Tamlin
Member
I did a search on this, and most all of what came up was acceptable defense against bears, for both types of gun. Have been thinking about picking up a 45-70 guide gun as a defensive woods gun. I also really like the looks of the coach gun. This is something I would take camping and throw in a back scabbard for hiking (whichever gun I would get would be the 18"-ish bbl model). This gun would not be a designated hunting gun; it would be my go-to defensive gun. The obvious advantages of the 45-70 are range and capacity; the advantages of the coach gun are price and versatility of ammo. What do you guys think? Are two shots from a coach gun enough in a defensive situation? From what I've looked at, I can get a Stoeger coach gun for around $350; a Marlin 45-70 I'm looking at is around $700.