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ammo for bear question earlier

ColtDoctor
I always take my SAA .357 fishing. It stays loaded with 158 gr SWC just in case those pesky Blacks want my fish. One time my buddies Crockett, and Winter were with me and I was the brundt of the jokes all night after setting up camp. "Didn't know Zebco was makin' 'em in .357 now" and on and on... I was a real wussie for needin' to bring a shooter fishing etc...
So at O'dark thirty we rose to go after the "black monsters". These Brook Trout in the high mountain streams were 26+ inches!! Down the trial we went as the sun started to rise. About a quarter mile down was a black spot that seemed to be moving. I had the great pleasure of watchin' Crockett and Winter recant their earlier remarks. The Black Bear kept comon closer, and closer. The wind was in our faces so he had not scented us and just kept on movin' twords us. I was really enjoying this now as my pards were becoming visibly shakin. "You better get your gun out"!..."Aren't you going to fire a warning shot"? This was getting good! I waited and waited until this boar was around 40 yards away (he never lifted his head and saw us) then I raised my arms up over my head and let out my best blood curdling Sasquatch roar. Oh you should have seen that bear jump sideways up off the trail and crash thru the brambles high tailin' it out of there!!! I'm still laughing and my buddies don't give me bababooey about packin' while fishin' anymore. That bear spit out a mouthful of mushrooms he had been grazin on. Left a nice little pile of 'em right where he lept off the trail. No wonder he never looked up.
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Comments

12 comments

Date Votes
  • He Dog
    Some would suggest your .357 is a little small for bear. Some would say, and have, that SSA isn't necessarily the most intelligent choice for bear. Personally, depending upon my mood, I take either a double action .357 or an SA .45 Colt. Both of mine are Rugers, but basically I guess I am not any smarter than you. Fun ain't it?
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  • ColtDoctor
    The .357 is on the small side. Old Keith said it was the smallest one should consider for stickin' in their ear. I just got to old to wrastle with 'em anymore.
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  • hunterX
    I believe it was the Alaska game/fish people who determined that the 38spl was enough to punch threw a polar bears skull into the brain pan.
    There has been accounts of bears , relatively big bears stopped by the 9mm and 45acp.
    If carrying the 357 was the only option I had , the heaviest hard cast bullets would be my pick. Despite smaller calibers being used, bigger ones can't hurt and I used to catch flak from 2 fellas about "carryin that hog leg" but it changed from bustin my stones to asking where I got it, etc after they were pushed about 300yds threw the woods by a habituated black bear when they were only armed with bows/arrows. Double action wheelguns are recommended alot because in alot of cases the person never knew the bear was there until it was sitting on them and with a double action wheelie in cases like that all you need to do is pull the gun if possible and start pulling the trigger and it is a wide held belief that doing that with a single action wheelgun is alot harder when the bear is munching on your skull. Any gun esp handgun will be too small in your hands if you square off against a bear and even tho they have been stopped by lesser rds , I see no reason to not take the biggest one you got.
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  • rsnyder55
    My personal carry gun when fishing is usually a 3" N frame 44magnum. It is short enough where it clears the holster fairly quickly and if the bullet misses, the flame will singe their fur.
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  • beantownshootah
    On this topic, I've read accounts of BLACK bear being killed with: .40SW, .357 magnum, .38 special, 9mm luger, .22 LR (from a rifle), and a POCKETKNIFE!

    I've also read one account of a polar bear being killed with a .357 magnum revolver (and those are essentially the same size as brown bear).

    In all these cases, the shooter used what they had available, and it worked.

    Apparently, the killed bears didn't know that they weren't supposed to die from a measly pistol round, but were instead supposed to shrug off the shots like nothing happened and shove the shooters gun where the sun don't shine, etc.

    Of course bigger is better, and there are just as many stories where these sorts of rounds did NOT work (particularly on the much larger Brown bears). If you need a cheap and effective anti-bear gun, its hard to beat a 12-gauge shotgun stuffed with slugs.

    But the point is, what appear to be marginal calibers *might* work in a pinch, and if that's all you've got, they are surely a lot better than nothing.

    On the .357 magnum, as an aside, Buffalo Bore claims 1375 fps for its 180 grain hard cast rounds from a 4" revolver barrel, and I actually believe that number.

    As comparison, Federal claims 1490 fps from its 180 grain .44 magnum "power shok" hunting loads. Now obviously, this isn't anywhere near the full potential of the .44 magnum, which can also take much heavier bullets, but it does give some sense of how powerful these super-heavy .357 loads can get.
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  • givette
    Buffalo bore: aren't the .357, .44 Rem. mag and the .45 Colt rounds loaded with rifles in mind? Isn't there a "user caution" posted for pistols? I believe B/B also has a separate listing for mid-power loads (by mid-power I mean loaded to SAAMI max) for use in pistols. 'Zat so? Best, Joe
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  • He Dog
    There is a caution on the .45 Colt for the New model Vaqueros with the smaller frame (like mine [:(]), but other pistols can handle it. Buffalo Bore specifically states The .357 180 grain is safe in steel revolvers, but the recoil may cause crimp jump with light alloy frames.
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  • iwannausername
    357 wiht you is better than the 500 S&W at home.


    Personally, if I were to *have* to go to someplace bear-ish and go fishing tomorrow, I only have 3 guns that would do the job - FAL, shotgun, and Ruger 44 carbine. I'd probably take the FAL. :)
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  • rsnyder55
    If I had the choice of a rifle, I would not get one chambered for a pistol round, I'd probably go with a Marlin Guide Gun in 45-70.
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  • ColtDoctor
    Yes indeed my friends. Don't run the buffalo bore ammo thru yer Colt! Gecherself a Ruger or good DA for the powerful stuff.
    We did run into a pair of Grizzlies in Idaho a couple years back. Me and my .357 went and found another alpine lake to fish at...
    MW
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by givette
    Buffalo bore: aren't the .357, .44 Rem. mag and the .45 Colt rounds loaded with rifles in mind? Isn't there a "user caution" posted for pistols? I believe B/B also has a separate listing for mid-power loads (by mid-power I mean loaded to SAAMI max) for use in pistols. 'Zat so? Best, Joe

    No. Per its website, Buffalo Bore ammo is deliberately designed to function in any modern gun in good working condition. In other words, its high power ammo is all specifically loaded to max SAAMI specs, but not higher. There probably ARE guns out there than really can't handle max-SAAMI spec pressure loads. . .but again, they shouldn't fall into the "modern guns in good working order" category.

    Buffalo Bore also lists velocity data for the various loads from pistols. It wouldn't do that if the loads weren't intended for use in pistols:

    http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=102

    No (see above), and

    No, though BB does offer a special .357 load for snubnose revolvers, that is reduced in power compared to its max/heavy load.
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  • partisan
    This problem is why so many people carry a 12 gauge pump, loaded with slugs. If you can hit them, they most defineately will fall!
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