jeepkid

My first thought is hopefully I can out run my friend!!

bigbulls

When you are in the woods in bear country you shouldn't go it alone. EVER!
You also do not need all that much gun while in bear country. Anything larger than your typical pocket 22 or 25 caliber pistol for bear protection is a complete waste and just takes up needed space.








The pistol isn't for shooting the bear but rather to pop your "buddy" in the knee as the bear charges so you can get away.
You know, a good buddy would lay his life on the line for you.

Blackelk

I have a lil piss ant 41mag I carry around. It only averages 800ft lbs of energy. It has already leveled one bear in a situation I got more confidence in the gun doing it's job than me standing there taking the charge. If bigger makes you feel more confident buy the 500 s&w, but if you can't shoot it well and handle a bad situation you might as well have a .38 pocket derringer to use on yourself.

Brush hunter

[/quote] As this can be a trus statement it is also false. the .45 was known for a lond time as the .45 long, and still today you can find .45 long brass. They are the same, but to say there is no such thing is just plain wrong to us oldtimers.

bigbulls

I know that the 45 colt, 45 long and 45 long colt are all the same cartridge but latter two are only nick names. 45 Colt is the real designation for the cartridge.It was nick named the 45 Long or Long Colt because the original 45 was the 45 Schofield which was a shorter 45 caliber cartridge and had a larger rim diameter. The Colt received this nickname in an attempt to keep soldiers from getting the two cartridges confused and having the wrong ammo while in the field.

Blackelk

If there's not such thing as a .45 long colt then I'd write all the ammo manufacturers and tell them they are ignorant and they need to get educated, because they are still putting 45lc on the box.

bigbulls

I have and the basic consensus was that they knew that the "long" part of the name was not correct but that there are enough people that don't know any better so they felt that they should keep the name for all of the people that would be thoroughly confused if they changed it now.

idahostalker

i personally would never hunt elk with a 45. 45's don't have good penetration power on elk. just last hunting season, a guy i know shot and elk and it ended up not being a very good shot, so he went up to the elk to finish it off with his 45, and EVERY SINGLE bullet literally bounced off of the elk from 5 yards away. except for one, and that stoped at the rib. not even joking!!!! their were bald spots were he shot it in the vitals and he even was tellin me how he could see the bullets reflecting right off the elk. so after that all happened, he grabbed his rifle and just finished it off with that. in my personal opinion, i would not use a 45 for hunting, cause were i live in northern idaho their are big bears, big mountainlions, and big elk, so i wouldn't want to even take that chance. i have even herd stories of people shooting charging bears with 45's were i live and the bullets reflecting right off their skulls. if i was you, i wouldn't risk it by hunting with a 45. i would go with a 44, 454, 460, or maybe even a 357.

BigJ71

I wouldn't shoot a bear, elk, moose or even a deer with .45 Colt cowboy loads either as the results will probably be close to what your friend saw. He was without a doubt using the wrong ammo. With the proper hunting ammo you can EXCEED the .44mag in all areas and do it with less pressure. Please take the time to read up or better yet do as I have done and go out and actually TEST the performance of +P+ .45Colt loads before you dismiss the use of them.

It's misinformation like this that drives me nuts!

Believe me, a 325gr gas checked, hard cast .45 Colt bullet moving out at 1300fps will put an end to any North American big game in a hurry if you do your part....Period!