Is a Win.94 In .357 Good for Bear Protection?

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sksnujack

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I have a Winchester model 94 carbine chambered in .357 mag and i was wondering if this is an adequate gun for bear protection when camping?

Thanks in advance for your input!:D
 
It depends. How good are you at shooting bears right in the eyeball??

I have always found that 357 is a calibre much better suited to zombies than bears.
 
i already own the win 94 carbine and it is my plinking riffle for when i go camping. i was just curious to its effective stopping power agains a bear ie head shot body shot. im not a hunter so i didnt really know if it was useless or effective against a crazy bear hell bent on having me for diner.
 
the ammo i usually bring camping is 158 gr. jacketed hollow points or jacketed shoft points. what would be the most effective .357 ammunition against a bear?
 
Wouldn't be my first choice, but if you go to the marlin site, the 357 if rated for bears. However, there is a difference shooting a blackbear from a tree stand and stopping a charging grizzly.
 
I don't believe in using a barely adequate cartridge for a close "life or death" encounter with a bear. In these cases you should be using a heavy stopping cartridge like 45/70, 444, .450, etc. Although, I don't buy into the energy figure comparison between the 357 and the 223. Many of the old buffalo guns come in with low energy figures, due to low velocity, yet anyone who has seen one at work knows most of those energy figures mean nothing and that is why the Taylor knockout values are used!! In closing : leave the 357 at home and rely on smarts in any bear encounter! (like; get the f--- outta there!)
 
I know a fella that went down South for a Handgun BlackBear Hunt.
He took his 357 Ruger and guess what ? He got his Bear;)
I'd feel better with a 357 Levergun for protection then a sharp stick:)
 
I've never shot the round, so it's a little hard to say, but just from what i know of it i'd say it'd be ok for black bears, and definately fall into the 'slightly better than nothing' catagory for grizzes.

You'd need to really practice with it in close-in snapshot shooting and if you ever need it, either hold your fire till the bear is at VERY close range (where the blast and shock of the gun firing adds to the bear's disorientation and pain) or if you're dealing with a bear you think is going to charge or be a problem get in a good well placed shot BEFORE it charges.

You know - for 200 bucks you can get a good 18 inch shotgun that'd be a better bear tool by far.
 
I'd recomend some good sticky tape down by the front sight possibly with a bit more right at the sight to form a good taper, then practice swinging it in the basement till you can really take a good cut. Seriously, as others have said any guns better than none.
 
While I wouldn't recommend a 357 for bear defense, I would like to add that the chance of needing a firearm for bear defense is extremely low. You are probably more likely getting into an accident driving to your camp location then being attacked by a bear.
The 357 is probably loud enough to scare most bears away (non-predeatory attack).
If the unthinkable does happen then I would use the heaviest hardcast bullets available. I would also make sure that they cycled through my rifle before I needed them. I am not familiar with the 357 however with my marlin in 44 rem mag I have ran into problems with the overall length of bullets (handloads for a friends revolver)
And practice.
 
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