My camp and self preservation rifle when not hunting is my 350 RM in a Mod 7 KS with a light 20" barrel and a 1.5-5 Leupold. Loaded with 225 gn ABs with the plastic nose clipped off, it is among the fastest pointing useful caliber rifles I own. Boomer can attest to it's portability and pointability and never fear you don't have enough cartridge for a large aggressive bear of any description.
Those who advocate rifles chambered in pistol cartridges have never been close to real big grizzlies obviously, I sat in a truck and watched a bear walk by at 5 feet and thought maybe my 340 Wby with 250 Partitions MIGHT NOT be big enough. A fellow hunter turned this bear down at 150 yds with a 338 WM stating he didn't get the perfect angle and there was no way in hell he was pulling the trigger unless he could guarantee the bear collapsed where it stood 'cause he wouldn't go into the brush after it if it didn't. There is nothing in NA like a huge grizzly (polar bear) to make you rethink what you want to pack for self preservation. Looking at an animal as big as a medium sized horse, with muscles of steel and bones of titanium, teeth the size of small bananas and claws the size of big bananas and speed bursts than can catch a quarter horse in 200 mtrs..................My 350RM keeps me feeling warm and fuzzy and safe, a handgun cartridge rifle......HHHMMMMMMM........no thanks, 12 gauge.....no thanks.
The other factor Boomer brought into play, of distance dispersion of the group you are supposedly protecting, is also completely negated with the 350 RM as I can be a very lethal participant right out to 300 mtrs, if necessary.
To each his own, and I understand that the threat down east is black bears only and they don't require the same amount of killing as a determined grizzly, nor do they even come close to the size of a large grizzly, so geographical location plays a big part in what is appropriate self preservation medicine. Anyway this is my choice and I'm sticking to it..........
