I just bought a redhawk .44 mag for bear protection on the rivers up here in AK and was wondering what type and weight of bullets i should load for the grizzlys. any info will help


Thanks from Alaska,


Bud

For a grizzly id be more worried about penetration over any other factor, Id go with a heavy jacketed round nose soft point in the 300 grain range or a partition, id imagine most folks in here are gonna tell ya to go with a 300 grain cast lead bullet. any of those would be my choices for the 44 mag.

Personally if i was gonna tote grizzly repellent in the form of a handgun i might have went with a super redhawk in 454 casull or a BFR in 45-70.

Speer used to make a 300 gr JFP... the bigger and heavier, the better.

actually, as hard of a noggin as a griz has (and that's about the only sure stopper you're gonna have if you get charged) you'd be better off with a 12 gauge stoked full of Hi-Impacts

Buffalo Bore has a "factory" load with a Lead Bullet Tech. 403gr cast bullet pretty stoked up... I going to pick up a box for my next adventure in big bear country.

Erik


Rusty Axe Camp

I have never been in this position, so I am poorly qualified as most of the replys probably will be. In other words, mostly opinion. But right off hand, I would want a Hard Cast bullet like the buffalo load. At least 300gr with H110 pushing it out.

You can't beat that penetraton. I would stay away from XTP's or even partitions. Penetration is what you want and need I would think.

Go with the 300 gr bullet of your choice and practice. That gun with stout loads can be a challenge to shoot accurately, and when you factor in the fear factor of a bear charge you'll be thankful you shot it a lot. Get some pepper spray too, it has a good track record with those bears.

if that was me i'd opt for a big heavy hard cast lead with a big meplat... big meplat = big wound channel and at 44 mag velocities a 300 gr or similar bullet will provide some pretty respectable KO... Some WW296 or H110 should get you there without much fanfare

I would go with a 300 or hevieyer Hard cast bullet for the penatration .

Like the Federal 300 gr cast core load.

pepper spray.......... haha thats a good one....... i guess bears might like they're food spicy too.

Oh yea? You actually tried it and it didn't work?