there is so much information and opinion on what caliber is best to take down the great charging grizzly. one thing most people will agree on is that proper bullet placement is the most important thing, however i haven't been able to find anyone who has actually said where that placement is. my question is where should somone aim to hit a charging grizzly at say 50 yds or less using for example a marlin .450 lever action short barrel shooting the only round i can find for the rifle 350 gr hornady bullets?

I'm thinking that the bullet would do the most good right between my eyes. Not sure if I could make the shot with my drawers fully loaded though. . . Other than that I'd go for breaking either of the front shoulders. Large target area and stops the charge. Follow up shots would try for vital areas.

The head is a difficult target on a charging bear. Typically, the bear comes in low, swinging its head and is very fast. The dished forehead of a brownie or grizzly presents other problems as well. Best to go for the chest/shoulder shot to break one of the big bones and turn the bear. Remember, the goal isn't necessarily to kill the bear, just to stop the charge. Your life is dependent on that. The coup de grace can be added later.

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A Grizzly At Full Charging Sprint Is Quicker Than The Best Quarter Horse. So From 50 Yrds. Out You're Looking At Being Able To Reach Out And Pat Um On The Head In About 3 Secs. Now, Suppose You Didn't See Them First? Maybe 1 - 2 Secs Pass Before You Raise Your Gun. Just A Thought.

good point I guess i was assuming id see the griz first but considering murphys law that may not be so. and then i guess it does not matter where the best shot placement would be since you are not likely to get one off.

The best shot to stop any animal is a CNS shot: central nervous system. A dead bear can kill you if the CNS isn't disrupted. This means that a bear can be mortally wounded and still destroy you before it dies. Think of the hulk on meth.

Study bear anatomy and train your self to hit close up, it's a whole different deal than hunting and having elbow room.

My opinion is that it takes a solid bullet of large diameter at moderate velocities to have the best combination to make the brain shot. This could be thru the mouth, the nose, or the eyes.

Bears can disarm you of a rifle, so the last ditch scenario is a double action revolver that you can get into play while the animal is mauling you.

Short of that you fight with your knife, or skillet, or whatever you can, until you are dead or the bear breaks off the attack.

This is all second-hand, I have never been charged by a bear, but they scare the spit out of me anyway.

Grizz

I say the best place to aim at a charging bear is it's lower jaw. then you might hit it in the head or the chest or off center at one the the sholders. for some reason I think "where is the best places to shoot a charging bear at 50 yards?" is kind of a hard ? to ask because it is hard to pick a shot so just like that teach the cops... center mass.

I'm with ayleska on this one. Providing you have enough gun to start with break a shoulder to break him down. Then finish him off. Tried and true up here by the old bear guides and I was born here and used to go grade school with the late and well known bear guide Hal Waughs son. His favorite was a sawed off .375 HH.

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Goldbelt

I'd hate like the dickens to have to make a head shot on a charging animal of any size. However, things happen SO fast under those circumstances that you'd be lucky to get off a second shot. So, my choice would be a 12 ga. double barrelled shotgun with slugs. Or better yet, a TEN ga. with slugs if any such animal exists.

Does anyone make a pump 10Ga shotgun?

There are several semi-auto's out there.

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Bob from Idaho

Yeha I know, but I am morally oposed to automatic weapons. Well except for my trip to Afghanistan, they were fun and useful there. But here, I like Bolts, Singles, Levers, and Pumps. I have always thought a ported, short barrel 10Ga would be a awesome weapon.

Browning did.

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Be popular? Heck, I have enough friends.
and...
"That way lies madness".

Whack the bear as hard as you can with the heaviest thing you can as often as you can and don't stop until it's down, not moving, not even breathing.

If you can't see it and it's coming, usually it's coming through the alders or something. Usually alder up here. You will hear it. I haven't been charged but we spooked one once and when it took off it was gone in a flash and made a gawdawful racket busting through the brush getting out of there. I was carrying my .375H&H at the time and found myself wishing for something bigger. Howitzer sized sounded pretty good right then.

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Be popular? Heck, I have enough friends.
and...
"That way lies madness".

Seems like evey week there are questions about what to put a charging Griz down! Well.......I have never had to deal with a charging Griz, but have to dealt with some rather big Boar hogs. No, I am not saying a big boar hog is the same as a Griz.....but they sure a Nell can kill you!
There is more to dealing with a life threating situation than the caliber of your "stick", but I will not go into that!
Now.......I see lots of people say what they "think" will work......that dog don't hunt! Let's hear some actual happenings and what was used for a change.
As for calibers.......John Linebaugh/ Todd Corder, in the ongoing tests in Cody, found that many caliber/bullet combonations failed due to fragmation at 25 yards in the "Bone Box"! The bullet was just overstressed at that range.
I once saw a 250 gr soft point in a 35 Whelen skip off the shield of a boar hog on a quartering shot! The shooter "thought" that round would work........but it didn't!
So........before all these suggestions get someone in bad trouble........lets hear some gut-pile facts.......James

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Dixie Slugs of Old Town Hammock, Florida
"Home of the Dixie Terminator Slug"

I would hate to shoot one of them... the auto hurts enough

How can you be "morally oposed" to the type of action of a firearm?
Cheezywan

Yeah, I wuz wonder'n the same thing.

Good point James. Iv never been there, but I know somebody that has, and Ill tell ya what he told me.

A number of years back, I called to see about having a revolver built for a Yellow knife Bear hunt and was thinking about a 5 shot max diameter Cylinder .44 SBH conversion for very hot heavy loads. He told me a .44 was not the best choice and suggested a .475. He then described to me an incident that happened to him in the Cascade Mts.

He was hunting Elk, and while kneeling to take a shot at a nice Bull @ 60 yds away with the guide right behind his sholder, when they were charged by a medium size Grizz from about 40 yds that came busting out of the brush. The gun in his hand was a Ruger SBH .44mag with a heavy handload, he also had a TC contender chambered in a fast .41 Cal. wildcat for a long shot if needed.

Well this gentelman is a skilled and very experenced handgun hunter with a couple hundred head of game and a number of trips to Africa under his belt, and his experence served him well. He did not hesitate and was able to shoot the bear 3 times center of mass while it was comming in and 3 more times while the Bear was setting on his chest chewing on the guide, he finialy killed the bear by blowing its brains out with the TC contender. He said he would swear that the bear was still chewing after its brain was gone.

The thing is, a Bear, kinda like a pig is of two minds. If you catch them unaware and just ambleing along with a good heart/lung shot they generaly run away and are down. But once there blood is up; once the adrenelin is pumping and you are the focus of their attention then all bets are off, and they are bullet sponges that take a whole lot of killing.

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Buck


http://www.oneraggedhole.com

Buck and All......Excellent post! However, considering the fact the bear absorbed what appears 6 shots from the 44 plus one from the Contender.........I would have to say they were not adequate. But.......I admire the man's ability to keep shooting and hitting!
Now.......There is more to dealing with dangerous game than just the gun/caliber......namely control of nerves under severe stress and contol of recoil! In all the posts I have seen, this is seldom discussed.
I don't want to get under people's skin, but when it comes to dangerous game, speculation is out!
No, I have not dealt with a Griz (and hope never to), but dangerous game comes in all sizes and what would work for one, fails in another.
We owe the new shooter/hunter an obligation to not send him on his merry way with speculation on our part!
I have to think in terms as to what has been used in the past, and present, on other big dangerous game......hippo, buff, and the sort! Then with that in mind, select a common ready available firearm and one that is known to be simple and reliable!
Talk is cheap and one does not know how one would react until the situation arises.
Game becomes dangerous when within spitting didtance! Many times one will get only one aimed shot.....and that shot must hit very hard.
Serious concern should be whether the chosen bullet will hold together and penetrate! In a situation like this, I do not trust a jacketed bullet! In Africa/India a very large hard lead bullet at a resonable velocity worked, and would work today!
I have seen the reults of both bullet failure and a breakdown of nerves.....and the results were not nice.
We have on this forum experienced people living in areas of the griz......they need to speak from their experience, not others from speculation! If it was very large, and bad hogs, I could advise from experience....but not on the griz........James

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Dixie Slugs of Old Town Hammock, Florida
"Home of the Dixie Terminator Slug"