308 enough for brown/polar bear?

[Clem Bronkoski]

I do like the Ruger Guide Gun with 20" inch barrel chambered in 375 Ruger. My question is about that barrel length, should I look for a rifle with a longer barrel length for the added velocity or is a 20" inch barrel plenty?

In that caliber you won't lose that much velocity with a 20" barrel over a 22" or 24". In a .30 cal or under yes, barrel length makes a difference.

 

[remingtonman]

The AR15 chambered in 458 socom with 11 rounds in semi-auto seems like a good option especially when it's not freezing. Now, when it comes to freezing temps and ice forming I don't trust the AR platform.

The owner of Buffalobore has used his 458 socom ammo on 2,000lb+ pound bison, AK/Yukon moose and brown bear and never recovered a bullet, complete pass through.

I do like the Ruger Guide Gun with 20" inch barrel chambered in 375 Ruger. My question is about that barrel length, should I look for a rifle with a longer barrel length for the added velocity or is a 20" inch barrel plenty?

You should also check out the 9.3x62 mauser for bear defense. A 286gr partition would be perfect for your criteria and the recoil isn't horrible either.
Brass is relatively cheap, ammo isn't insanely expensive & it's very easy to hand load if you go that route.

 

[Thebear_78]

Just curious. Are you talking 12 gauge slugs, buckshot, or both not working well? I would think the 50 Beowulf in a AR platform should work well too. 338 Federal is all but dead but you can still neck up brass and load for it. I'm just not sure how reliable an AR would be in extreme cold.

I have been very unimpressed with 12ga performance on bears. The few times I've seen it attempted it wasn't effective and it took a rifle to finish things off. Slugs penetrated poorly and buckshot nearly made it into the body cavity on a smaller brown bear. Granted these were the softer foster style slugs. If you had to use a shotgun a hard cast or Monometal slug would be the only thing I would attempt. Any way you shake it I would stick with a rifle if you mean business.