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I'm going to be doing some backpacking in Montana Grizzly country this spring. I plan to bring along my Ruger Blackhawk 45 colt. Looking for suggestions on a bear defensive load. Yes, I know that no pistol provides "real" protection against a big bear, but the false sense of security is a good excuse to take the big hog leg on a country walk!
Just work up a load that "you" like to shoot, there is NO special load for a bear. I would make this suggestion, load a heavy bullet as hot as you can but be on the safe side. All of the Northern Rocky Mt. is not only Grizzly bear habitat but home to lots of wolves and Lions. I worry more about them than I do the bears but then again I don't depend on a pistol to stop a!sSed off 1/2 ton critter or the other ones that I watch out for, 4 legged or 2. FWIW in my opinion a pistol gives a nice fuzzy feeling of being in control when you are really not. I wish you luck on your hike and enjoy Montana and it's exceptional beauty.
Regards
BudT
I'm shooting 22.0 grns. of H4227 out of my Freedom Arms with a 300 grn. LFN bullet. FWIW
Look in several manuals which have loads for the .45 Colt for "Rugers and TCs". The Hornady and Lee have them and a couple others. I'd look at a 250 gr XTP myself with a top end load of 4227 or AA#9.
Larry Gibson
Stopping a bear with a pistol is more a matter of where you shott it, not what you shoot it with. Elmer Keith wrote of some packers who encountered a bear. One had a .455 Colt (250 gr bullet at about 650 fps) and killed the bear with one shot. He hit it near the eye & the bullet went into the brain, killing it instantly.
I have loaded .45 Colt pretty hot with Win 296 powder. Not for a weaker Colt or Colt clone pistol, but could be ok for a strong one like the Ruger Blackhawk. I have an old Hornady manual with the .45 Colt W296 load data if you are interested. Some folks shy away from W296, but I have had excellent results with it. Heck, with that powder, the huge blast and muzzle flash alone might scare sh-- out of even a bear :-) Also, I have had good results by just using hot loads with good old Unique powder too.