Bear defense pistols practical shooting test

[Alaskapopo]

A friend of mine who was fish and wild life trooper made the decision and went with a Glock 31. His testing on bear skulls from DLP kills got me re thinking caliber and gun choice.

[GJM]

Pat has the right idea with his Montana Gold, where he can get enough quantity to properly vet them in his pistol. Number one criteria is reliability, as a one shot G20 isn't so good. Too many guys buy a box of 20 hardcast, shoot four or five cartridges, load their magazine with the rest of the box, and call it good. Overall, my experience is that FMJ bullets are significantly more reliable in semi-auto pistols like the Glock, USP and third gen Smith, than hard cast loads.

[Alaskapopo]

Did a follow up today with long guns.
Run 1 with a 870 Vang Comped shotgun 14 inch barrel (SBS)
4 A zone hits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeixLvY2u5Q
Run 2 458 Socom 4 A zone 3 C zone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ09fTE0-3c
Gregs 458 socom run
4 A 1 C 2 D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCmykH3-VFw

Pat 308 Carbine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB1m6wsugu8
7 A zone 4 c zone
Greg 308 carbine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tUb1xImuk
8 A zone 1 C Zone 1 D zone

[BuzzinSATX]

A friend of mine who was fish and wild life trooper made the decision and went with a Glock 31. His testing on bear skulls from DLP kills got me re thinking caliber and gun choice.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what is a DLP kill?

[Alaskapopo]

Sorry means Defense of Life or Property kill. All bears or animals shot in defense of life or property have to be skinned out and turned over to the Alaska State Troopers wild life division.

[BuzzinSATX]

Great article!!!

I love my S&W PC 629, but this article has me re-thinking my woods carry.

I don't own a 10mm, but I do have a .357 Sig that I'm darn good with as it was my duty caliber for years before I got out of the LEO field.

Hmmmm... A few rounds of .44 Mag, or 6-12 rounds of .357 Sig that I can pump out much faster. I definitely wouldn't go any lighter than that.

I too would go with your .357 Sig if it's what you're proficient with. Something that was mentioned earlier was for dangerous critters, penetration trumps expansion. And from what I've been reading, that means FMJ's, hard cast, and other solid bullets. Like GJM mentioned earlier, hard cast can have issues, and Glock says to stay away from them (of course, they also say stay away from reloads...). however, and aftermarket barrel can solve any issue if that's the route you choose to go.

And for FMJ's, it seems that the flat nose bullets do more damage as they are not so easily deflected.

I bought and have had good results with these thus far and carry them in my G26 when I'm in my neighborhood as I live in a semi-rural area with a ton of deer and lately we've had reports of both hogs and cougars (4 legged variety...) within half a mile of my house https://underwoodammo.com/shop/9mm-l...-metal-jacket/

But I'm also toying with the idea of tricking out a G35 (convert it into .357 Sig) or possibly just spiffing out a G31/32, and then this might become my critter bullet: https://underwoodammo.com/shop/357-s...ket-box-of-50/

I also really like the solid copper extreme penetrators and if bears were an issue, I'd probably go with those just because the videos of their penetration and performance are wicked...

https://underwoodammo.com/shop/357-s...me-penetrator/

https://youtu.be/mZ7CFx-Z-Ko

https://youtu.be/DYLbmSp5itA

This is a pretty good article posted on another thread a while back...

http://www.marksmanshipmatters.com/d...with-handguns/

And another good article from Tim Sundles of Buffalo Bore ammo:

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.ph...uct_list&c=108

Good luck and stay safe,

Buzz

[BuzzinSATX]

Thanks much, and thanks for taking the time and providing some good visuals on how relatively fast things can happen with a dangerous critter, be it 2 or 4 legged...

[G woody]

Alaskapopo, great report. Having visited Alaska a couple of times, including a 10 day driving tour last summer, I have followed the bear problem with great interest. The surprise is the "black bear" problem. Here in Virginia we are seeing a increasingly greater problem with Black bears in developed areas. So far, few attacks, but one has to wonder !! I have a lot of experience with heavy caliber revolvers, both single & double action & I agree with your conclusion to use a 10 mm autoloader. The time you used to defend yourself (in the test) would likely be even shorter during an actual bear attack, so I conclude a good autoloader give one a chance to get more shots on target in what will seem like a "blink of the eye" in a real encounter. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Ron3]

Great post!

Informative, interesting, and fun.

I would think the best choice for a .357 auto would be a 147gr-150 gr FMJ-FP. Yes/no?

So much nicer to carry a lighter, flatter gun like the Glock 20 (or other full size 10mm, .40, .357 auto or .357 magnum) that is far more likely to be carried than a large .44 mag +.

[WillBrink]

A friend of mine who was fish and wild life trooper made the decision and went with a Glock 31. His testing on bear skulls from DLP kills got me re thinking caliber and gun choice.

Speaking for myself only, in the caliber size vs shot placement and number of rnds on target, I don't think I'd go smaller in bullet weight than the 10mm you're using in big bear country. Seems to me, the 10mm may strike the best balance, but I'd feel under gunned at .357 sig. and the G20 really surprised me with how controllable the recoil is compared to what I was expecting. I do LOL at the S&W 500 chest rigs I see people wearing. If you get that damn thing out and get it on target on time, I'm sure it would put a hurtin' on a bear, but good luck with the follow up shot.