.45 magnum or 10mm

[WhitewaterDuck]

Need to pick up and get really good at drawing and shooting a bear defense gun at a moving target. I’m leaning 10mm due to extra capacity and some YouTube tests showing it penetrating better despite less power. They think the 44mag is tumbling out of short barrels and deflecting upon impact resulting in not having straight line penetration. I also look at the guys shooting a 45mag and think it will be more difficult and brutal to get good with and might fly out of my hand on a one-hand shot if I ever have a bear on me and I have to shoot with one hand. That said, these are YouTube vids of folks I don’t know. While I don’t know y’all personally, folks on here are like a weird family and I know y’all know your guns. What would you choose?

Of the 10mm, I’m thinking Glock 20sf with best trigger enhancement possible due to simplicity off action under duress. I’ve never owned a 1911, so I’ve never carried cocked and locked. That said, the idea of lower pound, crisp trigger pull and accuracy have me considering that route...just need to practice with it often and make disengaging the safety second nature. IDK... Opinions?

[ndbrown213]

One of the most accurate Glocks I ever shot was a 10mm.

[Biggie1976]

Glock 20 or the 20SF. Either will do exactly what you need. Ive had a couple been great guns. Ive got a SW 1006 now in 10mm and its great just heavy and wont do what you need.

[led0321]

There is a lot of literature out there on this subject and you will read convincing arguments for both.

Personally, I have a ton of trigger time with the Glock platform and if a bear was going to try to shove one or the other up my ass? I would feel more confident with a glock.

[abarill]

As mentioned, there are a lot of arguments going both ways. My buddies out west carry 10mm, one has a Glock and the other has either an xd or m&p. I think they are more concerned with moose than bears, but want to be able to stop either.

The only complaint I’ve read about the 10mm glocks is that they occasionally have failure to feed. My friend who has one has experienced this only a time or two while at the range.

My dad went to Alaska a few years back, and the
Guide told everyone in his group to carry a .44mag or larger in a wheel gun. Most had a .44mag or 454 casull. Hard to beat the reliability of a revolver, but limiting yourself to 6 shots is worrisome. Then again, they all were also carrying 45-70s at the time.

[Tha Dick]

This would be my choice. https://www.sigsauer.com/p220-legion.html

[BrowningGold]

If the intended purpose is for bear protection, you'll most likely have high pressure "bear" loads in it when carrying. No way in hell I'd run those through an unsupported chamber like a Glock. Plenty of videos on YouTube of Glocks splitting in half with high pressure rounds. I've been living in Southeast Alaska for the past couple years, and around here, the consensus is the 10mm. I have the Springfield XD-M 10mm with the 5.25" barrel. The gun shoots smooth, no "popping", and is easy to keep on target. It's loaded with hard cast, flat nose, Buffalo Bore ammunition when I'm in the woods...and I have no worries about running 16 shots of that ammo in a hurry if need be. I love that gun!

[WhitewaterDuck]

Thanks. I definitely don't want a 1911, as I have never been a huge pistol guy, and I don't have any guns I carry cocked-and-locked...so it is not and likely never will be an instinctive weapon for me. This will be an open carry weapon and 99% of the time it will be for bear, moose, and lion protection in the hills, and I don't want to have to be disengaging a safety under duress. I saw the explosion issues with the glock, but I can't seem to find anything showing this issue in the newer guns; supposedly, Glock never admitted the problem existed but fixed it once it arose. This is nearly identical to the "high POI Bennelli SBE3 issue that Benelli has never admitted to despite proof that there is a problem. They didn't ever admit to there being an issue, so despite the word being that they fixed it, if they never admitted there was a problem...they can't proclaim that the problem is solved. So, I guess Glock 20 enters the category of "gun I would love to own but never will" right beside Benelli SBE3. The Springfield looks like a solid option, and throwing a tungsten guide rod, a badass trigger, a reflex sight, and a grip mod on it is going to come out a lot less expensive than what I was looking at having to do to get the GLock 20 the way I wanted it. Thanks for the input.

[rp]

Phone Man and I were putting some lead out a few weeks ago and he had some 44 mag 340 gr buffalo loads that were designated Ruger loads only. Over 1400 fps. Seems the chronograph may have about shorted on that shot. Yes, there was recoil.

Most of the 240 gr bullets to reach that speed unless loaded hot.

Still, you have 6 shots.

[JBK]

If you aren't really a "pistol guy" I would think really hard about a semi auto. A revolver will go bang every time. Limp wrist, slide caught on a jacket cuff, pinned down by a predator and the slide cant cycle, are all good reasons for a wheel gun. And those are just off the top of my head. In the scenario of a predator attack I am pretty sure you aren't going to care how crisp a trigger is.

[bloodline]

generally agree with jbk, but my little lady has no problem shooting my glock 29. she doesn't like it with the underwood heavy stuff, but the gun doesn't mind her little wrist one bit. If you haven't shot a g29, you should. and I ain't no fanboy...

[jon428]

I just picked up the Glock 29. I’ve ran 50 rounds through it. I do like it. I wanted the full size 10 but the 29 was the only one I could get my hands on. So I ordered a 15 round magazine and the adapter in the link below.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1016672073?pid=137693

[rp]

I just picked up the Glock 29. I’ve ran 50 rounds through it. I do like it. I wanted the full size 10 but the 29 was the only one I could get my hands on. So I ordered a 15 round magazine and the adapter in the link below.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1016672073?pid=137693

Find a 21 and convert to a 20.

[jon428]

After pondering over it some more I may pick up the Glock 40 when I can find one. That long slide seems interesting.

[ersepton]

There’s no such thing as the perfect caliber, but I think the 10mm is close.

[wskinner]

There’s no such thing as the perfect caliber, but I think the 10mm is close.

HK put out a 10mm MP5 in the early 90s. I don’t know much about it, other than it had issues and was discontinued. I think I remember reading the FBI used them for a time. If they could have made that work, that would be the ideal bear gun.

[Steelin' Ducks]

I now have this strange want for 10mm...

[jon428]

There’s a lot, or was, some decent rounds to choose from for the 10. I just picked up some 200 grain hollow points running about 1130 fps. The “snap” or felt recoil is very manageable to my surprise.

[bloodline]

beware of lots of old 165-180 grain .40 s&w bullets being loaded hot in 10mm. Their terminal performance generally sucks. Not too many .40 s&w bullets that were 200+ grains.

[Palmetto Duck]

Other than carrying it what’s the downside of a sawed off 870 with extended mag tube full of 12ga slugs? I like my odds better hitting something moving with that than a damn pistol. If you’re not a pistol guy I’d say you’ll be more accurate with bear spray than a gun. May not work as well though?