Details of .22 Pistol Defense Failure against Polar Bear in Norway

Whereas looking for circumstances the place pistols had been used to defend in opposition to bears, three failures have been discovered. Within the final printed outcomes, of 73 circumstances, that was a 4% failure charge. The very small pattern dimension means a number of circumstances can change the chances of success or failure considerably.  It’s helpful to know what occurred in every case to find out how the failures and successes occurred.

The three failures concerned the three species of North American bears. One case involving a polar bear and a .22 pistol in 1995, one case involving a grizzly bear and a .357 magnum in 2010, and one case involving a black bear and a .38 revolver in 2015.

Fairly detailed accounts of the failures for the 2010 and 2015 assaults have been given within the final replace, the place 73 circumstances had been examined.

The failure of the .22 pistol protection in opposition to a polar bear had little data.

3.  1 September, 1995, Norway, Svalbard Island, .22 rimfire, Failure Polar Bears:  Proceedings of the Twelfth Working Group

On 1 September, 1995, two male vacationers had been attacked by an grownup male bear on a distant island in japanese Svalbard. The 2 vacationers defended themselves with a .22 calibre pistol which proved ineffective. One man was killed, the opposite injured. Police later shot the bear.

After appreciable analysis, a extra detailed account of the incident was discovered. The incident concerned crew members of the tour/expedition ship Origo, a standard ship refurbished and used for arctic excursions for the reason that starting of the Nineties.  In the summertime of 1995, the ship was cruising within the arctic waters close to Svalbard. The ship anchored within the Hinlopen Strait. A vacationer get together left the ship to discover. The get together had an armed guard. 5 members of the crew left to discover, individually. They introduced a .22 pistol and a flare gun. From Spitsbergen: Svalbard, Franz Josef, Jan Mayen, third Brant journey Information, by Andres Umbreit:

Kiepertoyo Hinlopen Strait, August, 1995

One other 5 individuals of the crew set out individually with solely a .22 pistol and a flare gun. After an hour’s march, the second get together had been met by a bear, 75m away and overtly aggressive. The bear was distracted neither by warning shot nor flare and attacked one of many get together. As he did so, he was shot, from a variety of solely 15m and turned in opposition to the person who had fired at him. This man tossed the gun to the primary, who shot once more. The method was repeated, with first one man being attacked after which the opposite. By the point the pistol was emptied and a knife drawn, one man was useless and one other badly injured. The survivors retreated to the ship.

(snip)

On examination, three pictures to the pinnacle had been found, none of them piercing the skull.

The sufferer had three years expertise with the Origo, with many bear observations, and there have been adequate weapons on board to equip all people.

Deadly polar bear assaults in Svalbard are uncommon. They’re nicely documented. This is similar assault as talked about earlier, with higher particulars.

The writer of the account mentions a small-caliber pistol should hit a really small goal at shut vary. The vary will not be that essential, as a .22 doesn’t lose a lot vitality within the first 50 yards.

Hitting a small goal is essential, and never straightforward from 15 meters (50 ft) away, when the goal is transferring. Most profitable defenses in opposition to bear assaults with pistols happen at a lot shorter distances, typically 20 ft or much less.

That is the second case encountered the place the individual attacked threw the pistol to another person. Each makes an attempt resulted in failure.  Within the Mark Uptain tragedy, the 10mm Glock didn’t have any ammunition in it when thrown; on this case, the capability of the pistol is unknown. In 1995, it could nearly definitely have been 10 rounds or much less. We have no idea what number of rounds had been expended in warning pictures.

Three .22 rounds hit the polar bear within the head. None entered the skull. This isn’t surprising. The mind of a polar bear could also be barely bigger than a grizzly. A grizzly bear mind is concerning the dimension of a pint jar (29 cubic inches). The top of a giant Kodiak bear has a quantity of roughly 808 cubic inches, primarily based on measurements equipped by Tom Smith of Brigham Younger College. The Kodiak bear measured by Dr. Smith was exceptionally giant, estimated at 1,400 kilos. If we assume a 1,000-pound polar bear, and proportional measurements, the pinnacle quantity could be about 577 cubic inches or 2.5 gallons.

When you’ve got a pint jar in a 2.5-gallon container, you must know the place the jar is positioned to have the ability to hit it. It’s straightforward to overlook. There’s loads of muscle and bone in a bear head that may soak up or deflect a .22 LR bullet in the event that they hit at a poor angle or within the unsuitable place.  A .22 is highly effective sufficient to achieve a bear’s mind if it hits the proper place at an inexpensive angle.

Based on the extra detailed account, the captain of the Origo ordered the bear shot with a excessive powered rifle, (as a substitute of police) because it had been hit with the .22 pistol. The assault occurred in August, whereas the primary account acknowledged 1 September. These are minor variations however not unreasonable.

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a army officer, was on the College of Wisconsin Pistol Group for 4 years, and was first licensed to show firearms security in 1973. He taught the Arizona hid carry course for fifteen years till the aim of constitutional carry was attained. He has levels in meteorology and mining engineering, and lately retired from the Division of Protection after a 30 12 months profession in Military Analysis, Growth, Testing, and Analysis.