So I was wondering if I should start carrying my 10mm in the woods as a field gun. I have read that Norway or Denmark issue a 10MM Glock to the officers that patrol the Artic up there to protect against polar bears.

I also have read that at sometime the Alaska State Patrol was issued 10MM Glocks for the same reason and that Glock had at one time considered a 6 inch G20 for hog hunting.

I own two 10's a Glock and an S&W I see ammo in the 140 to 220 grain weight. Now I figure a 180-220 grn FMJ should protect me from and large animal out there or 180 grn hp.

Anyone else have an opinion?

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Stan

Doubletap sells a special loading designed for dangerous animals.

But I would rather have a 629.

Remember ya dont wanna shell too big that ya's will muss up the meat....bigfeets especially is good eatinMike

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45.acp-why shoot twice.

I am thinking about a 10 also, just for everyday carry. That face eating zombie in Miami took, I think, six rounds to stop. Very few stories creep me out as much as that one!

I've said it before - and I'm sayin' it again - All you need is 45ACP


OTOH - A .22LR stuck in the goblin's ear as the round is discharged will also do the trick - at substantial savings.

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In dog years I'm dead.

Anybody who shoots a polar bear with a 10mm should be mounted on a real fast snowmobile.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

I do believe that 10 is a last resort weapon for those northern guys. 870s seem to abound up there, loaded with buck and slugs.

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Even older, even crankier....

Keep in mind Massad Ayoob's account of the NYC cop who shot a polar bear attacking a man at a zoo. He killed it with one shot from his .38, placed (I think) right in what butchers used to call the "sticking place."

Contrary to orders, he was carrying lead Plus P HP ammo. The former FBI load, also used in Dallas, Chicago, Miami, etc. I guess he was afraid to settle for the NY- issued round while working the zoo, and I don't blame him! I specifically asked Ayoob about that ammo, and he repeated that that is what the officer had.

In another polar bear incident, a Norwegian scientist shot one approaching him, using an S&W .44 Magnum. The specific M-29/629 variant wasn't mentioned, but it saved him. However, National Geographic got lots of letters about that from animal lovers, who I guess thought the poor man should have allowed himself to be eaten, so as to avoid upsetting PETA!

About two years ago, Sporting Classics ran a story by a doctor who had to shoot a charging grizzly in Alaska with his partner's Ruger Super Blackhawk. The bear was attacking him as he loaded meat from a kill, I think a moose. The .44 Magnum sufficed. But the doofus didn't have his own gun on his belt and was lucky to reach the other. The partner should also have been wearing his own gun!

A very experienced bear guide and his daughter carry Ruger Security-Six .357's, and he feels they will suffice, iF you can place the bullet right. I'm sure the relatively light weight was a factor in their decision.

My personal choice would be a M-629-3 with six-inch barrel. And I'd get by a zoo and a museum and study bear anatomy and ask the curator where to place a lethal shot.

Watch bears in a zoo and think where on the moving animal you'd place that shot or two before it was onto you. Think where to shoot it if it has a companion down.

I understand that a shot down the nose may reach the brain or one at the base of the ear. I don't think a 300 grain or heavier bullet is needed, but a hard-cast Keith bullet would be nice, the usual 250 grain for that style. I think Buffalo Bore has specialty ammo for those who don't reload.

Obviously, a rifle or slug-loaded shotgun is preferable, but you can't always have one in your hands or within reach when needed. I do think fishermen in Alaska and other bear areas need a companion with a .375 H&H Magnum rifle watching as they take turns fishing. I will not enter Canada, due to their restrictive gun laws. I once had to forego carrying a gun in Newfoundland while angling in black bear range, and swore, never again. All I had was a Randall Model 3 knife with six-inch blade. I do know of a Canadian angler who successfully killed a bear attacking him, using his knife. That bear had cached eight or nine other dead men nearby!

Finally, a man being mauled by a brown bear used a Buck Model 110 folding knife to stick it in the neck, partially paralyzing it until he could crawl to his rifle and kill it. He sent the knife to Chuck Buck, who had it at the Buck firm for several years. May still be displayed there.


I'm sick and tired of the flippant comments in topics like this from people who disparage using a handgun on a bear. Obviously, it can be done, in extremis. But learn bear anatomy, stay alert, and learn to shoot WELL! And pray for luck. Don't just give up and be killed.

I know in general when I do go hiking or fishing in Wisconsin and I carry a rifle or shotgun the DNR people assume I am hunting illeagaly. If I am open carry or conceal carrying a handgun I am less likely to be bothered by them.

Mostly the animals I run into are feral dogs or pigs. I have seen bear but no bigfoot yet. Normally I carry a .357, but was thinking of switching to an automatic and the only one I think with enough power is the 10MM. With my 1006 I have single column mag and with my G20 I have 15 rounds.

The people in the nordic country who are game officers at the time were issued of all things 1917 Enfields in 30.06 to go with their Glocks. I also think of the two legged type of varmints that bother us in the woods because they think we are easy pickings.

A few years ago I read anarticle about Harry Tracey a turn of the century bandit who escaped from prison and the guards there were issued 38-40 Winchester and colts and shot the man escaping with Tracey several times and had over penetration issues.

I was speciffiaclly looking at Buffalo Bore ammo in the 200 FMJ and HP variety for the woods thing. I don't normally handgun hunt but I always have one with me I just want to make certain it is enough gun.

I have put deer and feral dogs down with my model 19 with little or no problems. But if the game is bigger and more dangerous I think a heavier caliber is in order.

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Stan

Well, the late Chuck Karwan, a pretty savvy gun and knife writer, recommended the 10mm for dangerous animals.

My son, who is very gun-knowledegable and who owns a Glock or two, likes them, and has thought of using a 10mm and getting his wife one if they move to a state with more bears. (Yes, he and the DIL are good shots.)

Living in Miami, I'd trust the 10mm for face-eating zombies, but I'd rather have my Desert Eagle in 50AE for any bears

Hmmm, we have a problem with feral "cougars" where I live -- best weapon is a 30 mm wine glass filled with chardonnay -- a double tap
of that and the cougar lolls its head, wags it's tail and can be taken to a quiet place where it will nuzzle you the rest of the night. Non-lethal and the cougar can be released into the wild the next morning.

We have been putting tags in the ears of the cougars, though, so you can ID them when you first encounter them....................................

We seemingly never weary of these tediously repetitive threads, which could be put to permanent rest by the simple expedient of glancing at abundantly available and easily accessible ballistics tables, which permit examining empirical evidence of the manifestly inferior terminal ballistic performance potential of any conventional handgun chambering, vs. potent shotgun slug loads, or even comparatively puny rifle rounds. Those persons with the vaguest grasp of Newtonian principles will easily comprehend that heavier projectiles at higher velocities are likely to have more effective terminal ballistic effect than lighter, slower, projectiles. Inane anecdotal evidence of extremely improbable, i.e., lucky, bear kills with handguns is no reason or excuse to endorse handguns as adequate bear defense, and sensible people ought to squelch such discussions. You probably ought to have been involved in killing a few bears before proffering an opinion...

There have here, in AZ, been two recent animal attacks worth mentioning in regard to this discussion --- a campsite invasion and attack of a domestic dog described as a pit bull/lab mix, by a small mountain lion, determined to have been rabid, fought by one camper with a cast-iron skillet, and killed by another with an undescribed firearm, undescribed by an incurious reporter who apparently unconcernedly thought this detail unimportant. The other incident involved a 74 year old woman, mauled in her tent by a black bear which had already established its guilt as a campground marauder, and about which the campers had been warned, to evidently inadequate avail. At last report, the offending bear was still at large...

My newly refined "bear" minimum camp defense rig is a Ruger K77/44 carbine, equipped with a SureFire flashllight on the forend, and an Aimpoint Micro red-dot reflex sight.

Wolves. We forgot about wolves.

Most factory 10mm ammo is loaded down to barely more than 40S&W levels. For serious use, get some brisker loads, such as Buffalo Bore, etc.

If the subject of defense against Nile monitors comes up again, I'm grabbing the first thing handy and shooting an Acer monitor.

I'm going to pull this thread slightly off course with a question to imjin138 on his two 10mm. How do the two compare/contrast, other than the obvious magazine capacity? I have a 20C and I am lukewarm to it. Thinking a 1006 would be a perfect mate to my 610.

After seen how big the shark was, the guy in the movie "Jaws" said, "You're going to need a bigger boat."

When I lived in Alaska I always had a 629 Mountain Gun in 44 Magnum strapped to me when out fishing, hiking, and hunting. However, everytime I would see one of the large bears I would run that Jaws quote through my head but replace the word "boat" with "gun".

They grow 'em really big up there!

Edmo

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TRUTH: Don't delete my posts!

Kimbers, Kimbers, --- I am derelict in my duty to mention Kimbers as the antidote for all that ails modern society -- oh, the times, oh, the mores' (to channel Cicero) --- Kimbers will save us all.

Except from those wily cougars.........................................................If your Kimber does not smell of Prada leather or a Carmen Mark Valvo dress, those cougars will slink away into the sunset. (so says my wife).

For the size of risk you are describing, assuming full power 10mm from a reputable maker, I think the G20 is a heck of a good choice. The G21 is the only Gen4 which is not known to have problems, and I would assume the G20 will work the same. I would give serious thought to it in your shoes, and would probably be just fine with a Gen3 with good sights. Some have sworn by the 4 digit S&Ws, but I was not impressed by our 1076s, and the 4566s that succeeded them were just garbage. I shot my 4566 well, and mine never took a dump on the range, but I saw many of both do so.

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NHI, 10-8.

As for my preference on the pistols I prefer the 1006 it is a better fit to my hand. My G20 is a first generation Glock.

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Stan