03-01-2020, 11:04 PM
Double Naught Spy Wrote:Bear skulls are not so much hard to penetrate as they are hard to hit. The skull itself, in particular the brain case, is a fairly small subset of the overall notion of what is seen as the head, completely with all the fur. I have no doubt that people shoot a lot of fur trying to hit the heads of bears, not realizing that the skull isn't as large as the extent of the fur.
This link shows a pic of a black bear head, relative position of the brain, and the dotted outline is the perimeter of the bony skull and mandible for a bear facing you, as during a charge. Note how much larger the head is than the actual skull and how small the brain is relative to the skull and to the head.
https://thefiringline.com/forums/attachm...1230728059
This notion of wanting a good penetrating round such as a hard cast non-expanding round or fmj to stop bears has always bothered me. We pick ammo for hunting that is supposed to penetrate well enough to reach the vitals and cause a lot of disruption to those vitals and to bring about a quick kill. Non-expanding ammo and most FMJ don't have the reputation of doing a lot of tissue damage to bring about a quick kill, yet that is what people want to stop a charging bear. I am of the mindset that a round penciling through with more penetration isn't as apt to stop a bear quickly.
I understand that people want something that will go through bone. I guess that if you only get one shot, and that shot hits the humerus, that you want the bullet to still penetrate a good ways and hopefully eventually stop the bear. The opposite side to that is that if it doesn't hit a big bone like the humerus, it will not do nearly the damage of a good expanding bullet and isn't as likely to stop a bear quicker.
If the bullet hits the humerus on a charging bear, it will likely never die from that wound. At best all you did was break the leg (hopefully slowing it down) and the bullet passed through and maybe caught a little of the hindquarter. You need to aim center of head or worst case- chest; and he's coming at you- he's not broadside. If you shoot a bear broadside and claim self defense you'll be back to getting a ticket.
You missed a significant point in my post- ".480" Ruger and ".450" Marlin" My bullets will start out larger than most 6.5mm bullets will reach expanded. Also, with a flat meplat you'd be amazed the wound channels they create- even if they don't hit heavy bone. Another point: Before I bought my .480 I saw where a 400gr LFN passed completely through a buffalo and two other cases with Alaskan grizzlies. With one bear- two shots broadside were through and through (he was hunting grizzly- it was not self defense). The other bear- the shooter shot the bear three times during the charge. The first two went in the chest and were found under the hide on the hindquarters; and one went in the nose and out the back of the skull. I want big holes going all the way through whatever is in the way.
Lastly, when I was in college the Wildlife Department had a grizzly skull with a .30 caliber bullet embedded in the skull just above and between the eyes. It also had a round .30 calliber hole in the right side of the cranium (and the left side of the cranium was gone). You're not going to kill a p'ed off bear with lung or even heart shots- at least not before it kills you. If it takes the animal 30 seconds to die, you'll probably beat it to the Pearly Gates.