I'm in the woods and get attacked by some wild fauna?

Question

Will my 12 shot .45 ACP protect me from a grizzly or a lion? I'm also paranoid and always wear level 3A body armor

Answer 1

Yes, you will be fine. Just let us know if the flora start attacking. That is when you will have some serious problems.

Answer 2

First of all, if you are worried about getting attacked by a grizzly OR a lion, take a look around and make sure you're not in a zoo. Ha ha. A 230 grain .45 ACP shot to the head would be fatal. Better yet, get some practice with a pistol that has a high capacity magazine, and get so you can put about 10 rounds through one hole. Nothing will survive 10 rounds of .45 ACP.

Answer 3

That ACP will get you killed! You are talking about an animal that can weight over a thousand pounds. That from a standing start, can out run a horse. The large ones are capable of carrying an Elk and decapitating Caribou. Their jaws are strong enough to make a steel pot look like a wad of gum. It may work on the Lion, Cougar,Puma just fine. But when it comes to Grizz, you would be better off popping yourself with it. If you are set on having a handgun as backup in bear country. Get at the minimum a 44mag. And stoke it up with some of the 300gr loads from Cor-Bon or Buffalo Bore. Better yet go with a 454 Casull.

Answer 4

Forget the .45 ACP. And 12 shots ain't gonna make no difference! I like toting a 45 long colt, but if I was worried about bears, etc..44Mag softpoint should do some serious stopping. If the critter gets so close you think your body armor is gonna help, you is in some very bad trouble.

Answer 5

A .45 Auto isn't a brown bear or lion gun. Both of these are thick-skinned, muscular critters. Ditch the semi-automatic and buy a Ruger in a caliber that'd make a bear stop and think, like .44 Magnum, heavy .45 Colt, or .454 Casull. Better yet, get a Marlin lever-gun in .45-70.

Answer 6

A hi-cap .45 WON'T do the job on grizzlies (or brown) bear. As a previous poster stated "I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it." That being said, I won't take my 14 shot .45 with me on an elk hunt in my native Montana. I do, however, back up my .300 Weatherby with my .44. Still nominal in my eyes, but until I've got a .454 or such, that's my only choice.

Answer 7

Trade your .45 for a Glock 10mm, and next time you take whatever drugs made you think you were being attacked tell the critter you have a 10 and watch it run away. If you had really been attacked by a grizzly and all you had was that .45 you would not be here to ask the question.

Answer 8

Consider the mountain lion dead and useless...but a .45 acp will most likely just completely piss off a griz. The 45 has no penetration power there for doesn't get to the vitals. It will hit its super strong bones and then its adrenaline will start pumping and that griz will rip you apart...You are better off shooting in the air in the hopes that the griz gets scare by the noice and moves on...but if you shoot him anywhere but the eye ball, you are the one most likely to be dead.

Answer 9

I heard a story about a woodsman who photographed grizzlies for a hobby. His opinion was that the best way to react to a grizzly is to lie down, curl up into a ball, and don't move until it goes away. Apparently he actually used that technique, and it worked. He said you should never do that, though, if you're between a she-bear and her cubs. Personally, I think it would take a lot of self-control to suppress my fight-or-flight (flight in this case!) instinct.

Answer 10

From what I've read by the expert handgunners, you need at least a 44 magnum for bear, they say a .357 might kill a bear, but do you want to bet on"might"? That's what they said! For bear up to Grizzly(and those are big animals!) 44 magnum, 454 Casull, and larger(there are newer, larger calibres).

Answer 11

.45 ACP is not a good round for large game, it lacks both penetration and knockdown power. Carry a shotgun/rifle or at the very least a .44mag.