.308, 00 buck, or slug for grizzly?!

nothing wrong with having a good bear defense gun,,, while your camping or whenever...just remember, preventative measures are usually better than reactionary ones..

Proper food storage, bear bells or being vocal, having you wits about you, etc etc. It's all a part of enjoying and sharing the great outdoors with bears..
 
7.62...... by 39, aha sks baby, no real experience with it for big bears but its a good bush gun considering it costs almost nothing, thers pictures out there from the 80's with a dead moose and a sks beside it, and i dont know cause i didnt hunt in the 80s, i barely lived then, but im pretty shure they didnt have soft points for em back then, i myself nicked the top off of one with wire cutters and shot it into a wet phonebook backed with many jugs of water. jacket separated from the steal easily ans both pieces looked mangled.

i trust it, give me a reason why not to?
 
slowride said:
7.62...... by 39, aha sks baby, no real experience with it for big bears but its a good bush gun considering it costs almost nothing, thers pictures out there from the 80's with a dead moose and a sks beside it, and i dont know cause i didnt hunt in the 80s, i barely lived then, but im pretty shure they didnt have soft points for em back then, i myself nicked the top off of one with wire cutters and shot it into a wet phonebook backed with many jugs of water. jacket separated from the steal easily ans both pieces looked mangled.

i trust it, give me a reason why not to?
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:nest:
 
I'll take the 308, if those 3 are my only choices. I would prefer an old Nosler 200 grain semi-spitzer Partition in a stout handload, though. Even at 2400 fps, the penetration is awesome. Eagleye.
 
DiSmAnTLeR said:
would a 44mag be more powerful than a .308?

i have heard this before, but wasnt offered a reason why. i understand the increased velocity of firing a pistol calibre round through a long barrel, i just cant see it being more power than a .308 rifle round.
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Not more powerful necessarily but for the lever action, and like I said thats minimum. Like others have suggested a 45/70 is a hell of a round.
 
slowride said:
7.62...... by 39, aha sks baby, no real experience with it for big bears but its a good bush gun considering it costs almost nothing, thers pictures out there from the 80's with a dead moose and a sks beside it, and i dont know cause i didnt hunt in the 80s, i barely lived then, but im pretty shure they didnt have soft points for em back then, i myself nicked the top off of one with wire cutters and shot it into a wet phonebook backed with many jugs of water. jacket separated from the steal easily ans both pieces looked mangled.

i trust it, give me a reason why not to?
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I don't think that you should do that trick anymore. Most fmj bullets don't have a solid base the way softpoints do. So when you get rid of the tip you run the risk of some interesting ballistic consequences.
 
I just love bear threads. So much expertise, so little reality. US Forest Service in Alaska did one of the best studies on bear carcasses, and some necropsies of destroyed bears. Their fav, .375HH, was too much gun for their summer staff, and they found the 12 ga slug was near the top for managable guns for brownie. Now, the guide with the .416 has got something, as anyone with a reliable .45/70.
 
iroc22 said:
Was it this article?

http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/gtr152

A little old, but it's interesting.
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That's the one. The calibers and the bears haven't changed. Looking at the scores, I can't see why a 180 grain .30-06 should be much different than a 180 grain .308. Also interesting is where the .45-70 places on that chart.

I've worked in grizzly country a few years. Even when there were bears around camp we didn't worry too much. It was always 12 gauges around, but unless we knew there was a grizz in the area, we hiked without them. Now I question whether those were the best tools for the job, considering most of them had bead sights. I had confidence in mine because I practised with it. When a problem grizzly had to be put down, it was done with a rifle, not a shotty. IIRC it was a .303 British.

IMO the recommendations for peep sights and weight, etc are sound.

I've also watched a kitchen-meddling grizz head for the hills when a bear banger went off. He didn't come back.
 
lickilovac said:
people from scandinavia used to kill polar bears with 6.5x55, so i dont see problems using 308
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First time you see a big bear up close the issues you will see plenty of issues with a 308 (even though it will work).....You'll have to trust me on this, but your 308 will feel woefully inadequate. ;)

I took a family member coastal grizz hunting some years ago and we had a big (huge) dry sow walk through our camp as we had an evening nightcap....His response???
"Holy F**K! That thing looks like a mini Van on 4 legs! :eek: I had no idea how big they are! "
After I told him it was just a little girl (I was lying) he decided that he should keep the camp shotgun very close. :D

To further keep things in perspective consider that the cape of a nice bear will likely weigh more than any deer you have ever shot.
 
ykkid said:
I just love bear threads. So much expertise, so little reality. US Forest Service in Alaska did one of the best studies on bear carcasses, and some necropsies of destroyed bears. Their fav, .375HH, was too much gun for their summer staff, and they found the 12 ga slug was near the top for managable guns for brownie. Now, the guide with the .416 has got something, as anyone with a reliable .45/70.
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My Pal Pounder carried a .458 for years, but these days he is more likely to be seen with a tricked out .45/70 loaded with MT Chambers 480 gr WFN hard cast. His logic is not one of power or even the speed of a follow up shot, he just finds the Marlin is just nicer to carry all day than his Brno 602, and his days run long through the summer and into early winter.

When we are talking about guns for bear work, not everyone has the same requirement. Bear hunters can often get by with light caliber rifles like .243s, although I wouldn't do it because bear hunting can turn into bear defense if the bear makes it to the willows. Folks who carry for their own protection can get by with anything they are competent with. Some of us even carry handguns, and clearly any gun is better than no gun.

But when you are responsible for a large group of people on foot in big bear habitat, those circumstances favor a powerful rifle, where I believe a .338 is the entry level cartridge. A stopping shot can be a difficult thing when lives are at risk, and a large group of people tend to string out along the trail. You are as likely to have to make a 200 yard shot to break a hip on a quartering away bear as you are a close range head on shot where a CNS hit from a light rifle would answer the problem nicely. Under those circumstances a shotgun is all but useless. But then again I was going to work one day when a polar bear tried to chase a rotty into a house and the guy killed it with a load of bird shot from a contact close shot as the bear pushed his head into the doorway. Once hit the bear stumbled away on rubber legs and dropped 50 yards away. On that day a 30" goose gun loaded with #2s was the correct answer.
 
If you actually are forced to defend against an attack, caliber or type of gun is not nearly as important as actually knowing how to use whatever gun your are holding AND having the minerals to use it well. A 308 isn't going to give you bigger balls than a 45/70.
 
Calum said:
Perhaps you should look at the hundreds of other Bear defense threads on this site that have been written usually once a week for the past few years. :rolleyes:

BTW the answer is, use whatever firearm you are proficient and using in such a situation.
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perhaps you should shut your computer off and step out into the real world for a while, mr 15 1000 posts.

i could see the forum getting a bit repetitive for you.
 
Lefty #### said:
You do know Jasper is a National Park hence the no firearms stuff, and as for my jobs well, lots of companies have zero firearm rules.

If your stoking up the firepower, and leaving your brain in the jar on the counter, your a mauling looking to happen that's all.

Just because someone offers an opinion 180 degress out of phase to your thinking does'nt mean they are side tracking your thread.
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i do know that jasper isnt where i go camping, so it really doesnt apply to me. your company's firearm policy is also of no concern of mine.

your opinion is on a subject that this thread was not made about (not bringing a gun). i dont care for your suggestion and i will disregard it.

this thread is about a calibre choice for a grizzly encounter.
 
savagefan said:
Figured it out yet? :stfun00b:


:agree:
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lay off of the juvenile noob comments already.

is it really a big deal that i have a social life and have felt the carress of a woman?

sorry for not having 5000 posts on an internet forum. im too busy enjoying my life to worry about my e-cred.
 
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