Need 44mag bear load

[cinch]

So, my dad drew his 4th Wyoming moose tag this year. And of course it is in the heart of grizzly country. I was hoping some of you might have a good bullet/load that might have a better chance of shutting down a p.o.ed bear. I tried talking the wife into getting me a 460. After she got done laughing at me she said no. So, anyone that has a good bear load, thanks for the help!! Pistol is a Smithers 629, 8 3/8.

 

[wayneborngesser]

Googled ".44mag bear load" and got this:

Handgunning Magazine - How to Hunt Black Bear - Bear Loads
Should be a good start.
Wayne

 

[jwp475]

So, my dad drew his 4th Wyoming moose tag this year. And of course it is in the heart of grizzly country. I was hoping some of you might have a good bullet/load that might have a better chance of shutting down a p.o.ed bear. I tried talking the wife into getting me a 460. After she got done laughing at me she said no. So, anyone that has a good bear load, thanks for the help!! Pistol is a Smithers 629, 8 3/8.

Do you want to reload the Bear load or Factory ammo.

About any quality 300 grain Wide Flat Point Hard Cast gets my vote loaded to about 1150 or 1200 FPS. I do not advocate loading the S&W M-29 as hot as the Rugers..

 

[Winchester 69]

Phil Shoemaker wrote an article for Rifle magazine a few years back addressing the issue of handguns for defense against bears. The bottom line was to back off from the bear, exiting it's space. If the bear pursued, he used a .357M, because that is what he carries, to fire into the ground in front of the bear to discourage its advance.

Essentially, if you're hunting moose in Grizzly country, go moose hunting with a bear rifle. A handgun ain't gonna cut it.

 

[grpolarbear]

Pray you don,t need it

A heavy hardcast bullet as fast as you can safely push it,300/320 gr.Look at Buffalo Bore,s stuff.

 

[jwp475]

Phil Shoemaker wrote an article for Rifle magazine a few years back addressing the issue of handguns for defense against bears. The bottom line was to back off from the bear, exiting it's space. If the bear pursued, he used a .357M, because that is what he carries, to fire into the ground in front of the bear to discourage its advance.

Essentially, if you're hunting moose in Grizzly country, go moose hunting with a bear rifle. A handgun ain't gonna cut it.

I dissagree with you and Phil on this and I have spoken to Phil about this. A proper load and bullet in a handgun can be very effective. When I lived in Alaska in the 80s I knew of several that sved thier selves with a handgun.

Just try and get a rifle into action from your sleeping back in a Dome Tent if a bear decides to come in..

The Bear in the left of the picture came in while I was working on a Moose kill and the 475 revolver flattened him with one shot. The Moose on the left was also taken with one shot from the 475..

The rest of the hunters on this trip

 

[Iron Worker]

Article in Accurate loading forum say no cast bullets

I don't know the link but it was written by a guide that has seen ( Claimed) Numerous kills and hits on Black Bears by various hand guns. He says the problem with cast bullets is they will go clean through a Bear with out the shock value. So he stated and provided evidence that a heavy Jacketed bullet is preferred because the rapid expansion also produces great shock waves though out the Bears body. So load up some 300 gr Hornady XTP bullets or if you don't reloads order some factory stuff Hornady loads it factory stuff with those bullets.I love loading cast bullets in my 44mag and 45 long Colt they're some heavy hitters but they're also quite hard they don't expand much even when shooting through trees. I've shot my 44 mag through 10" pine trees and collect the bullet that was stopped in the dirt hill side a couple feet away and it went from a Kieth style bullet to a round noise and that's it no change in diameter it just plowed its way through the tree.Shoot a same weight jacketed bullet through same tree and it was stopped meaning all its energy what expended in the poor tree.

 

[jwp475]

I totaly dissagree the jacketed bullets do not provide enough penetration and the claim that wide meplat flat point hard cast do not provide enough wound channel or "shock" is quite frankly bull ****.

Exit in the rib cage of a 6X7 Bull Elk with a 440 grain at 950 FPS

Hog taken with a WLFN hard cast at a muzzle velocity of 1400 FPS. Notice that the leg is missing as it pulled off while skinning

A Buffalo that I took with a WLFN flat point hard cast blood poured out of the entrance and exit holes

I believe that the write up that you are referring to was by JJ Hack and I disagree with his Annalise. I have also been unable to get him to say what type of hard cast that he saw in use (round nose or narrow meplat) but he does not respond to that question on the enter net as he has posted that write up on a few boards.

I have taken way too many head of game with LFN, WLFN, and other large meplat hard cast bullets to buy into the BS about them being ineffective..

 

[anachronism]

Grizzly bears ain't black bears.

Although I haven't hunted bear with a handgun, I have done a lot of research on it because I want to do it someday. Most expanding bullets don't have the penetration necessary to impress a grizzly. Heavyweight cast bullets with wide meplats are where it's at for this application. Personally, I'd prefer a 5-1/2 in Redhawk for this situation.

 

[Nomosendero]

JWP, are you using a 475 or a 480 there?

 

[jwp475]

That was in 88 and was the first 475 ever built by Hamilton Bowen

 

[Troutslayer]

I dispatched a wounded elk with one of those solid bullets once. The bullet entered through the chest cavity, went through the heart, then through the spine where it hit the hide and made a 90 degree turn running down between the hide and flesh to the tail. I found it while skinning and it was barely dented. I was fairly impressed and figure one of those would penetrate a skull pretty easy but wouldn't do much damage to the vitals.

IMO bear spray is just as good of protection, especially considering the reams of paperwork and questioning you'll have to endure if you shoot a griz even if you think it was in self defense.

 

[jwp475]

A LFN, WLFN, WFN will do plenty of damage.


Another example of the damage

 

[Iron Worker]

A picture is worth

A thousand words. Like I posted I was reporting what I read in another forum and it just might be the person that was mentioned. My S&W 25 in 45LC does a great job with 275 gr cast bullets. I was loading 23.5grs of H110 behind them for 1100FPS plus I had zero extraction problems,but the recoil was fierce so I'm dropping the loads to 21.5grs.