Blain:
I'd rather not re-open your buckshot vein here, but just for informational purposes:

The .44 round that I use is designed specifically for the harvesting of large game. JD Jones has used it to harvest all the big names in Africa, and I have hunted with it for years.

It is a very long bullet, with an exceptional sectional cross density, and a large frontal mass. It is cast with a special alloy designed to assure that it does not shatter upon impact with heavy bone, and does not mushroom. It is designed with one thing in mind...PENETRATION.

I've shot bull moose with this cartridge from 50 and 100 yards, with complete pass through on both shoulders. It penetrated the shoulder bone, on the front side, and exited through the shoulder bone on the other. The exit hole was the same size as the entrance hole.

Incidentally, the hydrostatic shock on the entrance shoulder is monumental...it has ruined the majority of more than one front quarter, by turning it to jelly.

I do not know the math behind the energy calculations (nor do I put much store by it, preferring instead to field test these things), but this specially designed (for pure penetration) 320 grn. bullet has been consistently chronographed between 1200 and 1400 ft per second.

There are faster and hotter loads out there for the .44, but I would not use them for bear. The key to the whole package is the bullet. With handguns on large game, you must have PENETRATION, or you will fail.

Finally, on the issue of using my .44 for defense (at times) as apposed to the shotgun…pure logistics. I carry my .44 in a shoulder holster when on foot. This assures that it is always with me, whether I'm going to the bathroom, or just hiking around.

The shotgun is a better weapon, but harder to carry.

As to the slug and its performance, the Breniki Rottweil slug in 3" magnum is the widest used bear defense cartridge in Alaska. There are many penetration tests, both clinical and practical, that have been conducted with them. It is the results of these tests that make it the round of issue to all of our state and federal agencies that have to work in bear country, or deal with rogue bears.

My own experience with it is phenomenal. I can unequivocally state that it will penetrate from front to back (enter the chest, and break the pelvic, finally coming to a stop in rump tissue) on large bear, at close range. It is this PENETRATION that is so critical to dropping a charging grizzly…you must be able to break bone, and disembowel with a single shot!

For patterning purposes, let me state that with my Benneli, and using a "walking" (starting low in the chest, and letting the recoil help walk the rounds up the kill zone) pattern style of shooting, from the hip, I can get 3 shots of in as many seconds (or maybe less if I'm really scared ), all placed in the kill zone.

This same slug also performs admirably down range. I've shot it at 75 yards, and still managed to keep it in the kill zone, and have heard of others using it out to 100 yards…not bad for a combat shotgun.

<img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle> If You Ain't Hunted Alaska, You're Still Just Practicing <img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle>