I have puchased AND reloaded my own ammo, so I STILL say the 44 has way more stopping power than a 357.

Heck, even a 41 mag has more power than a 357!

 

Well everyone, I went down to my local gun experts and asked them which they would take for a bear gun, a 357 or a .44, I got 3 out of 5 guys say they would take a .44. I then preceded to ask them why and they let me have it. I have never been explained before that half of the story, the "going big" side that is. Yah it all made since before but I never had some of the analogies they gave me. One guy asked me which gun I would take on a tank with. He said a .50 BMG or a ???(smaller bullet same fpe). I said well the .50 BMG because it would leave a bigger hole. He left it at that. I can see where you guys are coming from and it is all fine and good, can anyone see where I am coming from??? Will anyone admitt that a 357 magnum is plenty of gun to take out a bear, ESPECIALLY one the size of a dog like mentioned in this thread? And that it might be a good idea to carry something alittle more managable to get yourself out of a pickle?

 

A bear is a pretty tough animal, and I MYSELF have never seen one that is the size of a dog unless it was a cub.

In MY opinion, you need more knockdown power that is available with the 44 than the 357.

ENERGY is what you want transferred to the bear, and the 44 has a lot more of it!

A 44 doesn't have to be that unmanageable, and if confronted by a bear, I seriously doubt I would even feel the recoil from a 44.
Your adrenaline would be so high that you more than likely wouldn't even notice the gun going off.

Thanks for at least being honest about what the "gun" guys said.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Could you knock down a bear with a 357? Possibly. But you could NOT do it CONSISTENTLY. THAT is the key.

Sure, I could probably kill a bear with a 22 if I shot him through the eye, but I certainly wouldn't want to rely on it!

 

Well, up until your last post I was beginning to think you just fell off a turnup truck, but you proved me wrong by addmitting your mistakes, that takes bigger ***** than I usually have!!

I WOULD carry my 357 with some rowdy loads for a bear or whatever, afterall, I own one right?? in normal situations that gun will do fine on a bear. but a .44 is better. that was the point. especially in an attack situation where stopping power is crucial. the only time you will see that is when a black bear is in desperation mode though. i.e. a momma separated from cubs, or hunting with dogs. there is nothing wrong with a .357 mag cartridge.

 

I have loads worked up for each gun so they both are about as hot as you can get them "accurately". Both will do the trick but I like to carry the 357 because the .44 bucks so bad you almost cant hold onto the dang thing. Especially under situations where you might have cold hands or something. PS you guys rule!!! And thanks for getting me into all this so I would go investigate more!

 

Oh.
My.
God.

Hi, i'm new- and I realize this is a helluva way to start out- by dredging up an old post and setting a lot of people straight, but this thread typifies my pet peeve...

I don't know what it is about firearms, but they elicit a compulsion in every swinging dick to blather about them as if they were an expert- even when they clearly aren't.
While it may allow them to participate in a conversation with other know-nothings who are similarly clueless, it is annoying as hell to people who have invested a lot of time and actually know what they hell they are talking about.

So, here we go...

It's Les Baer

Er, BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ- Wrong Mr. "expert".
The 10MM smokes both heartily- giving as much as 700+ Foot Pounds of Energy Per round (www.doubletapammo.com )
In a Glock 20 (which is a 15+1 gun), that is 16 rounds of a caliber that generates as much energy at 100 yards as a +P .45 ACP does at the muzzle

More to come...

 

WOW....what a post!!!

[/quote]

I have to agree with the long named guy before me.......if you do your history on the 10MM the original specs are very impressive. Way better than the 9mm or 45acp.

 

I carry a Ruger Super Red Hawk 44 and figure it is the min. for bears. I dont mean black bears but Grizzlies. If I was buying somthingI would look at a 480, 454 casull etc. A handgun does not have the energy required to kill a bear effectivey but who wants to pack a 300mag or bigger rifle all the time. The nine and .357 are not even close, more false security than anything. I used to carry all the above and more for personal defense in for bears and two legged creatures and take what you have but if your buying somthing new get as big as you can handle and practice with it so you don't have to think to pull the gun, you just grab it from natural reflexes.

I just recieved an email about an Alaskan Grizzly that was killed is self defense. They found four .38 cal. slugs from a previous attack in him and twelve 7mm slugs from the guy that killed him. If anybody wants to get this let me know. As a warning there are three pictures, two of the bear and one of the poor hiker that was killed(very graphic).

 

WOW, this is a great thread. Here is some advise that a "bear" guide gave to me up in Alaska. Whatever handgun you take in the woods to protect yourself from bears, the first thing you need to do is file off the front sight. Why................"That way it won't hurt so much when he shoves it up your ***".
I would chalange anyone on this forum to find one case where an attacking bear was turned away with a hundgun. You minght be able to scare one away from your camp, but you can do that with a stick.
If you are hunting bear with a handgun, you can get away with a .41 or .44 Mag, but you shouldn't go any lower than that due to hide and bone mass.

Anyway, it seems like all he wants is something to plink with that is bigger than a .22. If I were you, I would stick to the 9 mm. Ammo is cheaper, it's easier to learn some basic shooting skills, and is funner to shoot than a .45.
The best thing to do is find a gun that fits your hand. Rugers have huge grips and if you have smaller hands it's hard to come close to being accurate.

I have found the best gun for me to take in the woods for bear "attacks" is a 9mm. It won't stop the bear, but it sure as hell will stop you while I haul a$$.

 

About 15 years ago they were letting a grizzly go up in the Bob Marshall wilderness of Montana, one of those relocation efforts. Well the FWP guy gets up on top the trap and pulls the door open, they figure this bear will just head for the hills. It comes out and turns around and swats the cage. The FWP guy falls off of it, right on top of the bear. His only protection was a 357 mag revolver. As the bear is thrashing around with this guy on top of him, he lets all 6 go, trying for the head with all shots and getting some in there. The guy wins, the bear dies. Barely. The griz took a couple of pieces out of the guy's hide in the process.

Point blank, all 6, head area, 357 mag juuuuuust gets it done. I would wager the guy would have preferred having big bore on him to do this task.

The other rangers there said after the 6th shot they heard quite a few "clicks". [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]