.450 Adams VS bears

Found this in another thread, figured it should go here. Keep in mind, them handgun bullets would have been fired at extremely close range, and being the US, would have been .44WCF, .44S&W, .45 Colt, etc.

At the turn of the last Century a Grizzly was killed in the Wyoming Territory. The Territorial Government posted a $10,000 in gold reward for this bear. It terrorized the countryside for twenty years before the reward was claimed. When it was finally brought in, it was learned that: It had over a hundred rifle bullets in its body. Besides the kill shot (a .30-40 Krag slug between the ears) it had five different medium and large bore pistol bullets lodged in the brain. None of them had killed it. All five had been fired into the brain from the bottom of its head. Those hunters never came back, along with a great many others.

Sounds like a good tall tale... They really lost me at 20 years and the 100 rifle bullets part.
 
Originally Posted by BUSHMAN79
Found this in another thread, figured it should go here. Keep in mind, them handgun bullets would have been fired at extremely close range, and being the US, would have been .44WCF, .44S&W, .45 Colt, etc.

At the turn of the last Century a Grizzly was killed in the Wyoming Territory. The Territorial Government posted a $10,000 in gold reward for this bear. It terrorized the countryside for twenty years before the reward was claimed. When it was finally brought in, it was learned that: It had over a hundred rifle bullets in its body. Besides the kill shot (a .30-40 Krag slug between the ears) it had five different medium and large bore pistol bullets lodged in the brain. None of them had killed it. All five had been fired into the brain from the bottom of its head. Those hunters never came back, along with a great many others.

You gotta sever the head to Kill a Zombie bear.... :D
 
Or silver bullets...

That's for werewolves ;)

Im sure the 11/12mm pinfire is -without a doubt- the all around ---best--- bear ,zombie bear, martian and bigfoot defence cartridge

Unfortunatly pinfire ammo is only available on mars... :D

Simply inserting "magnum" or "bear killer" into the name of the cartridge will double it's lethality on bears. Everyone knows that.

Have to reload the .450 to .450BKM specs I think....
 
Bottom line - in the unlikely event of being attacked by a grizzly bear I would rather have a .450 Adams than a big stick or Swiss Army knife. One of the largest grizzly bears killed in Alberta was killed with a .22 rimfire by a Native lady. So a .450 Adams just may make the difference.

Black bears are a much greater concern to me than grizzlies. They are very common. Few outside the parks have ever seen a human on foot. Most people travel in vehicles, either autos, heavy equipment, or quads while in black bear habitat. In the 1950s and 1960s a black bear would use every means possible to escape when they saw or scented a human. Black bear behavior has changed. They are now curious and many bears do not know what humans are or whether or not they are edible. A .450 Adams would be much better than nothing - even the noise from shooting the first round and the smell of the the black powder smoke may discourage an attack.
I would suspect that a bullet from a .450 Adams ( like the .22 rimfire) would kill a black bear with careful bullet placement. The question is how long will the bear take to die and how much damage will the bear do in that time?
 
i'm not so sure id want to try and take a bear with any Antique rated handgun load. unless of course its shooting 45-70. most are to slow and were barely good enough to stop a human let alone a thick skinned dangerous game animal.
 
One of the largest grizzly bears killed in Alberta was killed with a .22 rimfire by a Native lady. So a .450 Adams just may make the difference.

Unless I am mistaken it was also shot in a cabin doorway and most importantly it was shot multiple times in the side of the head. A photo of the skull was in a magazine a number of years ago.
I question whether or not a frontal shot on a bear would penetrate. I strongly suspect that the bullet would be hitting the skull at an angle and would glance off. (except for a shot in the eye)

cheers mooncoon
 
Bella Twin and grizzly bear, 1953


Quote
On a spring day back in 1953, 63-year-old Bella Twin and her friend Dave Auger were hunting grouse and picking berries near Lesser Slave Lake in the Swan Hills of northern Alberta, Canada. As the story goes, they were walking an oil-exploration survey line when they ran into a humongous grizzly bear following the same line toward them. The two feared that if they ran, the grizzly would notice them and give chase, so they hid in a brush pile and hoped the big bruin would pass without any trouble.

Unfortunately for the bear, it was intent on getting its share of berries and came very near Twin and Auger. Frightened by the close encounter, Twin raised the rifle she was carrying and fired. Her aim was dead on. The grizzly was struck in the head and fell dead.

Bella’s bear was no ordinary griz. Its skull scored 26 5/16, placing it at the top of the list of Boone and Crockett world’s records where it stayed for many years. The bear currently ranks number 30 among the all-time records and still stands as the longest-reigning provincial big-game record in Alberta.

In the half century since Twin killed her record grizzly, many differing accounts of the incident have been given. However, all of them agree on one thing: little Bella Twin killed that 1,000-pound-plus griz with the humblest of all rifles—a single-shot, bolt-action, .22-caliber rimfire.

Unquote
The luckiest persons alive in Northern Alberta 1953!
 
A shot in the side of the cranium with a 22 rifle seems plausible. There was also a version, perhaps another bear but also a native woman (alone this time, in a cabin, husband away) who killed a large grizzly with a 22 pistol and in one magazine article it was accompanied by a photo of a bear skull with a number of closely spaced 22 holes in the side of the cranium. Quite possible the skull was from a bear in a trap or similar when it was shot. The single shot while berry picking seems quite reasonable, particularly with a bear that was not charging and not necessarily head on.

cheers mooncoon
 
i'm not so sure id want to try and take a bear with any Antique rated handgun load. unless of course its shooting 45-70. most are to slow and were barely good enough to stop a human let alone a thick skinned dangerous game animal.

I'm not sure I'd believe that. Bullet tests in the early 1900's proved a 455 would kill a horse inside of 2 shots. The Thompson-LaGarde tests of 1904 found the .455 superior to the 45 colt in stopping power when tested on live cows and human cadavers. Seeing as the 450 Adams is a lightly reduced 455 round, I would be inclined to believe that the .450 would be capable of killing a black bear although I'd opt for a better caliber if given the chance.
 
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