Shot a Grizzly

So not to belabour the point but one of your statements was quite contradictory to what I believe about buckshot and slugs. I would think that buckshot would far out penetrate a slug, at least in soft tissue. I too am a slug fan for close range bear encounters but I question whether penetration is superior.

Bone tends to give buck a harder time than a solid mass. Slugs also retain energy longer. Again - as i said it depends on the circumstances. If you're shooting at 20 yards it's obviously different than if you're shooting at 4 feet :)



No, not instantly thats for sure. But - assuming the bear is either partially disabled or breaks off the charge after getting a face full of fire close in, it can be a factor. The sooner the bear is dead or out of the fight, the better.

Obviously you'd rather just kill it outright, but that doesn't always work.
 
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Just curious as to why you think slugs penetrate further....say at those self-defense ranges where people tend to talk shotguns and bears. I'd say bleeding is somewhat of a moot point too when we are talking shotguns. Bleeding out isn't like to stop a bear from mauling you.

I was about 50 feet away when a local fellow shot a polar bear in the face with a load of birdshot (#2's) at contact close. The bear was on rubber legs but jumped down the guy's steps and managed to run about 50 yards before falling down, but had to be finished by the DNR guys. The story is that up close that shot acts like a solid slug, but not from the way that bear acted. I think shot has a place in the bear defense scenario however, and that is when a bear must be shot in a town or crowded camp ground.
 
Don't do that dude. You can't be calling other people 'bartell'. Either someone's going to PM me with a complaint about being compared to bartell, or bartell's going to PM me with a complaint about being compared other people. Either way - i don't need the extra work. :)

X2

I've got enough problems around here without guys starting flame wars by calling other members "Bartell".:(

No need for such insults.
 
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Originally Posted by Foxer
Don't do that dude. You can't be calling other people 'bartell'. Either someone's going to PM me with a complaint about being compared to bartell, or bartell's going to PM me with a complaint about being compared other people. Either way - i don't need the extra work.

X2

I've got enough problems around here without guys starting flame wars by calling other members "Bartell".

No need for such insults.

Sorry...I actually thought it may have been him. Really! But I won't let it happen again!
 
I was about 50 feet away when a local fellow shot a polar bear in the face with a load of birdshot (#2's) at contact close. The bear was on rubber legs but jumped down the guy's steps and managed to run about 50 yards before falling down, but had to be finished by the DNR guys. The story is that up close that shot acts like a solid slug, but not from the way that bear acted. I think shot has a place in the bear defense scenario however, and that is when a bear must be shot in a town or crowded camp ground.

That's a pretty long shot with #2s, especially if we are talking a riot-style gun. I'd expect the pattern to be quite open at that range......definitely not a solid mass. I'm talking 00 buck here as well....so considerably bigger than #2s. That's actually impresive that 2s could knock a polar bear down.....never would have imagined it myself.
 
That's a pretty long shot with #2s, especially if we are talking a riot-style gun. I'd expect the pattern to be quite open at that range......definitely not a solid mass. I'm talking 00 buck here as well....so considerably bigger than #2s. That's actually impresive that 2s could knock a polar bear down.....never would have imagined it myself.


A guy shooting a bear in the face is a long shot?
 
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oh and PSSSSSSST gods creatures have there place....ON MY BBQ! ;)

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Buckshot vs slugs has been discussed here at length..

Buckshot certainly penetrates less than a slug, at close range the pattern of buckshot doesn't open up enough to really increase your potential of making a good hit, and at further distances, the pattern starts to open more, reducing the "mass of shot" potential.

Buckshot can and has worked, but it's parameters are less than that of a slug.
 
Buckshot certainly penetrates less than a slug, at close range

I've sure seen a lot of evidence to the contrary but am open to learning something. What's your basis for this statement?
 
Think of 8 - 10 30 cal balls exiting your barrel @ say tops 1350fps to 1650fps and each 00 buck ball only weighs 55grs...

Not much penetration capabilities there once the distance increases and the shot pattern starts to open up...

If I'm carrying a shotgun I will be using Brenneke slugs like my son did when we went in after this grizzly.

Swift Scirroco's are an excellent bonded core bullet that is designed to retain 60% of it's original weight much like a Partion is designed to only retain 60% of its original weight as well.

I have been getting excellent long range accuracy from my 180gr 3350fps 300RUM loads.

I have only shot one smaller 4 point blacktail/mule deer hybred buck with this load it was @ 40 yards as the deer was following a doe in heat trail directly up hill towards me my only shot was angled in the left front chest up between its shoulder blades.

What surprised me was that there was very little meat damage and the bullet didn't exit couldn't find it either.

Yes the deer was dead before it hit the ground.
 
I think it needs to be pointed out that there is a big difference between #2 birdshot and #2 buckshot.
Lead Birdshot Shot
#2 .15" dia. 4.86 grains
Lead Buckshot Shot
#2 .27" 29.4 grains.

I'd sure as hell be impressed with a load of #2 birdshot knocking that bear down!
 
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