I only ask because I've recently been in bear country and thought I was fine with my .40 cal. sidearm. Had I known bears were not hibernating, I'd have brought a little more firepower with me.

When I worked at the USGS, I applied for a summer field job in AK. Geologists were issued .38s, but most left it at home and packed a .44 mag.

There was one woman geologist who had been packing too small a pistol, but she kept her job, even though she had no arms. I used to see her around the USGS campus with her prosthetics. I didn't get the assignment, and was sort of relieved.

If I am in bear country, the caliber carried needs to have the word "magnum" associated with it. Even a .45 auto might be a bit small.

My british enfield .303 works wether it's covered in mud, sand or whatever.....everytime......
I'm pretty sure it'll stop all bears :)

From Chuck Hawks:

"Use plenty of rifle when hunting any of the great bears. About 3000 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy (ME) or more is suggested. The various 7mm Magnums and the .30-06 with heavy bullets of high sectional density (SD) are the minimum recommended calibers. Better are numbers such as the .338-06, .35 Whelen, .405 Winchester, .450 Marlin, .45-70 (with heavy loads) and the various .300 and 8mm belted magnums. Powerful medium bores including the .338 Winchester Magnum, .340 Weatherby Magnum, .350 Remington Magnum, .358 Norma Magnum, 9.3x62, 9.3x64, 9.3x74, and .375 H&H Magnum are ideal. I have read that the most popular caliber used by Alaskan guides to "back-up" their clients is the .338 Win. Mag."

Go big or go home. Holland & Holland .700 Nitro Express is the hot ticket.

375 H and H is hands down the way to go. I've personally seen 2 9 ft brownies go down with one shot (each that is)

IIRC JYL met the snowtire man and others for drink last night. ...which begs the Q: who's the "grizzly" that John woke-up with? :eek:

Forget the rifle yoou need a shrink...to tell U what the dream meant...U have had a similar dream before if I recall...just reread my response...

For close in, I'd want a .500 S&W or a 12 gauge slug.

Mid-range I'd want something hot like .338 Lapua.

Long-range I'd want something in .50 BMG.

.50-90 Sharps....Doin' it "old school"!

M136??? That would be my choice, but I stay the hell away from bears.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1262287312.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1262287326.jpg


Gotta be over $100K.

It absolutely amazes me that I could know absolutely NOTHING about the item and be immediately drawn to the exceptionally powerful and woefully expensive version... Dang. Maybe one for the post-lottery winning bucket-list - LOL!

angela

Shotgun with a slug. 3 inch shells. That's got the most energy without going to africa guns. A .300 win mag will be okay too, if you only have lower 48 fire power.

George

I prefer to think of it as......an inconvenient truth.:p

from people here that winter from alaska(someday for me), .338 win mag is a little on the light side. .375 H und H is very very popular for anything alaska can throw at you.

since i have a mcmillian .338 win mag , my son and i decided on the marlin 45.70 stainless. had nelson ford do a trigger job and jewel everthing. actions smooth as butter.

with the correct load with 45/70 you can go after great white sharks to cape buffalo and grizzilys and elephants. nothing on the planet will walk away or EAT YOU!

not bad for a 133 some odd year old round.


awhile back i did a bunch of research on pistoles for any damn bear on the planet. watched a bunch of you tubes showing .500 smiths,.454 casull, .480 ruger etc. then i started to talk to my FFL, my smithy nelson ford,amigos here at aeropuerto. then i went straight to the horses MOUTH! gary raeder up in flagstaff last deer hunt we were up there.

gary raeder has the honor and distinction of shooting EVERY BIG GAME CRITTER NAUGHTY AND NICE with a handgun. and they are on display. my kid about fell over in there looking at the taxidermy.

anyway we talked for quite awhile. heres what he said:

taurus .454 casull - NO BUENO!!!!!!!!!!! have had problems with cylinders and backstraps taking a crap.

.500 smith-well just watch youtube and i need to say no more. plus the fact snobbsdale gun club pulled their rental .500 smiths because of cylinder and backstrap problemos.

final word of advice from the horses mouth: .454/.460/.480.

my choice is a .480 RUGER ALASKAN. hell of a lot of money for gun and the round, but when i go to alaska, it will be a nice warm fuzzy.

if anyjuan has a ruger .480 i would love to hear about FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE.

I'm thinking Saiga 12 loaded with 10 3" slugs...

Saw my Dad when we were elk hunting shoot a charging bear at about 40 feet away with a 300 Winchester magnum. He was walking about 10 feet in front of me.

No warning or noise from the bear prior to the charge.

He shot it from the hip, hitting it in the head. Dropped like a rock. There was not much of the skull behind the eyes left.

If I would have been in front I don't think I would have even got a shot off.

Thanks Dad, as I about needed to clean my pants.