The first relevant, thoughtful answer Ive read yet... and I think Im on page 8 or 9 of this thread. Sheesh.Jesus these threads are always dumpster fires
This is for bear defense, yes?
We have 400,000 yr old spears, imagine in 400,000 years how many animals and humans have fallen to spears.
I'm still not going to recommend them, but let's talk 22s, because they are incredibly relevant here...
Slugs have wretched sectional densities, sectional density being a good predictor of straight line penetration, especially in solids.
That Brenneke carried about a 160 sectional density, it's worse than a 147gr 9mm.
And for the recoil... jesus there are so many better options it is absolutely ridiculous.
We're lucky that most bears will leave at our presence, most of those that don't will leave with a little convincing, most of those that still remain will leave with a little more forceful "ask", finding the bear that just has to kill you is a rare bit of luck.
If that should happen, statistical probability of deep straight-line penetration is your friend, in Africa they like .300+ sectional density for dangerous game.
You can get several Africa calibers and have similar recoil, 375 H&H wouldn't be a bad choice.
I went 458 lott.
Shotguns are generally recommended as they are ubiquitous and anything is better than nothing.
So if it's a shotgun or nothing, have at it, otherwise, save the shotgun for hunting them over bait, shooting a treed bear, coyotes, they can do alright on whitetail.
Looking online I see that even the Remington Copper solid sabot slugs only have an SD of .21!
Growing up in Indiana's ag region and basically culling deer for farmers Ive shot well over 50 whitetails with slugs of various brands and types. None of them impressed me with their penetration or lethality compared to a centerfire rifle with quality bullets.
If it was me Id find some over .4 caliber AR pistol with a brace, a red dot, a tac light, and a 10 round magazine
full of Buffalo Bore or Underwood bear defense rounds. Even a 45-70 lever gun with a red dot would be a much better option. On the other hand Im a deer and black bear guy and not a Grizz expert so take my advice with a grain or two of salt.