Shotgun Vs. 45/70 or like rifles

[Wild_Thing]

A .45-70 with custom loads will have better penetration. A 12ga w/ hard cast slugs like Clever Mirage Solengos or DG slugs like Brennekes will stop yogi's shenanigans PDQ as well.
If you only have one or the other, run what you brung. Just make sure that you are competent enough to use it.

 

[canadaman30]

Pull the plug out of a Defender or Marine shotgun and fill er up with 8 or 9 rounds of premium 000 buck. For close call's, I'd tend to lean that way. But I don't go a play with Polar Bears so it don't matter to me. Or you can carry a good quality Bear Pepper Spray

 

[Brutus]

As far as the shotguns being more heavy & thier ammuniton goes, one could select an older Ithaca M37/M87.
It's the lightest steel recieved shotgun, and in the 2 3/4 inch receiver, it's got the shortest pump action stroke as well. Any M37 I have seen, comes with sling mounting points at least on the barrel, and later models the rearstock too.
The Deerslayer model was the first purpose built USA made, factory pump action slug-gun, and was first introduced in 1959. For quite a few years it dominated the potential accuracy one could attain with foster type slugs in a smoothbore barrel at expected hunting distances.
The later made, Deerslayer Police Special has a durable real parkerized finish straight from the factory. The earlier ones were blued steel only.
My own one, also does print very well with brennekes.
There are newly made Ithacas, and they look very good.
But I cannot figure out why they do not offer factory mounted, slug shooting sights as on option for thier 'home defence' Ithaca shotgun.

 

[pricedo]

In the arctic a multi-tasking tool is the best tool

A .45-70 with custom loads will have better penetration. A 12ga w/ hard cast slugs like Clever Mirage Solengos or DG slugs like Brennekes will stop yogi's shenanigans PDQ as well.
If you only have one or the other, run what you brung. Just make sure that you are competent enough to use it.

I have actually lived & worked in the high arctic in mineral exploration & you bring the most functional tool that will do its prime job (protect the camp from predators) & do other jobs as well.

The 12 gauge Mosy/Rem Marine Magnum is by far the most utilitarian of the two choices as it can also be a survival food getter (ptarmigan, hares, caribou & a bear or seal if need be).

Seals around or in a breathing hole are a lot easier to hit with 000 buck than a rifle & when you watch an Innuit "effortlessly" shoot a seal with a rifle it's a lot harder than it looks & the Innuit has likely had many years of experience & practice behind him.

If that's the only seal you see that day in a survival situation.......harvesting it might make the difference between survival & death or losing a hand/foot due to frost bite & not losing it.

With the appropriate, readily available shells a 12 gauge shotgun makes very effective signaling device to signal bush planes & rescue parties.

These signal shells are available in many stores.

By the way........when's the last time you saw a .45-70 signal cartridge??

When you work in the Arctic usefulness/weight is ALWAYS a factor that you have to maximize at all times.

The shotgun with slugs & bird & signaling shot shells that can multitask as predator defense tools, food-getters, signal devices, fire starters is the hands down choice over the specialized .45-70.

 

[Wild_Thing]

The shotgun with slugs & bird & signaling shot shells that can multitask as predator defense tools, food-getters, signal devices, fire starters is the hands down choice over the specialized .45-70.

If the thread's topic was what is the best multi-purpose firearm for the Arctic, you make a very good argument. The only firearm that I have carried in the Arctic was a government issued .308 autoloader w/ 20rd Mags. The ammo was free too!
BTW IIRC, the natives considered anything .220 Swift and up as good Polar Bear defense.

 

[Slimbo]

Neither, buy a 375 of some sorts (the rugers are a good deal).

 

[pricedo]

If the thread's topic was what is the best multi-purpose firearm for the Arctic, you make a very good argument. The only firearm that I have carried in the Arctic was a government issued .308 autoloader w/ 20rd Mags. The ammo was free too!
BTW IIRC, the natives considered anything .220 Swift and up as good Polar Bear defense.

BTW IIRC, the natives considered anything .220 Swift and up as good Polar Bear defense.

220 Swift for Polars !

Not when my old leathery carcass is the one behind the stock.

The natives & I will have to agree to disagree on that one.

I was logging the core at one of the diamond drill rigs I was in charge of near Resolute Bay some years back & a polar bear came along & we (me the drill runner & his helper) closed the drill shack door & retreated to the crows nest.

The bear circled the shack a couple of times, ate an apple core I had discarded from my lunch & then stood up on it's hind legs and looked up at us sniffing. I don't know the bears thoughts at the time but I'm sure that if they had become reality it woulda really, really hurt.

The huge animal (big boar) then ambled casually on up a breccated limestone rise & then disappeared never to be seen again.

220 Swift...........I don't think so !

 

[jkc]

When I was in Churchill I carried a 12 ga. pump with a pistol grip. Plug removed. If that doesn't stop them the $hit in your pants will slow them down from eating you.

 

[Beaner1976]

Shotgun

 

[geologist]

Whatever you decide on, make sure you are 100% reliable with it and degrease it thoroughly if you're going there when it's cold.

 

[Edward Teach]

Good luck hitting a ptarmigan with a .45-70 & having anything more than the feet & wings left to put in the pot.

Some of us have .410 written in crayon on the barrels of our Guide Guns.

 

[pricedo]

Some of us have .410 written in crayon on the barrels of our Guide Guns.

Some of us have .410 written in crayon on the barrels of our Guide Guns.

A couple of rounds with lead shot through a rifled .45-70 barrel & it'd likely be so fouled you'd be lucky to hit the iceberg you were standing on with solid projectiles afterwards.

If you want to fire shotshells in the bush take a shotgun.

I have a Baikal IZH-94 .308 Win./12 gauge that breaks down to fit in a packsack that would be as close to an ideal survival gun as one could get. It is superbly accurate with the Federal "High Energy" 180 grain Nosler Partition factory loads that put out about 3000 ft-lbs in muzzle energy.

I stockpiled 10 boxes of the "High Energy" factory loads in .308 Win. before Federal stopped making them.

 

[badboybeeson]

everyone knows me as the shotgun guy, but id still take the 45-70 over the 12ga.
bbb

 

[Boomer]

The OP was in July of 2005, I wonder if he ever got here.

 

[manbearpig]

or

 

[Hawes]

That's a pretty big scope for a chainsaw!!

 

[manbearpig]

Mossberg 590 with an undermounted boar spear.

 

[BrotherRockeye]

bump for great justice, as its been awhile since weve had a bear defense thread.... and this isnt even regular bears, its Polor Barez!

also wondering if anyones opinions have changed in the last 5 years (5 year anniversary - these threads must never die!).

well folks? what would you rather have if this were you:

a clumsy friend who is slower than me

 

[manbearpig]

a clumsy friend who is slower than me

but what if your fat clumsy friend is intelligent enough to stay in his truck and snap photos of a polar bear trying to eat you?

 

[Edward Teach]

A couple of rounds with lead shot through a rifled .45-70 barrel & it'd likely be so fouled you'd be lucky to hit the iceberg you were standing on with solid projectiles afterwards.

That's what the boresnake is for.