Quick followup on bear defense - quick test

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

There has been some discussion lately about bear defense. I have a 223 bolt action rifle. I have a LaserLight cartridge for it. I have a charging grizzly bear target. So I figured I’d have a bit of fun.

I am going to start off by saying that I quadruple checked that my rifle was safe; no ammo nor mag for the 223 near by. Family was on the other side of the house and at no time were they anywhere near "the line of fire".

I set the target up about 4-5 yards away; did not want to point the rifle anywhere near family even though the rifle was verified to be safe. I did use a Pepsi box for my “reload”.

First up was shooting with the rifle propped over my shoulder, “round” chambered and rifle on safe, and me facing 90* from the target (it was on my left). Kind of like watching guard while field dressing an animal. Ten shots of repeating this took 50.0 seconds. There was no aiming the crosshairs; just more of a natural point of aim. Not too bad but I should be able to do better especially if bear were to unexpectedly pop up pretty close. A brown bear could cover 50+ yards in the time to get a shot off. There's a good chance I'd be bear poop.

Second up was a slight variant from the first. The only difference was I did not re-shoulder the rifle but kept shooting (chambering each time). Once again, there was no aiming the crosshairs; just more of a natural point of aim while also chambering rounds each time. The results ranged from 10 shots in 13.0 seconds up to 20.7 seconds. This is without having to deal with recoil (assume something like a 300 WM) which would seriously impact accuracy and speed. Also, I did notice that as I got tired (about 100 shots in) my accuracy went to crap quickly. A quick break yielded the 13.0 round (not in attached images).

I have mixed feelings on this. Yes, I did pretty dang good overall on accuracy. But the speed sucked and it does not necessary reflect the reality of a charging bear nor a rifle that I'd have with me in brown bear country. I missed a stationary piece of paper. Throw in a real bear, a rifle with recoil, being tired and/or amped up and things can get interesting quickly. This also does not taking into account needing to quickly reload.

Long story short: if you are relying on being able to quickly draw your firearm to save your rear during an unexpected bear charge, especially at close distances, you should practice.

Test 1


Test 2

 

[156821]

Good for you for practicing. There is no better teacher. I have seen a grizzly run full tilt, it’s scary.

 

[PNWRiflemanX]

Funny, but probably a great idea. I hope you didn't jinxs yourself. I don't have grizz but we do have cougar of which I practice and think through what I do besides soilage.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Funny, but probably a great idea. I hope you didn't jinxs yourself. I don't have grizz but we do have cougar of which I practice and think through what I do besides soilage.

It’s all good. I was curious and will give a handgun a try tonight.

Can’t hurt to get a bit quicker for unexpected shots in all game.

 

[Dalen88]

im glad im not the only one doing this, i felt silly practicing shouldering my 45/70 racking in around, dry firing, reloading and another dry fire. after having to shoot a charging sow griz last year i feel like its not a bad thing to be proficient with your rifle and a quick shot.

 

[Matt Magolan]

Definitely good drills for practicing for the possibility.

Just my 2 Cents, but many of your hits are likely too high and may even miss the top of the bears skull and only hit muscle (I'm not saying they wouldn't be "combat" effective). If you look at a skull of a bear, most of what's behind where your higher rounds are striking is muscle, not bone, or brain. The brain pan is actually BELOW the eyes. Physiologically, you should aim between the top of the end of the nose/the bears mouth to drive the rounds into the Central Nervous System (Brain Pan, spine, spinal cord) of the Bear and cause immediate incapacitation.

A great book is: Herrero's Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance

There is a diagram in the book that actually recommends shooting into the bears chest below the chin on a charging bear as it is a larger area and gives a better chance of a shot into the vitals under stress, kind of like the diagram below that shows 30% of vitals exposed below (This area would be lower part of the circle on the target below).

I've also included the Alaska State Parks Service Brown Bear Target that shows the Ring where you want your shots to be placed, I couldn't see them on your target.

I, for one, carry semi-autos for bear defense, so the follow on shots can come faster and the rifle muzzle can remain on target without cycling the action!

Keep practicing and adjust your point of aim/point of impact a touch lower and all your hits will be effective.





*JUst a note, a Polar Bear skull is even more streamlined with the brain even lower, so the bear can swim faster...AMAZING!

 

[justinspicher]

Good on you for practicing, I feel it is a lost art these days…..

That is some good advice and even better info posted about the shot locations on a grizzly, thanks for adding that.

 

[AKBorn]

Good ideas for practice by all who posted them. At the range, I practice putting a small target at 25 yards, and start with an empty chamber. Then I chamber a round and fire 3 consecutive shots as quickly as I can get pointed on the target (my Ruger is limited to 3 shells in the mag). When I first started doing this drill years ago, I learned that I could quickly and easily chamber another round without moving my cheek off the stock.

I also bought dummy bullets for my .338, and practice indoors picking a target in the corner of the room and shooting 3 times as quick as I can while staying on target. That one is different in real life because of the recoil and moving target, but it's still good practice to avoid short stroking the bolt when reloading.

The drill that the OP posted is a step up, I gotta try that one. Thanks for posting.