Help! Now! Need rifle for grizzly!

[steve185]

[QUOTEMy british enfield .303 works wether it's covered in mud, sand or whatever.....everytime......
I'm pretty sure it'll stop all bears
][/QUOTE]

The .303 Lee Enfield is still the rifle of choice in the Canadian Arctic, if it will stop a Polar bear it will certainly stop a grizzly.
Happy New Year
Steve

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Laneco

OMG - I don't even know what the heck that rifle is, but it is beautiful, surely capable of great violence and I want it!!!!

angela

Be prepared to dumb gobs of cash on that beauty.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by bell

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

I would not want to test that theory!

Originally Posted by ckissick

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.

Holy $&%*!!!

For regular ole' brown and black bears there are loads in even 9mm Para that would work fine(with head or heart/lung shots...after some time), but against grizzly, i would want at least a .44 mag with 300gr solids.


Didn't we just have this convo in another thread, btw?


Either .450 Bushmaster, .458 SOCOM or .500 Beowulf should get the job done if you want to be "tactical".

Originally Posted by RPKESQ

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

I'd get more fked up shooting the rifle than i would by the bear!

.700 nitro....yikes!

[pwd72s]

A decade or so ago, a guy who ought to know told me that the majority of Alaska Guides packed bolt action rifles in .338 Winchester Magnum caliber...that choice may have changed...but I'd still consider a good caliber for bear.

[sammyg2]

WAAAY Back when I was young and wild, there was a saying that was used to describe how we felt when we woke up after a long night of drinking to excess.
It went something like this:
oh man, a great big ole grizzly bear sheet in my mouth last night!

I wonder if that has anything to do with this thread ........

[Westy]

Originally Posted by BeyGon

When I worked in Alaska most people I worked with carried folding stock Remington 870s strapped to their back pack. Even in homes the gun of choice was a shotgun. Not to kill the bear but it would sure turn them. I carried a 44mag and was lucky I never needed it.

Still do. Especially the guides. Rifled slugs are the way to go if'n ya want to keep it affordable. 350 bucks will get you one of the most plain and dependable shotguns out there, and several boxes of slugs. Whenever I go into bear country (which is every year) I carry my Sportsman 48 (semi-auto), and 10 each of slugs and 00 buck. The bears must know about the firepower, cause they stay away. 3/4 oz of lead goes a long way. Magnum loads (3 inch) are 1 oz of lead. Pretty big bullet for Gentle Ben. JM2C

[rsrfan]

Born and raised in Alaska... Worked a couple of summers home from college as a timber check cruise assistant on Afognak Island. (Little sis to Kodiak) As part of the job, I packed the firepower to deter the Kodiak Browns who we might tangle with when surveying the timber for volume and scale. On the advice of the local bear guides, I carried a Remington 870 alternating double 00 buckshot and 3" slugs. The thought was to hit em first in the face with the buckshot to stop a charge then to get off at least one slug as they were trying to figure out what the hell they just got peppered with. Never got to try it out but almost wet myself coming between a momma and her cubs...

True story - would find piles of bear scat full of deer hair and 10 -12 inch jagged bone. Figured that any animal that could catch a deer on the run was pretty quick. Any animal that could pass that much jagged bone was NOT an animal I wanted to be messing with.

[Jim Richards]

Yes, it's my fault, John. Please don't shoot!

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Westy

Still do. Especially the guides. Rifled slugs are the way to go if'n ya want to keep it affordable. 350 bucks will get you one of the most plain and dependable shotguns out there, and several boxes of slugs. Whenever I go into bear country (which is every year) I carry my Sportsman 48 (semi-auto), and 10 each of slugs and 00 buck. The bears must know about the firepower, cause they stay away. 3/4 oz of lead goes a long way. Magnum loads (3 inch) are 1 oz of lead. Pretty big bullet for Gentle Ben. JM2C

Does anyone use sabot slugs, or do they all use fullbore rifled slugs?

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

Yes, it's my fault, John. Please don't shoot!

Story?

[Westy]

Sabots are pricey. Haven't shot one of those since the early 80's. A rifled slug will penetrate an engine block, so I'd be comfortable thinking it would penetrate an animals exterior. But then, I'm a HUGE believer that 00 Buck is the all American equalizer. And I believe in equality,,,

[vash]

when i first got out of school, i tried for a job surveying for the forest service, laying out logging areas..they actually asked if i could shoot a shotgun. good fun job. myself, and a few labor types marking trees...camping out for months. bears were a HUGE problem.

i didnt get the gig. i got hired, and my new job wouldnt give me a year leave. now i'm older, and married..damn.

[carrera turbo]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

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.

A 40. CAL. is plenty big as long as you dont miss. i would think putting the gun in your mouth when you pull the trigger! that way you will die really fast and wont feel the mauling. bears are allways trouble in this state. but as long as your allert to your surounding and know your not at the top of the food chain you will be fine.

i allways asume when im in the bush that there is a bear around every corner. and knock on wood i have only seen one to close for comfort.

cheers ed

[carlosR]

I carry a sawed-off shotgun, Remington 870, with pistol grip handle. Shotguns can be cut down to 18.5 inches legally. I pack in the magazine tube 6 shells, alternating slug, buckshot, slug, etc. I think actually the sequence is usually buckshot then slug. Last one is for me if nothing else works!
Grizzlies are serious business and best to not be looking for a fight. It doesn't have to be fancy or complicated, it just has to work. I enjoy bears but stay out of their way too.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by carrera turbo

A 40. CAL. is plenty big as long as you dont miss. i would think putting the gun in your mouth when you pull the trigger! that way you will die really fast and wont feel the mauling. bears are allways trouble in this state. but as long as your allert to your surounding and know your not at the top of the food chain you will be fine.

i allways asume when im in the bush that there is a bear around every corner. and knock on wood i have only seen one to close for comfort.

cheers ed

I was hiking at about 10k ft. in Mammoth Lakes, CA with a buddy, plenty of snow around. He asked me what I'd do if we ran into a bear. I said, "I'd outrun you." I knew .40 wasn't gonna do much to a bear, but it's all I had with me and I couldn't very well CCW my S&W 29 in CA of all places while on my motorcycle.

[Jim Horton]

Originally Posted by jyl

Jus woke up. Barely escaped him. Had a bolt action something which wasn't doing it and malfunctioned anyway. Scared to go back to sleep until better armed. What bolt action hunting rifle, in what caliber, for Alaskan Grizzly? This is somehow Jim Richards' fault I think.

John! What were you doing out playing with the grizzlies anyway?!?

[afterburn 549]

Having the "right" weapon and then the skill factor...
With a little research you will find the Marlin 45-70 G. to be a great choice. It is readily brought up to speed, Ez to pack around and there for when needed, more then reasonably priced rifle.
Short barreled, and told they will bring dwn a elephant
Most Grizzs will never bother you......when they do it is usually a ambush..or seems so..
You have to come about in a hurry to hike a shot off.
The Grizz is usually going to discipline you...(OUCH ! )
The "little " Blacky if it takes you on.....means you are on the menu...don't play victim in real life or dreams

[sksrules]

Originally Posted by jyl

Jus woke up. Barely escaped him. Had a bolt action something which wasn't doing it and malfunctioned anyway. Scared to go back to sleep until better armed. What bolt action hunting rifle, in what caliber, for Alaskan Grizzly? This is somehow Jim Richards' fault I think.

L96A1 in .338 lapua