Quote:
Originally Posted by wildthing
How many good shots (center mass) to stop a bear, do you think?
While I don't go out to the wilderness I am willing to consider buying a .44 magnum.
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No revolver is ever going to stop a bear with center of mass hits. Most rifles won't do that either. "Killing" and "stopping" are two different requirements - I've killed bears with both revolvers and rifles, with hits through the vitals, but every one of them has run off, at least a little ways. "Stopping" - like right now, stopping an attack - requires a central nervous system hit. Essentially, you need to brain them. They have pretty impressive skulls, though, which require a fair amount of penetration to get through and into the brain. Tough bullets that don't deform are the order of the day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Rogers
If it were me going outdoors in bear country I would probably take a BFR revolver in 45-70. My mentor makes half a dozen of these a year for folks going to Alaska or up near the Canadian border.
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I've chronographed several .45-70 loads through both a friend's BFR and a Contender. For all of the noise and commotion, they manage to really disappoint velocity-wise. Powders suitable for the .45-70 simply require longer barrels to be at their best. Heavy .44 mag or .45 Colt loads with 300 grain bullets will actually out-perform the .45-70 with 300 grain bullets in short barrels. I've seen it myself. That, and BFR's are huge, unwieldy guns. Not bad in a bandolier holster, I guess, but much more obtrusive than a standard revolver on the hip. Cool guns, though, but just not for me. Gotta love the name - "Big
Fine Revolver"...
For 400 grain bullets, the .475 Linebaugh will out-perform the .45-70 in a revolver or Contender, unless it's a 14". I actually owned a custom five shot 7 1/2" Ruger Bisley made by Hamilton Bowen in that caliber for a short period of time. 400 grain bullets at 1,400 fps, 450 grain bullets at 1,300 - never again... one of the most useless guns I have ever owned. It wouldn't do anything a heavy .44 mag or .45 Colt couldn't do, but with far, far more blast and recoil. He actually told me to wear a bicycle helmet the first time I fired it... I was glad I listened...
A heavily loaded .44 mag or .45 Colt will shoot clear through a bull elk. Lengthwise. I've done it on a couple of occasions. All you get from the .475 Linebaugh (or .454 Casull and other such monster magnums) is a deeper hole in the dirt behind them. Once we achieve full penetration, with an exit wound, that is all we really need.
I finally concluded, at least for me, that those big boomers are only for showing off at the range or in the gravel pit. I've done my time with a few and have sold them all. Some
will actually hurt you, if you shoot them too much. Mr. Bowen warned me of that, admonishing me to hold it to a couple of cylinder's worth on any given shooting session. I couldn't even manage that for my first few sessions with it. I never did hunt with it - it rang my ears so bad even with muffs on that I simply couldn't imagine firing it without, even once. And I can't hunt with ear muffs on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vash
Let’s see the FJ80!
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Not much to look at - pretty stock '93 triple locker with a 3" Old Man Emu lift:
