.357 Magnum big enough for Black bear?

I had the impression that you wanted to hunt bear with a 357. While it could work, given the right bullet and great shot placement, it's still not what I'd want to use.

For the possibility of defensive use against them while backpacking, that changes things. Odds are you won't ever have to draw the gun. I still fall into the "bigger is better for bear" camp, but I also commonly carried my 357 when in bear country in Arizona, on the premise that a convenient 357 that was carried beat an inconvenient 44 mag that wasn't. I'd still rather have my 44, but short of cutting the barrel down it's just too long for a packing gun.

Think about your load and how tough a bears skull is, and if you have to shoot try for vitals rather than a head shot if possible.

You won't get the performance from your 6 inch barrel that the load you reported got from a Marlin rifle.
 
Will it kill one? sure dang thing.
Would I want to trust my rear to it stopping one? no dang way!

Just a thought that hit me, imagine a 400 pound pro football lineman high on crank running at you from 30 feet with a butcher knife in each hand, what would you want to be shooting?
Now figure that a bear is significantly faster and harder to stop than any man.
Me, a 12 gauge with slugs, anything else is a compromise in my opinion.

I guess it just depends on how much a person is willing to compromise.
 
When I first started reading this thread I assumed you were planning a hunt, and I would have answered “sometimes”, depending on whether you were hunting with dogs or over bait, stalking, etc. Now it seems you are more interested in personal protection. In this case, Craig Hamilton has the answer. Any chance you might have, or can beg/borrow, a light single shot 12 gauge shotgun for the trip? Put a slug in it; not buckshot
 
I saw a video clip of a ranger releasing a black bear .The cage was in a pickup truck and he was on top of it lifting the gate.When the bear jumped down it spun around and swatted the cage knocking the ranger to the ground.They ended up with the ranger in a bearhug with the bear trying to bite this poor guys skull.The ranger emptied all six rounds from his 357 right into that bruins midsection.Final round put him down.It was a really wild video.I carry a 357 while hunting but its a last resort.The rifle in my hand will be my first weapon of choice.300 rum shooting 180 barnes xbt.I also read somewhere that a 9mm is better protection because of lack of recoil.You could dump 15 110 grain bullets into a bear faster than the follow up shot with a casull.The nines are fun and the article made sense to me but this year I think I'll be packing my 45 long colt.
 
I saw the same clip, only it was a small grizzly I do believe and the round that killed him hit him in the neck and severed his spine.
 
I think that if it is a pack gun and you are a good shot with it.....I would bring it if I had no other choice of a bigger one.

Last year my buddie shot a 400 pounder at 100 yards with a 30-06. When I got there we went after the big boy. (out here in our area that is a big black) I'm 6'2" and the ferns there where over waist high. He stayed by the creek while I walked in the thick stuff. Now think about this.... His bear and he is 6'11" and i'm in the thick stuff.... Well I was the one that happened to walk up on him. And he was pissed. I was carring a 300 win mag. saw him at 10 feet. he rolled from his back the same time i got my gun to my shoulder. i said oooohhhh shhhhh and boom. i shot him through the front shoulders. we thought that was going to be it. right. NOPE. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif the bullet went through and didn't hit the vitals. he shot it 2 more times with a 44 mag. done right. nope. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif i took a 5 foot long stick about 2 inches around. tapped him in the shoulder and man o man before i could pull the stick away he turned it into bark dust. :eek: the last shot was with the 30-06. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif i poked him in the shoulder again and when he went for the stick he put one down the center of his chest and got the lungs. i gained a great respect for bears that day.

I also learned a couple of things. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
1. high powered rifles don't work that well at really close range. going way too fast. my 300 didn't even expand. now i carry a 44 into the brush or a 30-30.
2.bullet, bullet, bullet. i didn't know that the 44 mag he was shooting had reloads with a solid led hollow point. they only went in 2 inches. didn't even make it to the vitals.
3. never poke a bear with the end of your gun. judging by what the bear did to the stick, i don't want my gun barrel messed up be one.

sorry so long. just my .02
 
Lips what part of NM does your grandfather hunt? Wonder if George knows him, he is the local dog guy I hunt with here in Farmington?

My only experinces with Bear has been with hounds. I have seen a few shot this year and all have been with a 44 mag. I had the best luck with a Ruger blackhawk shooting hard cast 300 grain bullets. George always wants three shots in the bear regardless. Trust me you'll be un popular real quick if a guys dogs start getting killed due to a bear.

Bow and arrow works really well too, the arrow has no kinetic energy in comparison to a bullet. Although the broadhead severes things and cuts a 1 1/4 inch hole. Most bear will flinch a little and climb up, and in a minute or less they drop dead.

I would like to try my 50 cal muzzle loader with a 250 grain X I am sure it would do very well.

I know a navajo game warden who has used a 38 in the past to dispatch of problem bears so a 357 can do it.

Chad
 
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