.357 Magnum big enough for Black bear?

purdygood

purdygood

Active member
Is a .357 big enough for black bear?I checked The taylor Knock down factor and it said it was good up too 100 yards.I will be using a 170 Gr. JHP@ 1600 fps. I don't want to go and get another bigger handgun.

Thanks
 
When my son and I went hunting in Alaska for black bear, there was a guy in camp who was hunting with a 454 Cassul. It took him 5 shots to put his bear down. I don't know the exact particulars as to shot placement. The Cassul should easily have been able to do the job.

That said, the .357 should do the job. Just be sure of shot placement. I would also use either a jacketed soft point bullet or possibly the Nosler Partition Gold. Stay away from the standard hollow point bullets. They open up too quickly and don't provide the penetration you need.

Good luck on your hunt.
 
I would not, by choice, use a 357 on bear. For an arms-length defensive encounter it'd be better than nothing, but I've seen a 357 full charge defensive round, fired by my hand at point blank range, bounce off a coyotes forehead without leaving a visible mark, so no thank you, I would not hunt bear with one. I most certainly wouldn't count on it having enough steam at 100 yards.
 
My grandfather catches a bear almost every year in new mexico and thats all ever carried was a .357 mag. The only difference might be that he was shooting them out of trees right above him. He uses hounds and thats only he ever killed one i think.
Justin
 
I would agree with Moose57. A .357 will do the job. I like the partitions best. I wouldn't use the cal. on any other bear species. Personally, I would rather shoot a .357 that I shoot well rather than some larger cal cannon that I don't shoot as well. I believe in all hunting, shot placement is really the key to success.
 
I would say if you can shoot it good and have a good bullet go for it. My dad has a friend that went hunting with his wife in canada for bear i think. The wife shot the bear with a 357 and wounded him. The husband went after him and met up with it. He shot it and finished it off. Well it also had its mate with it and it came after him. He had a 44 mag revolver and emptied it on the bear. Thas 6 shots to the head and he dropped it about 5 feet from his feet. The 357 did more damage then the 44 did on that particular bear. The bear the wife shot was nearly dead when they found it, one shot and then a finish off shot, the 44 took 6 shots to the head to stop the other bear.
 
I love reading replies like some of those above. Opinions, what would we do without them?

The .357 is large enough on small bears IF the shotplacement is good. If it's not, then good luck collecting that bear.

The bottom line is this. If a 100lb yearling comes in, that 357 will work just fine. But, with black bears, there is always the chance for a trophy. Four, five, six, seven or even eight hundred pounds could happen. Now, if it were me and a six hundred pound blackie came in, would I want to trust a trophy of a life time to a .357? NOPE!!!

Carry what you think would be too much gun. Just in case there is a trophy there, you'll be glad you had it.

Randy
 
i dont have any experience with bears but i have heard stories, one guy that belongs to our camp shot a bear 5 or 6 times with a .44 hitting it every time as the bear just kept running circles around him, and the wierd part is that all the shots were good ones. then i heard a story from my cousin about his friend shooting a bear with a .243 with one shot. so i guess it all depends on the shot and how tough the bear is.
 
Something people tend to forget is even if you liquify the internal organs of an animal it still has up to a couple minutes of life left in it before lack of oxygen shuts down the brain. A central nervous system (brain) shot will be an immediate lights out. If you can damage a weight bearing bone or a spinal cord shot the animal will collapse, but as long as oxygen can get to the brain the animal will live.
This is all mostly relevant to an animal that is pumped up on adrenaline (in an extreme defensive or offensive mode) and not likely to become immediately susceptible to shock. An animal that is at rest when shot is much more likely to succumb to shock.
Would I use a .357 for a bear? I'll answer with a definitive maybe--it depends on the circumstances. If hunting from a tree stand over a bait pile and firing on a bear in a relaxed state I wouldn't mind using a .357 Magnum. If I was wading in a stream out fly fishing and looking to carry bear protection I would want something more along the lines of a .454 Casull or .480 Ruger. Reason being is that if you happen across a bear while out fishing a stream, more than likely he will be on the offensive since your are in his stream, or will be very defensive if he is startled while you are making your way to the stream. In this case something with a lot more punch is desireable. A .45-70 lever action or 10 gauge slug gun would be comforting, but it won't do you any good sitting on the side of a stream 50 feet away when a bear sees you trespassing on his fishing hole.

Of course shot placement is trump. Shooting this month's latest big whammy special doesn't amount to much if you don't hit something important.

Glenn
 
I was told something once that really stuck. I was told: Hold your breath and start running as fast as you can...see how far you can get before you need to breath. You probably can't get very far but if you're in any shape at all you can probably get 50 yards maybe more before you have to gasp for air. When you compare us to a deer or bear that can run say 15-30mph, even through brush, and are almost always in good physical shape, they can probably get 10 times farther than you...say 300 or 500 yards maybe more!

My bear protection is a .44 Rem Mag with 250gr Nosler Partitions. I would rather have it than a .357mag, but rather a .357mag than something less /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'm wondering about the 1600fps thing myself, you should only be able to hit that in a 158gr or smaller.

enough of my ranting.
 
Coyotebuster, hunting bears or anything else with a handgun in Canada? Nope, nope, nope. Sorry that dog won't hunt. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
i've heard of rogue bears hopped up on dope taking 30 or 40 rounds from a 9mm before falling.

No telling what one would do with a bag of chocolate bunnies in its stomach.
 
Wrong caliber and bullet for large bear (IMHO), but maybe he is looking at a Maximum instead of a Magnum. Starting loads for 357 Rem. Maximum 170 gr. JHC is 20 gr. H110 = 1690 fps.(Hodgon No. 27)
 
Well, my Speer book doesn't show a 170 grain load but it does show a .357 Magnum 180 gr. load at 1573 fps. Catch is though it is a silhouette load and a COL of .090 longer than spec, and as a result many cylinders. Recommended only for T/Cs or with heavy frame revolvers.

Glenn
 
Guys thanks for all the info.
The load I was referring to was out of The Sierra 50th Annivversary Edition.

.357 Magnum
.357 170 Gr. JHC
Cartridge QAL 1.585"

There are only 3 powders listed that will attain the 1600 fps
1. Viht N110 13.7 Gr. (max)
2. H110 14.9= 1600 fps (15.5 Gr. Max Load=1650 fps)
3. 296 15.0 Gr.= 1600 fps (15.4 Max load =1650 fps)

These loads were tested thru a Marlin Model 1894 w/ 18 1/2 in. barrel and 1X16" twist.

It also has a load for 180 Gr. FPJ(full profile jacket)the max fps on any powder used is 1400 fps w/783 ft/lbs energy.

I didn't want to step on anybodies toes. I was just wondering if a .357 would be good enogh for medium size Black Bears at close range.I didn't want to have to go and spend the $$$$ for a Ruger .480 or a .454 to carry as I am backpacking in Colo later this summer.

I am very comfortable and proficient with the S&W 686 w/6" thatI currently own.I think I would be better in a serious situation with it than with another firearm that I wasn't as proficient with.
 
Purdygood, I have carried a S&W 686 .357 in bear country on numerous occasions. I grew up with bears frequently rumaging through our garbage cans and eating the dogs food off the back porch and for most of the defensive bear situations I have been in have always felt perfectly comfortable with a .357. I will not go as far as to say bigger isn't better and personally my favorite is a Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Long Colt with good hard cast bullets ( you can load the ruger alot hotter than a standard long colt).Like some of the guys have said here. If you shoot it good and are comfortable with it use it. I personally prefer good hard cast bullets or some of the swaged and plated bullets from Berry's Mfg. or Ranier Bullets. Something that will give you good penetration and break bone. I have seen some posts here about head shots on bears and not to step on anybodys toes, but.....in my opinion you are much better off to make a shot where you break spine or shoulders. The stories of bullets glancing off of bear sculls are numerous. I would be rather cautious as to the reloading info. that you are refering to and make darn sure that you can use that same data in a revolver. I chronographed some 158 gr. Berrys swaged bullets with 15.2 gr of 2400 from my 4" 686 just yesterday. Average velocity was 1285fps and these go off with all kinds of fire and fury, not to mention rather flattened primers. Later Jeff
 
Jeff,
I have shot these thru my 686 and YES they do go off with fire and fury,but no flattened primers and I had been shooting the max load but it was hard on my thumb (cylinder release knurling eating it up at recoil)So I backed them off max. they shoot well and I am sure the velocity is diminished with the 6" barrel I don't have a chrono so I am not exactly what velocity they are putting out but they should work. Though I may change to the jacketed soft point bullet instead of the controled expansion bullet(hollow point) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thanks again.
 
Ray, I figured you probably knew what you were doing! We just had a black bear attack here this last week. The guy was sleeping on a cot out under the stars at a small lake just north of here. Locals know that you don't camp in anything other than a hard sided camper up there. The bear bit him on the shoulder then smacked him in the melon. He shot the bear 6 times with his .44 mag and said it would have had atleast 6 more holes in it had the cylinder held that many. His partner said that he just kept squeezing the trigger after the gun was empty. I would suppose having something big and fuzzy bite you in the middle of the night just might cause a guy to react as such. Have a good one! Jeff
 
From your first post I assumed you were going to be shooting it out of a handgun but now see the twist of a Marlin rifle.
[ Is a .357 big enough for black bear?I checked The taylor Knock down factor and it said it was good up too 100 yards.I will be using a 170 Gr. JHP@ 1600 fps. I don't want to go and get another bigger handgun.
 
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