As I prepare to tap the post reply tab, I see this is an extraordinarily long post. Even after spending some effort shortening it.
Anyhowz... I was with a guy that dropped a smallish sized black bear with a 44 Mag S&W revolver back in the spring of 1980. It was a nuisance bear on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula that had harrassed the lone female resident at her house relentlessly, to the extent she'd moved out of her house. And wouldn't return until the bear had been removed from the area.
Bear season was open, it was legal to kill the bear at that location, and we knew about what time the bear would likely show that morning, because the bear was so repetitious. We arrived early in the morning. Maybe 6AM... About 1.5 hours before the bear's scheduled morning rondevous. We knocked on the door to make sure the lady was gone. Immediately noticed the well worn trafficked bear trail encircling the house. We weren't worried about dispersing our human scent because this bear was comfy in the presence of human scent. We observed one window had been broken, where the bear had previously entered the house. The broken window had been boarded over with plywood. We saw claw marks on the exterior siding in multiple locations around the house, and next to the boarded over window. Not a doubt we had arrived at the correct residence! Was a fairly remote residence situated in native forest ~ 3/4 mile from the next closest house. Surrounding land was nothing but forest.
We climbed up on the roof of a small shed about 50 feet from the house to await the bear's arrival. Like clockwork, we heard movement noise about the time the bear had been arriving. We each prepped our firearms for action. I had a Ruger bolt action 338 Win Mag rifle. My partner, the 44 Mag S&W revolver. The bear came around the near corner of the house and very quickly spotted us on the shed roof. He stood upright on hind legs, exposing his shoulders, head and neck above the tall grass. Plan was to allow first shot with the revolver. If the bear didn't drop on the spot, instantly shoot the departing bear with 338.
At the revolver's report, the bear pancaked in its tracks so quickly I barely saw it drop. At the time, I didn't know my partner had aimed between the bear's eyes. He took a frontal head shot. We could hear labored breathing where the bear dropped, but couldn't see the bear due to tall grass and ground cover. The breathing continued, so we climbed down a ladder, one at a time while covering each other in case the bear became a threat. We walked the long route around the house, because that approach gave us the better view while approaching the bear. Bear was unconscious, but not dying. So my partner put another 44 slug through the bear's ribs/lungs. Bear expired in ~30 seconds.
The interesting point regarding bullet performance wasn't found until skinning out the bear back at our residence. The 1st 44 Mag slug was found slightly offset from one of the bear's eyes, flattened against the outer skull surface. Bullet never penetrated the frontal skull of the bear! In all fairness, I need to add the bullet was factory ammo. A 220 grain jacketed bullet with exposed lead nose, as I recall. Was obviously soft lead composition, because the bullet was well expanded against the skull. The skull was cracked. Could see the break lines and fissures where the bullet struck skull. But none of the bullet entered the skull.
IMO, the 44 Mag is the near equivalent of the 454 Casull. Had my partner shot that black bear with a hardened lead cast bullet, which the majority of Alaskan revolver owners (and I) prefer and carry for bear defense, his 44 Mag would have driven the slug clear through that bear's skull. No question about it. This experience serves to highlight the vital importance of proper bullet selection and use in any bear defense handgun ammo.
Been hunting Alaska for 48 years now. Have shot numerous bears..., black, grizzly, and brown over those years. I carry revolvers for bear defense when I'm not carrying a long arm, but never shot a bear with a revolver.
Have a relative killed a mountain grizzly with his 454 Casull. Spine / shoulder shot flattened the bear from ~50yds. A medium size grizzly. Also know a few folk that have killed moose with 454 Casulls.
Ah... almost forgot this one... an aquaintence of mine stopped a deadly brown bear attack with his S&W 44 Mag revolver, while his face was inside the boar's jaws. He told me his experience in great detail one fall, a few years after the incident, while we were both weathered in at the Kodiak airport. Both waiting to get flown out to hunt blacktail deer. Most of the bones in his face were crunched, but the boar's canines didn't damage his brain. So he was still clear-headed when he was finally able to draw his revolver from chest holster, and fire the last 4 rounds into the underside of the boar, strictly by feel. Couldn't see anything because his eyes and face were inside the bear's jaws. He pressed the revolver muzzle against the underside of the bear and fired 4 rounds as quickly as possible. He told me that bear became still for a few seconds immediately after firing those 4 rounds. Said the bear then released his head and trotted away into the nearby brush. He'd fired the first two shells while the revolver was still in his chest holster. The bear's paws had his shooting arm pinned against his chest while he was layed out flat on his back, which preventing him from pulling the revolver completely from the holster. He fired those 2 rounds in desperation, hoping the boar would move its paws and free his shooting hand before it killed him. It worked, and undoubtedly saved his life. That bear was never found, dead or alive. Pretty confident it did die. But the location was somewhat remote and brushy. Despite robust efforts, neither family members nor responding State & Federal officials were able to locate its carcass in the following days.
I understand from the numerous autopsies performed on human corpses, that high pressure muzzle gas propelled into a body when a muzzle is pressed firmly against body, creates tremendous soft tissue destruction. Way beyond damage from the slug. I suspect 4 discharges of high pressure gas into the brisket/belly of that boar created tremendous shock, and helped deter the boar's attack. This was no weenie bear - false charge. This boar was in the process of killing him. He was a week or so recovering in the local hospital. Wired his jaws together. Reconstructed facial bone structure. Plastic surgery to piece his skin back together.
Enough for one post!!!
memtb
