Black Bear with a pistol

[Govcolt45]

My friend was trying to talk me into going on a black bear hunt with him, he tells me that a 1 or 2 45acp+P rounds would be able to stop a bear, given that hes no furthure than 30 yards, I would rather use a 1oz riffled 12ga slug or my 300rum. Can any one give me any helpfull advice if a 45acp from a pistol could stop and kill a black bear or not.

[wapiti13]

Govcolt45, Are you hunting over dogs? If so, you are going to be shooting short range. The Hornady 230 gr FMJ/FP would probably work. Or the Hornady XTP loads are pretty good too. You'll need proper shot placement, but over dogs most bear hunters around here used to use a 357 Mag or 41 Mag in a short barrel when chasing hounds (before the US Humane Society financed a new law that stopped hound hunting!!). If you are going to be shooting longer ranges, I'd go for a bigger caliber. Good luck.

[4ked Horn]

I have no experience with this first hand but my neighbor took a 400 pound B Bear last spring with .357s. His 3 shots made it into the vitals and his friends 3 shots stopped right against muscle after expanding in the fat layer.

.45 acp is not a fast round and penetrates using bullet weight (somewhat). I would choose your bullet construction well so it dosen't open up before it gets to the good stuff. No flying ashtrays. And as always, practice practice practice, then sprint for a hundred yards and practice.

Ian M is the taker of many bears. I would hope that he puts in on this topic.

[Whitewolf393]

How about a .44 instead, if you're going to hunt pistol. I wouldn't want to risk it with any bear, but that's just me. Even a smallish black bear can dish out a pretty good mauling if you don't put them down in time. I read a story about bear in Alaska (a grizzly, mind you) that someone stopped at the last step with a slug 12GA round in the mouth, and the grizzly sow actually bit into the end of the barrel and bent it before having her brains splattered! But, I've also read of guides not in Alaska being torn up by black bears that they thought weren't all that impressive, only to to learn they were after they were wounded but not down.