Forum newbie looking for thoughts

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Snodge

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Hi all, I'm a former gun owner from the US, living in BC and starting to think about what firearm to buy once I've got my PAL. I've owned and shot handguns, shotguns and both big and small bore rifles but over the last 10-15 years sold off the guns and didn't shoot. A couple things have made me want to buy a rifle;primarily, one of my favourite pastimes is kayaking and my wife and I will eventually be paddling around grizzlies (inside passage) and perhaps polar bears (Svalbard) and then living on the BC coast I'd like to have the tools to hunt deer and elk.

My thoughts on requirements (not necessarily in order) are: Stainless steel because of the probability of getting both salt and fresh water exposure, compactness because I'd like to be able to fit in inside my kayak rather than on deck, & stopping power for obvious reasons. Advice I've gleaned or heard first person usually has been to get a stainless slug gun though I've heard and especially read a lot about guide guns in 45-70. Currently the guide gun idea is foremost in my head with the big question whether a Marlin or a Browning BLR? I like the thought of a well made rifle like the browning but since everything I read says it should be disassembled by amateurs I worry about grit and such from camping on sandbars jamming the action and being impossible to clean, that would suck in the middle of a trip. That and the price are cons but the take down model would be awesome for packing in the boat. The Marlin guns seem economical but wonder if I'd have to have some smithing done to iron out the supposed quality issues; maybe that's not a problem now? A con there is that to get takedown version I'd have to spend $$$ for a co-pilot.

Anyway, I'd welcome any thoughts and/or points to pertinent threads here. I just figured out the search feature (was surprised to not find any posts using "guide gun" to seach until i realized I had to change the date range) so have a bunch of threads to read. Probably will find that all this has been hashed over numerous times but thought I'd write this post rather than the standard "hi new member here trying to get access to EE" post.

Cheers
 
Welcome to BC!

Having lived all over this province I would say you probably don't want or need a 45-70. Buy a good .308 and a 12gauge for bear protection. If you want stainless cool, but I would check and make sure the springs and trigger parts are not blued steel and are gonna rust solid on the deck of an ocean kayak.
 
dumprat said:
Welcome to BC!
If you want stainless cool, but I would check and make sure the springs and trigger parts are not blued steel and are gonna rust solid on the deck of an ocean kayak.
Click to expand...

Crap, I hadn't thought of that, thanks for pointing it out. Does anyone even make springs and such from stainless? I'll start checking... By the way, if a gun was on deck it's going to be in a dry bag gun case, one of the nice Watershed ones, but I'd much rather be able to put it in the compartment of my boat which is why the BLR takedown is appealing.

Buy a good .308 and a 12gauge for bear protection
Click to expand...

But my thinking is to have one gun for everything. I realise that means compromises but it's not realistic for me to have a safe full of guns. The first, and perhaps dumb compromise is to think about getting a big thumper like the 45-70/450 Marlin as a general purpose rifle. It's overkill for hunting around here, I know, but in the back of my head are the trips I'll eventually going on in places where I'm part of the food chain instead of the top of it. I know many people swear by slug guns for grizzly protection, but I think I'd rather have a rifle for polar bears. I can hear some people laughing when I mention polar bears, probably wondering what i've been smoking or something, but in my family that really could happen. Part of my desire to get a rifle that will handle huge predators is the fact that for many years my wife has annually rented a rifle on Svalbard (Norwegian archipelago 600 miles from the north pole, home to a large population of big white bears) at exorbitant prices; something like 200-300 euros for 4 weeks rent on an old surplus Mauser. It's been more convenient for her to rent but crazy from the $ standpoint. Add to that our planning to eventually paddle the inside passage and it starts to make sense to have our own gun.

If I'm going to have a gun around I might as well try to put some meat on the table too, so that's why I want a "do it all" gun. Naive maybe, but that's what I'm thinking about and why I'm here asking for thoughts.
 
I asked my Indian friend from Hartley Bay what he carries when he is in the salmon streams doing spawner assessments. He's a hunter, has a choice of guns he could take.

"My fish counter," he said.

If it was me though, and I wanted to have a gun along, particularly if there was a chance at shooting a deer, it would be a beater Model 94 30-30 and I'd keep it religiously cleaned and oiled. it would be handy for a deer if you figure you can eat a whole deer on a kayak trip before it rots. You'll be lucky to see a grizzly bear unless you go deliberately looking for one up the Kwatna, Koeye River or Knight Inlet. And if you're lucky enough to get an elk LEH permit, you're not gonna go elk hunting in a kayak.
 
The first thing that popped into my head was ".45-70". Overkill on deer, decent for elk/moose if you can get close enough, and bear loads for bear... Marlin makes a 336 guide gun with an 18" barrel, I was fondling one last week actually, should sell for around $600 retail.

No I didn't bring it home, need a reloading set-up first.
 
Hey all. thanks for the input.

MD, your friends words are appreciated 'cause it sounds like he lives with the bears I'm worried about. Interesting, but not surprising, to hear he doesn't carry a firearm when in rivers, prime bear territory. He really doesn't carry eh? I've read accounts of people avoiding bear encounters by just not spending too much time in bear habitat, make your camp away from the bears and you avoid problems with them. I'm just not sure if I could sleep well in my thin nylon tent knowing there might be griz around. I guess having a gun is more of a mental thing, I like the knowledge that I have the tools to deal with whatever may come regardless of the actual odds of something bad happening.

Also appreciate hearing that you figure we'd have to try hard to find grizzly. I have a good imagination and when we start talking about going all the way to Juneau I start seeing bears behind every bush and thnking "what if..." I like hearing other less paranoid opinions. That said, I know at times we'll be exploring inlets and wanting to camp in spots that bears probably like too.

On the other hand, MD seems like maybe you misunderstood my post. I'm not planning on hunting while kayaking. There's no time for it and as you pointed out it'd be tough to eat much before it spoiled. Hunting would be at home here on the sunshine coast, there's a few elk tags that I'll put in for starting next year and deer to help fill the freezer. So what I mean by one rifle for everything is one that can handle bear defence while kayaking while still being ok for hunting around home.

And yes, Gatehouse, you're right, a takedown won't be much help if it stowed away but you can rest assured it would be the last thing packed and the first unpacked. That's just common sense.

So doesn't anyone have an idea of how well a BLR might handle dirty, sandy conditions? any different than a Marlin lever action?
 
I know we're north of the border and slightly west et all, but
we do have oil and lewbricants fer our critters.
Oil the things up and go.
BLR in 308win or 358win if you're handy with a mag/clip/insert thingie.
 
A bolt action in your caliber of choice... nothing as reliable in a repeater as a bolt action. A 30-06 with 220 grain will do it...
 
Hello Snodge, I'm glad you are getting good advice.

Yes, my friend goes unarmed and encounters lots of bears, including kermode bears, who seem tamer than the black scaredy-bears who run away. He often accompanies the local fish guardian on stream counts. Said fish guardian also is unarmed but has a big dog.

His last one was killed by a grizzly bear, so griz encounters are possible, but obviously, they go deep into bear country during a prime feeding time.

I spent five months on a boat on the north central coast last year. Saw one griz on the shore in Ursula channel. My shipmates saw one black bear and a cub at Taylor Bight and I saw two wolves on Campania Island, at a place a local from Hartley Bay called appropriately enough, "wolf track beach." Saw kayakers at the same beach in the summer.

If you want an all round rifle that would serve you well for that dream elk ticket too should you win the unicorn lottery, then Guntech's advice is great. Maybe a carbine, like a Remington model 600 in 308 or a 308 Browning BLR Light Weight in Stainless Steel. I'd sleep well in a tent on Campania Island with that under my pillow.
 
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I have to agree with guntech, .30/06 or .300WM in stainless if you like. Get a 22" barrel for a little easier compactability and yet not giving up too much for hunting at home. I know some people won't like this, but my experience with the BLR is that it is way over complicated for a lever gun. Dirt, sand or moisture could have serious consequences on it and when you are out in Timbuckto that is not a gun you want to have to take apart. A 30/06 or .300wm will take care of pretty much anything. get the appropriate loads for it and you can't go wrong.
 
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