308 enough for brown/polar bear?

I'd take the 308 loaded properly over any shotgun. I've been woefully unimpressed with shotguns on bears. 450 bushmaster loaded with 275gr Barnes wouldn't be a bad choice either.

A good short lever in 45/70 is a pretty handy bear defense too. The lever will be lighter and easier to carry than an AR style rifle.

In the frozen, foreign, far north, Spitsbergen, Norway, the suggested caliber for tourists wandering about for defense against polar bears is a minimum .30-06. I would prefer a .375 H&H.

I think there is too much dogma and misinformation surrounding this topic, and the internet is full of both.

I see people advocating for pump shotguns or nothing, and never for semi auto shotguns. They say in freezing conditions the semi auto of any kind becomes unreliable, but plenty of duck hunters use semi auto shotguns in nasty conditions just fine because that was what they were designed for. An easy way to screw up a fixed mechanical system is to introduce a human element, so someone panicking and trying to pump a shotgun through cold and adrenaline seems like a good way to reach a failure point.

People talk big bore revolvers which are hard to shoot. They say the caliber has to start with a 4 or whatever yet the empirical data shows that most handguns are effective. There is this warm fuzzy feeling people get when they talk about revolvers as though they were the pinnacle of simplicity and reliability when really it just seems that we as a community have forgotten all the problems like timing issues etc that revolvers had.

I did watch a youtube video where someone was advocating for a semi auto .308 as a dangerous game type gun for north America. I think the real advantage he spoke on was is simply capacity and how it pertains to overall firepower. You can fit a 25 round magazine of .308 into a Ruger SFAR for example which makes a pretty powerful yet lightweight packages which is probably a dream to shoot compared to a big bore lever gun.

All hypothetical though. I really think that this topic is beaten to death, and that if a big bear really wants to kill you, you aren't going to have time to react.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I haven't heard of a Polar Bear hunt that the sled dogs didn't play a huge role pre and post shot. Especially bow hunters, just have seen more video of such involving bows anyway.

Rossi makes an 1892 in 454 Casull. Thats lightweight, fast and plenty powerful for big game.

Arken7mm said:

This is a little more reassuring...

Alaskan Department of Fish and Game say the 270w, 308W and 30-06 rounds for big game (including 1500lb Brown Bears) are acceptable and that "Big magnums are not needed"...

Firearms and Ammunition for Hunting in Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Information on hunting and trapping in Alaska.

www.adfg.alaska.gov

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I believe you mentioned defensive. The F&G link you have mentions hunting. F&G carry 12 gauge when expecting a less than ideal bear encounter

One of my concerns about a Marlin lever style gun is it's not semi-auto. I would have to operate the lever after each shot and I'm not confident about my motor skills during a high stress situation when a dangerous animal charges within a close radius and catches me off guard. Walking through tall grass, or tight trails with heavy thick brush on each side and you don't see the animal and it pounces.

Canada has almost 50% of the world's coastline - much of which are in the Arctic.

Here is an interesting interview with a Canadian Ranger patrol commander from the Yukon;

"The main role of the rifles is for protection from predators,"


12ga is very popular up here, but slugs can have issues with straight line penetration. I switched to a shorty .308 (BLR) for a general truck/camp gun a number of years ago. The main reason was for versatility, but having a firearm I can operate with one hand seems like an advantage to me - hope it never comes to that...

400grains said:

I believe you mentioned defensive. The F&G link you have mentions hunting. F&G carry 12 gauge when expecting a less than ideal bear encounter

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Aren't they part of the government…..meaning, "Very Unreliable"! memtb

memtb said:

Aren't they part of the government…..meaning, "Very Unreliable"! memtb

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You behave!

memtb said:

Aren't they part of the government…..meaning, "Very Unreliable"! memtb

Click to expand...

Is that considered "bear-minimum?"

Hand Skills said:

Canada has almost 50% of the world's coastline - much of which are in the Arctic.

Here is an interesting interview with a Canadian Ranger patrol commander from the Yukon;

"The main role of the rifles is for protection from predators,"

THE CANADIAN RANGERS T3x ARCTIC by Tikka

THE CANADIAN RANGERS T3x ARCTIC by Tikka. When Canadian Rangers were choosing their new rifle, the T3x Arctic beat all of its rivals.

bcfirearmsacademy.ca

12ga is very popular up here, but slugs can have issues with straight line penetration. I switched to a shorty .308 (BLR) for a general truck/camp gun a number of years ago. The main reason was for versatility, but having a firearm I can operate with one hand seems like an advantage to me - hope it never comes to that...

Click to expand...

And….."IF" you use conventional pure lead slugs….they deform (flatten) terribly after impact, minimizing penetration while maximizing it's straight line penetration! memtb

Varmint Hunter said:

I guess a stout .308 bullet would be fine providing you had a 378Wby case driving it.

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That was my first thought. 30-378 with 220 grain solids. It's still a.308.

memtb said:

And….."IF" you use conventional pure lead slugs….they deform (flatten) terribly after impact, minimizing penetration while maximizing it's straight line penetration! memtb

Click to expand...

Hard cast (with some antimony in the alloy) is a better way to go, as I'm sure you know, but S.D suffers either way.