Phil Shoemaker kilt an AK brown bear with a 3953. Still not optimal.
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Not another dime.
Quite a few bears have been killed with .357 Magnum revolvers, starting in the days when the .357 was the only Magnum handgun cartridge. One of the Wessons, whose first name escapes me, at the moment, famously harvested many large and/or dangerous game animals with the .357 Magnum.
I have never walked among Big Browns and Grizzlies, so will offer no advice to anyone.
If I walk where really big bears live, I will load 180-grain hardcast in any .357 revolvers I may be carrying, but, really, I bought my Ruger SRH Alaskan .454/.45 for a reason other than AIWB under a Hawaiian shirt in Houston.
I think a bear armed with a "Vepr carbine" and/or "IZH shotgun" is going to have an advantage over a human armed with a handgun.A Pennsylvania man reportedly killed a 679-pound black bear that was five yards away with a .357 handgun during last weekend's opening of the state's four-day bear harvest.
http://siberiantimes.com/other/other...berian-region/
Beware: Brown Bear Armed With Two Guns On The Loose In Siberian Region
The Siberian Times
24 November 2017
Wild beast steals weapons from frightened hunter before vanishing into the remote taiga.
The brown bear brazenly walked into a remote forest cabin, and helped itself to the man's bag plus two guns, say police.
The animal turned the tables on the 57 year old hunter when he went to a nearby river to get water deep in Irkutsk region.
'On November 16 he was hunting miles away from the nearest village and decided to stay at a forest cabin,' said a statement from the local interior ministry.
'He left his belongings in the cabin and went to get some water. On his return, he heard some suspicious sounds and spotted a bear.
To avoid an encounter with the animal, the hunter scurried off into the woods where he hid for several hours.'
When he returned to the remote cabin, his bag and two guns were missing.
The hunter went to look for his weapons in the taiga for several days but returned empty-handed.
This then prompted him to contact the police.
The beast is in possession of a Vepr carbine and IZH shotgun, pictured here, according to police.
Crime scene pictures show the bear left its tooth marks on a bucket and scratched some logs.
It is unclear if the man was hunting bears but the season is still open until 30 November.
By now, many bears are hibernating for the winter.
Other animals that can be hunted in Irkutsk region are moose, deer, boar, ducks, hare, fox, wolf, sable, and mink.
Yippee ki-yay
I had forgotten about that.
For anyone interested, Phil's first hand account - with photos - is at https://www.americanhunter.org/artic...th-9mm-pistol/
Alaska Outfitter Defends Fishermen from Raging Grizzly with 9mm Pistol
by Phil Shoemaker - Wednesday, August 10, 2016
I have been guiding brown bear hunters and fishermen and bear photographers from our homestead within Becharof National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for 33 years and have had numerous close encounters with bears. Until now, I have never had to shoot an unwounded bear to protect either myself or clients, but the other week an event occurred and my good fortune changed. When it happened, I was fully aware of what was going on and how big the bear was. I also managed to stay aware of where my clients were, even when the bear was directly between us. The woman I was guiding said that while she did not remember smelling the bear’s breath, it was close enough to her face that it could have bitten her!
I have killed enough bears to know how important shot placement can be, even with large-bore rifles. I was well aware of the limitations of my 9mm pistol, even with Buffalo Bore ammo. I was aiming for a vital area with each shot; because it all took place between 6 and 8 feet, they were not far off. But hitting the head and brain of a highly animated and agitated animal is a difficult shot.
The two photos shown here tell a pretty good story by themselves.
Last edited by BCG; 11-22-2018 at 11:37 AM.
Yippee ki-yay
I was being tongue in cheek about ending the debate.
Bella Twin killed a world record grizzly in 1953 with a .22 long.
I guess she was saving her Long Rifle ammo for bigger game.
Scenes from the "awesomely bad" 1976 movie Grizzly, including when the hero kills the titular bear with a bazooka (IMFDB page)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73LcLOtfP4w
Yippee ki-yay
Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
“It doesn’t matter what the problem is, the solution is always for us to give the government more money and power, while we eat less meat.”
Glenn Reynolds
Does Pennsylvania really have that many black bears? Opening day of 4-day bear season - 1241 bears were harvested. That's a lot of bears, period.