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45, 357 Mag, or 44Mag?

floorguy24
Ok, here is yet another Big Game question for you;

Which pistol (of these three only) is the most powerful or would be most effective against big game, such as Grizzly/Black Bear?

.45 Caliber?

357 Magnum?

44 Magnum?

Yes, I keep asking the "Bear" questions, but I keep hearing different things. Some say the 45 & 357 will have more "stopping" power, while others say the 44 will blow through the bear.

Any input would be helpful, as I'm still deciding.
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • ern98
    Which 45cal cartridge are you interested in? 45acp would not be on my list, while 45colt handloaded to +p pressures in an appropriate revolver would be. A black bear handgun is very different then a grizzly or brown bear handgun. For the lower 48 I picked the 44mag as you can buy good off the shelf offerings. For Alaska I'm not sure any handgun is adequate, even the newer larger bore offerings. I'd be thinking more along the lines of a compact slug shooting shotgun with folding stock or something like that if I was to go fishing or whatnot in big bear country......
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  • bpost
    A black bear is about the size of a man, a big guy for sure but still the size of a man. It is almost scary to skin out a bear laying on the ground and realize how "Man like" a bear looks. Many bear hands have been confused as man hands.

    Go big, either a HOT 45 +P Colt in a modern revolver able to handle the modern pressures with a 255 grain slug or go with the 44 mag. with 240-300 grain slugs Blowing through something is not bad, it makes two big holes for important stuff to leak out of.

    The 357 is too small of a caliber, the bullets are too light to get through the heavy muscle or bones IMNSHO.
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  • Horse Plains Drifter
    Well "most" effective would be the 44 mag, unless you have a modern arm in 45(Colt, not that automatic pistol round)and can handload. This is not to say that the 44 is any kind of effective at all. If you're going to pack any of those listed in grizzly country, best to file off the front sight.
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  • 5mmgunguy
    Clint Eastwood had the answer...the 44 Magnum.
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  • gap1916
    The 45LC casing is not thick enough for +P loads in my opinion. The 44mag is the only way to go. I live in Griz country. I would not depend on any hand gun as a primary gun in Griz country. My 2 cents. [8D]
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  • FEENIX
    Another vote for the .44 Mag. I use .240 gr. JHP and .250gr Partition Gold on mine.

    Good luck!
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  • RCrosby
    Helpful too, to consider whether you're talking about hunting or self defense. Heavy .44 mag loads may, under the right conditions and in the right hands, be o.k., though marginal, for hunting the big bears. For defense, i.e. needing to STOP, not just kill, like the man said, file off the front sight.
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  • Mobuck
    Any of these will kill a bear up to around 450#. That would be my upper limit for the .357. How quick they do the job is the important issue. I have never faced a charging bear. My experience has been with cattle which had gone bonkers and were on the fight. We used to have a little business based on catching cattle that were on the fight, uncontrolable, or presenting a dangerous situation. On occasion, the last resort was a bullet. At that time, I was a lot more eager to participate in dangerous stunts than I am now so I would attempt to get the animal out into the open and then shoot at close range. Most of this was with a 22 and I never got any mad cow tracks on me. Even a 9mm will drop a medium sized bear on the spot with a brain hit but the application might be less than precise at which time, the bigger caliber will be more likely to turn or stop the animal. A flat nose semiwadcutter type bullet will be less likely to skid or deviate course when striking the heavy bones or skull of a bigger bear.
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  • tsr1965
    If I wanna take the fight out of an ill behaved bear, and do it right now, the minimum is a 44 Magnum with 300 grain hardcast bullets. The Federal Castcore, is a good one to start with, and Buffalo Bore, Double Tap ammo make some stellar stoppers too. One thing to keep in mind, is that a wild animal, especially all the species of bear, when cornered, threatened, or protecting their young are 100 times more dangerous than any human predator...you want to stop them now!
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  • mark christian
    So far we've covered the 9mm vs the .44, the .357 vs the .44, and the .45 vs the .44 and in each case the winner was the .44 Magnum.

    I think you have your answer.
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