357 for black bear??

[rawhidekid]

Nice bears, what cal is that hogleg?

[sixshot]

  Ruger 44 maggie, 10.5" barrel, 250 gr Keith & 21 grs of 2400.

Dick

[rawhidekid]

Thanks for the responce.

[texagun]

Get a can of bear spray....

[Tonk]

Well now I have read darn near most of these members posts on various subjects but taking a bear with a handgun, black bear or grizzly is NOT for the faint of heart and I will tell you right up front, my bear caliber in years past (since mid-60's) starts with a .44 magnum and very hard cast bullets. I now prefer hardcast "piledriver bullets" from Beartooth Bullets Co......my handloads. My .460 Smith & Wesson would be even better nowdays!!!

Lets NOT kid ourselves folks, blackbears are not your local feral hog in the field!!! Seldom does a blackbear really charge like a grizzly. Now when a blackbear comes at you and keeps coming, he wants to dine on your flesh simply put. The grizzly wants to simply get rid of the threat more often as not but will kill you in the process, not kill you just to eat you.
I have carried a handgun teathered to my belt many times in bear country, it simply made me feel better to be honest. However, I always relied upon my .338 Win mag or .375 H&H to do my bidding should a bear come on the scene.

Today I would recommend a .454 Casul for bear use in the woods (for protection only, not hunting a bear) and one with at least a 6 inch barrel. I have been charged by a bear (grizzly) years ago and I can tell you I have never forgotten the event. Bears are far tuffer critters than many people give credit!!! Oh, bye the way, a .44magnum handgun is less than a 30-30 rifle and I for one would only use the 30-30 on deer.

Hitting a moving target at 7 to 10 yards with a pistol, is NOT easy when the stress is flowing through your body. Yes, a .357 cal will kill any bear shot in the head with the proper bullet but that is a lot of if ands and buts. A .22LR once killed a grizzly bear but.......oh well. I favor a pump 12 ga shotgun using hard slugs at 10 to 15 yards!!!

[sixshot]

  Not trying to open a can of worms here but saying a 44 magnum handgun is less than a 30/30 rifle needs some explaining. A 30/30 is a super deer gun at normal deer ranges, say out to 150 yds, the bullets are soft & they work great. When I was a kid an old 30/30 Marlin brought home several deer, just stick the barrel in their ribs & pull the trigger, don't try to make a traget rifle out of it or you'll have wounded game on your hands.
  The 44 magnum handgun has cleanly taken every animal on the planet, up to & including elephant, would you try that with a 30/30......with any bullet? A 44 with good, hard cast slugs, flatnose & driven to good velocity is a proven killer all over the world because those hard, flatnose slugs drive straight & deep, causing massive amounts of damage, the slug is already about 1/2" in diameter & running at 1200-1500 fps the destruction inside is a sight to behold.
  The "paper" energy of a 30/30 will outshine a 44 magnum, in the real hunting world that 44 magnum will out do it easily. Just as an aside, a 22-250 has more "energy" than the 44 magnum, you wouldn't use it on a moose or elk.
  This is the 3rd bear we took in 08, I called it in to about 40 yds.....actually I called in 2 at the same time, I was looking at one bear, my son, who was facing me at about 30yds so we could watch each others back was looking at a second bear, neither of us knew we had 2 bears in close, he killed this one with his 270.
This is #17 between me & my 4 son's, all spot & stalk.



Dick

[Old Fart]

The "Get a can of bear spray." sounds like good advice.
Add a 357 mag loaded with hard cast bullets and you should be in good shape.
Most of those little black bears do a good job of avoiding man.
Just make a some noise while traveling to your boat and you probably won't ever see a bear.

I suspect if a mad bear gets ahold of you, you'll be busy fighting for your life not wondering if your pistol is big enough.

[sixshot]

  Last year about a week before I shot the bear shown above I was walking along a logging road & going around a bend in the road I spotted 2 little black cubs, it took 2-3 seconds to spot the sow, she had already spotted me, she let out a little "woof" & the 2 cubs shinnyed up a tree & she took off, running straight away from me. Now some people would like a nice photo of 2 cubs sitting up in a pine tree.....don't do it, one little whine from either cub would have brought that sow down on me in a hearbeat, although I couldn't see her I know she was close, listening for any trouble. Almost always they will run away, when they don't you have 3-4 seconds to get in the fight. A charging bear at 50 yds will be there in 3-4 seconds, now if your gun is holstered you are going to be very busy just getting 1 shot off before things get very nasty. A 357 with hard cast slugs or jacketed solids will absolutely work, remember that was the original question. You will pretty much only have the head to shoot at on a charging bear, it will be coming straight on, probably running through brush where you don't have a great look at it. A big recoiling gun is comfortable to have but if you overgun & can't handle the recoil you had better be good with the only shot you'll get.
  Famed Alaskan guide & writer Phil Shoemaker carries a S&W 44 mountain gun with harcast slugs, his daughter Tia carries a 357 magnum loaded with Norma solid jacket slugs, they see bears almost daily & both can hit what they shoot at....thats important!

Dick

[mcwoodduck]

Is that a BROWN Bear
Or
A Black Bear in a Brown phase of fur color?
A brown bear is a grizzley and it's cousins on Kodiak or in eastern Russia.
The claws look like black bear.  I could be wrong.
and Yes 44 Mag out of a rifle is a great Black bear rifle.
Heavy wide bullet that does a lot of damage to the heart and lungs.

[sixshot]

  Mcwood, don't know if you are asking me or someone else about the bears. All 3 of our bears were "color phase" bears, that is they are actually black bears but they come in many different colors. In Alaska if you shot a color phase black bear it would probably make the front page of the paper, here in Idaho its very common to find them black, chocolate, red, cinnamon, etc. My first 5 bears were all black, some had the white V on the chest but otherwise black. Shane's bear, the record book chocolate is indeed bigger than many grizzlies, Travis' bear is somewhat similar to mine but side by side they are totally different. I spotted 17 bears last spring, it was about 50/50 on color & one of them was a monster black one, he's given me the slip 2 years in a row. I do have him on film, but he's still out there.
  This is my bear from 08, about 2-3 minutes before I shot him.



This bear appeared about 20 minutes before my bear came out, I was alone & got in real tight with him in the brush but couldn't spot him, I was afraid to try calling because of the thick brush, they can come in very fast when calling. You can see him just walking into the brush on the right side.



This is the big black one that has given me the slip the last 2 years, this year he had a younger but mature bear with him, the smaller bear had a limp. I really messed up the stalk on this bear.



Dick



Dick

[bluecow]

lived in black bear country all my life. mid and upper maine.  never seen a bear that i didnt want to, though im sure they have been there.  if i was hunting black bear with a handgun i would use my 44.   for walking in the woods 357 i think is just fine.  so is my 22lr/mag.  if your that concerned get bear spray and keep the 357 for the 2 legged varments.  dont know for sure but id bet that more 22lr sit on the hips of fisherman,hunters,trappers,and woods bums than any other cal. of course that dont make it the best.  the 375 bests the 22lr or mag by a country mile.

[Ak.Hiker]

You might be right about the 22 on the hips of hikers and woolds bums. When I was a teen my buddy and myself did quite a bit of hiking. I always carried my  S&W 45 revolver and my buddy carried his dads S&W 22 kit gun. We liked having the 22 with us because it was easy to carry a 50 round box of ammo and figured it would be a good choice for small game if we needed food. As it turned out our rods and reels were our meal ticket but it was comforting having the 22 along on the hikes. 

[SonnyDaze]

Bob Milek convinced me the .357 isn't enough.  5 shots in the forehead at point blank range and the bear just kept coming.

I didn't read his post, but I bet it was soft-lead commercial ammo.  Some decent hard-cast and about 180-200 gr @ 1200 fps would have put the bear down with one shot in the brain.
You can see this post:
http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=100
Sonny

[SonnyDaze]

well i guess i'll take my sp101 back to the store and see if they have anything bigger, i won't shoot one unless i have too, but if i have too i want enough gun. i wish i could afford to just buy another gun but times are tough, mabe i'll take some long guns and see what i can do.

Since you may not have a lot of experience in shooting, and your gun is a short-barrel, you would be well-advised to get a different gun, if.........you think you will need to shoot the bear.  A nice Blackhawk in .44 Special, 4 5/8" barrel would be real nice and real easy to carry, but you have to buy Buffalo Bore or CorBon or Grizzly for ammo that's hot enough for blacks.
I would say to get a .44 Special or .45 Blackhawk, and buy some Buffalo Bore HEAVY bullets for times when you might see the bear. You don't need a barrel over the 4 5/8" as any shooting in defense would be short range.
I have seen .357's used for bear and work just fine, but the shooters were good.
SonnyDaze

[Ken ONeill]

Bob Milek's article, written more than 25 years ago, spoke of a bear that was cornered by dogs in a hole or den. They couldn't get the bear to come out and shot it crosswise through the snout  to get it to do so. It did. Several bullets flattened on the skull. All in all, the story was not a wonderful representation of bear hunting.
The original poster's question had to do with stumbling across a bear while fishing, or whatever, not using an SP 101 as a primary hunting arm. For that purpose in my opinion, the SP 101 will be adequate, although I'd prefer a hardcast 180.
My own blackies have been taken with the .375 JDJ, and .475 Linebaugh in handguns, and the 350 Rem. Mag. and .375 H&H in rifles. My brown bears were taken with a .416 Rem. Mag. In other words, I'm not a small gun advocate for bear hunting. But once again, to the OP's original inquiry, an SP 101 could be adequate for his intended defensive purpose. No need to buy a gun he won't carry.

[Swamp Rat]

When I am out trout fishing I keep a SP101 as part of my kit and do not feel undergunned. The first two rounds are handloaded snakeshot(36calRB/80gr#4shot on top of 5gr2400) and the other three are the same TL190WFPgc bullet I use in my BH and Marlin 1894 for deer, hog and bear. My primary concern is copperhead and rattlers but in my A.O. you never know if you will run into a bear. Any of the offerings 180gr or better will get the job done, but out of a SP101 it is going to hurt like he11.

I agree with those that stated hitting a charging bear at 5-7yrds in the boiler room would be difficult and a CNS one shot stop near impossable, in this case even a big bore wrist breaker would not stop. A better bet is to not sneek up and startle one.

[45-70.gov]

i  have  ask this on seveal  similar threads

with  no  responce

how  does a bear  responde  just to mussle  blast?

i  have  heard  you can  back a bear  down [sometimes]  just  by  yelling

will  the blast  of a short  barreled  357 at a few  feet  be  overwelming to  his  sences
like  a police  flash/bang?

not that i would  depend on  it  but  what effect?
i  have  seen  aggresive  dogs  pee  themselves  over  close gunfire