Quote:
Originally Posted by Joekerr
I only have a .45acp so that's what I would be carrying, if I could. But I'm a little skeptical that a 9 / .45 wouldn't be useful.
Ok, a 9mm wouldn't be useful against larger game, but I think it would have all the stopping power needed for coyotes and then some which is what I'd be most likely to run into.
But a .45 should be pretty good in most situations I would think no matter where it is placed, up to I would think, a black bear. There are no brown bears where I live and if I were to ever run into one, I would agree a .45 would be useless in that situation, or against something large like a moose.
Considering that a .45 hits with something like 500ft/lbs of force and a black bear usually doesn't exceed 300lbs, I would think it would set him back a little? At least enough to follow through hopefully with a better shot to a kill region.
And a wolf should be no problem, if you could hit it. But I'd imagine it would be very close quarters shooting by the time you could get reasonably accurate unless it was rushing in a straight line.
Black bears are remote too around here, but that would be the largest game I'd be worried about, coyotes are much more common, and wolves less so.
Would you agree with the above - if not, where did I go wrong / what's correct?
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Black bears can go well above that. Here in Georgia they can reach 600-700 pounds in certain areas and situations.
But either way, the only time you would wanna shoot it is if you hit the central nervous system, and usually their skulls are a tough moving target and hard for ammo to penetrate. FMJ might be a bit better but if you dont hit it in the Brain youre pretty fucked. They move quick; their agility is surprising for a beast that size.
If you want a gun with stopping power you'll have to start looking at revolvers like a .44 magnum and higher to guarantee stopping the bear regardless of where you hit.
The best option though is to carry bear spray and use the gun as a last resort.
As for smaller game 45acp should be fine, but I would still load with +p ammo (higher pressure rounds) of 230g or more.