Gonna need a bigger boat.... I mean gun.

[jbp-ohio]

It's getting to be time to carry more than a 9mm while trail walking this area.

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[Bigslug]

Not necessarily: https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunit ... SA/USA9MM1

Given that the best recommendations that I've ever heard for using ANY handgun for bear defense are:

1. It's not for use on the bear; it's there to end your own suffering.

2. File off the front sight - it'll hurt less when the bear crams it where the sun don't shine.

The heavy 9mm solid flat noses penetrate a lot. Try to slot one into the brain through the nasal passage and hope for the best.

[mitdr774]

I like about an extra mm for potential black bear encounters. Not really a huge concern for me most of the time though. When do cross the big bridge though, it's either a M&P 10mm 4.6" barrel (180gr FMJ at 1250 fps) or G40 with a 7"KKM barrel (180gr FMJ at 1400 fps, same load). Which one goes mostly depends on how it fits in the center console as I'm really only concerned with some extra critter deterrence between stops, not when I'm at the stops. The choice in FMJ over JHP is purely a penetration concern. I am actually debating getting some.of the Hornady DGH bullets to try, but I'm not sure about the velocity drop going with a 200 gr over a 180 gr.

Also, you keep it down there. We.dont need it up here. We already have enough 4 legged critters up here that can provide unhealthcare.

[Justsomedude]

They've even been seen around here alot lately in the greater Cincinnati area. Not that I hike, but I wonder if my 9mm wildcat would suffice for bear.

[Chiro1989]

9mm would work just fine if you were hiking with someone else also and a bear attacked

[Justsomedude]

Well definitely not brown bears. Those things are ridiculous in size. Two videos that really give a perspective of just how much of a super predator they are, that I've seen: One video showed two male Grizzlies full on fighting for about a solid 10 minutes and they were brutal, tearing chunks from one another. The other was a grizzly that chased down a full grown moose and broke its spine from swatting it and then drug it away.

I read where some people say that even 10mm is undergunned for them.

I worked with a dude that told us that he could take a grizzly with a spear

[Rugerfan]

He might do it once.

[Bigslug]

They've even been seen around here alot lately in the greater Cincinnati area. Not that I hike, but I wonder if my 9mm wildcat would suffice for bear.

Well definitely not brown bears. Those things are ridiculous in size. Two videos that really give a perspective of just how much of a super predator they are, that I've seen: One video showed two male Grizzlies full on fighting for about a solid 10 minutes and they were brutal, tearing chunks from one another. The other was a grizzly that chased down a full grown moose and broke its spine from swatting it and then drug it away.

I read where some people say that even 10mm is undergunned for them.

I worked with a dude that told us that he could take a grizzly with a spear

Well. . .you kind of need to take a samurai/Bushido look at the problem: their concern was not surviving the sword fight, but rather, making sure the other guy did not. Consequently a lot of those duels ended with both parties dead or maimed because it was all about an effective attack over an effective defense. . . but sometimes, the determined attack is defense enough.

Those of us that hunt, or have watched Zee's pig vids. . .we've probably all had the experience of having seen an animal shot perfectly - often with a high-powered rifle - and it was dead on its feet for 10 or so seconds before critter's brain got the message that it was time to lay down and die.

The lesson there is that NO handgun is going to reliably give you a quick cardiovascular stop/kill on a bear that has determined to maul you. So maybe a the hole made .454 Casull drops the bear's blood pressure to zero in ten seconds, where the slightly smaller diameter drain of a 9mm does it in twelve. . .it's all moot if the bear only needs five seconds to smack your proverbial pinata until all the candy has fallen out.

Nah. It's got to be brain, spine, or extreme luck, and for that, a swarm of 9mm 147 FMJ's toward the head is probably as good as anything else. The only 100% certain way to not get torn up by bears is to rent an apartment in New York City. The downside to that is getting shanked by a Big Apple meth-head has no panache - at least being killed by a bear gets you some style points.