Best Sidearm For Protection From Bear While Prospecting

[ghostminer]

If you were given one choice of a sidearm for protection from bear while prospecting what would it be? Does anyone have any good bear stories while out in the field?

 

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[Tkaz]

I carry S & W Governor
Great snake gun with .410 rounds or Colt 45s if needed for other purposes.

 

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[releventchair]

If a bear surprises you, and the same goes for lions, you won't have to worry about packing. You'll never clear leather. I've spent a huge chunk of my time in really wild country, here in Idaho. What I carry is a big , very sharp, knife. I guarantee ya, in a real pinch, that knife will do more good than a handgun. But, you're going to get chewed-up no matter what. The speed and ferocity of wild animals is hard to imagine, if you haven't seen it.
Jim

Always carry a knife.
I beg to differ on a knife doing more good than a magnum revolver when being chewed on though.
Unless you can destroy a brain ,or sever a spine ( major nerve trauma) with a shaky blade.....good luck stopping the chewing before it stops you.
Even in human combat ,blunt force trauma trumps knife wounds. Knives are mere play when your opponent outweighs you 3 to six times in the case of grizz or brownie.

Having watched a stout guy try to wrestle a black bear ,( multiple guys at an " event") stabbing one chewing on you would only make matters worse.
Till bled out and brain is out of oxygen. ....those jaws can just keep snapping.

 

[utah mason]

I carry S & W Governor
Great snake gun with .410 rounds or Colt 45s if needed for other purposes.

View attachment 1528324

Agreed! This is what I carry as well. But you forget to mention that it also fires .45 ACP rounds as well, which are more readability available then the .45 colt. I load mine with the .45 colt rounds but it's nice to have the extra option. I also prefer revolvers due to the fact you don't have to worry about jams.
Taurus make one called the judge. It doesn't fire the .45 ACP rounds and only holds 5 rounds, but the price is far less. It also has a lifetime warranty like the s&w

 

[Tkaz]

Agreed! This is what I carry as well. But you forget to mention that it also fires .45 ACP rounds as well, which are more readability available then the .45 colt. I load mine with the .45 colt rounds but it's nice to have the extra option. I also prefer revolvers due to the fact you don't have to worry about jams.
Taurus make one called the judge. It doesn't fire the .45 ACP rounds and only holds 5 rounds, but the price is far less. It also has a lifetime warranty like the s&w

The .410 rounds loaded with 000buck shot to the face at close range should eliminate the Predators vision. The loads allow for quick reaction error in aim IMO.

 

[63bkpkr]

First, a few responses have commented about how quickly therefor easily bears can move over rough country, they sprint up to 25 miles per hour over rough ground. I mention this as if a bear targets you things can happen quickly so what you've brought along for safety measures had better be right there with you!

Second, a .44 mag, as well as lesser calibers, will bounce off of 1/4" thick steel plate.

Now lets think about a Bear: thick tough fur, thick tough skin, thick beefy bones, heavy skull with angles that deflect bullets. My brother, in Alaska, went out hunting for a black bear with a .41 Magnum revolver. He is an excellent shot! He hit the bear solid in the side, which is the best shot placement there is for any bear (the front chest of a bear is all bones skin and fur). The bear my brother shot just ran off. My brother took out the empty and added a fresh round so six good ones and then he followed the bear into the woods. It was easy to find as it was growling standing on its hind legs while clawing the dickens out of the tree in front of it. It took a total of Seven (7) shots with a .41 magnum to drop that bear and it was a little on the small size!

I've owned two .44 magnum revolvers and enjoyed shooting both with hot loads, still they will not penetrate a 1/4" thick steel plate. On a little drive one day, I found myself driving through the town of Freedom Wyoming in my little Chevy LUV truck. We were on the main street of that town, I noticed a sign on the side of the road welcoming all comers to Freedom Wyoming The Home of Freedom FireArms. At that moment my truck engine got weird and the steering took a Hard right turn into the driveway and once in a space the engine stalled. I figured I'd give the truck some time to get over whatever was ailing it and went inside to have a look see. At that time there was a single door to the show room, nothing fancy just a big wide door no windows. I pushed the door open and there 5' from the door was a 4' glass display case with four little glass shelves and on each shelf there was a single revolver. The lady tending the show room welcomed me and asked if she could help me? I said yes please, I would like to look at one of your revolvers. She handed me one, it was heavy. The one she chose to show me first had a very large hole down the barrel, the stamping on the side indicated it was a .454 Casull caliber. Okay. I knew nothing about the caliber. I opened the gate clicked the hammer back and slowly turned the cylinder and to my amazement I counted only five holes, they'd forgotten one!! The lady assured me that for that caliber five was a good number otherwise with six holes the metal would be too thin and when fired the cylinder wall would blow out.

I was not impressed. I'd already graduated away from a single action western revolver to a double action swing out cylinder 6 shot 44 mag and I could see no reason for going backwards. I looked around the shop, lots of photographs of folks out hunting with this 454 five shot revolver. One of the hunter's was even a lovely lady in Africa bagging some of the big game animals with her 454, still I was not impressed. I turned to leave, one door in same door out. That is when I noticed two steel plates leaning against the wall (at floor level) some 10' from the door. I went to look at the plates. On the 1/4" thick steel plate was a grey smudge labeled 44 Mag and I knew that to be true as I'd performed the test myself. Then there were 5 holes through the plate. The backside was jagged sharp metal where the bullet had ripped through the plate. Impressed I checked out the second plate which had 4 holes and 1 massive dent. The second plate was 3/8" thick steel. I figured the big dent was the fifth shot where the frame that had been holding the plate was loosened by the first four shots so it bent backwards when the fifth slug hit it not quite going through the plate. Kneeling down as I was looking at those plates with my mouth agape, two words came to my mind Bear Bones! This thing would bust bear bones! I walked back to the lady and picked up a catalog with all the options available and left the shop. On my return to San Jose California I went through the catalog picking and choosing exactly what I wanted my 5 shot single action western revolver to be made like. When I finished the total cost was a bit over $2,000.00 and those were 1993 dollars. But I told myself that when I'd been a good boy I would get me one.

Fast forward to 2006 - Ruger Arms had let it be known that they were going to bring out a new model revolver that was capable of handling loads like the 454 Casull and it would be a six shot double action swing out cylinder model. I priced this beast at every shop I found, all the shops were asking the Ruger list price ~ $725.00. It was Mid April, I was headed to visit Mom to celebrate her birthday however, I thought I'd take a long cut past an establishment known for being purveyors of fine firearms. On my arrival I noticed the parking lot was nearly full, I got the last slot and that the firearms side of the store was packed, so packed a person was required to take a number. I acquired my # and walked the aisle in front of the displayed arms. Way up to the front of the shop an employee had fastened a 3' x 2' bright orange art board and had used a 1" wide black felt pen to scrawl the statement "We are a wholesale to the public Ruger Dealer". My number was called, my first question to the clerk was what does that sign mean? Answer: "we sell Ruger arms to our customers at a very good price". My second question was how much are you asking for the 454 Casull Super Red Hawk? The clerk was up to his eye balls with comments about this particular piece. After he completed his long description of ALL the merits of the piece he stopped talking. I then asked him again for the price. Oh, yes sir, we are selling that unit for $575.00 US Dollars. I nearly fell over and had it not been for my right arm holding onto my wallet in my back pocket I might have tipped over. I slowly took my wallet out, I slowly took my credit card out and laid it on the counter. I looked up at the clerk and said "how about you turn me on with one of those". I was so startled at the price I knew I had no other choice but to make that purchase. The clerk looked at me with a kind of screwed up look and said you want one? Then the look changed as he realized he had a sale. He went to the back room returning with this large red plastic Ruger box with my 454 in it. Two weeks later, the waiting period having been attained I was back to purchase my revolver. I took it back to my shop where I looked at it for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks I sent the weapon to MagNa Port in Michigan to have the barrel shortened and the MagNa Porting work performed on the barrel. I'd never fired it.

It was some form of a holiday time period, the weapon was delivered to my front door and left there for two days right on the ground. Right at the front door to the shop out in plain sight and somehow it was still there when I returned after the holiday. Why is nothing ever straight forward for me?

I took it backpacking and once camp was setup I took this beast out of its shoulder holster and fired a single 240 grain round into the tall sand hill on the other side of the river. I put the weapon down, picked up my leather backpacking gloves, put them on and then finished shooting the other five rounds. The first shot really twisted the skin of my right hand (I'm right handed). What a thrill! What a report! What a milder jump up and kick straight back! Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!! Since that time I've never fired another 240 grain slug down the barrel of this piece, now nothing but 300 grain slugs go down the barrel of this weapon. Several years later I happened to align myself with a young pine tree with a second directly in back of it. At about the 8" diameter of the tree I fired the 300 grain slug. It went through the first tree and buried deep into the second tree, so went through roughly 10" or so of pine tree. I have every confidence in My 454 Casull to knock down anything I aim correctly at including large black or grizzly bears.

I backpack in a wilderness area in NorCal, in this deep river canyon there are Many bears due to very limited hunting of them. You drop down 3000 vertical feet to reach the canyon floor on a Foot Path Only and that is also the same trail you would take out with your 100 lb bear hide and 45 pound bear skull. So the bears are plentiful including the ones that come from Sows that were dumped into the canyon as they had been fed by humans in places like Yosemite and Lassen. The issue here is the sows teach the cubs everything mommy knows including that humans are easy targets for food, like they leave it hanging in the trees for goodness sake.

These bears have made a shambles of many of my camps and have made off with many food bags. In case you've never had the thrill of having you food taken when you've another week or more of camping to do well let me tell you it ain't no fun! Then being in your tent when a bear is approaching is also no fun as the person in the tent is now the food. I have NO desire to shoot a bear (some are absolutely beautiful), I do NOT need a bear rug or claws or even bear meat. But since the bears have targeted me and others that backpack into this beautiful place we must protect ourselves from ANY animal that attacks or threatens us: Bear, Mountain Lion, Bob Cat, Wolf

NOW, the 454 like the 460 Ruger or the 500 S&W are BIG weapons and weigh a LOT. Also any of these RECOILS A LOT. They are not for everyone!!!!!!!!!!! A .357 with armor piercing ammunition MIGHT knock down a bear. A .44 mag has about the velocity and energy of a 30-30 rifle and lots of bears have been taken with a 30-30. One bear that I know of has been killed using a 9mm but it took more than one 14 round clip to do it. If you go into bear country be prepared to protect your camp as well as yourself. It is that simple! A bear sized can of Pepper Spray was ~$50.00 the last time I checked a few years ago. A bear can be killed with a club which means you will be within 3' or less to the bear. Things go wrong in close encounters so I prefer to keep further away from my attacker. I use a shoulder holster. The barrel on my 454 is now 5.400" in length and it is very accurate at long distances. (NOTE: Ruger has a 454 Alaskan model with a ~ 2 1/2" barrel, it is meant as a camp or close quarters weapon - picture the bear is entering your tent with you in it = close quarters, point and shoot all six rounds into the bear. Reload the weapon before you make any other moves!!!!!

This is my Ruger 454 after the modifications to the barrel. Its still big but in the shoulder holster I can perform free climbing a cliff and not have the barrel stop my left leg from getting to the next foot hold. Barrel length 5.400" (original length 7 5/8").........63bkpkr {One Last note: 45 Colt bird shot rounds fit this revolver. DO NOT FIRE a 454 solid slug round when you have a birdshot round in the cylinder!!!! The 454 shock wave will shatter the plastic casing of the birdshot round allowing the shot to dribble down into the workings of the gun - JAMMING IT!!!! Trust me on this one}

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Always carry a knife.
I beg to differ on a knife doing more good than a magnum revolver when being chewed on though.
Unless you can destroy a brain ,or sever a spine ( major nerve trauma) with a shaky blade.....good luck stopping the chewing before it stops you.
Even in human combat ,blunt force trauma trumps knife wounds. Knives are mere play when your opponent outweighs you 3 to six times in the case of grizz or brownie.

Having watched a stout guy try to wrestle a black bear ,( multiple guys at an " event") stabbing one chewing on you would only make matters worse.
Till bled out and brain is out of oxygen. ....those jaws can just keep snapping.

Yeah well, but the handgun is the same. Like I said, you're going to get chewed-up regardless. But a knife to the throat can be just as effective as a bullet, and the knife is easier to maneuver. But neither one is really going to help much, and a knife is easlier to carry for all the times when you don't meet a nasty critter.
Jim

 

[uglymailman]

Back in the 60's there were a couple of movies shown in the theaters. Documentary type. Big game hunting around the world. There was an interview in a hunting mag. with one of the hunters in the movie. I don't remember his name but he was pretty well known at the time. He was asked about carrying a pistol while hunting bear and what kind of hand gun would he want if faced with a charging Grizzly bear. "A .44 mag.. 5 shots for the bear, one for me. That's all the good it's going to do ya."

 

[releventchair]

Yeah well, but the handgun is the same. Like I said, you're going to get chewed-up regardless. But a knife to the throat can be just as effective as a bullet, and the knife is easier to maneuver. But neither one is really going to help much, and a knife is easlier to carry for all the times when you don't meet a nasty critter.
Jim

Having skinned and butchered enough critters , including wrecking jugulars on some to bleed them before their hearts stop pumping( hogs) and fighting haired/ furred hide on throats on others to reach arteries for a finish ( winter deer, ...lungs are easier) ......when you decide to kill a bear with your knife ,I'll buy a ticket!
When one stood front of me ,I did not toss my rifle aside and draw my knife. For a very sound reason.

Happy prospecting to ya.

 

[Goldfinger450]

I killed a Tundra Grizz at 4 feet with #6 Birdshot in my 12GA Pump, Yeah, That was 35 yeas ago, I Still Feel Lucky. Was Hunting Geese Not Grizzlies.

 

[Goldwasher]

I've run off several black bear by just yelling and throwing rocks at them. While drunk even once at Malakoff Diggins.

When we bought our house it had been empty for like two years. The first weekend our dog food outside was knocked over.

Then a plastic tub was moved. Finally one night our dog was losing it. I go out and up on the hill I see this black hole in the dark..i get some night vision and see brown snout...hey.. Mr. bear. a big one too.

The yard is over grown as I cut brush I see all this bear crap.

Every few days its dog barking, yelling and throwing rocks.

I did get to light him up with some . 3g aluminum airsoft rounds (they used to sell them at the surplus store in Pville) full auto from a pretty nice Japanese M4 like 500 fps he didn't like it.

Finally one night it as right out side our back door.

I have a 1960's browning autoloader 22lr . I had it ready with crimped snakeshot round.

I banged on the door the SOB just turned and ambled away slowly. I waited for it to get about ten yards away opened the dor and gave him one to his fuzzy rump.

I was surprised at how fast he took off. Never came back.

People hunt and kill bear with pistols every year. Pigs are harder to hit and meaner.

For carry purposes it is a compromise situation. Normally not taking bears into consideration. I carry a 1911 45 acp or a .40 Glock. I'd probably throw the Glock at the bear

9mm no thanks

In fact if it isn't charging you throwing something at it and calling it names works pretty well.

I'm gonna be cocky and say considering that I have been rushed and bluffed and spent a lot of time shooting that I could sure as hell hit a charging bear.

If I had the chance to draw that is.

In Mammoth Lakes Ca. they use these pistols (flare guns I think) it shoots a round that explodes about 20- 25 yards out. They use them to annoy the bears out of the area.

Then they go annoy them out of another area.

Like this



If I was in a situation say like a remote mine camp I'd like to have a high end paintball gun or even a good potato cannon for funzies. Bottle rockets.

Wrist rocket with marbles would be fun.​

 

[Capt Nemo]

.45 Long Colt with Lehigh defense rounds. Those open to 1 1/4".

My choice, Type 56S AKM underfolder with 75 rnd drum and 8M3 fragmenting hollowpoints.