51 replies to this topic

[rude robert]

this is the biggest handgun i own. im lking for vital shok 300 grain castcore or winchester platinum tips 250 grain. just in case a grizzle comes up which one do u think will be better any suggestions thx

[clampdaddy]

Definitley the 300 grainers. Cor-Bon makes a 320 load as well.

[Moe]

I'd ask myself this question..........Would I hunt grizzly bears with a 30-30? If you look at the charts you will see that the 44 mag doesn't have the power of a 30-30. When I lived in Alaska and carried a gun for bears, which I quit doing after living there for a few years, I carried a Mossberg Cruiser shotgun loaded with slugs. An air horn is a much better bear deterrent.

[ShooterJohn]

Moe knows!

[Stan]

The gun room manager I worked under for in the 80's (He also had lived in Alaska) said shotgun with slugs and dodn't leave it on the bank of a stream while fishing wear it!This load looks like it do some damage 3 in mag or 2 3/4 http://www.brennekeu.../startlink.html  super_sabot_neu.gif   28.93K   52 downloads

[Heywood]

go ahead and file off the front sight....so that when the bear shoves it up your...you know....it won't hurt as much. or here's another way to look at it... Unless ya got ice water in your veins and can take aim at a 650 lb grizz charging ya at 40+ MPH , You will be bear poop after 2 or 3 days. The rangers that shot the bear who supposedly ate Tim Treadwell (grizzly activist) " Ranger Ellis then states that he "perceived that the bear was well aware of their presence and was stalking them". Ranger Ellis, armed with a 40 cal. handgun begins to fire at about the same time rangers Gilliland and Dalrymple, who were each armed with 12 gauge shotguns loaded with slugs also begin to shoot at the bear. Ranger Ellis fires 11 times while rangers Gilliland and Dalrymple each fire 5 times, dropping the bear 12 feet away. "That was cutting it thin" stated Ellis. " That's some pretty big firepower just to stop a bear 12 feet from you... I vote for 12 ga.

[Moe]

Heywood..........To be fair, the bear that ate Treadwell and his girlfriend was a brown bear. Now, genetically, there's no difference between a brown bear and a grizzly bear but brown bears get a whole lot bigger. They really don't know why but it's thought that since brown bears eat salmon and have a richer diet they just get bigger. What they've determined is that any bear, excluding black bears, that is within 100 miles of the coast is a brown bear and all the rest are grizzlies. Still, a grizzly is a formidable animal and I certainly wouldn't ever want to tangle with one.On my first day of work when I moved to Alaska some guys asked me what I liked to do. I said I loved stream fishing. I was told that if I did much of that I would certainly encounter brown bears. They were right. I had a number of encounters and ironically I never had a gun when it happened. The first brown bear I saw was from the seat of an airplane. The bear was enormous and being the coward that I am I decided to make a pact with the bears. I will leave you alone if you leave me alone. I would never hunt bears. It must've worked because I'm still here but I had some frightening moments over the years. I may get a fact or two wrong as it was a long time ago but the gist of the story is correct. This news was in the Juneau Empire and on the news my first Fall in Juneau.A few guys were up in Berner's Bay hunting moose. One of them shot a nice bull so he went and got his buddies to help him dress and quarter it and pack it out. When they got back there was a brown bear on the kill. The guy who shot the moose decided to try and run the bear off of his kill so he approached the bear hollering and waving his arms. The bear charged him so he shot it with his 300 Win mag. The bear kept coming at him so he shot it again. The bear knocked him down and while the bear was tearing off his legs he shot it in the head point blank. His buddies also started shooting the bear which had to be riddled with bullet holes. The bear ran off. Later, a party of troopers and wildlife people searched for the bear but they never found it. That's how tough a riled brown bear can be. I'd far rather avoid a bear than to meet one face to face. And if I had to encounter a bear I would arm myself with something far more powerful than the most powerful handgun. An old time Alaskan told me that in any bear encounter all you really need is a 22...............to shoot yourself in the head with to avoid all that pain the bear is going to cause while it's killing you.BTW......Treadwell wasn't really an activist. He was a moron. The bears that he was supposedly protecting were in a park where it was illegal to hunt the bears, anyway. He overstayed his legal time to be there and was asked to leave many times. He avoided the park rangers in order to do what he was doing. If you ask any Alaskan outdoors type they will tell you that he was an idiot that got exactly what he was begging for. You screw with the bull you're going to get the horn. The type of people that support Treadwell are exactly what's wrong in this country. City people who know nothing about wildlife except what they've seen on the Disney Channel wanting to reintroduce wolves, protect coyotes and cougars, etc. People who are so far removed from their food source and the real world that they have no idea of what's really going on in the wild.

[ShooterJohn]

This is my Bear country setup! I ride inside and so far it packs enough punch to do the job.

[mac]

Heywood..........To be fair, the bear that ate Treadwell and his girlfriend was a brown bear. Now, genetically, there's no difference between a brown bear and a grizzly bear but brown bears get a whole lot bigger. They really don't know why but it's thought that since brown bears eat salmon and have a richer diet they just get bigger. What they've determined is that any bear, excluding black bears, that is within 100 miles of the coast is a brown bear and all the rest are grizzlies. Still, a grizzly is a formidable animal and I certainly wouldn't ever want to tangle with one.

I totally agree about the Treadwell comment here. My wife and I watched the "Grizzly Man" a couple times on the Discovery Channel and my wife even laughed that this guy was an idiot. For people like him who try and say they are protecting animals he sure messed with their lives - foxes, bears, etc. These animals were already protected in the park, so why go in there? Dumb, shear dumb.

[Old timer]

[Moe]

John....that may just do the trick. The best feature is that you can hide inside the thing. lolI wish I could print pictures and show videos of the things I've seen in Alaska. Pictures and events inside my head. Awesome stuff and it includes both brown and black bears. I was blessed to be able to get out and do the things I did and see the things I saw. Having a Piper Super Cruiser on floats available helped, too.

[ShooterJohn]

I know what you mean about things we've seen and done. I have always been a somewhat singular hunter being a cameraman full time for work didn't want to be bothered while out enjoying myself. It would have been nice having some of the stuff documented though.

[Moe]

So, John.........have you found any fur friendly loads for that thing?? The guys over at coyotegods.com are dying to know.

[ShooterJohn]

I think I'd be asked to leave for good over there if I posted that.

[45Colt]

I totally agree about the Treadwell comment here. My wife and I watched the "Grizzly Man" a couple times on the Discovery Channel and my wife even laughed that this guy was an idiot. For people like him who try and say they are protecting animals he sure messed with their lives - foxes, bears, etc. These animals were already protected in the park, so why go in there? Dumb, shear dumb.

Animal Planet has,or had Treadwell's series.I've read some comments in the Treadwell's wanna-be forums.Those city critters want to be just like him.............STUPID.So,I'd say let them be bear food.No searching,no killing bears.Might collect their stuff that was packed in-picking up the trash,sending the cleanup bill to the next-of-kin,is all.A way to clean the gene pool.Then,JUST maybe,they'll learn.Not all of them.

[Thumper Dunker]

I think I'd be asked to leave for good over there if I posted that.

You mean you can't get that in a 17 cal ?

[rude robert]

thx for the info i know the 44 for grizzle is not the best (maybe for shooting me in the head okay), not sure if i want to carry the 12gauge along with the 30 06.. now, my friend tells me that his pastor was hunting close to my friends house, the pastor not really too sure where he was but. the pastor heard a low growl what he believed was a mountain lion. so, my friend went out the where the pastor thought he was and found two different size cat tracks lol. i hope i dont see the bear for sure. lol. least not close. ofcourse being 40 miles from canada the forest is very thick. maybe if attacked by a bear it would happen fast. my luck thought id be awake until he tears my head off.

[usahunter]

RR, no disrespect to previous replys to your post but opinions are like butts , everybody has one and their's is always the best. your .44 beat's the hell out of using your teeth and nail's to defend yourself, just recently a guy killed a charging grizzley at about 11 paces with his .44 so in a pinch it's possible, that being said of course its not your best defense weapon, almost all of your survival will depend on your ability to stand your ground calmly and take care of business, you'll have time to pee your pant's later , it's no fun hunting in grizzly country if you're afraid, a healthy respect for the big bear's is very nessesary but fear will only cloud your judgement and maybe get you killed. so my advice is if you are going to take the .44 buy a couple of boxes of ammo and become one with it so that in a pinch your reaction will be automatic and hopefully deadly, good luck, Bill

[Steve C]

I pretty much agree with this post. I would give the nod toward the Ruger. There are some reasons that i think it is better - though I like the look of the Smith better. I can go into detail if you like, just PM me.

[rude robert]

thx for the replies guys. i feel better with the 44 then the 357 i carried last year lol

[Steve C]

I believe the .357 would be better on fur ... and also better if the bear shoved it up, well never mind... LOL

[Shoot-it]

Be sure to use a hard cast from what I read it's the best bullet .+1 for corbon they are +p to good luck. I just watched a show called bear attacks, 2 people sat in a protective enclosure and talked about bear attacks what to do and not do while big browns checked them out . They where on the Russian River.

[Steve C]

Garrett makes some great stuff from what i hear. I haven't had a chance to try it, but I've heard it is hard to find anything better. If cost is any indicator, it should be excellent. :-)

[Iron Worker]

Do you have a permit for that?

[Iron Worker]

Biggest bullet out of my 44mag was a 320 gr Beartooth at 1275 FPS. They're shooting a "Super hard cast" 330gr at 1400 FPS. Any one know who makes a Super hard cast bullet ?

[Stan]

Have a lookhttp://www.castperfo.......9&total=10544/320gr. wide long nose gas check sized to .430 nose .425 meplat .340Bullets are cast from virgin alloy and heat-treated to a Brinnel hardness of 18-21. 100 Count 38.95  44_mag_bullet.jpg   2.73K   52 downloads

[clampdaddy]

I'd ask myself this question..........Would I hunt grizzly bears with a 30-30? If you look at the charts you will see that the 44 mag doesn't have the power of a 30-30.........

Energy charts don't mean much when it comes to bone breaking power. A 22-250 will list as having more foot ponds of energy than a 45-70 but that doesn't make it a better bear stopper. Big heavy bullets will get the job done regaurdless of what papper ballistics say. I convinced a buddy of this when he claimed that a 180gr partition bullet from his 30-06 would penetrate deeper than anything I could fire from my .44 mag. We both shot into a rolled up canvas fire hose (pretty tough stuff) at 50 yards and a 300gr federal cast-core from my wheel gun outpenetrated his beloved 180gr '06 partition load.

[45Colt]

+1.

[Iron Worker]

Bro it depends on what your shooting at. Next get your self a piece of 1/4" inch plate steel. 44 Mag will dent it. 30-06 will completely pierce it at 400+ yards

[clampdaddy]

Bro it depends on what your shooting at. Next get your self a piece of 1/4" inch plate steel. 44 Mag will dent it. 30-06 will completely pierce it at 400+ yards

Good thing bears don't wear 1/4" steel plate. Steel is defeated by velocity more than foot pounds of energy. In some of P.O Ackleys tests he found that a .220 swift will penetrate actual 1/4 military armor when a 270 would leave a smudge of lead and an '06 AP round will only put a ding in it. Of all my guns, my 25-06 with 117gr bullets @ 300fps would make the deepest crater in my 1" thick swinging target. On the otherhand, a 500gr slug at around 1800 fps from my 45-110 sharps knocks over the 80 pound target like a freight train.