you had time to think or make decisions, it was instant out of nowhere a charging bear you didnt know was there. Whatever you choose to use, make sure you know how to use it, and it is quick access and ready to go. Whether that be spray or a gun or both as many people carry now adays.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

@mntnguide Those two stories hit home with me big time. While I never saw any bears in the Bob last fall, I was by myself on post for several hours one day. On that day I elected to leave my Taurus .357 in camp and only carried my rifle. It rained, snowed, sleeted, and hailed on the mountain that day, and in between squalls it got very eery and quiet. My head was on a swivel and I was wishing I woulda been packing that day. Fortunately nothing black or brown charged out of the dark timber.

Does anybody know if you can get the S&W 2.0 or XDM without external safeties? I can't imagine having to fumble around with that in one of these situations.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

@mntnguide Those two stories hit home with me big time. While I never saw any bears in the Bob last fall, I was by myself on post for several hours one day. On that day I elected to leave my Taurus .357 in camp and only carried my rifle. It rained, snowed, sleeted, and hailed on the mountain that day, and in between squalls it got very eery and quiet. My head was on a swivel and I was wishing I woulda been packing that day. Fortunately nothing black or brown charged out of the dark timber.

Does anybody know if you can get the S&W 2.0 or XDM without external safeties? I can't imagine having to fumble around with that in one of these situations.

Just because it has an external safety doesn’t mean you have to use it.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Just because it has an external safety doesn’t mean you have to use it.

Good point, and every gun I own has one. At 47 years old, its a pretty ingrained habit to always be on safe if not ready to shoot. This could be overcome with practice I suppose, but I think knowing it wasn't there may make it easier not to pause if the SHTF.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Good point, and every gun I own has one. At 47 years old, its a pretty ingrained habit to always be on safe if not ready to shoot. This could be overcome with practice I suppose, but I think knowing it wasn't there may make it easier not to pause if the SHTF.

I mostly carry glocks, but I also have 3 S&W shields that my wife carries and my kids shoot when we go to the range. I also carry them occasionally, and just leave the safety off. Because I am a glock guy, I guess I never think about flipping the safety off lol.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

There's an indoor range fairly close to my place. I'm going to see if they have a XDM, 2.0, and G20 i can shoot.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Does anybody know if you can get the S&W 2.0 or XDM without external safeties? I can't imagine having to fumble around with that in one of these situations.

The S&W can be had with or without thumb safety.

 

[cgasner1]

I just got a xdm elite in 10mm in a compact holds eleven and has a 3.5” barrel I put a light laser combo on it seems like it will fit the bill for what I want


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