Penetration test

[10mmRock]

I had an interesting morning. I have been debating (mostly with myself) about which of my guns to carry for unfortunate encounters with big furry, toothy creatures in the woods. I decided to do a penetration test with 4 different calibers into the same test medium to help me decide. I used a Glock 19 9mm, a RIA 1911A 10mm, a 45 Colt Redhawk and a 454 Casull BFR. To make the test as fair as possible I used factory ammo in everything except the 454, for it I used some handloads I had developed for hunting. I fired 2 of each type into the boards at 12 ft.  For the test medium, I cut 1/2 inch fiber board into 12" squares. I stacked 15 of them together and put a bolt all the way through the middle to keep them aligned and tight. The results were somewhat surprising. The 9mm Underwood 115 gr Xtreme penetrator went through 7 boards (Way further than I thought would happen). The 10mm Underwood 200gr Hardcast went through 9. The 45 Colt 325gr Double Tap WFNGC went through 10. The 45lc HSM 325gr Bear Load only went through 7 (less than I thought) and of course, the 454 outshined them all with a 300gr bullet going through 12. So that really did not help me to decide. The 10 and the 45lc were very close and I think I could put more rounds down range quicker with the 10, but make a slightly bigger hole with the 45.  The 454 was fun, but it is to big and slow to get on target to be a good SD gun. No conclusive, but fun. Shooting things is fun!

[Trapper6L]

If I were in bear country, that is, bear like grizzly or bear that could weigh in at over 500 lbs, I'd default to the pistol with the largest bore diameter. Large bore diameter normally means heavy bullets. BUT, there was a vid on YouTube where an Alaskan Game Official had to go in to kill a grizzly and all he had with him was a 9mm loaded with the Underwood 115gr Extreme Penetrator. I don't recall the why he had to go after the bear but it was in some fairly thick brush. He literally met the bear nose to nose. The 9mm put the bear down just like a big gun. If you look around the internet you'll find others that have put grizzlies down with a 9mm using either a trick bullet like Lehigh or 147gr solid lead bullets. If you're real gamey, the 9mm can kill  a bear. But for me, I'd want something just short of a 155mm howitzer. Can't ever have too much gun when hunting/ defending against dangerous game. So my vote goes for shoot more and often. Most game can't stand the noise so the threat is reduced considerably. YMMV

[sqlbullet]

If I move beyond something I can conceal comfortably, I move up to a carbine in a rifle caliber.  The former is bounded by my 10mm handguns.  While I have a 44 mag, it is not a gun I can conceal, and even a Ruger Alaskan is not really a "concealment" kinda gun (not to mention that the 454 from a 3" barrel doesnt' have a decisive ballistics advantage anymore)

So, if it is going to be obvious I have a gun anyway, I would select my AR-10 scout rifle in 358 winchester.  It is twice the weight, but it also has a nice carry sling.