macman99

Agree. When I worked in AK, we had stainless Marlin .45-70's with synthetic stocks, but those were selected mainly because they spent a lot of time mounted in a boat and were always being sprayed with saltwater (also for protection, only, obviously). If you're primarily hunting the interior or away from the ocean and take care of the rifle, you should be fine with a traditional wood stock/blued steel.

Bernie P.

Three shoulder hits would have demolished the shoulder and lungs.I suspect his hits were either a bit high above the shoulder and/or the worst possible choice in bullet design.

goatbrother

A friends Dad went on a Brown Bear hunt a few years ago and his guide recomended a 375 H&H as a minimum.

Personaly I think a 338 Win Mag with a tough heavy bullet would do.

excalibur43

I think either gun you mentioned would be ideal for this hunt. You may even take a look at the 338 Ultra Mag as well.

MUZZY 100

338 is a great gun with plenty of power! Shot placement,shot placement,shot placement !!!!

Sheridan

Since the .338 WM isn't powerful enough - (LOL , I guess) !!!

You might want to consider the .416 RM............... (next level, that I like anyway).

http://www.reloadbench.com/cartridges/416rm.html


BTW - Synthetic, stainless (or any non-corrosive treated material) is the only way to fly IMHO !

emtrescue6

My brother lives in Alaska, and I have a cabin on the Kenai... we have hunted up there for two decades. He took his first Alaska brownie with a 300 WM...and has since moved to a 300 WBY...a 338 WM is plenty of medicine for a brownie, taking into consideration a couple of things....shot placement (vital shots are key), know your weapon (know your weapon well and handle it well), bullet choice (you shoot cheap ammo, expect cheap results)...these three things are more important than caliber.

kansaswiderack

As a followup on this topic, I talked to the outfitter yesterday and his preference is the 338 in stainless and synthetic stalk. He has a 375 I can use but he feels the 338 is the ideal weapon-gets more consistent expansion. They have had some issues with 300 mag. Unless I decide I want a 338 for other purposes I will take him up on his offer to use his rifle. The reason he prefers the 338 over the 375 is that depending on the hit the 375 CAN blow thru without expanding thus not causing massive tissue damage. In his experience the 338 will always expand well on brown bears and cause massive damage and consequently quick kills.

Thanks for all the input. I am really anxious to go on this hunt. I may have to buy my own gun just to have something to tinker with for the next year. I hear the 338 is a great elk and moose gun as well.

Sheridan

I'd say; you heard correct !

Ursus

I'm with Bernies first post.

Forget SS and fibe. For one trip, a clean lightly oiled blued steet walnut gun will not show any rust/warp.

Costal bears are bigger than interior grizzlies and you are hunting a MOST difficult way. On the get the small boat and go for a beach shot, you MUST anchor the bear. MUST. the adjacent land will be thick stuff, difficult to track. In AK if you hit a bear, you are DONE. If you just wound it and can't find it your hunt is over. Even trying to take a second bear is poaching. So you must put it down.

Get the largest rifle you can shoot accurately. 458, 375, 416, 45-70. Try to use a shooting stick or get to a sitting or kneeling position to get your best shot. On my two bear trips to Alaksa I used a 416 Rem mag m-700; with a rem custom shop walnut stock and heavy weight blued barrel. My 400 grain reloads killed 2 grizzlies. IMO it is just the best brown/grizzly rifle around.

Sounds like a great trip, enjoy it.

should have added practice shooting offhand/sitting/kneeling....sand bag practice is of no value.