[A man with a gun!]

I own a remote California placer mining claim which requires a long hike on a narrow trail through thick Manzinata to get there. During a normal dredging season I average about twenty one-on-one contacts with bears. So far, there have never been any real issues, the bear goes his way and I go mine. No problem.

Last summer I found a snag with bear claw marks about 12 feet off of the ground. I was impressed to say the least but thought little more about it.

Last December I was in that area searching for a Christmas tree and came across these bear tracks in teh snow. My guess was he/she was somewhere around five hundred pounds. I showed the picture to my local game warden who said 600 pounds plus.

Normally I hike with a .45 Kimber in a covered holster on the belt of my back pack. My game warden buddy says that a handgun like that is no match for a bear of that size and would only be useful for putting myself out of my misery if I was attacked. He suggested I carry a shotgun with either slugs or 000 buckshot.

What I'm looking for is suggestions on either a 18 or 20 inch double barrel coach gun. Since those Manzanita leaves and twigs literally get into everything... this is probably a better choice than a pump.

Would prefer to have real (actually strike the firing pins) double hammers and to make it a bit tougher... I'd need to be able to carry it with a sling as sections of my trail require "all wheel drive" meaning I must use both my hands and feet for traction.

This would be a real working gun and no doubt I'd beat the crap out of it in time so an expensive gun would make no sense.

Any thoughts from the members here?

[KBintheSLC]

I wish I had more info in this regard. I have been searching the local classifieds for a coach for a while. The prices are bloated though. A 12ga slug would certainly do the job. Have you considered a good revolver? A .44 mag, or a .500 S&W, with a 6"-8" barrel will be very easy to haul on the long hike. It will not obstruct your movement, it is durable/reliable, and can be deployed quickly. It should easily make due on an angry bear too. Of course a pistol is no substitute for a rifle or shotty, but these big calibers can be very effective.
Besides that, you might try the pawn shops, classifieds, and small gun shops with used guns for your coach.
Best of luck.

[1 old 0311]

www.classicarms.com

[plumberroy]

look at the stoeger condor outback short o/u with sights reasonable too!
roy

[Gary A]

Here are three versions of the Baikal/Spartan coach guns imported under the Remington label.

Gauge Chamber Barrel Length Trigger Choke Overall Length Avg. Wt. (lbs.) Order No. MSRP*

12 2 3/4" 20" Blue Hardwood Double Cyl/Cyl 35 3/4" 6 1/4 89548 $332

12 2 3/4" 20" Blue Walnut Double† SC-4 35 3/4" 6 1/4 89546 $545

12 2 3/4" 20" Nickel (receiver) Walnut Double SC-4 35 3/4" 6 1/4 89552 $409

(should note my dealer found quite a few model 89554s in the pipeline, just like #3 but with blued receiver. this one is not on the website)

The middle one has functional, external hammers and comes with 4 choke tubes. The only downside for your purpose might be they only have 2 3/4 inch chambers.

Stoeger makes several nice coach guns with 3" chambers but all have internal hammers.

CZ-USA imports a very pretty hammered coach gun choked, I believe, IC/Mod but it is fairly pricey in the 750 to 800 range or so.

There are seemingly several versions and grades of Chinese-made coach guns of varying degrees of quality, it seems. I recently saw one that was very attractive, external hammers, no safety, choked cylinder bore, but don't know where you could get one, or how good the quality is.

I am planning on getting the hammered Remington Spartan very soon.

[2ndamd]

A Stoeger coach gun sounds like just the ticket. Either side-by-side or over/under condor.