.357 Mag Heavy Bear Load

luckythirteen said:
I made 180gr LRN max loaded with h110. I'd shoot them into the ends of blocks of firewood 16 to 18 inch. I also did this with 240gr LSWC 44 mags and 300gr LWFNGC loaded as hot as I could. Both in 12in carbine barrels.

For what it was worth I recovered almost all of the 44 cal bullets. 300 deeper than the 240. I had a hard time recovering the 180 LRN. They would over penetrate the 44 and usually completely through the blocks.

All that I learned in this case was the 180RN to penetrate deeper than a 300WFN. Just thought Id share.

I still prefer the bigger hole.
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Did you chrono any of these? Great penetration.
 
struff55 said:
where are you going to carry your handgun for bear protection
not in canada .
A 357 is not enough cartridge for grizzly .
If you have ever been beside a live or dead grizzly you would know that it is not enough
i have seen a grizzly shot with a 375h&h destroy ed the lungs and it was still on its feet for 30-40 seconds
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Agreed 357 is minimum better 44 or SW 500, but there is balance between controlling and open/concealed carry in hiking or camping (unfortunately not in Canada). Bear Spray is still the top 1 tool based on data. This topic is about if spray does not work and you only have a 357 revolver as side arm when being charged by a bear, what ammo should be carried in this situation.
 
bigrevolver said:
.357 Magnum might be a good balance of power and control in urgency with big animals, though the power itself might be minimum requirements for a grizzly charging. Trying 200gr or 180gr WLNGC/LFN-GC?

AGAIN, the recommended ammo for Grizzly is at least .44 or S&W 500, assuming you carry it on hiking (in a state allowed open or concealed carry).
The top tool for bear defense is bear spray for sure, based on data and official recommendation, but what if....

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I didn’t know we had states in Canada .
🇨🇦
 
Beyond the explicitly pistol-centric i've never witnessed any of the experts recommending carrying a pistol for bear-backup. If it were the choice between a pistol or nothing, absolutely. Other than this, it's rifles - .45-70 (loaded with something much hotter than the anemic factory ammo); .450 Marlin; .375 H&H; some even carry a .416 Rigby or .404 Jeffrey. And spray - both, if you want to be really prepared. While those who trust in tea leaves and entrails as ultimate conduits of truth insist it is "just seasoning" or some similar wise-crackery, the actual scientists who have rigorously studied the stuff have revealed effectiveness on grizzlies in real case scenarios of over 90%. With far less practice required nor specialist training than a firearm demands.

There's a passage in the legendary John Hunter's book "Hunter" detailing his life as a white hunter in Africa of the early 20th when and where stopping huge, tough, homicidal animals was a regular necessity where Hunter describes handguns (always in the hands of Americans in his experience) as "interesting toys." Some truth there along with the hyperbole, as compared to longarms. I know when i ran a trapline i would have benefitted from one, with so much else to haul around. Also, despite how much of it i did, clubbing something to death was never something i was fond nor proud of. There's also the matter where if i'm being tasked with potentially stopping something as large and tough as a grizzly (which i am indeed potentially tasked with, April-December) i'm not so keen on practicing with a weapon of that of umph that weighs less than nine pounds, let alone one that can be held in one hand. I'd much rather a tin of fresh spray in that case.
 
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thewoodsrunner said:
Beyond the explicitly pistol-centric i've never witnessed any of the experts recommending carrying a pistol for bear-backup. If it were the choice between a pistol or nothing, absolutely. Other than this, it's rifles - .45-70 (loaded with something much hotter than the anemic factory ammo); .450 Marlin; .375 H&H; some even carry a .416 Rigby or .404 Jeffrey. And spray - both, if you want to be really prepared. While those who trust in tea leaves and entrails, the wisdom of their vac-trucking neighbor perhaps as ultimate conduits of truth insist it is "just seasoning" or some similar wise-crackery, the actual scientists who have rigorously studied the stuff have revealed effectiveness on grizzlies in real case scenarios of over 90%. With far less practice required nor specialist training than a firearm demands.

There's a passage in the legendary John Hunter's book "Hunter" detailing his life as a white hunter in Africa of the early 20th when and where stopping huge, tough, homicidal animals was a regular necessity where Hunter describes handguns (always in the hands of Americans in his experience) as "interesting toys." Some truth there along with the hyperbole, as compared to longarms. I know when i ran a trapline i would have benefitted from one, with so much else to haul around. Also, despite how much of it i did, clubbing something to death was never something i was fond nor proud of. There's also the matter where if i'm being tasked with potentially stopping something as large and tough as a grizzly (which i am indeed potentially tasked with, April-December) i'm not so keen on practicing with a weapon of that of umph that weighs less than nine pounds, let alone one that can be held in one hand. I'd much rather a tin of fresh spray in that case.
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John Howard "Pondoro" Taylor
Born in Dublin in 1904,
Inventor of the TKOF Formula
TKOF (kinetic energy)
reverse-engineered his own math.
In his 1948
masterpiece, African Rifles and Cartridges, he introduced Taylor's Knockout Factor (TKOF).
The formula proved mathematically what he
observed through the sights: if a bullet lacks
diameter and raw mass, hyper-velocity doesn't
mean a damn thing when it hits heavy bone
and dense muscle.
 
No firearm guarantees a bear will drop in its tracks. Even big-game guides in Alaska don't carry a "magic" gun. A 12 ga with hard slugs is already one of the best bear-defence setups there is, and many professional guides and wildlife officers carry exactly that. What stops the bear is where the shot lands, not the calibre.
One of the best setups is a reliable 12 ga with brenneke slugs and plenty of practice shooting fast at close range. Carry bear spray on your belt as well.
 
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