Living in the state with the highest black bear population, And have been encountered with them. I will say this, A 9mm with the right bullet and plus P ammo will do the trick. Black bears are not a threat. Not like a grizzly bear.
Living in the state with the highest black bear population, And have been encountered with them. I will say this, A 9mm with the right bullet and plus P ammo will do the trick. Black bears are not a threat. Not like a grizzly bear.
If you already have a .45 you also might be able to get a conversion barrel. Like in 400 Cor-Bon or something
I carry a Glock 20 10mm with 200gr Hardcast Solids, in the woods here in Utah, but if i was buying one now i would go with the new S&W M&P10mm. My buddy got one recently and we shot it and that is a sweet gun, and it's cut for an optic if you like running RDS on your pistol. If I didn't already have a custom light bearing Kenai chest holster and other holsters for my Glock 20, i would sell it and get the M&P.
https://www.smith-wesson.com/product...87&preselect=1
As for the caliber debate, i also have some Underwood 147gr hardcast solid ammo for my 9mm, but always find myself taking my 10mm in the woods. I'd still feel comfortable with 9mm, but I'd rather have the extra energy if i ever have to engage a black bear or moose etc. And the semi auto 10mms shoot very smoothly with very manageable recoil.
Last edited by B Cart; 11-22-22 at 13:52.
Guys , thanks for the replies and suggestions . I`ll be going with an ammo change first as suggested and will be trying it out on my PPQ 9mm and Springfield .45 TRP as soon as the ammo gets here .
DG23 ... beautiful dogs you have there . My last pair was a traditional black and tan male and a red female. Current dog is a rescue ..... a natural ear 98 lb male that I`ve had for a little over 3 months now . Still getting to know each other . I do know he loves to chase deer and can pull me almost 10 yards if he catches me unprepared with a slack lead .
Funny story .... my first Dobe ( on number 6 now ) was a European dog , well over 110 lbs and solid muscle . We were walking near some back water in the Savannah area one day and I hear a splash and look out and see a 8 or 9 foot gator in the water . About that time , the Dobe sees him , jumps in the water to get to it , the gator makes a 90 degree turn towards the dog .
Luckly , I had him on a 10 foot lead .... which I yanked him in with . Ever seen a Dobe leave the water and not touch the ground until he was 6 feet on dry land ? He was pissed that I pulled him in as he thought he really wanted that gator .
Hadn``t though about the conversion barrel .... I`ll look into that .
Thanks !
One thing to keep in mind if you do decide on a 10mm, you will likely need to adjust the spring for the heavy loads. A factory 10mm has to run on the more common lighter loads.
Very thought provoking post.
I own a well worked over 1911 and a H&K USPC, that and some good ammo, I think I would be GTG.
Number 6 and 7 for me. Damn addicted to the breed.
If you are going to possibly be shooting around the dog you would be doing right by testing him out and desensitizing him to that sort of stuff sooner vs just waiting to see what he does when it happens.
I will never forget that first time my current girls heard the trash truck guy bang the dumpster a few times to make sure it was empty back when they were pups. Once that banging started they both pissed themselves AS they were running backwards as fast as they could go. Was pretty damn pitiful. The piss made the floor even more slippery and them trying to run backwards in that at full speed looked like something out of a looney tunes cartoon.
You don't have to use live ammo at first and really would not suggest that but.. You can start off slow and easy with stuff like blanks or other low report stuff and work your way forward.
My girls hanging out whilst I was spring tuning my 460 Rowland at work one day:
Where the tape measure is sitting is where I was standing - The end of it is where the brass was generally landing once dialed in to that particular load.
Conversions are cool but a lot of times they really need to be dialed in with things that did not come in the conversion 'kit'.
Glock 20 is probably the most practical 10mm option.
I personally would lean more towards a .44 magnum.
But probably the most important thing you can also have is a bright light. Nothing beats seeing it coming or seeing it before you get there.
Look into a SureFire in the 1,000 lumen range or more. The rechargable USB battery models are really nice.
It's hard to be a ACLU hating, philosophically Libertarian, socially liberal, fiscally conservative, scientifically grounded, agnostic, porn admiring gun owner who believes in self determination.
Chuck, we miss ya man.
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A Gen 5 20 MOS (and 21) has been softly announced by Glock.
My bear protection is a S&W .44 Mag.........Not saying 10mm won't get the job done, I just prefer the .44 for that purpose. It is loaded with 240gr hard cast lead over a full house charge of Alliant 2400.
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