What kind of gun for polar bears?

Marlin 1895
I love the .45-70. This one is great. Has a big loop lever so you can wear gloves and still work the action. This is a great gun.

Whatever you decide, you need to make yourself proficient. If you really do have a polar bear charging you, your adrenaline will probably be working overtime, and you want to be sure you are well-practiced.

A fucking big one...

What about a 12g with sabot slugs? Guys use those things for grizzlies.

S&W 460 or 500 pistol. One of the guys I worked with had a place in Alaska an he carried a 500 short barreled revolver with him all the time up there.

I have fired the 460, its great. Big, but the recoil isnt that bad.

One problem with large heavy rounds that kick hard is getting people to not flinch. Biggest caliber in the world doenst do shit if you miss what you are aiming at.

African PH's usually carry .375 or larger bolt or side by side to clean up after a clients messy or missed shot on dangerous game. A pissed off elephant with a round in its trunk instead of brain is pretty much going to smash you to goo.....

Ammo selection is a big issue too. Dont want over penetration but dont want something too soft that it wont penetrate.

As far as gloves, find a pair that you can shoot with comfortably but still maintain dexterity. If the gloves you have dont do the trick to ward off the cold, keep your shooting hand in your pocket or a warming sleeve. Not a whole lot of guns out there with a trigger guard big enough to get a heavy gloved finger into.

If your guys do things correctly you should have 1 guy on watch at all times while the rest are doing their thing. We call it guardian angel concept.

I have limited knowledge of military firearms, but I'm guessing shotguns with slugs will be chosen. I don't think the military uses much else that will qualify as good bear medicine. I believe any of the large caliber rifles used by the military come in a platform too unwieldy for use as bear protection.

If they think outside the box, there are a number of large caliber rifle options that would be more ideal, but I bet the shotgun gets the nod. For what you describe, I would chose a short-ish barreled bolt action chambered for at least 375 H&H. Bigger is better as long as you can handle the recoil.

I'll take a guess and say that Benelli M4 shotguns and Brenneke slugs will be chosen.

Remington 870 12 gauge with slugs and a rubber bullet in the chamber.

454 Kasull. Its designed exactly for what you are doing. Way more portable than a shotgun and ammo is somewhat available.

lanceputnam said:

454 Kasull. Its designed exactly for what you are doing. Way more portable than a shotgun and ammo is somewhat available.

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And someone not used to the power will be wearing it as a hat after the first shot.

Powerful weapons cannot just be jumped into. It can takes months or years to work up the ability to comfortably handle heavy recoil and be able to hit your target.

Some people just flat can't shoot anything like that, no matter how hard they try.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UTqo-4KUbA0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Note the flinch at :23. Also note that while they sweep the camera past her ass they neglect to show you the target.

stu454 said:

Also note that while they sweep the camera past her ass they neglect to show you the target.

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So? The ass shot was the best part of that video....

jrose609 said:

Marlin 1895
I love the .45-70. This one is great. Has a big loop lever so you can wear gloves and still work the action. This is a great gun.

Whatever you decide, you need to make yourself proficient. If you really do have a polar bear charging you, your adrenaline will probably be working overtime, and you want to be sure you are well-practiced.

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^^^This. No more kick than your average 12ga.

Load up with 450 or 500g solids, and put a peep sight on the rear (get rid of the leaf sight), and you can kill anything on the planet.

Although, coming out of a military armory, it will likely be a 12ga with slugs.

.375 H&H Mag or .458 Win Mag.

lanceputnam said:

454 Kasull. Its designed exactly for what you are doing. Way more portable than a shotgun and ammo is somewhat available.

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Any handgun is a crappy substitute for a rifle or shotgun for bear defense. It doesn't matter how powerful it is or what it was designed for. The 454 Casull shoots a 300 grain bullet at what? 1600 fps? A 12 ga will fire a slug of twice that mass at 1500 fps. It doesn't take a lot of mathematics to figure out that the Casull isn't really the best tool for the job. When the amount of training required to shoot any handgun accurately under stress is taken into account, the long guns are the obvious answer. The amount of recoil being dealt with here only detracts further from the handguns sole advantage of being easier to carry.

If you really value your life (and can handle the recoil), something like a 458 Lott shooting a controlled expansion 500 gr bullet at 2200 fps or so would certainly give one a little confidence if the unthinkable happened.

FWIW, I would not use solids or rubber bullets. Solids are designed to penetrate deeply into thick skinned creatures. To kill something very quickly, you want good expansion and plenty of penetration. Let as much blood out as quickly as possible or disrupt the central nervous system. The latter isn't the easiest to do on a moving animal in a stressful situation. A controlled expansion bullet or hard cast slug should give the desired effect given enough mass and velocity.

A rubber bullet might work I suppose, but if you only get the chance to get off one quick shot you might be regretting having that less-lethal in the chamber. If you're aiming the gun at the bear and squeezing the trigger, you're in a really bad situation. You should be prepared to kill the bear at this point. You'll have to explain yourself to the authorities either way. Using a rubber bullet in that situation gives the impression that it may not have been necessary to shoot the animal.

I see a lot of talk about shotguns and agree they are a good option but just make sure they have slug barrels. Out of smooth bores groups can get big and if you have one shot at a charging bear shooting something with a 8" pattern doesn't make me feel warm and cozy. Oh, forget the rubber bullet. If it needs shot it needs shot, if you are just trying to scare it you can always shoot in the air.

ROVERT said:

FWIW, I would not use solids or rubber bullets. Solids are designed to penetrate deeply into thick skinned creatures. To kill something very quickly, you want good expansion and plenty of penetration. Let as much blood out as quickly as possible or disrupt the central nervous system. The latter isn't the easiest to do on a moving animal in a stressful situation. A controlled expansion bullet or hard cast slug should give the desired effect given enough mass and velocity.

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I'll disagree with you a bit here (hey, it's the internet!)-

On dangerous game at close quarters (and you would not want to be shooting a polar bear > 10 yards or get the wrath of the game wardens), bleeding out is not a good solution - you'll be quite mauled.

The general consensus is solids - to penetrate the skull or break bones (to stop it dead). And, really, how much expansion is needed when you are making a 1/2" hole (.45cal +) anyway.

And my recomendation on the Marlin vs shotgun or bolt (.458Win) is weight and ease of use. The Marlin is lighter than a comparable sized pump gun and getting that second shot off is easier with the lever gun.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree. A bear is not thick skinned dangerous game. That is where the need for solids comes into play. With thick skinned dangerous game, expansion must be sacrificed to ensure adequate penetration. In a bear, a heavy controlled expansion bullet will give you all the penetration you need and make a bigger hole. It will still easily smash through bones and skulls.

On a charging bear you're not going to have the option of taking out both front shoulders with one shot anyway. The brain is obviously the quickest way to stop this bear, but also a more difficult shot. If you have to take a center mass shot at a bear coming head on you'd better believe you want to make the biggest hole possible. I really would go with a controlled expansion or hard cast.

Man up and go old school.Just bring a Bowie knife.

I say 12g shotgun, loaded with Brenekke slugs. At the close range you'll be shooting at a bear, smoothbore should be fine. We qualify at 50yards with 14" smooth bore slug barrels, using remington sluggers at standard Q targets. With a bear coming at you, your not going to be worrying about precise shot placement, as much as getting lead into said bear.

And of course a Bowie knife

I agree with the 12 ga slug suggestions. All they gave me for Polar bears was an 18yr kid with an M16. Both were useless.

If it's coming out of military then why not this? It's called the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System. 25 mil exploding round. About to be deployed to Afghanistan. Can't seem to upload the photo.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=_nvTvMJVPsQ&desktop_uri=/watch?v=_nvTvMJVPsQ

Take THAT polar bear!