.44 Mags and Grizzly Bears

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evenflow80

New member
Just out of curiosity..... but can a regular 240gr .44 Mag really kill a grizzly bear? Like the biggest kind?

I hear people saying yes, others saying no, and yet some others saying that when confronted with a grizzly, and seeing how big it is and how small your .44 mag is, you won't even try and just run.

Just curious if anyone has and/or knows of anyone or any story of someone actually accomplishing that feat.

Is it shot placemnet? Then where? Is it distance? then what distance is ideal?
 
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roklok

New member
Of course it can...but I prefer to keep my .44 loaded with Garretts 330 grain Hammerheads here in grizzly country. Shot placement and penetration are the key, and a good hardcast bullet will out penetrate the run of the mill 240gr JHP or JSP.
 
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darkgael

New member
stop

but can a regular 240gr .44 Mag really kill a grizzly bear?
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Kill one? Yes, of, course. Stop an angry one that is coming at you at 30 mph, probably not. If you were to shoot it and hit it, it would die eventually but not soon enough.
So I am told.
Running - yeah, you could try but the animal is way faster than you are.
What distance is ideal? As far as possible, it seems to me.
Pete
 
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crghss

Moderator
Always shot placement.

When shooting to kill anything in any situation shot placement is key.

As for distance are you talking self defense or hunting? You can't just see a Griz and decide to shoot it unless your hunting.

Running never a good idea.

People have killed big bear with Bow and Arrow so yes it can be done. I don't think I'd do it.
 
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Anthony Williams

New member
.44 Mag.? No way Jos

Against a Grizz' my first choice would be a hand held grenade launcher. Or maybe a long rifle in either .458 Winchester Mag. or .416 Rigby. A .44 mag.is a joke! I'd rather run the furry S.O.B over with a cement mixer! Only a person with a death wish would go into brown bear country without a large caliber hunting rifle!
 
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GeauxTide

New member
A writer who had taken both grizzly and lion wrote that they react to bullet impact in a similar fashion. His position was a .375 H&H as the minimum.
 
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azredhawk44

Moderator
I think a REALLY hard-cast 240gr LSWC or LRNFP that hit the head or spine would stop a Griz.

It would not have the penetrating power necessary to enter the chest or shoulders and go through hair/skin/fat/muscle/heart/lungs and reach the spine or other CNS features though.

Nor would it perform bone-shattering tasks on a creature that large, like anchoring via breaking the pelvis, collar bone, femur or humerus.

300+ grain gives you greater possibility of that.

Jacketed bullets are typically formed by shaping the thin jacket first, then merely swaging a soft lead wire into the jacket. Jacket/core separation is common with that type of bullet.

Hard-cast bullets tend to stay together better.
 
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batmann

New member
There is no question the a 240 gr HC will work, most prefer 300+ gr HC for bigger animals. Garrett, Buffalo Bore, Cor-Bon and Double Tap make excellent loads for that purpose.
 
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Old Grump

Member in memoriam
On 24 July 1987 Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Ranger Lou Kis had a close encounter with a grizzly that he was trying to let out of a trap near Bunker Creek off U.S. Highway 2 near Hungry Horse, Montana. The bear turned on the ranger and he shot it 6 times with his .357 magnum hand gun finally killing the bear with the last shot. Photos taken of the bear on man battle appeared all over the world.

http://www.examiner.com/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m7d1-The-Montana-Grizzly
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44 mag with 240 gr bullets trumps a 357 with any bullet. One reason I don't use hollow points but use FP or SP bullets is you never know when you need penetration. Better yet a couple of very large friends with cool heads and very large powerful rifles watching your back. They might be a little hard to carry around though so just practice a lot with your 44 mag.
 
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azredhawk44

Moderator
44 mag with 240 gr bullets trumps a 357 with any bullet.
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I disagree.

.357 with hardcast 158 to 180 grain bullets will out-penetrate a 240gr jacketed bullet, be it a JHP, JSP or whatever jacketed/swaged variant you want to point out.

A 240gr hardcast .44 will out-penetrate its .357 brethren, though. No disagreement there.
 
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cali92rs

New member
I find it fascinating how many "bear knockdown power" threads there are at any given time on every gun board.
Especially since more people die each year from lightning strikes than die in a decade from bear attacks:confused:
 
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azredhawk44

Moderator
I find it fascinating how many "bear knockdown power" threads there are at any given time on every gun board.
Especially since more people die each year from lightning strikes than die in a decade from bear attacks:confused:
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That's because we plan and prepare for bear attacks here.

See? It's working.;)

Don't mess with a successful system.:p
 
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Dubs

New member
Man, I would never go into bear country without one of these:

abram14.jpg


That or bear spray.
 
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N.H. Yankee

New member
When I was in Alaska we cast our own hard lead bullets using Elmer Keith's 429421 250 gr load. We cast the bullets and tested them on moose skulls, when they would consistently penetrate a moose skull we were happy. They had no trouble dropping a sizable black bear one shot to the head. Gladly I never had to test them on a charging brown bear.
 
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fustache44

New member
I saw a Griz once...

I agree with the rest of you that .44 is probably plenty, but from how bloody big that critter was, I'd want a good 240G..
 
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darkgael

New member
Brooklyn

Shoot a lot of bears in Brooklyn, do you?
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:)
The bears we shoot in Brooklyn are of an entirely different ilk.
I haven't ever even seen a large bear up close any time that I have been fishing up in AK.
We have never carried any gun while fishing. There have been occasions, though, walking through the woods while fishing our way up from Homer to Anchorage, that I have felt very vulnerable and wished that I had a good rifle with me.
As for the guide stopping a lot of big bears with a .44, he must be a very nervy guy and a very good shot. Just to be able to hit a bear charging as fast as I am told they can is a remarkable feat. Do you know, offhand, how many charges he has stopped?
Pete
 
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