Let's talk bear guns for a moment

[CraigC]

So a 12 gauge is a .22 as for bear? Are you kidding? He also had his service pistol, a Glock 22 in .40 S&W. Geeze guys, somehow I think you guys think a 12 gauge is flicking marbles at the bears.

You obviously completely missed the point I made. Why are people so emotionally invested in this myth that they can't even entertain the possibility that that's what it is?

How many 12ga shotguns are used for dangerous game in Africa?

 

[dbmjr1]

Bella Twin, 67, killed the world record bear with a single shot .22 LR.
While I'd prefer a 12ga, I think any firearm you choose will serve your needs, so long as you are as proficient with it as Bella Twin was with that little grouse rifle.

 

[red rick]

This thread just kind of makes me sad..................

It did get hijacked bad with a 12ga. slug gun , when all the OP wanted was a recommendation for a good revolver for a bear encounter .

 

[Deaf Smith]

You obviously completely missed the point I made. Why are people so emotionally invested in this myth that they can't even entertain the possibility that that's what it is?

How many 12ga shotguns are used for dangerous game in Africa?

Africa? Sorry but I thought those bears were in places like Alaska and Wyoming. Do they hunt Elephant in Alaska now?

See it's bears were are talking about, not things in Africa (but lots of professional hunters in Africa do use shotguns to hunt down client wounded lions and leopards.)

Deaf

 

[Deaf Smith]

It did get hijacked bad with a 12ga. slug gun , when all the OP wanted was a recommendation for a good revolver for a bear encounter .

Well no, the OP said, "So let's talk about bear guns for moment." Sure a revolver is an option, but there are lots of options.

Deaf

 

[GRIZ22]

And what were his choices? If someone starts trying to break in the back door of my home and I grab a Henry .22LR because it's the closest firearm to me and use effectively to stop the threat, does that mean it's the best choice for the job? Uh, no.

Outside of his sidearm the sources I found list the AR15 (5.56), 870 (12ga), and MP5 (40S&W) as standard issue for Alaska Troopers. Add to this the NPS and USFS use 12 ga slug guns for bears. I also saw a show about that village in Canada that gets polar bears walking the streets all the time. Seems everyone there had slug guns to deal with the bears if needed.

It would seem to me that any one of those groups I mentioned have much more experience dealing with bears than just about 99.9999% of the people on this forum. They seem confident a 12 ga slug will do the job. It's also cheaper and easier to shoot than any big magnum handgun.

A heavy bullet 44, 454, 500, etc magnum may give greater penetration than a 12 GA slug. So will a 105 howitzer but a 12 GA slug seems to do nicely for most as far as bears go.

 

[DM~]

The other day I saw a PH going after a wounded leopard, guess what HE was carrying?

Here's a hint, it starts with 12ga... I'm pretty sure leopards are dangerous game in Africa...

12ga with slugs is VERY good big bear medicine!

Heck, I even saw my dad kill a cow with one, that should make it qualify right there FOR SURE! lol

DM

 

[Phaedrus/69]

Bella Twin, 67, killed the world record bear with a single shot .22 LR.
While I'd prefer a 12ga, I think any firearm you choose will serve your needs, so long as you are as proficient with it as Bella Twin was with that little grouse rifle.

If I remember the specifics of that case she sure didn't drop a charging bear. Seems she crawled under a wood pile to get out of the bear's reach. As it rooted around for her she shot it upwards through the roof of the mouth into the brain. Again, if I remember the details (read the story 25 years ago) she waited a good long time before crawling out after which she fired every round she still had left into the bear's skull (something like 15 more cartridges).

You don't need any permit to open carry a handgun in MT whether you're a resident or not, and only need a permit to carry concealed when you're in city limits, resident or not.

https://dojmt.gov/features/frequently-asked-firearms-questions/

The woman killed recently by a black bear was up in Alaska but it's not clear how or when the bear spray was deployed. There have been two bear fatalities up here in NW MT in the past couple of years and Glacier National Park has LOTS of big bears.

I know a permit isn't needed for MT but I have to drive through a lot of SD and WY to get there, and I plan to spend a day or two in ID as well. Bears aside the greatest danger is almost always my fellow man so carrying my CCW sidearm is a no-brainer!

I remember very well reading about the person killed at Glacier two or three years back. Two people in Yellowstone, too, dragged out of their tents in the night. There aren't many bear attacks but bears do have my respect. I've been around bears many times but only once was I within ten feet of one. It was in Manitoba where I was spending a week and a half in a cabin at a fishing camp. Woke up in the morning to get breakfast started for the me and my dad and looked out on the porch to see the biggest black dog I'd ever seen leaning up against the screen door looking in. I put on my glasses and noticed that was a black bear, not a dog! The owner of the lodge had a big live trap in camp the day I rolled in so I shouldn't have been surprised yet no one expects to find a bear knocking on their door!

 

[roscoe]

I am late to the party, but I always thought the advantage of the Blackhawk was that it was 1/2 pound lighter and $350 cheaper than the Redhawk. That was why I bought mine. I decided I loved it later.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Mom, Dad, there's a bear in my room !

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/wil...nto-sleeping-boys-bedroom-in-south-anchorage/

That happened not far from my house.

 

[george d dennis]

I have a Redhawk 44 that I got for my birthday around 1985? Its built like a tank. It might be 5 1/2 inch
I did change the grips to rubber non finger grove. I will never get rid of it. One great pistol. Carried it in Maine in a shoulder holster years ago.

 

[MaxP]

See it's bears were are talking about, not things in Africa (but lots of professional hunters in Africa do use shotguns to hunt down client wounded lions and leopards.)

Deaf

For leopard yes some, not so much for lion. There's a sizable difference in stature between the two animals. They also use buckshot not slugs. Just to clarify.

 

[CraigC]

It would seem to me that any one of those groups I mentioned have much more experience dealing with bears than just about 99.9999% of the people on this forum. They seem confident a 12 ga slug will do the job.

Once more, no one is arguing that slugs are ineffective. Only dispelling the myth that they are more effective than a properly loaded big bore revolver or rifle. As expected, there's lots of anecdotal nonsense but nothing of substance.

It's also cheaper and easier to shoot than any big magnum handgun.

That is why they're so popular.

Africa? Sorry but I thought those bears were in places like Alaska and Wyoming. Do they hunt Elephant in Alaska now?

See it's bears were are talking about, not things in Africa (but lots of professional hunters in Africa do use shotguns to hunt down client wounded lions and leopards.)

Deaf

That's a deflection. If the 12ga slug was such the Hammer of Thor, wouldn't they be using them on the dark continent? They would. They're not.

Nobody uses shotguns for lion. Some do use a shotgun with buckshot to go in after wounded leopard because they're lightning quick, can attack from cover from any direction and vicious when wounded. We're talking a cat that rarely goes over 200lbs. Not an 800-1200lb brown bear.

And yet, a 12ga is not the Alaskan guide's choice either. Most of them are using big bore leverguns. Phil Shoemaker said he'd rather have a .30-06 than any shotgun.

 

[MrBorland]

Because the OP asked about revolvers in the Revolver forum. Lets not derail this into yet another pointless and off-topic revolver/semiauto thread. There are too many of those already.

We've gone off the rails on a revolver/shotgun veer, and I think 5 pages of "what gun for bears" is enough anyway.