My dream is to go to Alaska on a handgun hunt for grizzly/brown bear someday.

I have a S&W 460XVR with 8 3/8" barrel and a variable scope, and a S&W 500 with a 4" barrel and open sights. I also have a pair of Freedom Arms Premier Grade 454's, one with a 7 1/2" barrel and a variable scope and the other with a 6" barrel and open sights.

For any type of longer range shooting I think I would use the 460, since the ballistics is much better than the 454. I have taken a black bear in Alaska with 1 shot with my 454, but I know that blackies are not too hard to put down compared to a grizzly.

What do you all think about the 460 for grizzly/brown bear and what bullet would you recommend. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I don't think your .454 would be lacking......

Use whatever you are most comfortable and accurate with.

Are you wanting to hunt Grizzlies or Browns? If your looking at grizzlies any of the above should work. Browns I would think bigger might be better.

Personally if I had the chance to take either I wouldn't feel undergunned carrying my FA 454

If I wanted to use the 460 instead of the 454, what bullet would you recommend?

Adter seeing the devastation my SRH .454 did to a large Black Bears spine. I would be fine with your .454 . I don't have any experence with the .460. I agree with which everone you feel most comfortable with and shoot the best with. That was once a dream of mine, but now I'm to busted up for chasing something that could treat me like a snack between meals. :-)

[quote=wyote]Are you wanting to hunt Grizzlies or Browns? If your looking at grizzlies any of the above should work. Browns I would think bigger might be better.



Alaska calls them all "Brown Bears". The coastal brown bears are usually larger than the interior browns (grizzlies) because of their more plentiful diet (fish), but the interior grizzlies / browns live a hard life scrounging for meals, and can be more aggressive. In other words, one doesn't necessarily require a lesser gun than the other.
Bullets? I'd use either a WFN hard cast with a minimum weight of 300 gr. or a 300 gr. Magnum XTP. Either the .454 (min.1500 fps)or .460 would do, in my opinion. Shots would almost certainly be around or under 100 yards, so pick the one you shoot the best.
A scoped gun should be your primary. I'd probably carry the .500 with 400-440's on my hip.

if ya go with the 460 i would ONLY use a barnes 275gr bullet and it would work great on a grizzly. any other bullet i wouldn't feel comfortable running 460 speeds in. if i were gonna use hardcast i'd go absolutely no faster than 454 speeds.

not sure i've seen any load out of a 460 that'll significantly beat my 340 gr beartooth's at 1800+ fps out of my FA83. i'm sure ya could but the that is the absolute max velocity i've seen them hold together on and using hardcasts and having had a more than one failure out of a 45/70 rifle i won't shoot anything unjacketed at the upper end speeds of that rifle which is where you're gonna be with the 460 but with just a slightly smaller bullet. wow that was a long sentence.

in a nutshell, if ya stick with the 460 i'd go barnes. the 454 certainly has had no trouble with the largest bears on the planet.

The barnes is a good bullet but if you can find the 260 or 300gr Partitions or Swift A frames they will get the job done too. The most important thing is to use a premium bullet that shoots straight and to have confidence in the gun, load and yourself.

The Swift 325 gr. would work great. They heavier the better. The 300 gr. XTP Mag would be my second choice. Remember 454 has accounted for The Big Five, so I would go with the gun you feel the most comfortable with.

.460 would work much better with heavy Punch bullets. A friend just put several 420 gr. Cast Performance from a .475 Linebaugh in a 10' brownie with complete penetration. With large dangerous game caliber size is EVERYTHING. If you can't use a big caliber then use a big, heavy bullet. Speed kills on little game, but not on the big boys. Caliber first, weight second.

wvhitman, check your PMs.

Whitworth,10-4. Finally figured out how.

I was going to suggest the 325 gr A-Frame but Franchise beat me to it... good work lol.
I have not shot the 300 or 325 gr out of my 454 yet, but if they shoot half as good as the 265 gr A-Frames, I would think you'd be in business.

depending on their difference in point of impact, I have often questioned (if I were chasing dangerous game), why not load the first shot with a 325 gr Swift A-Frame, and the others with the 320 Punch Bullet. They do that in Africa with rifles, why not with a handgun?

just a thought...

I'd like to think that my first would be at least as effective as my last.

yes one would hope that, but it doesn't always work that way lol.

I think the reasoning behind the solids backing up the first shot is because your follow ups (if needed) presumably may not be the most ideal (i.e. the animal is running away and maybe longer distance, raking angles etc.) and the solids give extreme penetration and such.

I know many PH's use this line of thinking with dangerous game in Africa. why not with a grizzly? seems like it would work to me as long as they shoot similar.

Thanks for all the good information, I really appreciate it.

BB, that's exactly what I was thinking. My 454 Super Redhawk and my Freedom Arms 454 shoot the 325 grain A-frame well. I was considering using my 454 Super Redhawk on my brown bear hunt and found out that a 335 grain Cast Performance bullet loaded with a max charge of 296 shot to the same point of impact as the 325 gr Swift A-frame. My plan was to wait on a broadside or quartering away shot opportunity anyway and I think that the A-frame would have worked great. After the first shot, I would have wanted the extra penetrating abilities of the 335 gr cast bullets to administer follow up shots from any angle.


On a side note, while in camp I spoke to one of Phil Shoemaker's guides who had personally killed a 10' brown bear last Spring on Kodiak with a single shot from his iron sighted 7 1/2" PG FA. He used a 360 WFN bullet loaded to 1500 fps. As the bear was running away from him he made an incredible shot, hitting the bear in front of his rear leg, driving the bullet across the top of the heart, and lodging in his neck. He waited a few moments and the bear was dead upon his approaching him.

Dr. Rogers,

Would you care to elaborate more on your friend's hunt?

Thanks in advance,

Darrell

Darrel H,
thanks for sharing your thoughts! I haven't hunted or had the chance to hunt anything more big or dangerous than black bear and hogs, but I often think of such things. Cool to know I am not the only one that has thought of this lol.


looks like the 325gr A-Frames shot well also. Do you know what kind of velocity you get out of the FA and Redhawk?

BB, I pushed them as fast as 1450 fps in the Super Redhawk but extraction became difficult so I backed down to just under 1400 fps. I have never chrono'd the load in the FA but I would suspect similar velocities.

Darrell, my friend was on the AK Pen. in camp with a rifle guy. First morning the rifle guy shoots a 10 footer in the hip. My friend and his guide get drafted to find it. They separate and trail it. My friend comes up on it and shoots it twice with a 6" .475 Linebaugh and 420 gr. Cast Performance. The other guides saw the shots and were impressed how the brownie was visably shaken at each shot. He actually killed it, but the rifle guy was given the bear because of the first shot. My friend later killed a 8 1/2' with a .376 Steyr( 260 gr. Nosler PT) that ran from a good shot, then finished with the Linebaugh.

Awesome, thanks Dr. Rogers...I love brown bear hunting stories.

keep in mind, that the srh can have rough cylinders and tough extraction often times doesn't mean nearing high pressures or over pressure. just a side note.

Finally a man that knows wht he is talking about

The 454 is completely capable of handling any bear without a hitch as long as you do your part. I personally favor Double Tap's 400gr.WFNGC bullet at 1400fps. I don't shoot my 454 enough to justify reloading it so, I rely on the maufacturers. The recoil out of my SRH with this load is brutal but, manageable. It has never disappointed me. Good hunting.

I've used that load on hogs with success........