BrutalAttack

I personally watched a guy shoot a grizz at close range with a shotgun. I was impressed to say the least. There is a reason shotties are favored for close combat both in hunting circles and law enforcement.

DM

Well,

I've personally tracked down and found over a dozen deer shot with shotguns. Some with slugs, some with buckshot, most hit very well!! Some were dead, some needed finishing shots. I wasn't impressed at all, and i'm glad they "weren't" big bears, as they are a much tougher animial. I can list some of my findings if you want????

I haven't ever shot a bear with a shotgun, but i've had a couple friends over the years that have. They weren't impressed either!!! Most guys i knew, carried a shotgun because it was cheap, expendable, and handy, "NOT because they had seen how it worked" on big bears!!!

As for law enforcement, i agree. A short shotgun is good medicine for that purpose, but are you trying to tell me that an enraged 250 pound human being is comparable to an enranged 800 plus pound "brown bear"???????????????

I was on a shooting team for a time, and we challenged the law enforcement to matches every year (local and state police). Have you ever seen how the "average" law officer shoots?????? It's "no wonder" they use shotguns with buck shot!! hee he heeee

I've been around both, and i'll take a shotgun for the human, and a rifle for the bear!!! That's just me and my experence, it certainly doesn't matter to me what you choose.

Drilling Man,

RustyOlRanger4x4

slug id want something big and bad like a 3.5" magnum

BrutalAttack

I'd take a 3.5" 12 ga vs. a .300 at 25 yards on a bear any day of the week.

All you have to do is shoot a block of ballistic gelatin at close range with both weapons and look at the wound profile.

Not to mention having to deal with a scope or even iron sights while a grizz is bearing down on you at about 25 mph. You can't beat the pointability of a shottie in close quarters.

Elkshed

I would use the 12Ga. buckshot depending on the load and size of shot for close encounters.My Great Grandpa stuck the barrels of a bouble barrel shotgun in a grizzly bears mouth and pulled both triggers and lived to tell about it.

glock29rd

make science your friend...a 220 grainer is flying at 2845 fps with 3954 foot /lbs out of the muzzle...compared to 000buck at 1125 fps and 1500foot/lbs and a slug coming at the barrel at 1500 fps...with less then 2500 ft/lbs (GUNS&AMMO 2004 ANNUAL MAGAZINE )
no comparison..... i can understand that people feel safer with 8 shots compared to 4 but i guess it boils down to confidence in your shooting ability and shot placement..

BrutalAttack

make common sense your friend.

scoped rifle with 30" barrel and 3x scope at the lowest. 3 or 4 shots but you won't have time for more than one after u recover from recoil.

20" or shorter shotgun with reflex sights. 8 shots and may have time for 2 or so before you get mauled depending on the distance and whether or not it's a bluff charge. [8D]


I'm beginning to wonder just how many of you have actually been in close with animals and had to make a shot under extreme stress. Your not remembering what experienced people consider lessons learned.

DM

30" BBL??????????? My "Bear rifle", if you want to call it that, has a 22" BBL, and the "other" one i used is a "double rifle" with 24" BBL. A double rifle is about 4" shorter over all compared to a pump shotgun or bolt rifle. And remember, that's with 24" BBL's!!

I'm always lost as to the "spray and pray" theory?? I learned at a young age that "one shot" is all it takes, so haveing two in my "double rifle" puts me way ahead of the game!!!

As for the scope, i have a 1-1/2 x 5 Leupold on my bolt gun, and when on 1-1/2 power it's faster than open sights, i'm just as good with it as i am with a shotgun. The double rifle has a quick detach mount, and i only put the scope on it for long shots. It snaps right on, and is sighted in for 200 yards. Kinda handy in caribou country!!

Drilling Man

BrutalAttack

I think we can both agree that spray and pray doesn't apply to a pump action shotgun.... lol?!

I think that term refers to pointing a full auto weapon and indirectly spraying the area rather than aiming.

Ok I will make a compromise: I would take a 444 guide gun (open sights of course) in lieu of a shottie if I had to. I've shot plenty of bears at close range with a guide gun and I think it's just about as handy/quick as my shottie. It's unproven on grizzlies though.

Wolf killer

I guess I will be the odd man out on this one. I will take a can of Pepper spray.
I also want someone slower than me standing side by side with me.