Yesterday I picked up a Smith and Wesson 44 Mag that I intend on using for a backup gun while in bear country. What makes a better round to stop bears, a 240 grain going a little faster or a 300 grain going a little slower. I picked up a box of the Hornady 300 Grain hollow points becauseI thought that would be the best. Anyone have a factory load they would recommend tostop bears as quick as possible at close range?

Thanks Bryan

just dont aim for the head... its a hell of alot harder than it looks lol

I use 240gr Jacketed Soft Points for Black Bear around here. I was thinking about getting 300gr Jacketed Soft Points but i use the gun for deer hunting and think the 300gr will be a little too much for deer.

Bottom line, 95% of the time the heavier bullet, slug, or arrow will out penetrate even though its going slower.

I would stick with a 240 gr cast bullet.......no hollow point. I have my doubts that anything would be gained by trying to make a 44 throw a 300 gr bullet. A 240 grain is already a big bullet for the cartridge. I'd rather have some extra velocity and push behind the thing. But then I've never been eaten by a grizzly, so I don't know for sure. I doubt any of us have ever had the pleasure of putting our theories to the test on this.

They would be perfect for deer, look how many guys use 300gr pistol bullets in their muzzleloaders, pushing even higher velocities.

It is simple the one with more momentum and use the lest expanding bullet avalible like hard cast. partition, or softpoints. It will be the 300gr bullet.

Out of my S&W 629 Hunter Classic the 300gr loads push more but are easer to keep on target the 240gr loads crack the palm of my hand and I am slower with follow up shots. And as stated don't shot at the head it is a wedge that deflects bullets very well. Shoot at the chest.

What size bear???

Of those two, i'd use the 240's on the average size blk. bear, and never look back... I like the 250 "Keith style" bullets even better and is my first choise for that size animial...

DM

300 gr. LBT style bullet. Good luck.

Depends on what bear you're talking about.For Black bear you can use pretty much any .44 load and get the job done but I'd go with the 300gr (not the hollow point) for brown bears. You need a very solidly built bullet to penetrate deep through tough muscle or even bone if need be. Stick with a truncated,core bondedor Keith style bullet to get the job done and make sure you're pushing it at least 1300fps