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[OniKoroshi]

.10mm? May want to change the title...

[wpage]

Ill stick by my .44's thank you very much...

[otteray]

Alaskan bears are a whole different animal. The Bear League in the Lake Tahoe Basin use paintball pistols; but that would be pretty foolish against a Grizzly, no doubt! It was very effective at chasing off a smaller cinnamon colored black bear that was ripping apart my son's parked car. If it had been a larger 500 lb male, I think we may have just let him finish off the car.
If you do shoot or kill a bear to defend yourself in the Tahoe area, better be damn sure you have evidence of an attack.
The Nevada Wildlife Education bear brochure states that while predatory bear attacks have been increasing, no fatalities have been reported.

[AFTII]

OP, your comparison should have been between a .357 mag and 10mm. Those two are practically ballistic equivalents - with perhaps a slight edge going to the .357 mag.

For example:

https://underwoodammo.com/shop/10mm-auto-140-grain-xtreme-penetrator/

https://underwoodammo.com/shop/357-magnum-140-grain-xtreme-penetrator/

You can do whatever you want, but I'm not trusting my life to a .357 mag or 10 mm against an adrenalized bear.

[CandG]

You can do whatever you want, but I'm not trusting my life to a .357 mag or 10 mm against an adrenalized bear.

Everyone has their own line they've drawn, between what's too small and what's big enough. Fact is that unless you've actually shot a bear, we're all just guessing. There are one or two loadings for .45acp that I might even consider good enough for CA black bears, and in fact I used to carry Extreme Penetrators in .45 in bear country, and felt pretty safe doing so. Didn't ever shoot a bear, so I have no way of quantifying whether or not it actually would've been enough. Nowadays I feel pretty good with the 10mm, but again, I've never shot a bear so I can only base that on feelings. I'd prefer 44mag of course, but until someone makes a 10rd compact pistol that can shoot 44mag, I won't consider carrying it

I do know that one member here (MJB, I think?) shot a charging black bear squarely between the eyes with a .41mag, which caused an instant "lights out". No idea what cartridge he used, but .41mag generally averages only about 15% more energy than 10mm, whereas 44mag averages more like 50% more energy.

[Californio]

5" 44 mag stainless Revolver because the first two rounds are snake shot. Semi-autos don't do snake shot very well.

I southern California snakes are by far the most common occurrence, two legged vermin the second with all the growers around.

[Ewcmr2]

California Bears are more interested in your trash can then they are in you, Loud noise will usually get them headed the other direction.

Our local bears are not phased by noise. Golf ball, tennis ball, paint ball send them running. My 50lb dog runs them off too.

[JTROKS]

Our local bears are not phased by noise. Golf ball, tennis ball, paint ball send them running. My 50lb dog runs them off too.

So if they come back to you with the ball do you pat them on the head?

[TurboChrisB]

I used to carry a big revolver whenever in Alaska until about 10 years ago.

I noticed all the guides, locals, and bush pilots were carrying 10mm Glocks. I was then educated fully about the reason why at Wild West Guns in Anchorage. I also wanted the comfort of having 15+1 instead of 5 or 6.

This

[CandG]

5" 44 mag stainless Revolver because the first two rounds are snake shot. Semi-autos don't do snake shot very well.

I southern California snakes are by far the most common occurrence, two legged vermin the second with all the growers around.

Ya, semi-auto doesn't really cycle snake shot at all. So that's a good argument. But I figure if I'm going to be shooting a snake, it's not really a matter of urgency (they aren't that fast), so I carry some snake shot in a spare magazine when I'm in snake country. If I see a snake I want to shoot (for food), I'd eject my mag and chambered round, and chamber a snake load. I can't think of a scenario where someone would ever need to shoot a snake in self-defense. It either already bit you before you even saw it, or you saw it in time and got a safe distance away from it. Rattlers don't really have much of a tendency to chase you down

As an aside, I don't really believe in shooting a buzzworm unless it's for food. Otherwise I just let it go, they're the good guys, kind of like honey bees! Last summer there was a baby rattler hanging around my campsite one weekend. He never bothered me - I knew where it was, and it knew where I was. I had a chambered snake load in my sidearm the whole time, but never felt the need to shoot it. It was just minding its own business, and it was kind of cute I just had a long talk with my son about keeping his distance from the snake and watching where he stepped, and left it at that.

So if they come back to you with the ball do you pat them on the head?

Good bear!

[Blade Gunner]

Second on the S&W 1006 with 10mm Underwood penetrators.

[Jimi Jah]

AK47 .... When you absolutely, positively, got to kill every living thing out there; accept no substitutes

7.5" 7.62x39 pistol? Easier to carry.

[tigerpan]

Is the 44 mag up for sale?

[target_shot]

Bear? No problem.

[CandG]

If I lived in Alaska, I'd seriously consider building a full-auto SBR .300blk AR with a folding stock for hiking



Either that or the 10mm MP5 someone mentioned earlier