Good back packing rifle?

Grizzly territory 870P...Brenekkes

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General BC rambling...1894P in .44mag...Beartooth 300gr WFNGC loaded hot.

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Good back-packing rifle?...that would be the one you carry all day without ever thinking about or really noticing it's there.
I think your onto a good thing by thinking lever-action, but I'd stay away from a mares-leg. You want to be shooting something with some thump, and you want that stock tight into your shoulder to get back on target quick for a repeat shot if your lucky enough to get one.
A large bore pistol caliber trapper-length carbine is quick to the shoulder, balances great {slightly muzzle-heavy} when loaded due to the tube mag, hits reasonably hard at defensive ranges and is lightning quick to cycle. One of the things I like most about a lever is the ability to carry with an empty chamber {which is good peace of mind when walking rough country}, but able to load a round and shoulder in a single motion within a fraction of a second. A generous magazine capacity is a bonus, it keeps extra rounds in the firearm and not rolling around loose in your pack or your pockets.

If you haven't had at least one sketchy bear encounter on the trail you're lucky. Put on enough miles off the beaten track and you will one day.
My scariest encounter with a black bear happened at night.
IMHO The only good carry rifle is the one you actually carry in your hand, if your constantly setting it against a tree or happy to just to put it down on the ground you need to go lighter.
Having one bundled in your pack obviously does you no good, I always carry one-handed, the only time the firearm gets secured to my pack is when I need both hands for scrambling, but by then I'm almost always in the alpine or sub-alpine which offers good visibility and little chance of a surprise encounter.
Before I changed all my gear to ultralight/dyneema,I used the Eberlestock packs quite a bit, and recommend them.
I have taken some nasty spills while "scree-skiing" and never got a single mark on my rifle sitting safe in the scabbard.

Here is a sh!tty video {click to play}I made for a member here years ago regarding the Eberlestock Mini-me when it was brand new to the market. I just recently found it on my photobucket account, if you haven't considered one as a way to carry you might like it.
No idea why it was shot sideways...gotta fire the production crew! :p

Let us know what route you go...and practice lots.

 
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LeJuque&Friends said:
My Brother and I were trail bike riding 21km out from the closest public hwy and my brothers bike broke down shortly on are return trip. I handed him the CZ 858 and I took off to make it back to the truck. He had to fire one round so he told me, at a bear that was actually coming towards him. He said he fired into the ground and it ran off. Same thing happened to me well a friend and I were going to a trout fishing spot. The bear was blocking the trail and was heading towards us. Fired into the ground at it, and it took off.
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Buzzballer said:
Iv been in the woods enough to know that black bears can be extreamly dangerous if only for the fact that they can be as curious as a raccoon and a lot bigger. Typically in Ontario bears don't attack for no reason but I'd rather have a firearm close to me with a few rounds to deal with any possible situation. Rabid beaver?
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When I was young in Newfoundland (were there seems to be bears everywhere) they always told us if we see a bear pick up two big rocks and hit them together. The noise was supposed to sound like a firearm and scare them away. I never had to try it as every bear I saw all you saw was the ass end running away. My cousin and his friend had a bear walking to them up a trail where they were going trout fishing. They picked up two big rocks hit them together and the bear ran away. They figured the bear did not see or sense them and the noise just scared the bear away.
Here in Parry Sound they are just the raccoon’s north of the big smoke. People leave stuff out for them to get into and they are curious like raccoon’s. They get used to people and start getting into things you leave out. Many times they just watch you from the woods and wait for you to move away before they come in for an easy meal. My ex-neighbour learned that as he liked to feed the birds all year, and mostly bears would come. Often the bears were watching him from the woods while he repaired and refilled the bird feeders. Thankfully he figured it out after he got sick of fixing and buying new bird feeders. One time he said he ran out yelling and hitting pots and pans together at a bear in the bird feeders and the bear just looked at him and kept eating.
 
mrgoat said:
Sun and Steel 77,

I do not recongnize the brand of lever action you posted in your pictures. Looks like very nice compact rifle. What brand and model is it?
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Both are 1894 Marlins. The one in the picture is an 1894P, an oddball 16" barreled .44mag that Marlin produced for a couple of years in the early 2000's

The Marlin in that crappy old video {it plays if you click it}was an 1894C in 357mag.
I wasn't able to draw the shorter 1894P out of the Eberlestock pack very effectively as it was too short for the scabbard.
 
I carried my 14" barreled T/C Contender carbine in 45 Colt loaded with 300gr XTP's or 345gr WLNGC's while hiking this summer.

My buddy bought one of the new Win 92 takedown rifles in 45 Colt he stores it in his pack when traveling when he heads into the bush he stops a few hundreds yards in takes it out puts it together and loads it.

We do not strap the rifles to our packs but keep them either slung over our shoulder with a sling or hold them in our hands.

But then we are also plinkers so if we see something that looks good to shoot we shoot...

This coming year I'm planning on packing my 21" factory tapered Contender chambered in 375JDJ = 270gr Claw (bonded bullets made in Africa) @ 2200fps.
 
I'm actually not that far away from you Found. And do a lot of camping around the perry sound area. Iv seen some bears do some pretty funny things walking right through camp and nuzzling up against our tents. Not to say I'm paranoid a out them, it would just be nice to have a rifle near by ;)

A question for any one with a Mares Leg. I just noticed that they have a strange way to load the magazine, pulling out the end of the tube and dropping in the rounds instead of loading them in to the side of the receiver?? Does this make them a pain in the ass to use?
 
Buzzballer said:
I'm actually not that far away from you Found. And do a lot of camping around the perry sound area. Iv seen some bears do some pretty funny things walking right through camp and nuzzling up against our tents. Not to say I'm paranoid a out them, it would just be nice to have a rifle near by ;)

A question for any one with a Mares Leg. I just noticed that they have a strange way to load the magazine, pulling out the end of the tube and dropping in the rounds instead of loading them in to the side of the receiver?? Does this make them a pain in the ass to use?
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The Henry's load this way, and I wouldn't see it as a problem.
I grew-up loading thousands of rounds of .22lr the exact same way in a Cooey repeater. ;)

Obviously the draw-back here is the inability to top-off the mag when it's at your shoulder.
With the loading gate on the side of the receiver it's pretty instinctive to grab a round and load it into the magazine without losing your cheek-weld,
with practice of course.

If your target isn't shooting back, I don't see the need to load from the gate.
It's personal preference really.
 
short barreled 12 would be what i'd want, but not because im paraniod about bears, but because i can carry #6 shot and pop away at birds squirrels and rabbits. If its a open big game season then you can have slugs.

Watching a bear run in the woods makes me think that you'd have to be VERY quick to take any gun out of any kind of holster to be able to blast him. Especially considering how the distance before its shot has to be very small. Good luck explaining the bear you shot at 30 yards in " self defense".
 
ryan32 said:
Good luck explaining the bear you shot at 30 yards in " self defense".
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I'd rather be at home with my family planning a legal defence than lying face-up in the sticks bleeding-out from lacerations and puncture wounds...it's a no-brainer for me.
I was hoping we weren't going to go into full bear defence thread...oh well.
I'll take the shotgun if I'm pushing through Grizzly tunnels, but as a general purpose hiking/rambling rifle the ammos too bulky.
For what it's worth the two times I have had problems with bears {both black} they were displaying predatory and aggressive behaviour.
The times I've just bounced them unexpectedly they quickly ran-off.
My cousins and I were chased and treed when I was 10 years old. She may have been a protective sow with cubs but we never saw them. We obviously had no firepower, but if we did we would have had plenty of time to burger that bear even before we went up the tree. She was huffing and puffing,smashing the dirt and did a couple of bluff-charges before she even started after us. This all happened within a few seconds, and we sure didn't stick around long!
I've never had a close encounter with a Grizzly yet...and I'm sure hoping it stays this way.

I agree with camp cook, sometimes I'll take a pocketfull of .44mag rounds just to piss around.
I know this loser who, on occasion has been know to crack a shot off at a few of the "Inukshuk" or rock cairns that the hippies seem to build everywhere these days. What an arsehole!
 
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archie_james_c said:
Gotta watch for those dangerous Ontario black bears.

Rem 870 with a 14" pipe. Or a .45-70 guide gun if youre THAT WORRIED about blackies.

The mares leg or other pistol gripped rifles/scatterguns are aboit as useless as an arsehole on your elbow.
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I'd like to give the new Ruger 77/357 a try when they hit the streets. Ontario black bears aren't that tough - I shot several with .223 from an AR15 back when it was legal to do so and they were all DRT with one shot (55 gr SP, two broadside thru the lungs and one under the ear...).


blake
 
The beauty of a take down gun is in transport to the trailhead. I have a couple and can pack them in my luggage when travelling my sales route in the Alberta oilpatch. No fuss and no bother around town.

My preference has always been a full stock rifle for shooting. I'm a lever fan. The Mare's Leg is interesting but not for me. A short shotgun that breaks down is a formidable gun and can double as a rabbit gun which is a ton of fun out backpacking.

I grew up in bear country and it was usually agreed they have one major failing. They are unpredictable, usually they are terrified of human contact where they are hunted but you can't count on them always running.
 
ryan32 said:
Good luck explaining the bear you shot at 30 yards in " self defense".
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Good luck around here getting the MNR to come out. I have heard they don’t often come out when you report you shot a bear. A co-worker who used to work with us shot one in Rosseau and they just took down his information and did not bother coming to see it. They did leave the trap a couple of times for a week but I guess the bear was smarter. They must spend a fortune moving those bear traps around so it must be cheaper to bring back the spring hunt.
 
Well to each his own but the ? is what firearm (I mean to operate are you familiar with), no sense in getting "something" and become all thumbs at the worst time. Since carrying wght. could become a issue, choose the lightest without getting silly - someday you'll fire the darn thing. My choise would be a 96 / 98 Mauser in 9.3x57 / 8x57, light, reliable with enough oomph to handle most "problems" in NA. JMHO --- John303.
 
Let's take the absolutely fine Garrett 310-grain Hammerhead load as an example. From a handgun it is rated at 1350 fps, and with every 7-1/2" barreled handgun I've used with this ammo it has exceeded that stated velocity. But let's take the 1350 fps as read - a 310-grain bullet at 1350 fps gives 1255 foot-pounds of muzzle energy; fired in an 18" barreled rifle Winchester, this same ammo gives 1880 fps for 2433 foot-pounds of muzzle punch. A .30-30 with a 170-grain bullet at 2300 fps gives just under 2000 foot-pounds, and a 150-grain .30-30 bullet at 2500 fps from the 20-inch rifle gives just under 2100 foot-pounds
 
mudgunner49 said:
I'd like to give the new Ruger 77/357 a try when they hit the streets. Ontario black bears aren't that tough - I shot several with .223 from an AR15 back when it was legal to do so and they were all DRT with one shot (55 gr SP, two broadside thru the lungs and one under the ear...).


blake
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when a bear is angry with you they are way tougher. if a big bear is pissed of at you your gona be wishing you had a bigger gun. But thats just my opinion!
 
teenahlake said:
Let's take the absolutely fine Garrett 310-grain Hammerhead load as an example. From a handgun it is rated at 1350 fps, and with every 7-1/2" barreled handgun I've used with this ammo it has exceeded that stated velocity. But let's take the 1350 fps as read - a 310-grain bullet at 1350 fps gives 1255 foot-pounds of muzzle energy; fired in an 18" barreled rifle Winchester, this same ammo gives 1880 fps for 2433 foot-pounds of muzzle punch. A .30-30 with a 170-grain bullet at 2300 fps gives just under 2000 foot-pounds, and a 150-grain .30-30 bullet at 2500 fps from the 20-inch rifle gives just under 2100 foot-pounds
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I think the same way as you. Some will still scoff and say 30-30, but we're talking short distances here and a quality .45 diameter 300gr hard-cast going 1800FPS is no joke.
In the case of a Marlin action you gain a lighter, shorter,slimmer and considerably quicker cycling {shorter throw} action when you compare an 1894 to a 336 or especially an 1895.
Same rule applies in the case of Winchester '94 to 1892 I do believe, but I admittedly dont have as much experience with winchester levers as I do the Marlins.
 
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