Need some input from you experts on a good bear...
gun for a woman little experience with firearms. My mother lives in Grizzly country (N. ID) and the last time she went for a walk, she had an encounter with a black bear. It scared her pretty good and now she wants a good carry gun to take with her on walks. She really needs to get back to walking regularly for health reasons. She wants a snubnosed revolver, but I recommended something with a 4" barrel, for recoil and accuracy reasons. I recommended a Taurus Titanium in .41 Mag with a 4" ported barrel. She has fired a .44 Mag before, but I think it was a little too much for her. My little brothers have quite a few guns, but they are all too cumbersome for her to carry. What would you guys recommend...would you opt for the 2 1/2" barrel over the 4"???...should she go with stainless for a little more weight, to help with the recoil. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated!
Eric
All American Arms Company
Veteran Owned and Operated
Eric
All American Arms Company
Veteran Owned and Operated
0
-
Eric...
You mentioned two types af bears... "Grizzly" and "Black". Which one of the two does she plan to shoot[?] If the answer is "Grizzly", then you had better teach her how to handle a BIG wheel gun. My personal choice is a Freedom Arms 454 Casull with a 7-1/2" ported barrel, loaded with some of those nasty 300 grainers... anything less, and she is likely to be bear food. Now, if she is in the habit of getting up close and personal with a "Black" bear, a .357 will suffice.
Bert H.
Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!0 -
A Hand gun aginst a Grizzly will just make it very mad. Even the very best at hand gun hunting will tell you bring something bigger. I recomend a rifle in 30.06 or a 4570 guide gun and practice practice practice. My 2 cents [8D]
Greg
Former Marine
A N G L I C O0 -
Look at a Win or Marlin 44 mag rifle. Much better for your purpose and not much harder to carry. Using that much power in a smaller handgun requires a lot of practice. I have a 4 5/8 barrel Ruger single action and although I'm an experienced shooter I have to really concentrate to shoot it properly.
Mobuck0 -
Whoa night!!!! Like those guys said, unless she can land a few headshots, the grizz is gonna keep coming. If you think about it logically, the grizz weighs 1000lbs and knows nothing about pain. Their skin is way thick for the climate they live in. They duke it out between each other all the time. I wouldn't even feel comfortable using a .44mag. I would go with the .454 casull. Course the little lady will be put on her arse trying to fire it accurately
WordBorn!!0 -
What about one of the small pump shotguns loaded with light recoil slugs or buckshot? Lots of power and shots in a package that's just as small as any levergun 0 -
to get something that is the right size it will be big and heavy. Get the bigest she can handle and teach shot placment. a little gun is better than no gun. I would say if it is a little gun get one with a big report. like i said anything is better than nothing and if she cant hit with it thats no good either. A lot of rangers use guns with rubber bullets to scare off bears so they ass. that with people so anything that stings will give you a better chance. But for the grizzly a 500 s&w 440 grain bullet but thats not a carry gun for just anyone 0 -
Very hard topic to approach. Lots of good input so far. I fear that a handgun with a large enough round to adequately dissuade grizzly bears is going to be too much for Mom to shoot with any certainty. A pump shotgun with slugs would likely make for a good bear persuader but my personnal choice would be a large bore lever gun. I fear that penetration of a 12 ga. slug may be less than a guaranteed event. Blackies will no doubt be well affected but a Brown? I fear the issue would be in doubt...nothing worse than an angry, injured large Brown bear.
A 44 Mag, or better a 454 Casull would be in my view on the low side of adequate to the task as well but would suffice if she cannot handle what I would consider to be one of the best (those who know me from the forum will attest to my love of this gun/round as well...kind of a one trick pony in this regard I guess!) for this purpose...a Marlin 1895G Guide Gun in 45/70. It is light enough to carry with a decent sling and with the 10 ports delivers a flat enough recoil to provide a quick re-acquisition of the intended target. These are by no means a light recoiling rifle, but one that recoils less ( the aforementioned 44 mag and 454 Casull) may not prevent her from becomming bear fodder.
Is there any way that she could be accompanied by someone on these walks that is capable of carrying such a weapon with more facility? Not trying to be a jerk by saying this but sounds like Mom could use the company anyway on these walks and it might put her mind at ease. Either way, I think the Guide Gun would be an excellent choice...perhaps she could learn to handle it with practice.
"When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
"Power corrupts...Absolute power corrupts absolutely"(Descartes?)
"History is written by winners"(Patton)
"You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
"There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)0 -
ECC;
if she is set on carrying, look for her a 10mm auto with as high cap. mag. as possible. I fear this will be all the gun she can handle
( & no real pipsqueak either )
that said, make REALLY, REALLY, REALLY sure she understands the importance of NO smell to attract the bears. after cooking, change clothes, wash off all food smells, and skip all perfumed products including lotions & hair spray.
get her a small portable radio or tape player with an external speaker ( no head sets ) & play it as she walks. most bear encounters can be avoided if they know you are coming with enough time to avoid you.
ladies are at more risk in bear country than the guys because of their cycle, during such times extra caution is needed.
"all I really need to know I learned in kindergarten" Robert Fulghum
anyone who says "nobody needs a full auto" has never been in front of a brown bear charge0 -
Her best bet might be a defense aerosol (i.e. pepper spray specially designed for bears). As far as a gun goes, I'd recommend a side by side 12 gauge, loaded with 3.5" 00 buckshot in each barrel (if you can find one to take the loads). It will kick like a mule, but it's about the only thing I would trust to bring down a monster bruin, especially if it is a grizzly. Besides, the .50 BAR weighs 26 pounds, so I think that might be a little heavy, especially for someone walking. 0 -
Eastwood...Did you mean a .30 calber BAR or the .50 Caliber M2HB? I'm also not too sure that 00 Buck would be the best thing in the world for adequate penetration on a Grizzly/Brown bear...they do have pretty thick hides after all! If you were cutting loose from 3 feet sure, but I personnaly would have died of heart failure by that time for sure! HA!HA! Anyway, the Guide Gun will deliver about the same shooter recoil and give you a few more in the hole to boot! Just my honest opinion on this, no insult intended.
Cussedemgun has several suggestions that would be well heeded here I think. All bears are very much so scent driven so all things mentioned are very important. I have heard horror stories about large bears regarding pepper spray as Binaca but as a part of a series of line of defense it may not be a bad idea. These animals are after all somewhat unpredictable so a single approach might be less than desireable! A 10mm though? I'm not too sure even 10 of those will deter a 1000 lb bear, althoough as mentioned, it is NO ONES idea of a Mouse cartridge!! Anyway, as mentioned, lots of these suggestions I feel have good merit!
"When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
"Power corrupts...Absolute power corrupts absolutely"(Descartes?)
"History is written by winners"(Patton)
"You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
"There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)0 -
I was referring to the Barrett .50 that runs $5 a shell and costs $5000 used at a gun shop. And you make a good point--I wouldn't recommend trying to shoot a grizzly bear, but if it charges, guides in Alaska are known to carry 00 buck in a 3" shell, so draw your own conclusions from that. 0 -
Point Made!! Sure hoped you weren't refering to a Browning Automatic Rifle...although that WOULD slow them down a tick! Good point about the guides, but my heart failure (and UNDERWEAR failure too!) and proximity statement still stands! You would have to be pretty close I fear! Oh yeah, by the way, I guess the Barret WOULD plant them pretty well too...kinda sounds like it outweighs MOM though eh? LOL!
"When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
"Power corrupts...Absolute power corrupts absolutely"(Descartes?)
"History is written by winners"(Patton)
"You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
"There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)0 -
My dad and uncle live in Alaska and when they go to work in the field they always carry a .44 magnum. Now with a grizz, that will only deter unless you land a few in the head. Bears are serious bizz. However, if you unload 10 shots of 10mm or 5 or 6 shots of .44 and the bear is still coming at you...it was meant to be your unlucky day. To be on the safe side, I would have someone accompany me on the walk with a rifle or learn to shoot a .308 or 12 gauge slug with very good accuracy. There is no playing with grizzes...they are mean mothers. I would love to think that my USP .45 could deter them but in all honesty, it would piss them off more than do anything else. A black bear might be another story.
You may want to teach her the basics of bears...ie if she EVER sees one with cubs, she MUST get the fuch out of there in a hurry, no matter what type of bear. They will protect with the greatest ferocity. Ive seen too many horror stories from hikers and bike riders that have encountered bears.
See if you can talk to more folks from Alaska or somewhere up north where the issue is more understood. See here in New Mexico where I live, the only trouble is the Black Bear and they are small enough to handle.
WordBorn!!0 -
quote:Originally posted by ECC
gun for a woman little experience with firearms. My mother lives in Grizzly country (N. ID) and the last time she went for a walk, she had an encounter with a black bear. It scared her pretty good and now she wants a good carry gun to take with her on walks. She really needs to get back to walking regularly for health reasons. Not meaning to be a smart a$$, but she really needs to find another area to walk about in. Try a health club or an excerise bike in the home. A little woman with no experience does not need to be carrying a lightweight snub nose .44 mag or .454 Casull. These rounds are not for the uninitiated shooter. If she must carry, then the S&W 329 in .44 mag is a good choice.
Boomer
"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as it is by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed"
. and the antithesis to this philosophy was uttered by Bill Clinton "I smoked it, but I didn't inhale."[V]
NRA Life Member0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
14 comments