At least you had a good excuse. I just sucked.
.35 caliber Bear Defense Gun
- Thread starter fugawi
- Start date
At least you had a good excuse. I just sucked.
Just my thoughts. If i was going for a wilderness canoe trip it would be with another hunter or at least a gun guy. Seriously what are you going to talk about with a non shooter? I could see taking a ###y lady along but a weekend in a hotel with her is alot easier than paddling and carrying gear. Hot showers an no bugs!
But seriously don't count out the 45/70 based on recoil. Factory load levels for the trapdoor will work and bring very little recoil. A 400 gr hard cast bullet at 1200 fps will ruin a bruin and be polite on the shoulder.
But seriously don't count out the 45/70 based on recoil. Factory load levels for the trapdoor will work and bring very little recoil. A 400 gr hard cast bullet at 1200 fps will ruin a bruin and be polite on the shoulder.
freddyfour
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County, Ontario
There is an old thread! A lot of guys I see on there have been absent from CGN for a little while, to bad really!
How about a nice lever gun in 356 winchester. A 200 grain flat nose would ruin a bears day in heart beat. There getting a bit hard to find however both winchester and Marlin made them. The big bore 94 and the 336 are good back packing rigs. It would be really cool to shorten up the barrel on one to about 16 inch, or there abouts
Right now I'm leaning to the .35 Whelan for a cartridge choice. Not sure of the platform. Most likely a pump or short bolt action. Not sure if anyone chambered it in a lever. I believe Browning does make a BLR in .30/06 so I guess a rebarrel is possible though I hear a long action BLR is a PITA.
I have to check into velocity vs barrel length for the Whelan.
The whelen is a great cartridge and one that is vastly underrated. I guided spring time black bear hunts back in the late 80s through to the mid 90s and I saw first hand many bears get absolutely flattened with the 35 whelen. The only bear I ever shot with a 35 cal was an average size bear. I shot him with a 336 lever action 35 remington at a range of about sixty feet, it killed that bear stone cold dead on the spot but I have to say the whelen is by far a superior round.
As far as a rifle is concerned the remington pump rifle is good rifle but my preference is a solid crf bolt action.
Good luck eh!
I really would like a .35 Rem Marlin as I prefer levers for deer and don't have a Marlin yet. (have Winchesters, Savage and Brownings) Had my eye on one at the Dugald gun show last April but the timing wasn't right as I'd just bought my 88.
For bears I'd prefer something with more zip than the .35 Rem. At closer ranges someone offered a reduced power .45/70 Marlin as an option. But I'm not sold on a lever for reliability under the circumstances I had presented in my first posts.
That could change, but right now any lever is a third choice.
For bears I'd prefer something with more zip than the .35 Rem. At closer ranges someone offered a reduced power .45/70 Marlin as an option. But I'm not sold on a lever for reliability under the circumstances I had presented in my first posts.
That could change, but right now any lever is a third choice.
Actually a 45/70 in factory loads does not have much recoil in a Marlin Guide Gun and would not be a problem for a female non hunter
I like the idea of a BLR in .450 Marlin. Lever action with box magazine. Lever action is generally a bit faster than working a bolt, and easier to work without dropping from sights. I've seen the rifle in a few 'best bear defence' list, including some recommendations by Alaskan guides. It has a lot of kick though apparently.
Sarcasm.
I don't think bears are a very big threat to anyone who doesn't spend a lot of time in the backcountry. Nor do I think bears are hellbent on our destruction and want to kill us all.
I also think you need to go a little far north of winnipeg before you start packing heat for bears but that's just like, my opinion man.
I have a BLR 450 Marlin and i load Hornady 500 gr SP bullets to 1700 fps - i Love the BLR action for its fast smooth operation and i really like the box mags too !
RJOkay, TBH I live in Grizzly country and have worked in it so I may underestimate the threat of black bears. Getting mauled by a bear seems like a one off like getting eaten by a shark.
I guess too far north is north of some cubs and south of a sow...
I like the 30-06 pump idea but the thread seems a bit paranoid to me.
I guess too far north is north of some cubs and south of a sow...
I like the 30-06 pump idea but the thread seems a bit paranoid to me.
Well conor, you know from our other threads that i'm not trying to tweak on you here, but fact is my one time, my big deal, that almost got me kilt, .. confrontation ... a pressed home charge ... was with a buck whitetail DEER fer crisakes.
There's two ways it can go if it ever does happen to you ... one of those way's, you won't be going home.
And no, that's not paranoia.
Stay well y'all.
There's two ways it can go if it ever does happen to you ... one of those way's, you won't be going home.
And no, that's not paranoia.
Stay well y'all.
I met a black bear at the East Grand Beach communal showers in the early '80s. About five years ago two blackies were spotted by the kids play structure on the West Beach. Grand Beach is about 65 miles north of Winnipeg - definitely not the far north.
The bear mauling at the berry patch I referred to in an earlier post happened, if I recall correctly, east of the junction of Highways #44 and #59 - which puts it within 30 miles of Winnipeg.
I saw it but I have a nicer .358 BLR than that one, and imho the Cabela's BLR, given its condition, is over priced. Plus spare mags for early BLRs are expensive and almost impossible to find.
There's a great video out there of a guy who gets out of his brother's fishing boat and goes for a walk with his video camera in the Northern Ontario bush. Nothing but a camera.
He got great footage of a black bear approaching him and not taking no for an answer - video shows him backing up (and falling down over dead fall and in puddles) screaming at the bear to go away. And the bear just keeps coming.
I think it finally charged him and he hit it with the camera which caused it to back off. You can hear the panic in his voice.
I saw this video when it was shown on an outdoors show about bear attacks. This guy said he thought he was going to die. I think it happened about the same time at the old man getting killed in the berry patch here in MB.
He got great footage of a black bear approaching him and not taking no for an answer - video shows him backing up (and falling down over dead fall and in puddles) screaming at the bear to go away. And the bear just keeps coming.
I think it finally charged him and he hit it with the camera which caused it to back off. You can hear the panic in his voice.
I saw this video when it was shown on an outdoors show about bear attacks. This guy said he thought he was going to die. I think it happened about the same time at the old man getting killed in the berry patch here in MB.
