anti bear rounds for lcr .357 mag?

You'd be better off with hardcast heavies even if you have to amp down the velocity in handloads. There are heavy metal jacketed hunting bullets for safari rifles, but ordinary FMJ's are just for keeping the barrels free from lead. They don't do much to improve terminal performance.

You'd be about as well off carrying 9mm as a 357 with a barrel that short regardless of the ammo used. A similar sized 9mm shooting 124 gr bullets will be faster than a 2" 357 shooting 125 gr bullets.

If I were using a 357 in bear country I'd have at least a 4" barrel and use some of the 200 gr bullets offered by Double Tap

http://www.doubletapammo.net/index.php?route=product/product&path=303_331&product_id=337

In your gun, I think you are on the right track. The hotter loads wouldn't be pretty in such a small gun and a mid weight 158 gr FMJ might be the best compromise.

anti bear rounds for lcr .357 mag?

Click to expand...

First off, which kind of bear? are they black bears, or Grizzly? Big big difference.

Second, the LCR is hardly a bear gun anyway. Snubbies can be accurate but it's tough enough to shoot accurately at a stationary target at a known distance with them. Shooting a fast moving target, that is made up of dense bone, muscle, teeth and claws that is baring (awful pun intended) down on you... C'mon. Besides, a .357mag out of a barrel that short...I wouldn't trust it on even a black bear. Like jmr40, I'd think of .357 mag in that role as being a 4"bbl proposition.

Besides, as we have debated many many times here in the past, there is bear spray, which I would rather use than count on getting accurate rapid shots out of my LCR to stop a charging bear.

Wrong tool for the job.

I would want a minimum of a 4 inch barrel, and preferably a 6-8 inch barrel in a .357 magnum. My choice would be a .44 Magnum or bigger loaded with the hottest, heaviest hard-cast lead I can get my grubby meat-hooks on. I would not want to trust my life to a lightweight carry revolver when a black bear is charging me, much less a grizzly. If you can not get a good full size revolver then carry Bear Spray and learn to use it. I can't even think of how bad my hand would hurt after shooting just 5 rounds of a hard-cast hunting load from a lightweight snubbie. That would be paramount to self-inflicted torture.

Any defensive load in a .357 will work for black bears if needed. Brown and Polar bears are a whole different story. Somewhere I have a picture of my great grandfather at a logging camp in northern MN posing over 2 dead black bears with a .32 S&W lemon squeezer. Your average black bear is no bigger than your average human, and probably a lot less likely to attack you.

.357 is ok, but you will wish you had at least a .44 mag or you will be bear poop in a few hours. maybe a .454 Casull would be even better.

Bear and LCR used in the same sentence? Last time I was in bear country I carried a 44mag loaded with 300gr pills and I felt woefully under-gunned, LOL.

Well, well, another Bear thread but this time a snub nose revolver is thrown in!
(breaking out the popcorn)

.357 Yes. 2" barrel no. LCR is a great firearm but it has its niche and that is for putting holes in 2 legged critters, not 4.

BEAR SPRAY.
Or, a clean human mind loaded with a sharper awareness of your surroundings over a good charge of "Stay far away from the big stuff with teeth."

There have been cases where 3x .300 WM didn't stop a bear in attack-mode. A gent with a .454 Casull needed to empty the mag after quick drawing and pretty much spray-praying, and the only reason the bear dropped is one of the shots managed to slip into the brain-box. One of the largest grizzlies dropped to a .22LR because it's what the victim had on them as the bear came down on top (through the mouth and again into the cranial cavity)
The "what caliber/gun/bullet" case has been beaten ad-nauseaum across the forums repeatedly, and the only sage advice I've seen, and heard repeatedly work, is Bear Spray - there's a reason guides and wildlife control officers recommend it before firearms. Not to mention discharging a firearm and worse wounding/killing a bear in a national park makes getting attacked seem like a worthwhile alternative...

Buffalo Bore makes a 158gr +p cast bullet load specifically for this type of use calling it their "Outdoorsman" load. They also show actual velocities from short barrel snubbies such as the LCR that get right at 1000 fps with the load. It seems to recreate the famed 38/44 loads quite nicely.

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=291

My KLCR w/ CT grips is my constant carry piece because it is so easy to have at all times. While it might not be the ultimate as bear repellent, it beats a sharp stick, especially if using a quality load such as the Buffalo Bore.

Closing this, you may PM me or start your own new thread with the following
1. Where are you going that you need to shoot a bear with a LCR
2. Why you are only carrying an LCR
3. What kind of bear you are shooting
4. How often you shoot said LCR and show how accurate you are with it.

optional
Do you have any other guns?