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Again, the topic is not hunting the grizz, but shooting him while he's charging at you. Solid lever action 45-70 is better choice then any bolt action ot Ruget #1 as someone mentioned.
I coulda sworn the title of the thread was "Hunting Grizzly With the .45/70". Yup, that's what it sez alright.
But I don't mind talking about protection rifles for a minute. I carried a Ruger #1 for a while, and I certainly prefer a repeater, but a slower reload wasn't the issue I had. The issue I had was that after a few hours on the trail, I'd unsling and discover the damn safety had moved to the fire position. That used to bug me, and I became anal about slinging the rifle muzzle down, and ensuring anyone with me walked on the opposite side. I tried carrying the rifle with the action out of battery, and only managed to decorate the tundra with expensive .416 Rigby ammo, not to mention the potential inconvenience of having an unloaded rifle, at an inopportune moment. So the #1, as much as I like it, is off my list of protection guns.
Regular practice is essential for anyone who carries a defensive firearm, particularly if they are responsible for protecting others. I have nothing against lever action rifles, in fact few rifles are as nice to carry for extended periods of time due to their thin profile. But when a traditional lever action is chambered for a powerful cartridge that generates in excess of 50 ft-lbs of recoil, the stock design results in brutal felt recoil, and the fingers of the firing hand are bruised against the lever, unless they're wrapped around the outside of the loop. That doesn't encourage anyone to practice regularly with full power loads. By comparison, the bolt gun, in its better examples, manages felt recoil well, gives up nothing in terms of target reacquisition, or the speed of a subsequent shot on a moving target. The bolt gun just isn't quite as nice to carry all day.
The country you operate in should be taken into consideration when considering an appropriate rifle. The barrens and coastal areas typically are seemingly empty wide open spaces, but are where bears can appear suddenly and without warning. Should you be guarding a site where numerous people are spread over a large open area, armed with any rifle short of a flat shooting, scoped, bolt action, and your involvement is diminished from participant to observer. If on the same day you find yourself in heavy cover, its prudent to mount the scope in QD rings, so it can be quickly removed, and your irons become the primary sighting equipment.
The .45/70 lever action has long since proven itself a capable defensive rifle for the individual, where its purpose is simply to prevent the bear from touching you. But its not "the best" rifle for such duty any more than its "the best" hunting rifle; its just one more option.
