old 3 Shoot:
Good question. I have two guns that I use for personal protection in heavy bear country. Both have been heavily tested, and passed with flying colors, but both depend on using the right round.

The first is my Ruger Redhawk, .44 mag. I use a special 320 grn Hard Cast Alloy bullet from JD Jones, on top of 22.5 grns of H-110 powder (a compressed load). This puppy is traveling between 1200 and 1400 ft. per second, and can drop anything in North America within 100 yards (used to be my primary hunting gun). I use this weapon when carrying a shotgun is not practical.

The second is my Beneli M3 Super 90. This combat shotgun is incredibly accurate, super reliable, and holds a reassuring number of slugs.

Contrary to what you may have read on Blain's posting, I wouldn't dream of using buck shot for defense against bear. Rather I use Breneki 3" mag, Rotweill(sp?) slugs.

These slugs are very accurate out to 100 yards, and are hard enough to do some serious penetration.

Most of Alaska's agencies that are required to operate in bear country, or to dispatch rogue bears use this exact same slug. Both state and federal authorities use it. It works.

The situations that I use these weapons in, are always up close and personal, i.e. when a bear tries to crawl into your tent with you, or when he tries to steal your kill, etc.

One important thing to remember is PRACTICE. Just about any weapon will be worthless in a situation like a bear attack, if shooting it is not second nature. You need to be so proficient with your weapons, that you can shoot them accurately with out thinking about it.

So, though I was on the carcass by myself, and would have had to reach for the Beneli, to shoot the bruin if it did attack, I am very confident in it's stopping power at close range, and can think of nothing better (I had my .44 with me, on the machine, as well, but would take the 12 gauge over it in a close up situation like described).

Keep on inquiring, it'll keep you alive when the bear poop hits the fan <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

<img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle> If You Ain't Hunted Alaska, You're Still Just Practicing <img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle>