Ideas for camping/truck gun suitable for bear?

[mallowpufft]

Alaskapopo, I take it you are using yours for brown bear?
If it was brown bear we're talking the 45-70 is unbeatable, especially with a good 1895.
I've seen black bear brought down with 1 round of 30-30 (I'd rather have .35 remington as it's a great east coast brush gun caliber).
For the east coast 45-70 is a bit of overkill. But maybe in an oh, shit, there's a pissed off mama bear it's the best option.
I have dreams of owning an 1895 in 45-70 but until I move off the east coast it's too impractical (for me, personally).
When I'm tooling about the woods I usually have my .41 and I'm confident it will stop anything that threatens me in this neck of the woods.
But I agree with you that if I'm getting an oh shit rifle I'd rather have it in a rifle caliber.

[Alaskapopo]

Alaskapopo, I take it you are using yours for brown bear?
If it was brown bear we're talking the 45-70 is unbeatable, especially with a good 1895.
I've seen black bear brought down with 1 round of 30-30 (I'd rather have .35 remington as it's a great east coast brush gun caliber).
For the east coast 45-70 is a bit of overkill. But maybe in an oh, shit, there's a pissed off mama bear it's the best option.
I have dreams of owning an 1895 in 45-70 but until I move off the east coast it's too impractical (for me, personally).
When I'm tooling about the woods I usually have my .41 and I'm confident it will stop anything that threatens me in this neck of the woods.
But I agree with you that if I'm getting an oh shit rifle I'd rather have it in a rifle caliber.

We have both where I live but the brown bear are what I got the 45-70 for.
Pat

[WillBrink]

If you can find one a Ruger 10/44 is a sweet little deal. 4+1 in a semi auto .44mag. There are a couple versions.

I passed up on one with a tube, and regret that. Was mint condition and short $$$. I'm an idiot.

[mark5pt56]

Whatever you use, you need to depend on it to stop it from fast and close. You may be in an area that is thick and you "jump" one. I would still carry a .44 revolver as a back up with proper loads.

[lifebreath]

In bear country, I prefer to have some good bear pepper spray in a quick access holster that allows shooting from the hip. The gun wood be good for follow up, but spray is easier to deploy effectively under stress at a charging bear and will stop it.

Edit: it really depends on the activity. I'd want a good rifle to carry in a truck. I'd want the spray if I was backpacking. If I had horses or mules in the back country, I'd take both!

[digdug18]

Whats wrong with a 12ga? Your not going to have the range of a rifle if using a pumpkin ball, but it will cause some massive damage.

[g-men10455]

Op asked about the newer Marlin, run away from them! I own a pre-safety 44mag, an older 1894c (great rifles), & a newer 336 model. Every spent case fired out of the 336 has the primer sticking out. Gunbroker is a good source of older firearms.

[Averageman]

If you are wanting an inexpensive multi purpose rifle that 336 in
30-30 is a pretty good place to start.
Lots of available ammo and some recent advances in 30-30 make it much more versitile than it used to be.
I had my brother pick this one up for me while I was in Iraq. The barrel and stock were both damaged, but I wanted a short handy rifle so cutting this one down wasn't an issue.

It fits right behind the seat of my truck and was a fun project to do.

[Jake'sDad]

If you are wanting an inexpensive multi purpose rifle that 336 in
30-30 is a pretty good place to start.
Lots of available ammo and some recent advances in 30-30 make it much more versitile than it used to be.
I had my brother pick this one up for me while I was in Iraq. The barrel and stock were both damaged, but I wanted a short handy rifle so cutting this one down wasn't an issue.

It fits right behind the seat of my truck and was a fun project to do.

Is that a Ramline stock and forend?

I keep hearing that you can modify the Ramline 336 stock and forend to fit the 1895. Considering how much more any of the other synthetics are for it, I'd like to try that.

[Averageman]

No, the rifle was dropped and the stock was broken and the barrel was damaged.
The rifle stock is not a Ram Line, I did that myself.
The stock was spilt horizontally and a large chip was take out of it. I cut 1 inch of the stock off that was beyond repair and then repaired the rest. upon completing that I realized it would never look right after stripping and staining. I painted it with truck bed liner and went from there.


those pictures were taken as I did the work.