9MM + Bear

Drillbit

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Just had a question about 9mm ammo after a debate last weekend.

IF a 9mm was to be used for bear/cougar protection, what would be the best type of bullet to use for a close encounter.
 
9mm

you must be nuts. 9mm will bounce off or injure the bear, making him (her) madder than all hell. may as well shoot yourself and get it over with. stick to a 44 mag, minimum. good stopper with heavy lead alloy, hard cast with big frontal area.

Glockenspiel
 
The most effective method for dealing with a bear when carrying a 9mm is to aim directly between the eyes.
















































Your own.
 
I know that Black Bear have been taken with just a few rounds of LE 9mm. It's wouldn't be my first choice but I'd go with 147gr FMJ. Don't stop shooting until you need to change your mag. That or your being being mauled. Hard to tell which would come first.

PS, Cougars are much lighter animals than bear. My CFSC instructor took one cleanly with a single 22WMR pistol round down south. Beautiful pelt.
 
I think if you had to use 9mm you would want the heaviest hollow point you could find. But most likely you'll find yourself coming out the back end of said bear.
 
A 9mm FMJ will penetrate a bears hide no problem within 50 yards. I don't know why people believe a bear is like Iron man. There is no animal hide that would stop a pistol FMJ round within close range. The problem is that it must hit a vital organ. A bear's breast bone would stop the 9mm bullet past 15 yards. Within 5 yards, all bets are off and it would entirely depend on accuracy and speed of the shooter.
 
having seen a few pissed off bears shake off solid hits with 350gr .458 rifle rounds, carrying a 9mm for stopping a bear is a stupid idea.

it will kill a bear in a perfect scenario or a lucky one, but why put your money on the longshot when you're life's on the line?

go watch that Cabela's video with the KOA guy shooting a charging grizz center mass at point-blank range with a .404 Jeffy. bear turns and runs away...... 9mm? I'd rather have a sharp stick
 
Be sure to have lots of grease on your gun. After you empty your 9mm into a bear, things will still be hapening. A bears heart beats so slow it may die but not before he shoves your gun where the sun don't shine and mixes your body parts with the berries he ate for breakfast.
 
Be sure to have lots of grease on your gun. After you empty your 9mm into a bear, things will still be hapening. A bears heart beats so slow it may die but not before he shoves your gun where the sun don't shine and mixes your body parts with the berries he ate for breakfast.

I recommend filing down the front site on your 9mm pistola too so when the bear stuffs it up your hoopola it don't hurt so much...lol... :p

2007-10-27_091302_1aCoffee.gif

NAA.
 
I'd use a hollow pt., then if a bear attacks, you can shoot yourself in the head for a quick death and not suffer from a mauling. The 9mm ranks just over a .22 rimfire for these(hunting) purposes.
 
I'm confident that in the short few seconds you have before the bear gets to you, you could empty a magazine (10 rounds canadian of course) into him. Maybe even get off a reload a shoot some more. I think that would hurt it enough although I don't think it would die quickly.

I'd definitely go with 124 gr, over the much slower 147 gr, +p if possible. I would think FMJ would be better than JHP as the bullet would open up prematurely inside the bear and wouldn't cause deep damage, rather superficial (by bear standards).
 
I'd go with blanks, fire 2 as fast as you can into the air and pray like hell the bear scares and runs away - or at least gives you time to get to a 12 guage loaded with Breneke slugs - those itty bitty Dlask shotties come to mind.
 
The key word was __IF__. I know that a 9mm is not the most ideal for bears. Thanks for the input.

IF i had to use a 9mm for bears, I would load 10fmj's and finally a HP. I would remove the front sight and KY the entire gun. The first 10 shots would be at the bear, and the HP would be for myself just before the gun got inseted........HA.

Thanks fellas!
 
I know that Buffalo Bore or Cor Bon or one of those types produces a very hot 147 +p. If you absolutely had to carry a 9mm, then a round similar to one of those would be the ticket. I have shot more animals with a 9mm than probably just about anybody on this board and can tell you that it is not ideal - even from point blank range. In all reality, the part of the 9mm that would kill the bear would be the grip and frame when he was pooping it out.
 
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