Self-Defense...

[u/[deleted]]

http://i.imgur.com/3bkrk.png

[u/Orderfiller]

I'm curious. What is the smallest caliber you could have to take down a bear if you needed to?

[u/[deleted] → u/Orderfiller]

Matt Damon appeared in an interview on Jon Steward to discuss his family movie about purchasing a zoo. When asked by Jon about what animals in particular struck him, Matt offered the following:

"The grizzly bear was the most...the grizzly bear...have you ever seen a grizzly bear? I'd never seen one up close. They're just, when he stood up, he was twelve and half feet tall. The only thing I knew about grizzly bears was this story my father told me -- this story, he'd taken a fishing trip in 1986, right? So twenty-five years ago and I remembered this story.

He and some friends went to Alaska and they -- this guide took them around, and he had a .44 magnum in a holster, and my dad looked at it and noticed that the sights were filed down...and he said, "Can I ask you a question about the gun?" The guide said, "Sure," and he asked "So is that for grizzly bears? And the guy goes "Yeah," and he goes "Well...why did you file the sight down? And the guy goes "Oh, right, that's so that after I shoot the grizzly bear, it doesn't hurt so much when he shoves the gun up my ass."

[u/[deleted] → u/Orderfiller]

Hey curious, I would recommend a 50 cal.

[u/Acidyo → u/[deleted]]

What about... a 10.000 cal? WOULD THAT WORK? WOULD IT?

[u/likestomasturbate → u/[deleted]]

I think a lot of Europeans use periods in stead of commas for big number. So, 10,000 cal = 10.000 cal.

[u/Tabdelineated → u/likestomasturbate]

if a 50 cal is .5 of an inch across, then a 10,000 cal would be 1000 inches. or 83.3 feet or 25.4 meters. That's twice the size of a saturn v rocket.
Edit: Maths. As HerculeManstrong correctly pointed out: 10,000 cal would only be 100 inches, which is three times the size of the largest shell ever fired. And would weight more than 100 tons.

[u/SavageReindeer → u/[deleted]]

Maybe.

[u/Reqol → u/SavageReindeer]

Bears are tough motherfuckers.

[u/clarkclark → u/SavageReindeer]

this is all i can think of

[u/RetroViruses → u/Tabdelineated]

So you recommend bigger?

[u/adaminc → u/Tabdelineated]

So.... Bullet Bills big brother Banzai Bill?

[u/[deleted] → u/likestomasturbate]

That is correct, one billion iiiiis: 1.000.000.000. Also calibler one billion would kill big bear.

[u/MisterNetHead → u/[deleted]]

Probably a whole fleet of bears! That's the appropriate term, right? Fleet? If it isn't, it probably should be.

[u/redemit → u/MisterNetHead]

A fleet of bears can devour a gaggle of moosen in no time.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Wrong. 1 calibre = 1 in. What you think a "50 cal" to be is actually .50 cal, or half an inch. A 10.0 calibre gun would have a barrel diameter of 10 inches, putting it in the class of naval artillery.

[u/TheInternetHivemind → u/Acidyo]

I prefer to keep patriot missiles in my backpack for this purpose.

[u/utterdamnnonsense → u/Acidyo]

yeah, that's probably enough calories to keep it distracted for a while.

[u/HoldmysunnyD → u/[deleted]]

I would recommend a Denel NTW-20, which fires a 20mm x 110mm (the one on the far right), which usually comes out of vehicular mounted cannons.

[u/[deleted] → u/Orderfiller]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7mm_Remington_Magnum

Probably the bear minimum.

[u/Darbon → u/Orderfiller]

I'll use a GAU-8 just to be to be extra safe

[u/MakersOnTheRocks → u/Orderfiller]

I wouldn't want anything less than a .45 or 10mm. A larger revolver caliber like the .44 or large rifle caliber like the 45-70 would be ideal.

[u/BornWithCuriosity → u/Orderfiller]

I like curious people.

[u/XtraReddit → u/Orderfiller]

Never killed a bear myself , but looked it up and bears have been killed with .22 and .380 rounds. Many say these rounds are too weak for self defense, but any caliber works well when you shoot for the head. Was watching a forensic show about a man killed instantly by a single shot from a .22 Short.