S&W 500 Magnum

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[quote]pushharder wrote:

[quote]Hyena wrote:

[quote]BCSteel wrote:

[quote]pushharder wrote:

[quote]BCSteel wrote:
Seriously, a gun for “protection” from animals when camping? rolls eyes I’ve been camping hundreds of times out in no mans land and never, repeat, never had a problem with any wildlife in concerns to my life. You would be much better off learning some basic wilderness skills.[/quote]

I take it your part of BC is grizz free?

[Edit] Basic wilderness skills include self defense.[/quote]

The part where I live, yes. But its not always the place where I play.

Basic wilderness skills do not include guns.

Is there a possibility that one day a situation could arise where a gun could make a difference between my life and death in regards to an animal attack while out in the bush, sure. Chances are far greater that such a situation will never occur and not having a gun while in the back country does not mean that one is not prepared. If someone needs a gun to feel safe, fine. That has never been the case for me and I honestly cant see it ever being one for me.[/quote]

You ever heard that saying? It’s better to have it, and not need it, than need it and not have it?
[/quote]

But he KNOWS he’ll never need one. He KNOWS it.
[/quote]

Better reread my post there big guy, seems you missed the point.

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There’s also a direct correlation between telling yourself your being prepared for a highly unlikely situation and carrying one to feel safe. Think about it.

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[quote]pushharder wrote:

[quote]BCSteel wrote:
Like I said, if you need a gun to feel safe in the woods, have at it. I dont.[/quote]

You don’t carry one to “feel safe.” You carry one to defend yourself if need be. There is a distinction there. Think about it.[/quote]

Yes the distinction is i carry to feel safe in case i have to defend myself.

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In the end, the choice is his. S&W 500 looks like it’d be a fun gun to have. Though its a whole lot of bullet for a handgun. If I wanted a bore like that I’d still go with a shotgun and mix my ammo. Couple of shot loads followed by slugs. For you application though, it would take a while to make ready and by the time you are ready, might be too late.

Sling a guage over your shoulder whilst hiking/camping and you’ll be better protected. Native Americans (aka non gun owners at the time) use to run up on a bear and bitch slap them as a rite of passage for teenage boys (read that as 12-15 years old) armed with nothing more than a spear, knife made out of rock, and a bow. I would just say man-up and unleash your inner animal, but we dont live like they did.

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Chances of actually “needing” the .500 in CO are pretty slim. Only black bears here and they typically are not agressive. That being said, if you aren’t using the pistol for hunting get the short barreled one. That way if the bear is already on top of you you stand a chance at getting a shot off. Ideally you wouldn’t be shooting the animal until you knew the attack was iminant anyway. That shot range should be something like 3-5 yards. Otherwise it is oftly hard to justify to fish and game officers.

In Alaska I would def carry a shotgun with slugs if only camping Or fishing hunting atving etc. but no way it would come along backpacking. That’s what a short barreled large caliber pistol is for.

I would also look into the ruger redhawk Alaskan in .454 casull. Plenty of power slightly more controlable. Also shoot .45long colt for practicing and working you way up to the .454 heavy loads.

Check guntrader.com for good prices on the ruger.

Hope this helps

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Oil field bears…not sure what caliber to use on these lol. Funny and sad at the same time.

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.

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I’ve been camping less than 10 times and I’ve had an encounter with a bear. I had to shack up in my car for the night. :frowning:

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I forgot to mention friends of mine had a bear encounter when they toured Alaska in their conversion van. Also there was a bear that wandered into our area of southwestern Ontario last month, this is NOT normal.

BCsteel…you must be the luckiest hiker ever or your methods of keeping out of their way are excellent, probably a little of the first and alot of the second.

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If you feel the need for any pistol bigger than a .44 magnum, take a rifle. Preferably .308 and semi auto. Those marketing videos for the .500 and .460 from Smith and Wesson look great, where they try to simulate a bear attack. But that’s all they are, marketing.

Edit-

FYI, I have owned the 500 magnum w/ 8 3/8" barrel. It’s powerful, but not very controllable and the ammo prices are ridiculous. I don’t miss it one bit.

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I can’t say I’ve run into any bears camping, but I’ve found myself close enough to make me very nervous. Hiking on a trail a few klicks into the bush, there was suddenly this terrible smell, and then I noticed a large number of trees had been clawed to hell, with a bit of fur on them. As we were leaving I could hear something large moving in the brush not too far away. Not fun.

Out of curiosity, has anyone ever see a bear charge before?

I was at a zoo, and a large female grizzly got pissed at a smaller male in the enclosure. I just happened to be about 10 meters directly behind the male and in line with the female. The speed that she moved at was incredible. I’m not sure if it was an illusion or not, but her profile during the charge was not that big compared to when she was just lumbering around.

I’m guessing that even with large gun, only those with experience (shooting under stressful circumstances) would have a decent chance against a grizzly charge.

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[quote]admbaum wrote:
it would take a while to make ready and by the time you are ready, might be too late. [/quote]

Hardly. Well, I suppose it depends on how you’re carrying it, but it’s easy enough to just keep the thing in your hands in front of your chest/waist. Raise to shoulder, click the safety off, point, and press.

[quote]Doug Adams wrote:
If you feel the need for any pistol bigger than a .44 magnum, take a rifle. Preferably .308 and semi auto.
[/quote]

Who gave you the suggestion of a .308? Seems like it’s just not enough gun for a grizzly. I could certainly be wrong, though. Not a bearlistics expert =P

[quote]Hyena wrote:
I’m sure it is ferociously expensive. I’ve never actually seen one for sale, but I’m gonna guess they’re probably around $1200 US, when its all said and done. Ammo is gonna be a rip off too.
[/quote]

They’re definitely expensive. My gun shop had a shorty for $1000-1100, and I got my full length a few years back for $800-900, IIRC. Not mind blowingly spendy for a gun, but still quite an investment. But you’re definitely right about the ammo. I think they go for around $2.25/round (yikes!). Don’t quote me on that, since I haven’t been shopping for .500 ammo lately, but I seem to recall paying about $53 for a box of 20. You could find some amazing deals every once in a while, but that seemed to be about the average.

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[quote]ZuluSierraPapa wrote:

[quote]Doug Adams wrote:
If you feel the need for any pistol bigger than a .44 magnum, take a rifle. Preferably .308 and semi auto.
[/quote]

Who gave you the suggestion of a .308? Seems like it’s just not enough gun for a grizzly. I could certainly be wrong, though. Not a bearlistics expert =P

[/quote]

Guy on a gun forum I browse that lives in Alaska. 20 rounds of .308 out of an M1A or .308 AR style rifle will ruin any bear’s day. And you can put those rounds on target a lot faster than a big bore revolver.

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[quote]gswork wrote:

Stopping power and critical hits are what matters if you are attacked[/quote]

shit i better roll a twenty then

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Jesus Fucking Christ. I never said that I have not encountered any bears. I said that I have never felt that my life was in danger from any wildlife at any time. Have I seen a lot of griz, no, only 7 or 8 but the fact that I have spent many days in griz country and never felt threatened is not making me want to run out and buy a gun for protection. I’ve probably seen hundreds of black bears ranging from waaayyy off in the distance to within a stones throw while holding a freshly killed steelhead in my hands, all with out incident. Still never seen a cougar. Seen tracks only a couple hours old in my tracks but never the cat itself.

If having a gun strapped to you makes you feel better out there, have at it. I personally am not worried about it.

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[quote]pushharder wrote:

[quote]Doug Adams wrote:

[quote]ZuluSierraPapa wrote:

[quote]Doug Adams wrote:
If you feel the need for any pistol bigger than a .44 magnum, take a rifle. Preferably .308 and semi auto.
[/quote]

Who gave you the suggestion of a .308? Seems like it’s just not enough gun for a grizzly. I could certainly be wrong, though. Not a bearlistics expert =P

[/quote]

Guy on a gun forum I browse that lives in Alaska. 20 rounds of .308 out of an M1A or .308 AR style rifle will ruin any bear’s day. And you can put those rounds on target a lot faster than a big bore revolver.
[/quote]

I disagree. Big bore rifle magnums or 10 or 12 gauge shotgun slugs are the only way to go. I’m surprised a guy from AK would vouch for the .308 for grizz. They simply do not have the penetrative power to consistently stop big bears.
[/quote]

I don’t understand how you can say that. Assuming you understand that a .308 at 800+ yards hits with more energy than a full house .357 mag at point blank.

I’ve never shot a bear, hell, I live in southern california, the only wild bear I’ve ever seen was a little brown bear in the mountains up near malibu, but I don’t doubt that a .308, semi auto, nonetheless would have no problem punching holes in a bear. Especially at a distance of <50 yards. I’m pretty sure a .308 FMJ round would be able to bust up a bear pretty damn good.

However, I do think that an AR-10 type weapon for hiking/adventuring is just plain foolish. First of all, for a cheap one, you’re looking at >$2300. Also, they’re heavy as shit and not very practical for a close quarters situation, which is true of pretty much any rifle. M1A is slightly cheaper, around $1700, which is still pricey, and they’re huge, long rifles. Not meant to be used for stuff like this. Even the shorter ones, the SOCOMII series and such, are still too long and too bulky for my liking (at least for this situation).

I think a .308 would be an effective round against a bear, but I can’t think of any weapon that uses it that would be practical in such a situation. Unless you can find a small, PDW sized weapon that fires a .308, which would probably just be too damn hard to control to be effective anyway.