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JTarrou  2yr ago (text post)   5440 thread views

I'm a "gun guy", AMA

A couple people had expressed interest in this topic, and I have a bit of extra time for a couple days, so here goes:

Bona fides: I am a former infantry NCO and sniper, hunter, competitive shooter, reloader, hobby gunsmith, sometimes firearms trainer and currently work in a gun shop, mostly on the paperwork/compliance side. Back in the day, was a qualified expert with every standard small arm in the US inventory circa 2003 (M2, 4, 9, 16, 19, 249, 240B, 21, 24, 82 etc.), and today hang around the 75th percentile of USPSA classifications. I've shot Cap-and-Ball, Trap and Sporting Clays badly; Bullseye and PRS somewhat better and IDPA/USPSA/UML/Two-gun with some local success. Been active in the 2A community since the mid-90s, got my first instructor cert in high school, and have held a CPL for almost twenty years now.

I certainly don't claim to be an expert in every aspect of firearms, there's huge areas that escape my knowledge base, but if you've got questions I'll do my best to answer.

Technical questions

Gun control proposals for feasibility

Industry

Training

Wacky opinions

General geekery

Some competition links (not my own) just for the interested.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=U5IhsWamaLY&t=173

https://youtube.com/watch?v=93nEEINflXE

https://youtube.com/watch?v=utcky0zq10E

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xVh4CjbgK7s

https://youtube.com/watch?v=0IK2RUxVq3A

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Thanks for the answer. Yes, I’d carry bear spray anyway, to save the bear’s life and myself a lot of hassle if possible. With respect to the firearm then, would you say that the difference between say 9mm and 10mm in terms of stopping power is less important than your familiarity and capability with the firearm? I imagine that if you try using something like .22, that would only tickle a bear, so is 9 mm already viable, or should I get myself a new higher caliber handgun for this purpose?

You might be interested to know that in 1953, the then world record grizzly bear was killed by 63 year old women with a single shot .22 held together with duct tape.

https://www.ammoland.com/2017/06/bella-twin-the-22-used-to-take-the-1953-world-record-grizzly-and-more/

If you are in situations where angry brown bears are something you might reasonably encounter, basically any handgun is much less than you want.

We mostly have black bears in my parts, and while I don't normally worry about them at all, if there's some reason to worry a Winchester 30/30 carbine is what I take along. For grizzlies this is still a bit light (considerably better than a .44 mag though) and I think people in Alaska usually like short 12ga shotguns or 45/70 or similar.

Like I said, bears are usually something one can live with unarmed -- but there are parts of Alaska where this is probably not the case.

Cool place to move to though, is there a story?

would you say that the difference between say 9mm and 10mm in terms of stopping power is less important than your familiarity and capability with the firearm?

Yes.

is 9 mm already viable, or should I get myself a new higher caliber handgun for this purpose?

Yes.

Ok, kidding. Truth is, it depends on how you define "viable". There's also cost to consider, plus holsters, ammo, sights etc. My personal calculation is that if I were guiding bear hunts, or logging in the Yukon, I'd carry a 10mm. But I don't. It just isn't worth it to me to own a whole different gun for the limited amount of time I might be exposed to bear. Even if I lived in Alaska, I don't think I'd change unless I had a particular need to. If you know you're gonna meet a bear, you bring a slugged twelve gauge or you don't turn up.

I see. Thanks!

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