Advice needed - what's your 'camp gun' when camping in BEAR country

[tank_monkey]

I'm talking possibly Grizzly territory. I always carried a S&W Model29 Classic for Grizzley, but I may be going up to a friend's land in Canada and they don't allow handguns, but I can take an 'unrestricted' rifle or shotgun. Thoughts? I'm not hunting, just camping, but it might be in some 'dicey' regions of the Remote Alberta/BC border area.

[Schuetzenman]

Got a .45-70 lever gun? Otherwise anything that slings 250 grain bullets at over 2000 fps would be a candidate.

[Altarboy]

Bear mace.

[l921428x]

Hope you make it up there. I would have to be with Schuetz on this. What does your buddy have laying around?
Enjoy it!!!

[Justin]

I don't think you can go wrong with a 12 Gauge shotgun. I'm not sure about what is allowed in Canada for non-citizens though.

[weevil]

Definitely a 12 ga shotgun loaded with slugs.

If that don't stop them nothing will. Most encounters are gonna be up close and personal so a rifle doesn't offer much advantage and a 12 ga slug is a lot more devastating than even the best rifle rounds, and you're not likely to get off a whole lot of rounds before it's on ya, so hi-cap isn't a strong point either.

That and the fact that there aren't many restrictions of any kind anywhere on shotguns.

[tank_monkey]

Hope you make it up there. I would have to be with Schuetz on this. What does your buddy have laying around?
Enjoy it!!!

I was actually thinking of just using HIS M44 Mosin Carbine. I always liked the M44 carbine and the 7.62x54R cartridge has to be better than a handgun round, no? I also like the additional pig sticker on that puppy as additional protection against hostile critters.

But thanks everyone for the input! I can tell that most folks like the 12 gauge with slugs. Either one of these guns I can borrow from my buddy when I arrive. I wasn't planning on bringing anything into Canada being that I didn't want to deal with the firearms laws hassles.

Don't we have a member in the Great White North?

[Richard Simmons]

A .22LR is all you need. If a bear attacks just shoot the guy your within the leg. You don't have to out run the bear, just him.

[Schuetzenman]

I was actually thinking of just using HIS M44 Mosin Carbine. I always liked the M44 carbine and the 7.62x54R cartridge has to be better than a handgun round, no? I also like the additional pig sticker on that puppy as additional protection against hostile critters.

But thanks everyone for the input! I can tell that most folks like the 12 gauge with slugs. Either one of these guns I can borrow from my buddy when I arrive. I wasn't planning on bringing anything into Canada being that I didn't want to deal with the firearms laws hassles.

Don't we have a member in the Great White North?

The 54R round is a power factor like .30-07 but, it is a rimmed cartridge. Surplus ammo is usually the only hot rounds, most of the soft points I've seen are fairly slow. Back to the rimmed cartridge thing, I owned a lot of Mosins and not all of them would cycle ammo reliably. Also bolt lift on them is very clunky, nobody has arms long enough to cycle the bolt with the rifle shouldered using the stock bolt. You end up pulling the rifle down so you cycle and chamber a round then reshoulder it.

The 12 ga. with deer slugs will do the job if that's all you have. They hit as hard as .30-06 180 gr. bullets for striking energy.

[stevelyn]

I was actually thinking of just using HIS M44 Mosin Carbine. I always liked the M44 carbine and the 7.62x54R cartridge has to be better than a handgun round, no? I also like the additional pig sticker on that puppy as additional protection against hostile critters.

But thanks everyone for the input! I can tell that most folks like the 12 gauge with slugs. Either one of these guns I can borrow from my buddy when I arrive. I wasn't planning on bringing anything into Canada being that I didn't want to deal with the firearms laws hassles.

Don't we have a member in the Great White North?

We use 12ga with Brenneke slugs. I've dumped several bears with it. Just make sure you get the 1 1/8oz Classic Magnum or heavier. It'll shoot through a bear broadside and will crash through brisket and shoulder bones in a similar manner as hard-cast pistol bullets. Stay away from Foster slugs. They are constructed like a sewing thimble and are made of soft lead that will flatten out on bone or large muscle mass.

[tank_monkey]

...in Canada and they don't allow handguns....

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I'm going to try and see if he has a 12 gauge with slugs, pretty sure he does. I'm not bringing anything over the border myself, too much hassle. Also for all the responders who kept on advising me as to what handgun I should use, LOL, thanks but in the original post, I stated that I can't bring a handgun into the God Forsaken Libtard Country of the North hahahaha. Thanks anyway, and I'll use that info for when I camp in the USA

I'm still enamored with the idea of the M44 Carbine with the bayonet extended. Maybe it's a silly notion about a spear like weapon in addition to a firearm. It's a standoff weapon if the critter is close. Once when I was hiking with a buddy in the High desert of Nevada, I had a bayonet mounted to my M1A when I hear growling near the campside at midnight once.

Again, I'm NOT bringing anything over the border, so I have to use what's already there. I'll let y'all know what he has when I find out

[l921428x]

Yeah you really should read a thread before you post. But.....

[tank_monkey]

Yeah you really should read a thread before you post. But.....

Yeah, I still liked some of the handgun comments. That advice I'll take when I'm hiking or camping in dangerous areas in the United States ... that is until the LIBTARDS turn us into a Gun Free Utopia.......