"Handi" .500 S&W bear rifle

I may have misunderstood the original poster as I though this was a bear defense thread, like so many before. I would not hesitate to use a single shot for bear HUNTING, prolly even a .500 S & W with either my 500gr. WFN GC or 700gr. WFN GC, the H&Rs have never been a fav. as I've seen them open on their own on firing at the range. When will someone be proactive and bring out a .500 levergun that is affordable, are you listening REMLIN? The single shots that I would use would be Rugers, Sharps, Highwalls, etc. on big bears, however I believe that a heavily loaded Marlin '95 in 45/70 is still the top choice, with 480 or 500 gr. WFN bullets.
 
chrismc said:
I have thought of getting a HR 500 for a while, and tweaking it a bit to fit me and tame recoil...After reading the info on the net about the HR's, I am a bit skeptical but may in fact proceed with a "useless unpractical, but cool" build.... And yes a 500 because its different and has lotsa ooomph... and yes, you tend to hit what you are aiming at when you only have one shot.
As for bears, yes it would work just fine. As would almost any centerfire gun if you can shoot. Personally, I live up north, o/o of a fishing lodge, and have encountered more bears than most... they really are not hard to kill, nor are they man eating beasts which you have to run and get a gun at every sighting. Of the ones I have seen, 98/100 will run away if you look at them, #99 will run away when you make loud noise after it craps its drawers, #100 will just ignore you. Altho I always use caution, Bears are not the dangerous animal that we have come to believe. The only instance I would be really concerned is when there are cubs around, or a wounded bear is present...
A 12ga slug/buckshot is by far the best if you want to drop one in its tracks, period.... But if you wanna see one run really fast, get close to one, and either bang two steel garbage can lids together, or shoot it in the butt at 25yds with a 12ga loaded with black peppercorns and rock salt...
Click to expand...

This about covers the bear subject perfectly. I have no problem with
using a big bore Handi-Rifle for bear out to about 100 yds.
My H&R Ultra Slug Hunter shoots a .730" full bore, 1 1/4 oz. slug to
an 80yd. point of aim and will dump the biggest bear with proper
bullet placement. Friggin' thing is damn accurate with my modest
load which throws the slug at 1100 fps.

The .500 S&W Handi's are easily tamed down with handloads.
A load which throws a 400 gr. bullet at 1400 fps. will do the job
on bears, won't bother the shooter and be easy to extract the brass.

I like makin' bears do mach 2 by pelting them with a full-auto mag
dump from my paintball gun. Halloween Screechers are a hoot to
toss at the buggers when encountered on the trail.

Enjoy the big Handi .500 and have some fun loading up some cast
bullet loads for it. Simple gun yes, but they serve the purpose well
and are easy on the wallet.
:cheers:
 
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