S&W 357 or 44 Magnum for Black Bears ???

I think the best advice so far .. Is shoot five and save one for yourself .. I hunt bears .. and almost only bears .. Over bait and with dogs .. I know how much gun it takes too stop a bear .. and a 357 and 44 mag do not fit the bill .. In my opinion it takes LESS gun too kill a bear under hunting conditions than under self protection situations .. And I would not use a 44 mag to hunt bears
 
Off topic .. but .. back in the late '60s, a former friend of mine (former in that he's since passed away) used to carry a handy, fast-pointing lil carbine as grizz protection :
the short-barreled Remington 600 chambered in .350 rem mag.
 
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I don't think it's fair to compare hunting & wilderness defence here.

If one was shopping for ammunition for both scenarios in Juneau Alaska, the store clerk would showcase different ammo for each endevour.

Also not many Canadians have ever heard of the Arctic Ammunition Company out of Anchorage or even personally seen their wares.
 
mike Crawford said:
I think the best advice so far .. Is shoot five and save one for yourself .. I hunt bears .. and almost only bears .. Over bait and with dogs .. I know how much gun it takes too stop a bear .. and a 357 and 44 mag do not fit the bill .. In my opinion it takes LESS gun too kill a bear under hunting conditions than under self protection situations .. And I would not use a 44 mag to hunt bears
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I have seen a number of bears taken with .44 carbines with 240, 265 and 300 grain slugs... they were all taken as neatly as any .30/06... distance and shot placement are key, as always...
 
I have also seen bear shot with the ruger 44 mag semi rifle .. And the bear died just as fast as a deer would have .. As long as the bear is in the 200 -250 range you can do OK with a 44 ..As I have said before I hunt over dogs ,, some times the bear trees and a 44 will kill any bear out there`; and sometimes you have a bay up on the ground ,, The bigger the bear the more apt you are to have a bay up and you will be very close too the bear when you shoot it as the bear will bay up in the worst sh&t hole it can find ..I have seen four inches of fat on a large boar in the fall and the bear weighed 500 plus ... A 44 is just not enough gun in this case .. First the gun has too stop the bear ; from hurting dogs ; and in most cases you are very close and your safety in jeopardy also . So I simply do not use a 44 in case I end up on a bigger bear .. I love Ruger 44 mag guns .. They are semi and short .. The gun of choice is a 12 gauge loaded with 1 ounce slugs .. not the sabot ones . they are 50 caliber and the one ounce one are the full 72 caliber
 
I'm probably just going to load slugs from now on... So clearly the advantage of the handgun would be the fact that it would always be on your hip, and easy to use. In terms of power isn't a shotgun with slugs the way to go? Of course, then you have to basically never put the shotgun down or on the sling... And anyone who has gone on a 5 hour hike knows you eventually put that shotgun on your back.
 
I recently asked an old logger about this and his advice was to stop trying to kill the bear. When I mentioned that from what I understood my .45 simply moved too slow for any good penetration he advised me that they had dropped bear with much less...... by taking the leg shot. I guess a eight or nine hundred pound bear doesn't do as well if you break a back leg on him. I think if a .45acp would do the job a .44 Mag would do it better.
Again this is second hand knowledge but I have never know Pa to be a story teller and he spent over 50 years hunting and logging the Kootneys.
 
russianfan said:
I recently asked an old logger about this and his advice was to stop trying to kill the bear. When I mentioned that from what I understood my .45 simply moved too slow for any good penetration he advised me that they had dropped bear with much less...... by taking the leg shot. I guess a eight or nine hundred pound bear doesn't do as well if you break a back leg on him. I think if a .45acp would do the job a .44 Mag would do it better.
Again this is second hand knowledge but I have never know Pa to be a story teller and he spent over 50 years hunting and logging the Kootneys.
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Better than the "knee-cap" shot is the one in the eyes, then they're blind, much more effective. Of course, this was done many years ago when people had to walk to school in -60 degree winters in 10 ft of snow, uphill both ways. :D
 
I carried a 4" .357 magnum until I saw the size of BC coastal black bears. I upgraded immediately to a 7.5" .454 Casull DA (Ruger SRH). Factory 300 grain soft point at 1650 FPS.

Serious handgun medicine.
 
paisley70 said:
A .41 Magnum, Model 57 S&W would be the best choice. Penetration is what matters, and this is it.
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That would be and is my choice. The key thing is being able to place shots while under pressure. The recoil from the 44 while under pressure may not get you the chance you need for a second shot.
 
GunGuy34 said:
I did a course recently with Bear Scare and one of the instructors who was a wildlife officer for years, told me that they tried .357 mag revolvers and they had to empty them to put the bear down sometimes. Id go no less then .44 magnum. I just wish I had your relaxed gun laws. I wish I was American.
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IF you are not happy in the GREATEST COUNTRY in the WORLD,leave!!!!!!!!! I will donate$10 bucks to help with your moving!!!!!
 
mike Crawford said:
As long as the bear is in the 200 -250 range you can do OK with a 44... I have seen four inches of fat on a large boar in the fall and the bear weighed 500 plus ... A 44 is just not enough gun in this case.
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Many of the bears taken by my sports with .44's, were over 400 pounds, a couple over 500 pounds, and when shot through the lungs they didn't get any further than the sub-200 pound bears... the .44 Mag has plenty of energy at close range with heavy loads... and it starts out at .429" so expansion is not an issue... properly loaded, I consider it a solid short range choice for black bears.
 
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