Best Alaska Brown Bear Rig?

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Stop maulings !!

Hi All ,

I am new to this great forum not a hunter , but neither I am a lover of any creature that kills people . I find the story of the young 7 yr. old girl that was dragged from her tent and killed by a bear extremely extremely troubling . I suppose I would be one who would get the balance of nature completely out of whack by being a " mass murderer " of crockadiles , terrible killer bears , etc. .

From all of the interesting comments I have read regarding bear country it would seem that a must would be to carry a very good Bear spray and attempt to kill only as a last resort . I would carry at least two cannisters !!! Apparently a rifled 12gauge with slugs would also be a must . I love pistols and had " wished " my 1911 45ACP would be fairly effective against a bear , but can see it would be next to useless if not totally useless . Seems to me that one thing is missing from this entire eqaution in that handguns have been maxed to the point that a person cannot handle one capable of doing almost guaranteed damage to a big brown nor can most long guns . It also seems that stronger loads will damage most firearms as well as the shooter .

Here is what I think is needed in big bear country and what is missing from the equation . To begin with I don't feel that anyone should EVER venture into bad country ALONE !!! Apparenlty bear spray is a must !! It would also seem to me that some electonics genius could develop some device that would warn of bear presence . It also seems to me that no " usual " hunting weapon is available for REAL protection . Why not perhaps a totally new concept of possibly a double barreled carryable and comfortably shootable weapon that would launch a devastating EXPLODING round into a killer creature ??? Nothing should be off-limits or beyond consideration when a human life is at stake .

Any of this make any sense at all ?????

Thanks ,
Trailer
 
There is a saying; when it comes to bears you need to do two things: First, be prepared, and second, know the different kinds of bears:

1. Be prepared: Wear tinkiling bells on your clothing so bears won't be surprised if you suddeny appear and carry lots of pepper spray.

2. Know the different kinds of bears: Black bear droppings contain berries and small mammal fur. Girzzly bear droppings contain tinkling bells and smell like pepper spray.
 
We did a poll last year of resident Alaskans and their favorite hunting cartridge.

The 338 Winchester Magnum and the 30-06 had about 30% to 32% each.
So between the 30-06 and 338 Win mag you have 60% of all rifles being used for hunting.

The Fish and Game (Moose and Goose to us) people do occasional polls and come up with about the same numbers.

The 300 Win Mag, 45-70 and 375 H&H also had strong showings with the remaining cartridges.

The 45-70 being hampered by shorter range and the 375 HH by larger heavier rifles, plus expensive ammo.

While most village folks do just fine with the 30-06, the 338 Win Mag will kill just about anything up here if you are good with your rifle.

My 358 Norma Mag has long been my favorite all around rifle for up here.
But I like odd-ball calibers just to be different.

There is also an odd occurence up here where the caliber of the Rifles seem to get bigger the closer you get to a big city. Anchorage being the center for huge overpowered magnums sitting in closets.
 
Here's one of my big bear rifles. A BRNO602 .375 H&H. It's a forged steel Mauser CRF action, magazine capacity 6 rounds and the barrel has been shortened to 20" for easier handling in the bush.

It's wearing a Leupold VariX 1.5x5x20 scope in quick detachable Warne Maxima rings. The 602 comes with excellent express sights and shoots to POA at 100 yards with 300gr factory ammo. The front sight ramp was re-installed 3/4" back from the re-crowned muzzle to allow it to be taped while in the field to prevent plugs (snow, mud etc.).

The front forend swivel mount has been replaced with a barrel band in order to avoid recoil induced hand injuries plus the rifle carries the muzzle lower when shoulder slung.

IMG_5483.jpg
 
I live in Texas and shall never venture far from home into bear country , but has been so interesting to read all of the great comments . I got a You Tube video of a fellow shooting a 375 H&H and is quite a gun . Too bad we have come to so many " protected " species with man now seemingly secondary . I would love to see the attitude change if one if the protected got hold of one of the protectors !!!
We had Egrets here in Mineral Wells which destroyed a neighborhood and beautiful old trees and nothing could be done .

I noticed that one of the posters is a float plane pilot and would guess probably mostly the great Beavers are flown . I am a private pilot who now only flies the Microsoft simulator and am amazed at how fantastic and realistic it is .
I liked the beautiful picture of the 375 in this post . Thanks for all of the information and responses .
May God bless our Country and our Constitution .
Trailer
 
Hi Texas Ed ,

I guess I forgot that this was your post and not mine !!! Hope you have a good hunt with super guns and others to back you up in dangerous surroundings .
Trailer
 
I've lived in Alaska 23 of my 26 years on this Earth and have hunted in it for 16 of them. I've hunted everything from moose to squirrel (get it?) anyway, I have had no problems with my 30-06. It's killed bear and moose with equal efficency. It's all about shot placement. The biggest problem I see with people is that they get these high powered rifles, don't train with them much because of the recoil and can't hit for squat.

Get yourself something you can shoot and practice. Hell my friend took a moose with his AR-15, he shot it in the head, but who cares (unless your a trophy hunter and if you are please stay out of my state, can't stand those people) it was still as dead and the meat tasted the same. Shot Placement. 30-06 .300 and .308 work well for the game up here. You don't need some exotic hot rod cartrage just good aim.
 
Just looking back at that great picture of the .375 belonging to Geologist and is a superb looking gun . Must have a terrible kick if one must worry about personal injury when firing it ??? I watched that video of the Lion almost getting those hunters and wonder about a scope in moments like that . It appeard that most shots were under the feet of that dangerous charging Cat !! Seems some hunters on a Safari would need unscoped guns ??
trailer
 
Model 1895GS

The lever action 45/70 carbine that can take on any kind of game can also take on any kind of weather. Our best-selling Model 1895G Guide Gun is available in stainless steel. The receiver, barrel and all major metal parts are machined from stainless steel, and most other metal parts are nickel-plated. It features an 18.5" stainless steel barrel with Ballard-type cut rifling, a 4-shot tubular magazine, an adjustable semi-buckhorn folding rear sight and ramp front sight with brass bead and Wide-Scan™ hood. The stock is American black walnut with cut checkering and a ventilated recoil pad.
photo_1895GS.jpg
 
I have read lots of good things about the 45/70 carbine . That is a beauty ! One would think I am going after big game , but have not shot much of anything but a plastic bottle with my 22 lately !!!
trailer
 
This is what I got for my Bear gun.

Needless to say I have not run into alot of 358STA owners. I purchased mine from Winchesters Custom shop around July of 2000. They had just made a small special run of them in stainless with stainless Badger barrels. I wanted it in the hopes of a Brown bear hunt but it has only dropped one bull Elk so far, but that was impressive.

Before I began load testing on mine I sent it off to get an Answer muzzel brake and thier recoil pad on the stock Winchester wood.

Once back from Answer it went to McMillan for one of their custom Kevlar stocks bedded by them. I have not put the Winchester wood stock back on.

I did the break-in while I was fire forming my brass. I used Win. 375 H&H cases and a set of Redding Custom dies $$$.

My fire forming consisted of necking down the 375 H&H in the 358STA Redding dies and then a 250gr bullet and 80grs of H4350. I turned my head to the side the first time I shot it to fire form the case. I had never done anything like that before. Must say, it works.

Then the cases were put through the FL dies and trimmed and de-burred and load testing started. I used 4 different powders IMR 4831, H4831, R22 and H4350.

I used either Nosler 250gr Partition or 250gr Swift A-Frames in load developement.

Speeds for the two 4831 powders were as high as 2774fps. R22 took speeds to the mid 2800 and H4350 broke the 3000 barrier.

Best accuracy was R22 with a Nosler partition, Fed 215 GM primer @ just over 1/2" (.502) three shot group. Avg fps. 2900.1. ES 59.5 and SD 30.5

Load I setteled on for Brown bear (Elk) was H4350, Fed. 215 primer, 250gr Swift A-Frame. 3 shot group was .990 at 3060fps ES 16.4 SD 8.3 The energy developed was 5300ft/lb.
 
Just looking back at that great picture of the .375 belonging to Geologist and is a superb looking gun . Must have a terrible kick if one must worry about personal injury when firing it ??? I watched that video of the Lion almost getting those hunters and wonder about a scope in moments like that . It appeard that most shots were under the feet of that dangerous charging Cat !! Seems some hunters on a Safari would need unscoped guns ??
Click to expand...

The scope is only for hunting, that is why it is in QD rings. In camp, the scope is off and the superior express sights are used.

You can minimize the chance of shooting behind a charging animal by kneeling, that way your round drives through the animal length wise as long as you have the proper cartridge and bullet. Premium .375 H&H ammo fits the bill.

The recoil on the carbine is reasonable as it is more of a push than a punch.
 
A lot seem convinced that you need a gun the size of what would be keilbasa in sausage. more people up there use 30-06 and .300 win mag then i have ever seen. a little more rare but still fairly common is the 300 weatherby magnum.
 
For hunting I agree that a 30-06 in Alaska or Nothern Canada is great.I hunt with a matching BRNO 600 in 30-06.

But for stopping a bear at close range, say less than 25 yards, bigger is better.

bearguns0002_r1_1.jpg
 
For close quarters defence, it's hard to beat the speed and stopping power of a short lever 45-70. For hunting thought the extra range of the .338 would be an advantage. I suppose the .375's would be good too, but probably more recoil than I'm interested in.
 
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