Osky,
Is your 629 like this one I own ?


I believe bullet choice is more important than the Magnum caliber .

Keep in mind that semi autos don't work for contact shots. It racks the slide out of battery and won't fire.

No 330, it’s a blued Mountain Gun model. I do not have a picture on hand. It has thin spots in the blueing from holsters, it’s seen a lot of miles. I have complete trust in it, solids for rounds. I do not kid myself, for self protection accuracy it will have its muzzle in the fur should I clear it in time.

I shot a doe with it, and finished off a couple of other deer. I have dispatched two wounded bears with it. I’ve seen the shock waves of the hit and would not want to be anywhere near the receiving end. I’ve seen first hand up close what too small of a handgun can do to a bear even tho in the hands of a proficient shooter. This 44 mag works for me, others wants may differ.
That one of yours 330 is a very sharp looking piece.

Osky

In the .44 category, I like a Smith 329pd. It’s a joy to carry…not so much to shoot, but for its intended purpose, I prefer it.

We have alot of grizzlies around here so to I like carry some thing with a bit more power.

The S&W would be great with a shorter barrel but the 500 is a heavy and huge gun. Kinda awkword for quick action on a charging grizz. I use have a FA 454 that i carry most of the time, but with the 7 1/2 inch barrel its slower to draw than a 4 or 5 inch barrel. I carry a ruger 45 colt with 5 1/5 inch barrell in a chest type holster too. I'm using a heavy loaded cast bullet in the ruger. BTW the 329 S&W with the 4 inch barrel is a dream to carry but the recoil with 44 mag loads can be brutal!!!!!

I sometime carry a 45 auto when I'm fishing. They carry easy and are better than a sharp stick on a bear. One thing on autos a lot of folks are saying there not reliable and jam all the time. If an auto is so unreliable and jams how come the military and cops carry them?

When I want to carry light working in the woods I carry a model 69 S&W 44 magnum 2.75 inch barrel in a chest rig, it only holds 5 rounds, I carry a speedloader with me. It is made on the S&W "L" frame the one they use for 357's. I also use a 629 S&W 44 magnum with a 4 inch barrel. I killed a spike with it this year. I also have the model 629 performance center 44 magnum with a 7.5 inch barrel that has a muzzle brake on it making it about an 8 inch barrel total. I use a chest rig for it also that is cut for an optic. These are all 44 magnum guns. I don't travel in grizzly country, just black bears here. I don't feel under gunned around them. If I were to be in grizzly country i think I would go for for a .460 S&W for it's ability to shoot .454 casull and .45 long colt.

Thanks Osky, Yours sounds Like an Awesome model too!

Wyote, the .44's with a muzzle break are worth the $ Chi-ching

I think the thing that most of you don't understand is your sight setup. Most experienced griz provocateurs i know would be filling that front sight down. You want to essentially smooth it out with the barrel, that way when the griz takes it from you and shoves it up your arse, it won't hurt that bad.

Personally you better practice a lot if you're a self proclaimed slow draw and have any thought you might be shooting a gun like this one handed. 10mm

Ok, in that case I have no input, as I only have first hand experience with black bears. The one thing though that I would think would be the most important is which of the two do you shoot the most accurately, which can you get the fastest first accurate shot and fastest subsequent accurate shots with because either is more than powerful enough to get the job done of course this applies to any firearm used for any defensive purpose.

I have both. Super black hawk 454 and S&W 500. All things being equal, the 454 will give you better penetration.

With the 454 you can go from 180gr to 400ish gr. With the 500 you can go from 300gr to 700gr tips.

Personally I would go with the 454 with a 350-400gr hard cast (my cast boolits) with a 4" barrel.

Whatever you choose, practice with it. Your second shot is gonna be with the barrel in the fur.

Handguns to stop a mad bear. Better to get a partner to go with you that's fat and out of shape, or if in better shape shoot your partner in the leg to slow them down, the added screaming should help draw the bears attention away from you so you can get away clean.

Read 3 full books on bear Attacks and bear Encounters before you chant what You've heard. About Pistols.

Many of those Encounters people were trapped and pulled at or pulled down from a tree and in Those cases a pistol would have ended the encounter .. sometimes the trapped saved themselves stabbing at eyes or down the throat with Arrows.

I'd rather have my .44 with Good bullets

between the two 454 casual for a few reasons

first reason .45 bullets are much more available in a wider range of weights

second you can shoot 45lc in the same gun and even 45 auto rim giving much greater ammo availability and reloading component options


a 4-5 inch barrel or why bother , you really need a minimum 4 inch barrel to start to take advantage of the cartridge if your not running enough barrel to make a difference why make all that noise and muzzle flash if it doesn't convert into energy down range

454 casull numbers are all based on a 9 3/8 test barrel if you look at Hodgdon reloading data



have you thought about 10mm ? I know not near as potent as 454 or 500

10mm numbers are based on a 5 inch barrel

your talking a defensive gun vs a gun to hunt them so the easiest to carry package that lets you put a bunch of rounds on target fast

a good test would be go to an indoor range rent both and buy a box of ammo for both full power stuff , load up and shooting from a low ready have the target retrieved from the furthest distance how many rounds do you get on an 8 1/2 x11 sheet of paper on the cardboard backer no worry about groups size only that can you get in that area before the target is back

something like a Glock 40 in 10 mm with the 6 inch barrel 15 rounds in the mag and it still weighs a half pound less than the super red hawk

you don't need massive power to hit the stop button but you do have to hit it , is 10-15 rounds in a brown with 10mm or 6 454 going to get the stop switch

can you get 6 rounds of the 454 off in that short time ?

with perfect shot placement we know a 22 short can take a huge bear it's been done

do your odds go up putting twice as many rounds in of hitting the correct spot ?

I've never shot the 500 Smith and Wesson, I have had ahold of one though, and it needs a carriage! The Super Redhawk fits my hand much better and I've deer hunted and packed around the 9 1/2" barrelled model a friend owns. Killed one deer with it and it shot really nice, I could hit a gallon jug with it every time at 100 yards with open sights, by simply leaning my body against something to help steady myself. Personally I pack a Taurus Ultralite in 44 magnum. Super light and comfortable to pack and the grips fit my hands great, yeah it barks when I pull the trigger, but it doesn't hurt to shoot because the rubber grips fit right, I've shot plenty of much heavier 44s that weren't as comfortable for me to shoot. And it shoots amazingly well for what it is, off a rest I can shoot 3" groups at 25 yards.

If you are looking for a gun to pack for emergency backup, find one that is comfortable and easy to pack, if it is too heavy or uncomfortable you will find yourself leaving it behind.

All that being said, any handgun is a poor choice for bear protection, they just don't have the knockdown of a rifle (huge difference in observed performance on game IME even between identical loads in 44 pistol compared to a 44 carbine) and in a hurry, on a moving target? You're a lot better off packing a carbine. One of the short barrelled Marlin Guide Guns would be my choice. Or a 18" barrelled 12 gauge pump with slugs.

I'm not chanting what I heard just what I have seen first hand shooting game. None of the game In Indiana is as big or mean as a bear. From all I shot with hand guns from 44mag down I would have little Fath of stopping a mad bear unless you get a central nervous system hit. When 120lb deer runs 90 yards or so shot with a 44mag it's a fantasy thinking a bear won't get at point blank.

I guess the few that got lucky and lived wrote books. The rest could not Wright them because they were dead.


Edit: Bearcat gets it.

There you go, I believe the 500 would be adequate.

In that case a .22lr will work well enough. To big and your partner may pass out to fast and the bear could loose interest to quickly.

At the risk of sounding edumacated, If you are hunting Broun bears it will be cold and a .22 will not retain enough energy to completely penetrate most cold weather clothing. Ill take my chances with the .500

Been checking out the s&w .460...nice gun. Probably would be a good pick

there is some evidence bears like humans will some portion of the time give up when shot, Mental stop bears shot a few times by officers leave the location and are tracked and found wounded or dead hundreds of yards away

of course just like some humans you need to get to one of the other types of stop Blood Loss or CNS (central Nervous System)

bear defense ammo is primarily designed for deep penetration to reach CNS

much like the drugged up higher than a kite pcp user they need to bleed out or CNS because they feel no pain.some bears are raged up.

where personal defense ammo in human aggressors is design to go further than 12 inches but less than 16 in ballistics gel and expand with the goal of reaching CNS if shot placement is good but not exiting to hit bi-standards at least not with any significant energy as well as maximized blood loss with the expansion.

the right spot to hit CNS would stop a beat in a few yards

where you are defending against bear it becomes very unlikely over penetration is an issue and 2 holes bleed better than 1

do 6 45 cal holes bleed more or less than 16 40 caliber holes