My buddy's dad lives in Montana and recognizes the need to have a bear purpose gun for his property. What should he invest in a far as:
1. A long gun.
2. Pistol.
3. Ammo for both.
4. Any other suggestions.
TIA
My buddy's dad lives in Montana and recognizes the need to have a bear purpose gun for his property. What should he invest in a far as:
1. A long gun.
2. Pistol.
3. Ammo for both.
4. Any other suggestions.
TIA
Fairness leads to extinction much faster than harsh parameters.
GJM would be the guy to ask.
Black, brown or both?
Any other critters (wolves)?
Don't have an good answer for you, but pondering the question led me to wondering about the details.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
I was going to ask GJM directly, but I like more information and I know he'll weigh in soon. Dunno what flavor bear. I'll ask.
ETA just got the answer. Black and brown, nothing else.
Fairness leads to extinction much faster than harsh parameters.
What firearms does he have experience with?Originally Posted by BaiHu
I assisted in a familiarization fire on a 870 for someone recently moved to AK and they short stroked it constantly. I think they should have a lever action they have a lot more experience with or a semiauto they they tons more experience with.
Ditto for revolvers vs semiautos.
I think GJM is really onto the smart way to approach this. If one has extensive experience training on a semiauto pistol then put that familiarity in a higher priority than just raw power.
If they aren't yet at the time of acquisition and deployment, already an experienced big bore wheelgunner, but most comfortable with a revolver then I think the heavy penetrating .357s in an N frame or GP100 or L frame make more sense than jumping to .44 magnum. (it's not likely they'll take up reloading in most cases)
I think the .40 with judiciously selected loads is starting to sound pretty legit if someone is fluent in running a particular semiauto.
“Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais
I've done some field work in Wyoming/Montana and in the Boreal Forest in Canada. I never carried a pistol, so I have no idea what pistol to carry. I did carry a Remington 870 loaded with 2 3/4" Brenneke slugs, it was an 18.5" gun with rifle slights. If I ever go again, I'll probably carry the same gun, only with night sights and a WML on it this time. The worst was needing to take a midnight bathroom stroll with limited low-light capability.
And that is getting pretty close to as good as it gets I would think.
“Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais
I'll third the 870 with Brennekes. Another option is a Marlin Guide gun in .45-70 with Rhino Roller ammo from Buffalo Bore.
I'd also suggest spending some time learning to understand bears. They will be drawn to his property primarily by two things: trash and livestock.
Good trash discipline is essential when living in bear country. His neighbors have probably figured it out, and if he's "that guy" that regularly leaves last nights leftover steak dinner in a Rubbermaid trash can, they'll get kinda pissed when the bears start showing up. Of course some people just don't get it. When we moved into our place, one of the neighbors thought he'd regale us newly transplanted city slickers with all the trouble he'd had with black bears, coons and wood rats. Some questioning revealed that he didn't pay for trash service, regularly dumped food waste on his property, and kept trash outside in plastic bags until he got around to burning it...
This is a good resource:
http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-C...s=bear+attacks
This is all great advice -- both dealing with/understanding bears, and appropriate long gun selection.* I would get bear spray, too. At least in Alaska, shooting a bear in defense of life and property leads to skinning the bear and turning it and the skull over to the state, completing a lengthy questionnaire, an interview, and possible charges if the circumstances didn't support the action.
*Based on a recent incident here in AK, if you are shooting the bear in or from your cabin, a Hi Point .45 has been effective. No idea if they were using the Wilson Combat ammo.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Just to be clear, I'm in Western Washington, where we only have Black Bears. I don't have the Brown/Griz experience that GJM has, but I've spent some time in Griz country.
There are a bunch of internet arguments involving "gun vs bear spray," to which I answer "yes!" When we were in Montana, my wife carried the pepper and I carried the gun. We actually took about 15 minutes to work out a drill with some team tacticts. "Spray!" yelled really loudly meant either my wife was going to deploy the spray, or I thought she needed to. "In the dirt!" was my warning that I was about to put a couple rounds of dirt to deter the bear, and "lethal!" was my warning that I was going to go cyclic and either kill the bear or die heroically while my wife ran away. We didn't see any bears any closer than a 100 yards away (which was COOL!) but it was good to have a plan so it didn't turn into a keystone cops routine where we wound up pepper spraying each other. So if he's got a companion of any sort, I'd recommend that.
As far as handguns go, I think we've established that any service caliber is good for Black Bears, and any handgun really isn't enough for a Brown Bear.
I would offer that I'm a big dude 6'3", 240 and not particularly sensitive to recoil. I've found that heavy .44 mag loads are the biggest I would expect to be able to shoot reliably under bowel loosening pressure. To me, the .454's .500's and etc are interesting in the way Ferrari's and Lamborgheni's are interesting from an engineering perspective, but to me, not really practical.
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