Home invasion thwarted
A home invasion by a black bear, that is:
A black bear with a rowdy record was shot dead early Friday after he broke into an Anchorage home, smashed some dishes, ate some chocolates and scared the dickens out of the sleeping homeowners.
The male bear apparently entered the two-story Stuckagain Heights home through a back door that had a broken latch, said state wildlife biologist Rick Sinnott.
I don’t think his handgun was an effective bear load, though:
Brian Knowlton grabbed a .40-caliber Glock automatic from another room and ventured out into the main part of the house.
…
Just then, the bear came running up the stairs. Brian Knowlton fired, emptying his gun. Sinnott said Knowlton thought he fired nine or 10 shots. Wounded, the bear retreated downstairs.
The bear was found dead. So, what would be a good load against a 275lb black bear?
June 5th, 2006 at 9:18 am
12 gauge slug would be my choice at that range.
I’d go with .45-70 or some sort of .3xx mag in the woods.
June 5th, 2006 at 9:20 am
In my house? 10mm 200gr.
June 5th, 2006 at 10:05 am
I think a .45 in +p would be adequete for black bear, if you didn’t have anything else. Inside the home? I’d put on ears first and tell everyone else to plug them up.
June 5th, 2006 at 10:22 am
Well, in my house it would be 1911 or .357 wheelie in the bedroom. Or, if I could get to it, a 7.62x54R or a .30-06 (I’ll bet you never saw that one coming, did you? 🙂 ). But I sure wouldn’t want to be my ears if I shot one of those inside.
June 5th, 2006 at 10:48 am
I’d use my trusty S&W .50.
June 5th, 2006 at 11:00 am
My .44 mag bedside gun. I’d have to swap out the Glasers, though.
June 5th, 2006 at 11:41 am
I’d empty the 12 gauge first, with the .40 cal. Glock as backup. I got neighbors and wouldn’t use a rifle round unless I was really desperate.
IMHO, 275 lbs seems a little small as far as bears are concerned. Had this been much bigger, a handgun might not have been as effective.
June 5th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Yeah, I’d go with the 12 bore slugs. I bet a Surefire would scare him also.
Not to many bears around these parts, but we’ve got a tiger farm not to far away (with escapes now and then). And the dirtbag season has begun at the Jersey Shore…this place is quiet as a church during the winter, and becomes a nuthouse in the summer.
June 5th, 2006 at 9:46 pm
Loading for bear with a handgun?
I’d go with the Desert Eagle .50 AE.
With two extra magazines, just to make sure it’s not fair. Heh.
June 6th, 2006 at 12:20 am
What confuses me is the article implies that the bear wouldn’t have gotten into the house if the backdoor latch wasn’t broken. I guess is serves the guy right for leaving his house unlocked.
While working up in Alaska, we had weapons to carry when working ashore. I always volunteered to carry the 1911. Sooner or later the new guys would point out that you can’t kill a grizzly or Kodiak with a pistol. To which the stock answer was, “oh, this isn’t for the bear. It’s shoot you in the foot so I can outrun you.” Truthfully, the real solution was to get back in the boat. Last thing you want is to end up with a wounded bear in the brush. We didn’t have them breaking into our house though.
Magnum slugs were always a good choice. I don’t think you’d want to be the run of the mill burglar when the homeowner is loaded for bear invasion.
June 7th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
I’d think that if the bear wanted in, if the latch wasn’t broken it soon would be – if not the whole door.
As for the proper weapon for bears, it’s certainly not a handgun, but a handgun beats no weapon by a mile. I know a guy that stopped a charging black bear with a .357 Magnum between the eyes. It helps to have practiced until you can put snap shots into the bulls eye every time…