I was asked if a 2.5" snubby revolver in 44 mag or 454 cassul would be a good last line of defense against bears while out fishing in the Alaskan rivers, well if limited to those choices
theres no doubt the 454 will hit a bit harder, but with a 2.5" barrel neither cartridge will reach near its full potential, power level, and recoil and accuracy will suffer, now obviously your talking about use at extremely close ranges, but Id doubt many people will not have started firing at 7-10 yards and at the speed of a mad or aggressive bear, youll be lucky to make more than one or at most two hits, on a moving target with your adrenalin peaked, I doubt your accuracy will be top notch, if you started firing at 15-20 yards Id doubt your accuracy will be great with a 2.5" barrel revolver and marginal hits may only serve to piss off the bear further
personally Id be thinking about using a 10ga Ithaca road blocker,
throwing 2 oz slugs or at least a 6" barrel to gain some hitting power
which do you think will be more effective a couple 300 grain slugs of .45 caliber or a couple 75 caliber slugs that weigh 875 grains at similar velocities
the object here is to protect yourself and survive, your choice
personally Id be thinking about a 8" barrel 445 dwsm, 454 cassul, 460 S&W or 500 S&W if limited to a revolver
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http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/defau ... er&Source=
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/defau ... er&Source=
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/defau ... er&Source=
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/defau ... er&Source=
theres no doubt the 454 will hit a bit harder, but with a 2.5" barrel neither cartridge will reach near its full potential, power level, and recoil and accuracy will suffer, now obviously your talking about use at extremely close ranges, but Id doubt many people will not have started firing at 7-10 yards and at the speed of a mad or aggressive bear, youll be lucky to make more than one or at most two hits, on a moving target with your adrenalin peaked, I doubt your accuracy will be top notch, if you started firing at 15-20 yards Id doubt your accuracy will be great with a 2.5" barrel revolver and marginal hits may only serve to piss off the bear further
personally Id be thinking about using a 10ga Ithaca road blocker,
throwing 2 oz slugs or at least a 6" barrel to gain some hitting power
which do you think will be more effective a couple 300 grain slugs of .45 caliber or a couple 75 caliber slugs that weigh 875 grains at similar velocities
the object here is to protect yourself and survive, your choice
personally Id be thinking about a 8" barrel 445 dwsm, 454 cassul, 460 S&W or 500 S&W if limited to a revolver
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0000690227
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/defau ... er&Source=
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/defau ... er&Source=
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/defau ... er&Source=
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/defau ... er&Source=