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That's the most ridicules thing I ever heard, if it jammed most likely bullets were not compatible for that gun, most likely .45 ACP hollow points with shallow penetration... Many off the shelf 1911s can be finicky depending on the manufacture and those models have to have work done to be well tuned with high quality magazines to feed hollow points reliably, especially a junk Tarus... 10 to 1 he likely had junk ammo, and/or junk magazine and a junk gun...

Ya don't use a driver on a putting green, use the proper gun/ammo for the purpose... In Griz country with a 1911 .45 ACP, use a well tuned gun and mag with heavy duty ammo like Buffalo Bore: "45 ACP +P OUTDOORSMAN - 255 gr. Hard Cast FN (925 fps/M.E. 484 ft. lbs.)"

i suspect it took a few shots to kill the bear, it just took time to die. i am not so sure i would not have reloaded and put another few rounds in it. :)

Meyers “fumbled around,” able to pull out his Taurus 1911 .45 ACP pistol. He fired about five shots before the gun jammed. And the Internet forums are full of Glock haters....go get yourself a Taurus instead....grin

I wish we knew what ammo they were using.......sounds like Hollow points which are practically worthless.

You have no clue what your talking about when it comes to a 1911.

I carried a 1911 on duty to protect my life and others for 15 years. The gun is reliable, is a Tac driver and a 45 is a great caliber for a deadly force situation. It also recoils less as the gun itself is fairly heavy, along with the heavy 230 grain bullets most defensive rounds and a flashlight it recoils less then a glock 40 cal

The only reason most people who don't like them is the lack of rounds, but those same people will buy a 33 round mag for their glock because they need all the ammo they can.

Yes they can be a bit pickey, but if you clean and oil them they will run just fine.

I put more rounds through mine then I can count as a range instructor and just plain shooting.

I agree with zbone your comment about the 1911 is ridiculous.

You guys are so easily trolled. But it's too much fun so I'm going to keep going with it.

For those of you who say I have no idea what I'm talking about, raise your hand if you've fired a pistol at a charging grizzly bear?

*this is me raising my hand*

People who hunt mountain animals every year typically don't use 1911s. There's multiple reasons for that, but three big reasons are 1. Weight 2. Reliability when wet/dirty and 3. proven track record of safety when banged repeatedly while crashing through alders and when tumbling down cliffs without discharging.

Again, this is not about ballistics, although the 10mm outperforms .45 and this has been tested, but that's not the point because lots of guys have killed bears with a 9mm.

When you're hunting sheep/deer/elk where grizzlies live, which is usually in the mountains, mountain hunts require long miles and elevation gain/loss where weight is paramount.

In my average sheep hunt, a minimum of 20,000 feet elevation gain/loss will happen and 40,000 over 2 weeks is not unheard of and I've done far more. Same for goats. Even elk (the ones in grizz country) are typically mountain hunts.

People who do these hunts year-in-year-out (I'm counting north of 20 of these sorts of hunts for myself, all carrying a pistol to the tune of 100s of thousands of feet of elevation gain/loss and this isn't counting caribou/moose hunts), not just me, but everyone I've come across, don't carry 1911s. A few carry .44 mag (mostly flat-land hunts) and almost everyone else I've met all carry a Glock 10mm.

Until you've done 4-6K feet elevation gain/loss for days straight with a gun on your hip and felt the big difference that cutting weight does to your performance, honestly, whether you've fired at 0 grizz, 1 grizz, or 50 grizz, doesn't matter much. Having a plastic gun makes a huge difference.

There's other reasons, for instance, I can get 3 accurate rounds out of my 10mm in the time I can get 2 out of a .44 mag and the fact that a 9mm to the brain of a bear will do the same as a 10mm or .44 mag.

The one thing I did learn about my one bear charge where I used my pistol instead of spray like I have on other charges, is that a grizz shrugs a pistol shot off like it's nothing unless you hit it in the brain and the main reason to have a pistol is when you're on your back as I see many mountain rifle hunters also carry a pistol for this reason. Now, I always have a shotgun and spray when I can as that's something that can actually stop/slow a bear without hitting it in the brain.

Does the 1911 work? Of course it works. But it's not the best tool for this specific job, which is mountain hunting in Grizz country.

There's exceptions, of course, but most of the 1911 defenders like them for nostalgia/emotional/historical reasons and in my experience, they usually are primarily whitetail hunters who have little-to-no experience in Grizz country and often times, mountain hunting.

This has nothing to do with ballistics, muzzle velocity, or foot/pounds. It has everything to do with the gun itself.

I would carry a Glock .45, .45 ACP, .40, 9mm, and others before I'd carry a 1911 in the mountains and that goes for .44 mag as well, but if I had a choice between a .44 mag and a 1911, I would never choose the 1911.

But then, if I had a choice, I would take any long gun bigger than a .22 over any pistol. It's just not feasible to carry a shotgun and a bow at the same time in most instances, although I've done that on moose hunts and will be doing that, literally tomorrow.

Shane

If you shoot a bear broadside in the aorta, it doesn't matter what you use, it'll die. But that's hunting, not defending. Pistols for killing a bear need to be a brain shot, so anything that will penetrate the skull will do the job and all of the guns on this thread will do that, especially with hard cast rounds.

A pistol round to the chest or shoulder of a charging bear will not stop it unless it decides to stop, whereas bear spray and a shotgun slug or big rifle round have the possibility of disabling bones and large muscle groups through muscle and nerve trauma.

The story above about that native gal who killed that huge grizzly in Canada, killed it with a .22 rifle, but it was broadside and she took a brain shot.

Then his buddy shot 5 times (45acp) had a jam, cleared it and by my math fired 12 more rounds (10 round mags are common for 1911 45) finally hitting the spine that's when the guy with the 10 was able to pry the jaws open to free his arm and retrieve his gun he dropped and shoot the bear 3 more times in the head.

Despite the poor choice of 45 ACP, this guy saved his friends life! he didn't throw a gun towards him and high tail it to Florida! And give him a break with the bear on top of his friend his shot choices would be limited, can't shoot for the head when your friend is in its jaws and moving. And body shots to a big bear with a 45 acp would likely not penetrate to the vitals.

We don't know what ammunition was used or where the 10mm rounds hit the bear, but it did fail to stop the attack. Guys are flocking to the 10mm because you have 15 rounds compared to a big bore revolver with six. Take your pick more rounds in the gun or more power per shot. Unfortunately you'll never know if your choice is right for you unless your in that situation to use it and then no matter what your carrying it's probably going to feel like its not enough.

Yeah Ike, I'm now with the same mindset with these newer hardcast 9MM+P ammo available by Buffalo Bore and Underwood... They weren't around back in the day I camped and hunted wilderness areas carrying a 10MM Colt Delta Elite (that was a 1911 platform, BTW...8^)) but now if I ever again hunt in Griz country, I'll carry a 9MM with Buffalo Bore and/or Underwood 147 grain hardcast... These polymer 9MMs are near half the weight yet twice the ammo than my old Delta Elite:

Delta Elite - 35oz, only has 8+1 mags... Glock 43X - 18.7oz, PSA Micro Dagger 15+1 mag

Here is a link to the Delta Elite I had: https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/review-colt-delta-elite-10mm/

The thing is, you can shoot a bear 10 times in the chest with a pistol and it will still live long enough to kill you. The only thing that will stop it is a brain/CNS hit and 9mm can do that.

I have personally watched a bear shrug off chest/neck/shoulder hits like it was nothing and still run hundreds of yards into the bush and disappear.

If you’re relying on tissue damage, you need the kind of force that a rifle or shotgun slug provides.

Yep, I agree with Ike, you are not hunting will the 9MM, you are trying to stop a charge with a hit to the brain/CNS and a 9MM with relativity low recoil and quick recovery time with 15+1 mag gives you the best opportunity...

Charging bear situations sort of "give the test before the lesson...!" You cannot Google up how YOU will behave in this sort of incident. Once it begins, you don't have time for any more research anyway!

Pete

Helpful instruction on how to do it.. This guy is the man:

"AIMING IS USELESS! 3 Secrets To Great Shooting | Rob Leatham 6x IPSC World Champion!"

No, they point, no time to aim... I bet you a cookie you can't hit a cantaloupe at 100 yards standing free handed one 7 round mag and iron sights with that .45 ACP, nor hit a charging grizzly bear in the skull with big bore magnum handgun you are toting and touting...

Free country, but the guy is probably the most accomplished action handgun shooter in the world... I think he is an instructor now too... And I bet he could hit that cantaloupe and the grizzly at the same time...8^)

Well, if one was charging you, you're gonna need too...

You were the one bragging about a 100 yard .45 ACP, not less than half the distance at 42 yards...

As for the instructor, that is Rob Leathan, the 6x IPSC World Champion! Don't think Rob ever shot himself quick drawing, and he's probably done it thousands of times under pressure in shoots...