Question for the hunters/gun experts here...........

[CJ Man]

Here is the prototype

"To test the armor's potential to withstand a savage bear attack, Hurtubise periodically asked biker gangs to attack him with baseball bats. The bats always splintered without Troy feeling a thing"

[nova]

Originally Posted by Skyblu

As a side note I carry the SW .357/.38 PD hammerless revolver for my concealed weapon in my purse, the .357 will hurt me (gun only weights 12 oz.empty!)so I use the .38 instead. My hsuband has the same plus laser sight he uses the .357 in his. All good guns!

Speer makes a nice golddot HP in .38+p for snubbies like that. 12" of penetration with consistent expansion even through clothing.

http://www.speer-ammo.com/ballistics...x?loadNo=23921

My "everywhere but work" carry weapon is a S&W M&P9C semi-auto. First S&W semi-auto I've been impressed with in a while....

[Skyblu]

Originally Posted by nova

Speer makes a nice golddot HP in .38+p for snubbies like that. 12" of penetration with consistent expansion even through clothing.

http://www.speer-ammo.com/ballistics...x?loadNo=23921

My "everywhere but work" carry weapon is a S&W M&P9C semi-auto. First S&W semi-auto I've been impressed with in a while....

cool! thanks for the info!

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by CJ Man

Here is the prototype

"To test the armor's potential to withstand a savage bear attack, Hurtubise periodically asked biker gangs to attack him with baseball bats. The bats always splintered without Troy feeling a thing"

[AK Mike]

Wow. Some thread. A lot of really stupid advice (what can you expect on a car thread when you ask a gun question??) and some surprisingly almost good advice. Well, here's some more 'advice' to consider:

Forget the handgun idea. Period.

Learn to fish with a heavy rifle (.338, .375 H&H, .458) strapped to your back or within quick access.

If you insist on carrying a handgun, go with the .500 S&W and buy two. One to wear out practicing, the other to carry. Then, when all the little bones in your hand have hairline fractures from the recoil, go home and read every book you can find on bear behavior (Herrero, Russell...). Hope you learn all you can about bear behavior and shooting; it will keep your mind at ease when fly fishing.

Incidentally, one of the realities of risk is that you are about 1000 times more likely to get killed driving to the airport than bushwacked by a bear.

I don't believe I'm likely to be this forums "bear expert", I quit guiding years ago, but 30 years of living in Alaska (hunting and fishing) with a bunch of stuffed critters on the walls (dall sheep, moose, caribou, wolverine and yes, Alice, even a bear!). I'd bet I'm at least as credible as some of these posts and probably not even funny.

[Johnny1]

As some have stated the 500 Smith&Wesson isn't all that bad to shoot. Mine has the seven and a half inch compensated barrel. It doesn't recoil as hard as the 44 magnum I used to own. And if you wrap both hands around each other with your thumb down as it says your not going to get hurt either. I'm 65 years old and shoot it a lot. Only thing I had to do was get a pair of shooting gloves cause it was making the palm of my hand real sore. But the gloves took care of that.

[VR Code R6P]

Get the most powerful one that you can shoot accurately. A monster gun that intimidates the shooter is of little value. I would rather shoot a bear in the eye with a .22LR, than miss it with a .44 Mag!

[TIE FIGHTR]

Originally Posted by Windy City

If money is no object, don't buy junk!
Buy an S&W revolver as it will outlast you.
http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/w...egory_rn=15706
Is a nice concealable piece, and it will retain/increase in value. Don't shoot hollow points, carry full metal jackets.
The first shot could be a Glaser Safety slug or a CCI shot shell. This way a shot to the nose or face could do flesh damage and cause alot of pain but not bleed tha animal to death over a miserable few days.
I would be EXTREMELY careful about your transportation and carry information. Checked guns are no biggy at the airport but ammo can be. Also there are a plethora of carry laws/changes happening in state/federal parks.
FYI pepper spray can work but not always.
The best defense is don't surprise a bear. In Alaska someone would wear a bell or some other jingle jangle while hiking. This would typically forewarn the bruins of our arrival.
I spent many nights, in a tent, in heavy grizzly country with nothing more than my K-Bar. No worries. Don't break the rules. The odds are greater you will get hit by lightning.

So the story goes...An Alaskan Park Ranger is breifing hikers about safety in Bear Country where you might encounter various black, brown, and Grizzly bears. The Ranger tells them to put bells on the lace of their hiking boots, so you don't startle a black bear, and carry pepper spray in case you come across a brown's territory, you just spray it in the air to deter any encounter. "You can tell what bear territory you're in by the droppings. Black bear droppings are small with twigs and berries in them, brown bear droppings are larger and might contain animal fur or bones, and Grizzly droppings will have little bells in them and smell like pepper spray."

Good luck with that.

[Zeus]

Originally Posted by AK Mike

Wow. Some thread. A lot of really stupid advice (what can you expect on a car thread when you ask a gun question??) and some surprisingly almost good advice. Well, here's some more 'advice' to consider:

Forget the handgun idea. Period.

Learn to fish with a heavy rifle (.338, .375 H&H, .458) strapped to your back or within quick access.

If you insist on carrying a handgun, go with the .500 S&W and buy two. One to wear out practicing, the other to carry. Then, when all the little bones in your hand have hairline fractures from the recoil, go home and read every book you can find on bear behavior (Herrero, Russell...). Hope you learn all you can about bear behavior and shooting; it will keep your mind at ease when fly fishing.

Incidentally, one of the realities of risk is that you are about 1000 times more likely to get killed driving to the airport than bushwacked by a bear.

I don't believe I'm likely to be this forums "bear expert", I quit guiding years ago, but 30 years of living in Alaska (hunting and fishing) with a bunch of stuffed critters on the walls (dall sheep, moose, caribou, wolverine and yes, Alice, even a bear!). I'd bet I'm at least as credible as some of these posts and probably not even funny.

I'll bet you taint the odds just a bit when your walking through the wood's carrying fish

[Camaro509]

Has anyone recommended a vintage WWII bazooka yet?

[Zeus]

Originally Posted by Camaro509

Has anyone recommended a vintage WWII bazooka yet?

I believe so.... but without the vintage.

[AK Mike]

Originally Posted by Zeus

I'll bet you taint the odds just a bit when your walking through the wood's carrying fish

That's a fact! I have some great fish/bear stories; last one was down by Sweetheart Creek, south of Juneau. It's a subsistence fishery for red salmon; you can dip net/cast net and get alot of fish. And the bears know about it too! There were a group of four of us and we'd managed to get all the fish we could carry, so we headed back to the boat. The trail is narrow and winds through the woods along the creek. My friend Matt was in the lead, both hands carrying bags of fish and he stopped with a brown bear on the trail, literally 30 feet in front of him. I was right behind him (with a .375 on my back) also with both hands full of fish. He whispered, "Mike, there's a bear right in front of me, what should I do?" I whispered back, "...don't give him the fish." Then I started laughing and he just stared at the bear as it wandered off in the woods. Made for an interesting afternoon and another memorable great day in Alaska! There's been almost zero documented cases where bear have attacked when people are in groups....not saying it can't happen, but if you want to play the odds, take a buddy or two!

[nova]

Originally Posted by Camaro509

Has anyone recommended a vintage WWII bazooka yet?

Well I almost said 75mm howitzer but thought it slight overkill...

[Zeus]

Originally Posted by AK Mike

That's a fact! I have some great fish/bear stories; last one was down by Sweetheart Creek, south of Juneau. It's a subsistence fishery for red salmon; you can dip net/cast net and get alot of fish. And the bears know about it too! There were a group of four of us and we'd managed to get all the fish we could carry, so we headed back to the boat. The trail is narrow and winds through the woods along the creek. My friend Matt was in the lead, both hands carrying bags of fish and he stopped with a brown bear on the trail, literally 30 feet in front of him. I was right behind him (with a .375 on my back) also with both hands full of fish. He whispered, "Mike, there's a bear right in front of me, what should I do?" I whispered back, "...don't give him the fish." Then I started laughing and he just stared at the bear as it wandered off in the woods. Made for an interesting afternoon and another memorable great day in Alaska! There's been almost zero documented cases where bear have attacked when people are in groups....not saying it can't happen, but if you want to play the odds, take a buddy or two!

Yea the reason I am even interested in picking up a weapon is a story similar to that.

Trout fishing in Vermont with a group of guys. I went off on my own, found a good run and I caught this monster..... Fish was so big it actually broke my landing net. So I ended up leaving him there on the bank, and went out to go get my buddies and bring them down to this stretch of the river. Went and got them, and came back all in about 15 minutes. By the time we were back, there was a BIG black bear who had made his way over, and was sniffing around my fish. We gave him a lot of space and just walked back the way we had come, but if I had been standing there holding the fish when he walked up I'm not sure what I would have done.... and he was there within 15 minutes of my catching the fish so he wouldn't have been very far away.