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308 enough for brown/polar bear?

I personally wouldn't do it , but when I was younger I HAND LOADED ,NOSLER PARTITION 7 mm bullets for my BOSSES Sako Finnbear 7 REM MAG 16 in barrel to hunt Polar bears . I asked why such a short barrel he said so the barrel doesn't get hung up in the cockpit when landing on a icecap when locating a Polar bear . I think if that worked maybe a 308 would to .
 
No first hand knowledge here but I can imagine quite a few bears have been killed with the Mosin Nagant or some version of 30-06 military rifle. Neither are far from the 308. If that is this guns primary roll and it needs to be a semi I would think 450 Bushmaster or 50 Beowulf in AR 15 would work well.
 
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I saw a video many years ago of an African Game Range cropping a herd of Elephants using an FN Fal in .308 Win with a 20rd mag... he had no problem whatsoever, double tapping the animals a couple of times and then on to the next one. So Polar Bear? sure... no problem, just be sure you put enough gas in the helicopter, he wasn't crazy enough to try it from the ground and showed good judgment in my book, I think... I'd say the same thing might be true for Big Bear like a Polar. 😵 just my 0.2 Cheers
 
436 said:
I saw a video many years ago of an African Game Range cropping a herd of Elephants using an FN Fal in .308 Win with a 20rd mag... he had no problem whatsoever, double tapping the animals a couple of times and then on to the next one. So Polar Bear? sure... no problem, just be sure you put enough gas in the helicopter, he wasn't crazy enough to try it from the ground and showed good judgment in my book, I think... I'd say the same thing might be true for Big Bear like a Polar. 😵 just my 0.2 Cheers
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Well, if he had a helicopter to ride in, bear defense would be pretty much irrelevant. If you read my previous comments on here you well know I believe a 308 is more than adequate. My preference would be the 45 70 or 375 but I would be perfectly comfortable witha 308. After 11 pages the comments are getting more outlandish and irrelevant.
 
Dean2 said:
Well, if he had a helicopter to ride in, bear defense would be pretty much irrelevant. If you read my previous comments on here you well know I believe a 308 is more than adequate. My preference would be the 45 70 or 375 but I would be perfectly comfortable witha 308. After 11 pages the comments are getting more outlandish and irrelevant.
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I understand your point and wasn't disagreeing with you, I was just stating a point as to killing power, the .308 did kill the Eleghpns, it's just better done from a helicopter, that's all. Cheers
 
Close range steel shotgun slug will definitely have penetration.

D Dupleks - Monolit 32

Monolit 32 - A completely new solid slug design for hunting. Superior penetration power for large and heavy game.
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They also have armor piercing which look "Wicked"!
IMG_6840.jpeg
 
Arken7mm said:
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.
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If you don't see a bear until it literally pounces on you, you're going to die... maybe survive severely injured if a companion shoots the bear off of you.

Nothing wrong with a 12 gauge pump or semi with an 18" barrel and slugs. Modern slugs are water resistant... don't submerge them and you'll be fine. The Danish military has used M1 Garands in '06 and in .308 for decades as bear defense weapons in Greenland. An AR-10 in .308 with a 20-round mag will work, if you have time to employ it. So will enough shots from a big bore revolver, if you have time.

Don't think that buying a weapon is sufficient. You'll have to practice enough so if you need it you can use whatever gun effectively. That includes immediate and remedial action drills (to clear malfunctions).
 
I thought I might revisit this one. I saw this video, and it seems that in Russia, SKS 7.62x39mm is Big Bear medicine. I was surprised it only took six or so shots to kill what looked like a big Grizzly or Brown bear that was very agitated. Cheers
 
436 said:
I thought I might revisit this one. I saw this video, and it seems that in Russia, SKS 7.62x39mm is Big Bear medicine. I was surprised it only took six or so shots to kill what looked like a big Grizzly or Brown bear that was very agitated. Cheers
Click to expand...

Not particularly impressed by waking up a sleeping bear (I know I know technically they don't "hibernate") with dogs and fire and then shooting it as it stumbles out of its den. Not surprised the sks killed it. But everything about that "hunt" seemed awful to me. Just my opinion.
 

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