What 10mm ammo for bear defense (griz)

[Weldor]

I carry my 10mil with these up here in AK.

10mm Auto 140gr. Xtreme Penetrator® Solid Monolithic Hunting & Self Defense Ammo

Underwood Ammo offers the most comprehensive and innovative Lehigh Defense™ Supersonic Lead Free Handgun Ammo for personal defense & hunting. Shop now 10mm Auto Copper ammo with Solid Monolithic.

underwoodammo.com

Just curious, since your up where there are actual griz and brown bears. Do you know anyone who has stopped one with a 10mm? I'm 10mm fan ,but don't know lot of guy's who use them. I have the XDM 5.25 I really like the way it shoots. Thanks

 

[Beendare]

Just curious, since your up where there are actual griz and brown bears. Do you know anyone who has stopped one with a 10mm? I'm 10mm fan ,but don't know lot of guy's who use them. I have the XDM 5.25 I really like the way it shoots. Thanks

I do.
We are starting to see the evidence ...that stopping these bears is all about using Quality penetrating ammo; Hard cast or solid penetrators that function well in your specific gun. In fact,I think the Ammo matters more than the caliber. Sure bigger is better but fast accurate shooting trumps everything.

Plus, the mounties in the far north that have to deal with the most dangerous Polar bears are issued a 10mm.

Testing is important. Some have problems with the 220g tumbling. Some modify their G20's and have FTF problems. My stock G20 functions perfectly with 200g hard cast in both Underwood and Double Tap.

I'm going to put this here. Sig came out with their 10mm built on their 320 platform which is a darn good option for someone that prefers a smaller grip and a little better trigger than the stock Glocks.

This is a tad long, but a good honest comparison mostly on the Sig X10

 

[TheYukiYama]

I realize it sounds gay, but I prefer bear spray, and recommend most people strongly consider doing the same.

 

[2KHEARTSHOT]

Shoot it in the head and you’ll be fine, which is the case with almost any ammo you will choose.

 

[BigNate]

I realize it sounds gay, but I prefer bear spray, and recommend most people strongly consider doing the same.

How did you reach this preference?

Multiple charges stopped using different methods?

Where have you faced charges at?

Genuine questions as this could be potentially life altering advice.

 

[TheYukiYama]

How did you reach this preference?

Multiple charges stopped using different methods?

Where have you faced charges at?

Genuine questions as this could be potentially life altering advice.

Have been charged twice but both bluff charges and didn’t actually shoot or spray either. One griz and one black. Both in Montana. The griz was while mountain biking when I came around the corner to a sow with a cub. I didn’t have anything with me (stupid but I was a teen and thought I was invincible). Black bear I had a rifle on me while coyote hunting and it came in to a call. When it saw me I think it ran at me out of fear more than anything. Had rifle shouldered and nearly shot but it turned away just before. Neither experience really played into my decision to prefer spray over a gun.

I have tried to shoot fairly small fast moving targets with a pistol and it’s hard. Some people are obviously better, but to hit a griz in the head while it’s coming at 35mph is not easy.
I have shot a few sprays and feel much more confident I’d be able to hit a bear. Also if it was an area where I had other hunters around me, I’m not going to kill anyone if I hit them with spray in a cross fire situation.
I would have much less hesitation in pulling the trigger on spray. With the black bear, I would’ve shot some spray had I had it but didn’t shoot it because I didn’t want to have to deal with that. A slight hesitation could get a guy hurt.
If a bear does get to you, it seems some spray can continue to be effective where a missed gun shot no longer has any effect.
Spray weighs less to carry around.
Finally, I have read a number of studies that came to the conclusion that spray has a higher rate of effectiveness.
To each his own but it’s the decision I’ve come to.

 

[kpk]

The first year I hunted grizzly country in Wyoming I carried both and then ditched the spray after the first day or two. The wind really made me question whether the bear or myself would be in more danger of spray.

 

[Fowl Play]

@TheYukiYama I still carry spray in allot of cases for the reasons you mention, and do believe your points are valid. The 10mm comes with me when I am hunting though. In those instances I’m intentionally walking into the wind and I am not sure if my spray would actually make it to the bear or if it would just pre-season me with pepper before he got to me.

 

[DAOutfitters208]

https://g9defense.com/10mm-145-gr-woodsman/

If you can get your hand on these, they could be a good option.

 

[stv117]

I carry 10 mm loaded with 200 gr hardcast semi-wadcutters loaded to 1300 fps from Doubletap anytime I'm in blackbear territory. The wadcutters seem to be a good compromise between HP and FMJ. I'd use a good HP as a 2nd choice.

 

[BigNate]

I think HP have proven to be a poor choice for bigger bears. One of our own here, Mike Adams, suffered an attack while armed with a .44 mag. He literally had the muzzle on the bear when he fired, and I believe he said was using Hornady xtp. The bear survived.
Many think the 44 is plenty, but once again, bullet choice matters.

I'm personally not using bear spray yet, or in the past for that matter. I may consider it, but many real world reports of it being ineffective, for various reasons, makes me question its worth.

I carry a handgun shooting 250gr hard cast at 1100fps.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Right now my g20 is loaded with the Buffalo bore 190g mono dangerous game load.

I had it with my this morning when I put out a salmon net.

 

[Ganderzone]

As you can see hard cast are what most people carry and for good reason, fmj's are a softer alloy and the copper jacket itself is rather soft which lends itself to flattening and deflection. Skip hollow points all together, a wound channel no matter how wide will do you no good in this situation. The goal is to penetrate the skull/neck area and turn off the light switch, these charges last seconds, you have a few chances to turn off that switch. Practice practice practice if carrying a pistol, if your not hitting a paper plate at 10 yards in rapid succession stick with spray.

 

[Beendare]

I think HP have proven to be a poor choice for bigger bears. One of our own here, Mike Adams, suffered an attack while armed with a .44 mag. He literally had the muzzle on the bear when he fired, and I believe he said was using Hornady xtp. The bear survived.
Many think the 44 is plenty, but once again, bullet choice matters.

Yep, and I think that will prove out over time that the Hardcast and penetrator rounds are the way to go.

I've had many hogs shot with .357 hollow points at point blank range- and the hog just kept on going where I thought, "Dang that was a .357 158g bullet at close range...and he ran off"

I like hollow points for self defense and soft targets....but on animal charges- nope, I want penetration.

 

[mcseal2]

My 220 Hunter shoots the Federal Fusion 200gr bonded soft point to the same point of impact as the Underwood 200 grain hard cast. I like having options if I may want to take game with the pistol. On my AK hunts where I fly-in I have to consider the weight of everything I take. I'd have to change tactics, but I could still hunt with the 220 for blacktail, caribou, or similar size game if my rifle had a failure. I'd actually like to take a blacktail with the 10mm if the chance ever arises. I take a few rounds of the expanding ammo just in case.

 

[flathead#2]

Pfft!!
I'll be carrying my Glock 30SF, shooting 255gr. BB Hardcast in .45 Super to
Idaho this fall.

 

[rbljack]

I totally agree with the person above who said they carried both for a day or two in WY, and then left the spray behind. I had the same experience in NM. Tried carrying spray and had my 10mm while scouting. Took me exactly 2 days to decide the spray wasn't worth carrying (IMO). gusting and swirling winds typically only gave me about 50/50 percent chance of using spray.

The swirling winds were the biggest eye opener for me. The wind direction is just not consistent and hard to predict.