Best Bear Gun?

[hecpilot]

Is a .45 with a hot load better than a sharp stick?

Hollow point or solid tip? Do we need max penetration on a bear?

[68deluxe]

As far as rifle cartridges for bears I would start from the right and see how that works.

[Jurgen]

Originally Posted by fxstbiluigi

Those aimpoint thingies are good for bust'n paper targets and bowling pins, But I wouldn't wanna be look'n for a red dot against a brown back ground that's chargin'. That sounds like disaster fix'n to happen. I'll take the open sights.

Heavily abused and used in Afghanistan and Iraq-- Marines use Trijicons, Army is heavy into Aimpoints.



Plus even if the dot is off or fails you can still use the scope w/o dot as a very effective close range sight.


But to repeat what I said earlier-- for the OP (and hell it would be for me) Remington or Mossberg slide action shotgun with 18.5" barrel, duracoating (Alaska is wet, really wet) and an Ashley big dot up front. Load it with slugs. No other BS on the gun.


(For hiking I would delete the front mount flashlight)

Go practice a bunch with trap loads, get your administrative handling down pat. (another advantage of the 12 gauge over say .45-70) Then shoot enough slugs to be familiar with them.

[fastdadio]

^^^^^And that right there folks, is the bottom line on this thread.^^^^^^^

Unless we could begin a friendly discussion regarding the multitude of special purpose projectiles designed to fit it.

[seuadr]

Originally Posted by fastdadio

^^^^^And that right there folks, is the bottom line on this thread.^^^^^^^

Unless we could begin a friendly discussion regarding the multitude of special purpose projectiles designed to fit it.

it doesn't even have a bayonette!

[Sniper X]

Originally Posted by HardCase

The Guide Gun is a good choice, and pretty cool. OTOH, a pump or semi-auto 12 gauge shotgun loaded with slugs or alternating slugs and 00 Buck would be equally effective as bear protection, maybe even better. Since you're not going to be hunting you're not overly concerned about long-range performance.

Ditto X1000. Because you won't have time to aim and the 12ga with 1oz slugs is flat devastating. But make the 00 buck 000 buck and have a couple 1oz slugs first.

[Manuel Garcia O'Kely]

I have no personal experience with the laser dot type sights, but I have a question for you guys - those two walking patrol - if they have to make an entry into one of those dark houses, will their daylight adapated eyes work well enough to see the dots? I've never really played with lasers in daylight much so have little notion of their effectiveness - which is I presume why there is also a backup sight.

Thinking generally about carrying a pump-gun - I guess if you have it slung on the backpack, minimal attachments would make it a lot faster on the "draw" I should think? Makes that Canadian shotgun look pretty ideal for that purpose. You guys use a scabbard strapped to pack or put it under pack straps in some way?

[Weirdo]

I have to agree that the best single purpose survival gun is my 870 with the short barrel. Stuff it down the side of a pack with slugs ready to go and a bunch of bird shot packed away and you're ready for predators and to be a predator.

The 45-70 is my helicopter gun. When we get to a place that has the potential for bear I bring it out, load it and it's just there to make me feel good. I've never shot it in anger or fear. I will say that it has a cool factor that I just love It's just such a bad ass cowboy donkey puncher.

[HardCase]

Originally Posted by Manuel Garcia O'Kely

I have no personal experience with the laser dot type sights, but I have a question for you guys - those two walking patrol - if they have to make an entry into one of those dark houses, will their daylight adapated eyes work well enough to see the dots? I've never really played with lasers in daylight much so have little notion of their effectiveness - which is I presume why there is also a backup sight.

Thinking generally about carrying a pump-gun - I guess if you have it slung on the backpack, minimal attachments would make it a lot faster on the "draw" I should think? Makes that Canadian shotgun look pretty ideal for that purpose. You guys use a scabbard strapped to pack or put it under pack straps in some way?

I don't think the military uses laser sighted rifles all that much. They use a red-dot style sight which is different from a laser. It does not project a dot, it simply shows one in the sight which is something like a heads up display. They are bright and seeing them in a darkened room is no problem.....the opposite is more the case where they are harder to see in bright light. The trouble with a dark room is seeing the target clearly, not the dot.

I think it's cool that Canada allows short-barrel shotguns; as someone else said, one good thing about their laws as contrasted to ours which are generally more favorable. It is possible to build a short barrel shotgun here, but you'd have to go through the NFA stuff, pay the $200 tax, jump through the hoops.

[HardCase]

Originally Posted by Weirdo

The 45-70 is my helicopter gun. When we get to a place that has the potential for bear I bring it out, load it and it's just there to make me feel good. I've never shot it in anger or fear. I will say that it has a cool factor that I just love It's just such a bad ass cowboy donkey puncher.

I bought a Guide Gun back in 2004 or 05, was planning a motorcycle trip to AK via Canada and planned to camp and woods-loaf along the way, so wanted something that would be legal in Canada that I could carry on the bike and keep inside a tent for SD. Maybe a shorty 870 would have worked just as well. In any case, I never did take the trip, but still have the Guide Gun, and refer to it as my Canadian Assault Rifle!

[ootpik]

Originally Posted by fastdadio

In the time it took me to type that last long winded opinion, a couple of other posts came in. Concerning barrel length, just a little fun fact here. It takes about 20" of barrel to completely burn the average powder charge and thereby, provide for max velocity. In our discussion here, I think velocity would be a very high concern and would want as much as I could get.

Polar bears around Lake Winnipeg?? Really???

I think he means when he got up to James/Hudson Bay area. I'm still trying to figure out which of his 4 bikes he rode? Must have been the 2 stroke for all the smoke to keep the bugs off..It is a fantastic canoe trip though.

[Sniper X]

Originally Posted by hecpilot

Is a .45 with a hot load better than a sharp stick?

Hollow point or solid tip? Do we need max penetration on a bear?

Yep, if I had to carry one of my 1911s for bear, I would use hotted up loads with hard cast bear bonded bullets. Not HP or even ball.

[Sniper X]

Originally Posted by Manuel Garcia O'Kely

I have no personal experience with the laser dot type sights, but I have a question for you guys - those two walking patrol - if they have to make an entry into one of those dark houses, will their daylight adapated eyes work well enough to see the dots? I've never really played with lasers in daylight much so have little notion of their effectiveness - which is I presume why there is also a backup sight.

Thinking generally about carrying a pump-gun - I guess if you have it slung on the backpack, minimal attachments would make it a lot faster on the "draw" I should think? Makes that Canadian shotgun look pretty ideal for that purpose. You guys use a scabbard strapped to pack or put it under pack straps in some way?

I have a shotgun scabbard on my Zombie backpack. And it has an 870 in it and I can draw it out of the scabbard pretty quick without taking the backpack off. I can probably get a aimed shot off in about >2 seconds with it. I liked it so much I bought a second scabbard for my .22 rifle....

[Manuel Garcia O'Kely]

Originally Posted by HardCase

I don't think the military uses laser sighted rifles all that much. They use a red-dot style sight which is different from a laser. It does not project a dot, it simply shows one in the sight which is something like a heads up display. They are bright and seeing them in a darkened room is no problem.....

Shows you the level of firearm techology I'm at - I think scopes and peep sights are nice. Makes sense - I think I remember those being sold as shotgun sights originally? I'm sure these are much refined versions.

SniperX: Thanks - that was sort of the thought, not for zombies though, bears is real...

[HardCase]

Originally Posted by Sniper X

Yep, if I had to carry one of my 1911s for bear, I would use hotted up loads with hard cast bear bonded bullets. Not HP or even ball.

Back between the mid-80s and 2003 when I was shooting lots of IPSC and had forgotten my revolver roots, I decided I wanted a semi-auto to pack in the woods for bear protection. I ended up with a Delta Gold Cup, a 10mm 1911. I modified the thing by installing a beavertail, and carried that in my pack for years. Then in '03 the 500 S&W Magnum came out, I became more interested in revolvers for woods carry, and I've never looked back. But for a semi-auto guy, I'd certainly urge the 10mm with some stompin' loads as a decent option.