How about a "Bear Gun" thread...with a range report?!

[RobertJ.]

No, no, no, put that popcorn away! this isn't going to be another one of "those" threads!

I'm merely reporting on (showing off?) the gun I'm taking to Alaska in a few months.

My wife and I, along with two other couples we travel with frequently, have rented a house on the bank of the Kenai River, in Soldotna, for the last week of June.

The best part, is that these are people we know really well, and we all know what to expect from each other. The ladies will all drink wine and socialize, Dennis and Jerry are there for salmon, I get to explore! My wife and I will have our own vehicle, and I've actually secured two complete days to myself. I plan to rockhound a couple beaches, fish some smaller lakes for Dolly Varden and Arctic Char, and I'm going to explore the Seward area, and hike to Exit Glacier.

So I put a rifled barrel on my 870, and that will be going along.

Yesterday, I finally got out to shoot it, and I couldn't be more pleased. Thankfully, I didn't have to shoot too much to dial it in (I had forgotten how brutal shooting slugs can be!) I shot four groups, the one pictured was my last. Not too scientific, either, I rested it on the top of my open car door, and shot at 25 yards. The front sight is a big ivory bead, so I had to expand the bull with a marker to see black all the way around it.

This gun now has everything I need, and nothing that I don't.

[vonn]

Sounds like an awesome trip! Hope you don't need the shotgun!

[RobertJ.]

Originally Posted by vonn

Sounds like an awesome trip! Hope you don't need the shotgun!

Thanks! My mom always prays for my safety, so I'll be lucky to see a bear!

I forgot to mention I'll also carry an air horn, to announce my presence wherever I go.

I grew up in SE, on Chichigof Island, so even though we'll be visiting south central, it's almost like going home.

[old 1911 fan]

Sounds like a great trip! I'd have to have a Bear License in my pocket.

old 1911 fan

[ParadiseRoad]

...nice bear gun...

YouTube

[bigwheelzip]

Sounds like a you've got a great trip ahead.

[Curtis Reed]

Nice! I just put it in another thread yesterday, but I use a Ruger Super Blackhawk 5.5" SS 44 mag, with a Diamond D Guide's Choice Chest Rig, loaded with Underwood 340 gr hard cast +p+.

[BearBio]

We'll be going to Clam Gulch in July for halibut. If I'm inland, I have a Reeder SBH in 454.




Forgot the range report:

300 gr hardcast @ 10 yards produce a 1" group for the first 2 shots, then they start to open up.

[RobertJ.]

Originally Posted by Curtis Reed

Nice! I just put it in another thread yesterday, but I use a Ruger Super Blackhawk 5.5" SS 44 mag, with a Diamond D Guide's Choice Chest Rig, loaded with Underwood 340 gr hard cast +p+.

That's a good looking rig. I have a Ruger SRH .44 Mag, 2.75" barrel, which I'd carry as a back-up if I could.

[RobertJ.]

Originally Posted by BearBio

We'll be going to Clam Gulch in July for halibut. If I'm inland, I have a Reeder SBH in 454.

That is one gorgeous gun!

[RobertJ.]

Originally Posted by ParadiseRoad

...nice bear gun..

And who doesn't like a nice double?

Mine is the "poor man's bear gun"!

[Shark Bait]

It would take a very serious bear problem to make me bring this out, but here it is for show & tell. An early Marlin Guide Gun in .45-70 and my 629-4.

[shamrocker]

I can play along on this one:

These are left over from my years in Soldotna, AK and me and my youngest fishing a lot waaaay back.

the 45-70 was what I carried for back up whilst he was hunting big game.

the Marlin is a LTD edition with a 2.5 Leopold guide on QR rings backed up by ghost ring set up,
the 870 express I form one'd and paid my 200 bucks to chop it down, then sent it to AZ Response to get it finished with their Teflon "good to go in AK weather finish". (slugs are mucho bear medicine) if you hold it up and use the sights at arms length with 3" mags, it will kiss your nose with the thumb of the hand on the birds head grip. but off your hip it's a real "crowd pleaser". The kids mowed the yard with this one slung.
The Gary Reader is a 44 Mag 5 shooter set up to shoot Garrett's hammer head 310 gn. super mags check em out.
Garrett Cartridges Inc.
I carried it the most and in a chest rig that left the butt right inside the top of my bib on the chest waders.
I just snapped these real quick indoors as I have a foot of snow on the deck from yesterday.
In case you hadn't guessed by now, I have the utmost respect for big bears. We never had to see if any of this stuff would stop a charge, but more than once we were standing side by side with our jackets held wide open (so we looked bigger) and talking softly to "bear" but each of us having one of these in hand hoping we didn't have to find out.
Damn those were the days.

[shamrocker]

Hmmm, reread and proof more before posting.....the garretts were the 330 gr, monster bad stuff

[Mexican Kerry]

My only experience with a "bear gun" is my Winchester Ranger .270. I dropped a blackie at 10 yds with a Remington Core Lokt 130 gr. If I were going to Alaska I may want something that makes a bigger thump, don't know much about it.

[jpage]

Is it difficult to transport firearms through Canada ?

[Mexican Kerry]

Not if its a non-restricted. The way they classify firearms here is similar to the States but different. A regular old hunting rifle or shotgun is easy, but pistols or AR's or most short barreled stuff is range-only. There could be a novel on it, but I don't want to de-rail another member's thread.

[RobertJ.]

Originally Posted by Mexican Kerry

My only experience with a "bear gun" is my Winchester Ranger .270. I dropped a blackie at 10 yds with a Remington Core Lokt 130 gr. If I were going to Alaska I may want something that makes a bigger thump, don't know much about it.

Was that a "you or him kind" of thing?

In my limited amount of experience in Alaska, I think the biggest thing you can get your hands on is not unreasonable.

My dad's friend Floyd Clift dropped a small brownie, about 800 pounds, with a .300 Savage. Hardly the same situation, though. The bear was 100 yards away, and looking the other direction. Floyd had a Win. Model 71 in .348, but I never saw him carry anything but that Savage.

[Mexican Kerry]

Originally Posted by RobertJ.

Was that a "you or him kind" of thing?

I wasn't willing to wait and see if he wanted to come any closer. I wasn't up in a blind and he was looking me in the eye.

[vonn]

Bear threads sure bring out some big boy shooters!