I've seen two or maybe three threads in here where people say - that pistol will just piss the bear off.

Here's an article with 37 cases (most are recent ones) where pistols did the job.

https://www.ammoland.com/2018/...WXgKWFcvHqtAblDPzh5I

I have land on bull run mountain that I had intended to build a house on...didn’t work out but I Still have the land. When I would walk it before my back surgery i routinely would see bear scat. Obviously here you’re only dealing with black bear.

I bought some buffalo bore outdoorsman 9mm 147 grain hard cast +p loads to have if I was going to be out there a lot. I carry a 9mm glock every day, so just keeping a mag of the hard cast in my truck let me switch out easily

The nut that turned all his zoo animals loose and then offed himself in Ohio gave police the unexpected job of dealing with large dangerous animals with duty gear.

After nightfall a cop had a 1 shot stop on a black bear after putting his carbine in the car and the bear stood up right next to his open car door. Fo-tay Glock saved the day! (165gr Ranger if memory serves)

My son killed a bear in Alaska with his 10mm Glock. It didn't go the way he planned. He climbed down from his stand and leaned his rifle against a tree to work on his bait station. Then arrived the bear at close quarters. He has a nice rug and story.

quote:

Originally posted by Kevbo:
I have land on bull run mountain that I had intended to build a house on...didn’t work out but I Still have the land. When I would walk it before my back surgery i routinely would see bear scat. Obviously here you’re only dealing with black bear.

I bought some buffalo bore outdoorsman 9mm 147 grain hard cast +p loads to have if I was going to be out there a lot. I carry a 9mm glock every day, so just keeping a mag of the hard cast in my truck let me switch out easily

Is hardcast +P 9mm good enough? That may be ideal because the Glock 10 is pretty big and heavy to carry on hikes.....

If hardcast +P 9mm in a 19 is good enough, I'd like that.

quote:

Originally posted by HayesGreener:
My son killed a bear in Alaska with his 10mm Glock. It didn't go the way he planned. He climbed down from his stand and leaned his rifle against a tree to work on his bait station. Then arrived the bear at close quarters. He has a nice rug and story.

Sad for the bear but good to hear. I hope I'm never in the situation to know whether or not the Glock 10 is good enough and whether the hardcast rounds I have are reliable.

I find it interesting that the only failure was when the person missed the bear with the three rounds he fired.

Of course, all of the incidents where the handgun didn't stop the bear and the shooter was eaten have not been reported.

Interesting stats - contrary to everything I have been conditioned to believe. Maybe it is safe to get back in the woods again !

konata88
Check out Buffalo Boor's web sight and
you'll find that load in 9mm. That was
the first caliber he made the Outdoorsman
in.
The owner uses handguns to hunt bears with.
There may still be the story of an Alaskan
fishing guide killed a grizzly with one of those in 9mm using a S&W Model 39.

My understanding is the hard cast 9mm will penetrate adequately into almost any bear, particularly what I’m likely to encounter in virginia

For me, I wear a Kenai chest rig, and I can put one of the new glock 24 round magazines in it

I can put a lot of rounds, rapidly, on target with that setup.

If it’s a choice of 6 big rounds I can’t shoot as quickly or accurately versus 25 rounds I can get on target and rapidly, I choose the latter

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:

quote:

Originally posted by Kevbo:
I have land on bull run mountain that I had intended to build a house on...didn’t work out but I Still have the land. When I would walk it before my back surgery i routinely would see bear scat. Obviously here you’re only dealing with black bear.

I bought some buffalo bore outdoorsman 9mm 147 grain hard cast +p loads to have if I was going to be out there a lot. I carry a 9mm glock every day, so just keeping a mag of the hard cast in my truck let me switch out easily

Is hardcast +P 9mm good enough? That may be ideal because the Glock 10 is pretty big and heavy to carry on hikes.....

If hardcast +P 9mm in a 19 is good enough, I'd like that.

Related story ( and slight derail) of a bear encounter:
I used to watch a show called "I Shouldnt Be Alive". Accurate title! Mainly stories of people who tangled with man eating animals. One particular episode was hard to take: Canuck Mangina buys a cabin in Northern Canada. Accompanied by his German Shepard, he goes up there and is working on the cabins exterior. The dog is attacked by a bear and eventually killed. Mangina runs into the cabin and barricades the door. The bear then climbs through a window, enters and proceeds to kick the dudes ass. He manages to escape the cabin but the bear catches up to him and trashes him again. Two old ladies in a pickup cruising by finally rescue him and drive off the bear.
God, I felt sorry for the dog!
A couple of illustrative points:
1- Have a cabin in Canada? Have a shotgun!
2- For most of us (possibly all) the bear framing himself in the window as he climbed into the cabin would have given us the perfectly timed opportunity to sprinkle the bruin with bullets. Like, a lot!
The take away for me was this: The show often recounted people who were munched on by bears and mountain lions or stomped into goo by moose. Some of them were dined on by sharks or gators.
NONE of them were armed. They had nothing. And were for all purposes helpless. The accounts on this thread show one thing: Have SOMETHING.
Caliber aside, just being armed with anything may drastically increase your safety where the wild things are. Both two and four legged!

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Interesting stats - contrary to everything I have been conditioned to believe.

You'll notice most of those were with things like .357 Magnum, 10mm, .44 Magnum and so-on.

There've been reports of people taking white tail with .22 Mag, too, but it's not recommended. (I think it's not legal in Michigan.)

There are all kinds of reports of rounds working when traditional wisdom is they won't, and rounds not working when they should be effective. But those are more the exceptions that prove the rule, than things that make new rules.

Personally, I would not care to depend upon anything less than full-house .357 Mag or 10mm for bear defence. Preferably more than those, but there's a limit to what I'm willing to haul around.

In a pinch, you do what you gotta. My preference would be for something larger. But then, if he ain't coming thru my living room doors, I'm probably not going to encounter one.