AR Grizzly Medicine...

[DDM4LV1]

Ok, this may get crazy / heated, but I am serious...
...going out into grizzly bear country with a AR 15 / M4, whether hunting, hiking or camping...and I know there are some folks way up north that kill large bears with .223's , even .22 Mags.

Now, these bears are a challenge no matter what you carry, but it is NOT necessarily the caliber, but more shot placement, staying as cool & collected given the circumstances, as possible...shot placement & a CNS hit, optimally, perhaps multiple hits as fast as possible so that AR with a really good-fast "SRT" trigger like the American Trigger AR Gold, may do the job?

I have M4's in 5.56 and the heavier side of "light" AR's, 6.8 SPC...
...the lighter side of "heavy", .300 ACC Blackout / Whisper and soon the heaviest .458 SOCOM.
6.8 SPC shoots flat, still light recoil, multiple fast placement vs.
.458 SOCOM (or middle-of-the-road .300 ACC) for frontal mass & energy, perhaps tougher to place CNS shots?

So what would you take out, there, 4 bear?

[Jack-O]

bonded projectiles and lots of them regardless of caliber!

honestly you'll wanna look at what had the greatest sectional density.. IOW mid-heavy .458 bonded hollow points

[DDM4LV1]

bonded projectiles and lots of them regardless of caliber!

honestly you'll wanna look at what had the greatest sectional density.. IOW mid-heavy .458 bonded hollow points

Are they available in a commercial load, or would I have to get into hand-loading for that?

[AKDoug]

People up here kill bears with .223's when they have the upper hand and opportunity. When the bear is attacking you, the .223 is not the weapon of choice, neither would be a .300 BK or 6.8 SPC. Better than a sharp stick, but not the best choice.

A .458 Socom is the ballistic equivalent to a 45-70 medium/light load. A 45-70 is a highly regarded lever action round for up close bears with full power rounds. I wouldn't feel too undergunned with a .458 socom.

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

458 socom from Wilson combat, Barnes bullets.

[FlyingHunter]

458 socom from Wilson combat, Barnes bullets.

I agree with the above^^^

And I have direct knowledge of how tough bears are.

The bears I've taken all fell with a .338 Win Mag shooting heavily constructed bullets.

Also a little advice, also try to have your 1st shot thru the vitals (obviously) AND have the bullet path targeted to break one of the front shoulders to reduce the bears mobility e.g. front shoulder leading into vitals or thru vitals striking back shoulder. AND once you know you've hit the bear solid, don't be shy about adding more bullets on target as fast as you can make hits.

Good luck.

[DDM4LV1]

People up here kill bears with .223's when they have the upper hand and opportunity. When the bear is attacking you, the .223 is not the weapon of choice, neither would be a .300 BK or 6.8 SPC. Better than a sharp stick, but not the best choice.

A .458 Socom is the ballistic equivalent to a 45-70 medium/light load. A 45-70 is a highly regarded lever action round for up close bears with full power rounds. I wouldn't feel too undergunned with a .458 socom.

"meduim/light"...but not heavy, hmm-mm may be iffy then, I dunno...
I guess I better research the bullet selections available for .458 socom compared to the 45-70's such as Buffalo Bore & Garrett has?

I hear it is ALL about sectional density and weight with some real oomph behind it, for bears?

[AKDoug]

Are you looking for a bear protection weapon, or an all around gun? If you spend a lot of time in bear country it's worth spending the money on a good dedicated bear gun. A good Mauser/M70/Ruger actioned, 20" barreled, 375H&H is tough to beat. I prefer iron sights in this case. Learn to shoot it well and make sure you hit the bear with your first shot. Work on your follow up shots on the move (sideways).

[DDM4LV1]

Are you looking for a bear protection weapon, or an all around gun? If you spend a lot of time in bear country it's worth spending the money on a good dedicated bear gun. A good Mauser/M70/Ruger actioned, 20" barreled, 375H&H is tough to beat. I prefer iron sights in this case. Learn to shoot it well and make sure you hit the bear with your first shot. Work on your follow up shots on the move (sideways).

Well, no...I meant (OP)...that if I choose to go light, and have other purpose to go out with the AR in "bear country", which would be the best caliber of the 4 I have...hard hitting flat shooting small cal. like the 6.8 SPC , .300 BO / W or big-bore .458 socom.

I have a Win. M70 .375 H&H(heavy), Marlin SBL 45-70, Benelli M4 H20 12G (heavy)
.308 Ruger Gunsite Scout, a bunch of Sig P-pistols in all their calibers, which I would NEVER use...just piss off the bear further with those...
...an my "last-ditch" sidearm, S&W X-frame .500 S&W 4" revolver, which I could shove down the opening of whatever end the bear presents and fire away, then endure the mauling while he bleeds out.

[murphman]

I think people have given some good insight as to what calibers would be good and it seems you have a good collections of calibers. I have heard stories of hunted bear that when processing the bear they found 9mm rounds that didn't even pass through the bears fat.

Another thing I would suggest to go with the correct caliber gun is finding something on bear sounds. I wish I could find the episode of this show on sportmans channel for you to watch but I cannot. They went through a ton of sounds bears make and what they mean from feeding sounds, to I don't want to hurt you just leave me alone sounds to you better not take one more step or I am going to shred your ass. One sounds I remember that you cant mistake is this jaw clapping sounds bears make and it doesn't mean the bear wants to play.

These sounds can be early warning as to what might be down the path.