Many readers are interested in how various handgun calibers have performed in defense against bears. This is a complicated subject. Sometimes, any caliber will do. Sometimes, a level of power may be required. Sometimes, a level of accuracy or speed may be required. Many permutations exist. The most important aspect, if a confrontation occurs, is to have a firearm available, easily and quickly accessible. The specific caliber is less important. These updates include all the incidents we have been able to document to the date of the update after several years of intense searches. We have always sought examples of failures. We appreciate readers who help us document more cases.
Here are all the cases that have been documented where .357 Magnum caliber revolvers were fired in defense against bears. These cases do not include incidents where handguns were used with other lethal means or a mix of handgun calibers were used. If more than one handgun of the same caliber was used, the incident is included. There are 14 incidents with a .357 caliber revolver (3 black, 10 brown, 1 polar bear), and 1 incident was a failure with a brown bear. 1 incident was indeterminate. The incidents are listed chronologically.
We have found fourteen cases in which .357 magnum revolvers were used to defend against bears. Twelve were successful, one was unsuccessful against a brown bear, and one was indeterminate.
September 1956 or 1957 — Geologist Alex Burton, Highland Valley, British Columbia, .357 Magnum Colt revolver, Black Bear.
I interviewed Alex Burton. The details of his cases have been detailed on AmmoLand before. When Alex arrived at the scene, the Cook had gone back to the dump. Alex had to retrieve his 357 Colt revolver, unlock the box it was in, retrieve ammunition from another box, and load it. While he was doing this, the Cook came running back from the dump, with the bear chasing him. Alex shot the bear from about 100 feet away. The bear ran into the dense woods. Alex was obligated to follow it up, and, fortunately, found it dead a short ways into the woods.
Spring 1961 — Washington State, Grays Harbor County, .357 Magnum, black bear, From The Education of a Bear Hunter by Ralph Flowers p. 115,116
I was standing in a little clearing about fifteen feet in diameter and I couldn’t see the bear until she burst out of the thicket, heading straight for me, clicking her teeth like castanets. I saw black in my sights and pulled the trigger and the old bear skidded to a halt, right at my feet. I put another bullet into the yearling, and then I sat down on the log by the trap, my heart thumping as I realized how close I had been to tangling with that mad sow bear.
I walked over to look at the mother bear and saw that my bullet had hit her directly in the top center of the nose, just below the eyes, and had gone straight into her brain, killing her instantly.
The author, Ralph Flowers, was severely mauled twice in his professional bear-hunting career. In both cases, he did not have his .357 revolver with him.
Summer 1976 — Grizzly Bear Attack in Montana, .357 Magnum used successfully by Allen Schallenberger
In Allen’s own words:
In the summer of 1976, I was working alone on the grizzly bear research and was on a trip in the Scapegoat Wilderness south of the Benchmark Road end on USFS land. I was riding my saddle horse and leading two pack horses with my equipment and camping supplies. I rode into a small grassy opening suitable for horse feed north of Half Moon Peak at about dusk. I unloaded the two pack horses and turned them loose to graze with hobbles and was starting to unsaddle my riding horse. A very heavy, tall, dark colored grizzly bear appeared walking on the nearby USFS trail about 30 yards away. He made no bad threats and kept walking. I had been out about two weeks and my flashlight batteries were dead. Quickly I threw some stove fuel on dry sticks and got a large fire going for light. I put a double halter rope on my horse so he could not break loose from the tree. I set up my small tent and then I stood outside watching my horses and listening to the bear circle the small clearing breaking sticks. The horses with hobbles were not eating and were pivoting sensing the travel of the bear circling around us.
After about two hours, I knew I had to do something to scare away the very large and aggressive bear. I fired six fast shots with my Colt Python and reloaded quickly. The bear left and I tied up all the horses, ate some supper and went to bed in the tent. The horses were allowed to graze the next morning before we headed back to our pickup and trailer at Benchmark Road. The bear’s tracks were in the trail dust for several miles. The front paw print was 8 inches wide which indicates a very big grizzly in Montana. That was the last trip I ever made in grizzly research without a 760 Remington pump 30:06 rifle with ghost ring peep sight and 220 grain loads or a short, barreled Remington 12 gauge 870 with sights and a combination of double 00 buck and slugs along with my revolver and hard cast lead bullets.
September 15, 1985 — near Healy, Alaska Ruger single-action .357 magnum, grizzly, Ben Moore: Bear Attacks of the Century: True Stories of Courage and Survival P. 23-24
The shots were slightly delayed because the revolver was a single action
The bear charged him. His first shot was from about 5 feet, into the chest. The bear grabbed him by the leg and threw him, then picked him up again. Ben missed a shot, then managed to get a shot into the bear’s stomach. The bear dropped him, then grabbed him by the head, shook him, and dropped him again. He shoved the pistol and both hands into the bears mouth, and fired.
The bear moved back, shook its head, took a swipe at Ben with its paw, leaving a sliver of claw through Ben’s thumb.
Then it walked off. The attack was finished.
Ben required reconstructive surgery for his face, but fully recovered.
August 1986 — Tsiu River south of Cordova, Alaska, .357 magnum revolvers, grizzly bear
A group of seven people on a fishing trip, with a guide and a cook, had to deal with an increasingly aggressive grizzly over several days. The group included Bob and Marietta Herron and their friend, Bill. They kept a watch at night, and repeatedly drove off the bear with warning shots. About 1 am on the fourth day, the bear ignored warning shots and came within 15 yards of the group. During more warning shots, the guide’s .30-06 rifle misfired, and one member fired at the bear, with his .357. The bear moved off. after the sun came up, the group found the bear, dead, with two .357 slugs in it. Page 312-313 Safe with Bears.
June 26, 1987 — Montana: Grizzly Bear Killed After Biting Warden in Montana Forest .357 magnum
Pictures at Field and Stream Article here
‘’I wouldn’t want to have another go-round,’’ the 60-year-warden, Lou Kis, said from his hospital bed after undergoing surgery for the bite, which was so powerful that it broke the leg bone below the knee.
Mr. Kris, a warden captain here for 22 years, killed the 400- to 500-pound bear with six shots from his .357 caliber Magnum revolver as it bit him.
June or July 1991, Ontario, Canada, Garden Lake, black bear, .357 magnum (Colt Python) Mentioned in Comments on Ammoland.
I interviewed George Scott in 2019.
Government geologist George Scott had an ATC (Authority to Carry) while in the performance of official duties. A black bear raided coolers and ate steaks and pork chops, punctured all coke cans. The next morning, it was foggy and Scott went out fishing, leaving his Colt Python Stainless steel revolver in the holster, loaded, in the cabin. He heard gunshots and returned to the cabin. His partner had fired at the bear, but had missed. The next morning, approached the outhouse with toilet paper in one hand and the Python in the other. The bear came out from behind the outhouse when he was 20 feet away. He fired one shot, and the bear ran 40 feet and expired.
July 1992, near the town of Central, Alaska, Grizzly, .357 revolver.
A 600 lb grizzly breaks into a mining claim trailer. 14 year old Clint Reynolds shoots the bear seven times with a .357 revolver. The bear leaves the trailer via a window. There were three shots to the chest of the bear with the .357. The bear died outside the trailer. Anchorage Daily News, as reported by Craig Medred, J-8, 1992 as reported in Safe with Bears, page 314.
February 27, 1993 – Barents Sea, Norway FOIA Polar Bears Rubber bullet from a special handgun or .357 Mag.
The bear was observed around 12-13 hours by Joan and Jill at the first cabin on Vestpynten after the camping place. The next cabin is Ralph. They saw the bear on the shore, walking towards Ralph’s cabin. The dogs (8) Ralph had with him had warned him about the bear and he started taking them inside. To the witnesses on the other cabin it looked like the bear was smelling the dogs and getting interested. Ralph said he had 3 dogs left outside when the bear arrived at the cabin. The witnesses only saw 1. Ralph tells that the bear had a dark spot on the belly, maybe from oil spill and that it was very aggressive. He went to get a special weapon, “rubber-bullet gun”. At about 1m distance he fired one shot at the bear. He think it hit the bear in the side. Joan couldn’t see the weapon properly, but she thought it was a pistol because he was holding it with one hand. She could not see it if the bear reacted after the first shot, but she said that he fired one more shot and that the bear then jumped and ran away towards the sea. Ralph himself claims he only fired one shot. Jill also thought she saw Ralph fire 2 shots but she wasn’t certain. She was certain that he didn’t use a rifle/ shotgun sized weapon, but a smaller type of weapon.
The rubber-bullet-gun was never shown to the police, and at the next interview, Ralph had destroyed it.
The rubber-bullet-gun was purchased in Canada 20 years before. The same goes for the ammunition. The day of the incident was the first time Ralph used the gun, and it was the last of the ammo. 20 year old rubber bullets can get hard as rock and since it was fired at very close range it might have made serious injuries to the bear. Ralph also had a .357 revolver. Ralph claimed it was inside the cabin when he shot at the bear.
June 20, 2010, Alaska: Geologist Pistol Defense failure Grizzly Bear, .357 Magnum
Miller managed to pull out his .357 Magnum revolver and squeeze off a shot, possibly grazing the animal. Then he fell onto his stomach, dug his face into the dirt and covered his neck.
The bear went for his exposed right arm, gnawing and clawing it and chipping the bone off the tip of his elbow. The attack lasted 10 to 15 seconds, then the animal lumbered away.
As Miller rolled over and was getting to his knees, the bear, only about 40 yards away, came at him again.
He managed to fire two more shots, but with his right arm badly injured he thinks he missed the bear. Then he lay still as the animal gnawed and clawed at him.
After the second attack, Miller played dead again, lying still for three to five minutes. He tried to move and realized he couldn’t. He was too badly injured.
“I was just hoping my radio was still in my vest pocket and it was,” he said. “I got it out and started radioing mayday, which nobody answered.”
July 26, 2014, Montana: Glacier National Park: Bear first sprayed, then shot with a .357 grizzly bear
Murphy first sprayed bear spray at the bear when it was 15 to 25 feet away, firing one shot from his .357 revolver when the bear had approached to within 7-10 feet. The bear was charging uphill at the time. He only fired one round at the bear, which fell back and stopped moving when shot. Many have suggested that he should have continued firing, but it is hard to argue with success.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
Great information once again. Very important series. Something helpful is learned with each encounter description.
Ok. A guy’s in bear country with a cooler full of meat and vulnerable people. He has a .357 but leaves it in the truck and to top it off no reloads. That’s a recipe for disaster. They got lucky.
Aim well and shoot good bullets.