Opinion - for use against Bears at short range?

[WSAR15]

I am running into a situation where bears are coming to our town homes (because renters leave food in trash cans outside). They are now entering the homes through the back decks.
What would the impact of a shot on a bear be with Hornady 123gr SST at 25-50ft? Should I seek a different rround/rifle for this protection purpose?
Thanks

[A5BLASTER]

I think I remember seeing a post of someone killing a black bear with a sst.

If it was me I would throw a 120 grain ttsx or 129 sst or ablr at them at that range it would be a sledge hammer on a head shot.

[Frontier Gear]

I'm not sure what to think of this.... A few thoughts I guess in no particular order.

• The bear would be dead.
• The bullet will probably pass through the bear and go on to do damage in unintended targets.
• I would always think twice about firing a shot inside a building, in town or in any area with people/homes.
• A rifle is probably not the best choice for indoor defense against bears. (too powerful, too long, too hard to aim if scoped, etc...)

Personally, I would be looking at a pistol. Something with a relatively large diameter bullet and good stopping power at short ranges, but won't pass through a bear and go on to due further damage. (45 Long Colt, 44 Special/Magnum, 10mm, etc...)

[Popeye212]

According to what my son was told while he was working in Alaska. Best defense is a 12Ga. riot,tactical whatever you want to call it. First round OO Buckshot to the face, followed by slugs to kill. If HAD TO use my grendel it would be with Nosler Partition or similar. It would not be the ones I use for Whitetail.

[VASCAR2]

Black bears are an entirely different animal compared to Alaskan brown bears or polar bears. A forum member killed a black bear with a 123 grain SST.

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?12087-Black-bear-taken-with-my-brand-new-Grendel

[JASmith]

A deputy in Florida took an elephant a few years back. All he had was his service pistol. He just kept shooting until the elephant went down.

The Grendel should do just fine, particularly if the magazine is filled with lead free hunting bullets.

[A5BLASTER]

A deputy in Florida took an elephant a few years back. All he had was his service pistol. He just kept shooting until the elephant went down.

The Grendel should do just fine, particularly if the magazine is filled with lead free hunting bullets.

Last part of statement is on point.

Bet it wouldn't last too long if it was a 24 round mag loaded with 85 grain trex ammo.

[Randy99CL]

You don't necessarily need to kill the bear. Black bears aren't often aggressive (except sows protecting cubs). Bear (pepper) spray, bright strobe lights, loud noises will usually chase them off. Then report it.

But I'd still have my 10mm in hand.

[Sinclair]

Over the years i have known three friends that successfully hunted and harvested black bears. One used a Marlin .35 Remington, one a Bow and arrow, and the third used a .54 cal. Paper cartridge Sharps Carbine. They all told similar stores, Black Bears are not hard to kill, they are however, nearly impossible to get them to drop in their tracks. The friend with the Marlin even carried a Ruger .44 magnum as back up. As i recall, over 50% of their pain sensors are located in their nose. In other words, they showed no or little reaction to the wound!

I would go with the shotgun. A load of 00 buck to the face followed by a couple of Brenneke Dangerous Game slugs should do the trick with out endangering too many town's folks. Unless you are an experienced pistolero facing a dangerous and determined aggressor is a daunting experience.

By the way, have you thought about the cleanup? If I remember correctly, they have a couple of buckets of blood!

P.S. A Buckskinng friend's Father, while stationed in Alaska drove off a Grizzely Bear with a big stick, after which he went back into the house and changed his shorts!

[Popeye212]

Black bears are an entirely different animal compared to Alaskan brown bears or polar bears. A forum member killed a black bear with a 123 grain SST.



http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showt...nd-new-Grendel

I am sure he did but I doubt it was in defense and Black ones can kill you just as dead as Brown ones etc. Hunting one is a little different from defending your person or property and close quarters. Just sayin......

[xlcc]

The first question that comes to mind ,is it legal to shoot where you live?Second,in event of complete penetration is there a chance of rickoshay and the projectile penetrating a building or injuring someone?If a game warden can be called in,maybe a good idea as there is less risk to you and it is his job.
The Grendel can surely do the job to an unsuspecting bear with a precisely placed shot.
I have guided a lot of bear hunters and have seen some poorly placed shots with all kinds of weapons and once the adrenalin gets pumping they can cover an amazing distance very quickly.This is where the fun begins weather it is my hunter or I am helping to find a bear that another guides hunter has wounded.Most of the guides I worked with packed a Marlin 45-70 or a 12 gauge pump shotgun with slugs.The slugs do a better job than pellets from what I have seen.Sometimes in skinning I have found pellets just under the hide from the previous season where a bear has been lost but killed the following year by a bow hunter.These bears are wounded bears and I point this out just to show that things can and do go wrong.You mention town homes so I assume there may be neighbours close by.

[A5BLASTER]

Man OP just forget about 6.5 grendel altogether and step up too 50 bmg, cause you know animals now days are wearing the best spec op body armor and snorting crank to stay juiced and watch normal rounds bounce off them.

We all need to just stop fouling yourself the grendel is just to small for anything but soda cans got to step up to the barrett to have stomping power on home invaders either 2 or 4 legged.

[BCHunter]

I would think the 123 sst is plenty for black bear at that range. But I would also look to prevent this situation. If there are renters they forfeit there deposit for putting food in the trash. Bring in the warden and have them do informative meeting, ok you can't fix stupid, but having to shoot a bear inside is the very last thing I would ever want too do.

[hill37]

I don't think any one doubts the Grendel. They are thinking about a miss or pass though and the damage they could do in a crowded area.

[kpswihart]

I am running into a situation where bears are coming to our town homes (because renters leave food in trash cans outside). They are now entering the homes through the back decks.
What would the impact of a shot on a bear be with Hornady 123gr SST at 25-50ft? Should I seek a different rround/rifle for this protection purpose?
Thanks

Where are you located and what type of bears are causing the problem? Bears habituated to garbage can be a huge pain. My former agencies have killed numerous problem bears over the years with a variety of calibers. We had failures with shotguns on relatively small <400lbs brown bears, and one officer had a larger bear go sideways after a 458 Socom round failed to penetrate.

I'd shoot a problem bear with whatever I had handy at the time. With that said, if I knew I was going to deal with a problem bear the 375 H&H was with me. Problem bears were shot in populated areas so immediate stoppage was a requirement.

Here's the bear shot with the Socom. First round was fired at a downward angle and struck the base of the skull. I don't remember which round was used, but it failed to penetrate. The bear turned and charged uphill. Several more rounds were fired. Last round penetrated under right eye and was effective.

Hnh Brown bear.jpg