More is better, but if a grizzly charges I'd almost bet you would't even get the first mag emptied let alone the second loaded. this dude's even jammed after the first shot.We travel in Griz country a lot. Never seen one to date but I do follow a series on Ammoland.com about the effectiveness of bear spray vs the effectiveness of a firearm that dates back to the advent of bear spray.
The Bear Spray is only about 30% effective. Firearms are close to 100%.
.22 rimfire has taken down grizzly's as well as a host of calibers the native Alaskans use including milsurp .303 and .223 AR's. As always placement is key.
"on May 10, 1953. Bella Twin, a Cree Indian, and her partner, Dave Auger, were hunting small game south of Slave Lake, in Alberta, Canada. Twin was carrying her battered single-shot .22 when the two were approached by a gigantic grizzly.
It was reported to be about 30 feet away and moving toward them, and apparently Twin thought she and Auger were in danger. She fired and the bear dropped.
In the right hands the little cartridge can be deadly. According to Wikepedia: “Because a .22 LR bullet is less powerful than larger cartridges, its danger to humans is often underestimated. In fact, a .22 LR bullet is easily capable of killing or injuring humans. Even after flying 400 yards (370 m), a .22 bullet is still traveling about 500 feet/second.”
Every big game animal in the United States has been killed with a .22. On March 8, a female elephant, aged between seven and 10 years old, was found dead near a creek in Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand. The elephant had several wounds, including four bullet holes in its hide.
Bella Twin’s bear rifle was a .22 caliber single shot Cooey Ace 1. It had been used hard on her trapline.
Tests later revealed that the elephant was killed by a CZ .22 LR rifle. (Elephant killing probe heats up, Bangkok Post, March 26, 2013, by TERRY FREDRICKSON)
I've carried the .44 mag super redhawk in a chest rig on hikes but it's way too heavy and uncomfortable in that rig, plus I'm limited to 6 shots.
The 10mm is now standard issue for Alaskan game wardens as the caliber of choice to stop human and wild game so that's what I've chosen to carry now with 16 rounds on a full load and a spare 15 round mag accessible loaded with Underwood hard cast ammo.
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