10mm bear defense

[Wrench]

Reading some of this is comical. Here's what I can tell you after shooting a bear inside 10 yards with a 10mm and a 375H&H.

Hit cns or keep shooting.

Any salesman telling you he can get 36" of penetration with a 140 must be talking teddy bears. I measured +/- 16" of penetration with my 10mm 200 xtp @ 1250fps.

Lots of rounds sounds good, but will your 10 shoot if you limp wrist it? Mine won't. ....and that's a lot to go through your mind in the crunch. I had a second or less from making eye contact to dropping the hammer. I played a bunch of scenarios in my mind in that time.

When I had my 375....I never thought anything but "you're toast".

 

[Formidilosus]

Any salesman telling you he can get 36" of penetration with a 140 must be talking teddy bears. I measured +/- 16" of penetration with my 10mm 200 xtp @ 1250fps.

HP duty/defense ammo is designed to penetrate between 12-18”. Hard cast 10mm will do around 30-35”. Ironically, 9mm hard cast will penetrate deeper than 10mm...

Hit cns or keep shooting.

You know this, but that’s with all pistols. Bears aren’t any different people. To physiologically stop them- CNS.

 

[Cockeye]

I like the idea of 15 rds with the 10mm vs 6. I carry a Colt Python but have been considering the 10mm. Those wheel guns get heavy hiking day after day in a chest holster.

My G20 is 18 rounds in mag and 1 in tube

 

[Mike7]

Limp wristing? ...My teenage daughter can shoot a stock glock 20 with hardcast doubletap 200 gr rounds without any feeding or any significant recoil problems, and with fair accuracy. She prefers a 9mm's recoil and accuracy, but so do I, just to a lesser extent than her.

 

[MTElkChaser]

Limp wristing? ...My teenage daughter can shoot a stock glock 20 with hardcast doubletap 200 gr rounds without any feeding or any significant recoil problems, and with fair accuracy. She prefers a 9mm's recoil and accuracy, but so do I, just to a lesser extent than her.

Same thought here. My G20 recoil with the heaviest Buffalo Bore 10mm hard cast ammo is nothing compared to the 454 Casull I used to carry. It’s seriously pretty tame and the familiarity to my other Glocks made it an easy decision to make.

 

[rgrmike]

I purchased a G20 for defense in the back country. Bears, Cats, Moose and even those on 2 legs. Just like everyone else has said...the 10mm has a lot of pros. I personally have a SF X300 Light mounted on mine. It's dark almost half the day and predators are more active in times of limited visibility. The Glock 20 is lightweight, resistant to inclement weather, great magazine capacity, and they're cheap. Just to reiterate other's points....If you train with, shoot a Glock on a regular basis you will have the most muscle memory with that platform. In a moment of stress you will not rise to the occasion. You will fall back to your level of training. This has been documented and proven time and time again.

A big magnum is a great choice for bears. If you put a G20 and a 6" 44 mag on a table and told me to shoot a bear I'm going to pick up the 44....BUT for a strictly "what if" gun....I personally went with the Glock.

 

[Prestjd]

I have a glock 20 but didn't purchase it for bear. I do plan on carrying it either on my pack or a chest rig possibly. I can't seem to get comfortable with it and a pack. I do agree that a larger wheel gun would be ideal and more practical.

 

[Mossy]

So we are looking at bear spray?

 

[wind gypsy]

I can see the benefit in using a Glock if that’s what you practice with for regular carry. However, I think it’s worth pointing out that the muscle memory likely won’t transfer to a backpack situation. I’ve never seen a great holster option for a Glock. I may someday go the Glock route because of weight saving, but I think I’d have to make the holster myself. I like to carry my revolver just under my pack belt in a cowboy style holster. I don’t want a shoulder holster because there’s enough going on with the pack and the Bino harness. Also, I don’t like the idea of holstering it while pointing at my arm in the backcountry. I don’t like it on the Bino harness because it puts too much forward drag on the harness. I’m not mounting it on my pack belt because I don’t always have my pack on. I might consider a thigh holster, but I feel like it would be annoying and hard to draw quickly.

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I don't find it too inconvenient to keep a holster on my pack belt that also works on a standard pants belt. At times when I'm just dropping my pack briefly I tuck the pistol in my pants on my hip. If I'll be without the pack for an extended period I take 20 seconds to put the holster on my pants belt.

 

[EastMT]

I carry a Glock 20 every time I’m out. It’s simple, no safety, no hammer, reliable.

The 460sv is an amazingly accurate pistol and I shoot very well with it. That being said it’s heavy, not fast to draw, takes longer to get on target. Here is a freeze frame of the 460 from a video, fire breathing. With the blast, recoil, weight in a quick situation, I don’t think I would be as effective with it, so it’s a novelty for me.

Also fun to watch the entire line up at the range mumble WTF was that when you touch it off hahaha.

The muzzle blast may possibly kill a griz but I’m gonna be deaf also.


I have yet to be begin to procrastinate.

 

[Krieg Hetzen]

For the 10mm crowd here is a 220gr Buffalo Bore hardcast out of a XDM 4.5” from 5ft. Bullet went through the first vertebrate of a 50.5” bull moose from 5ft away, shot was from the top down with the bullet recovered just before the hide, still in the muscle but after the esophagus.