Can anyone identify this gun? - LIFE BELOW ZERO (Netflix)

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bobknob

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I'm doing some research for a movie script involving grizzly bears, and in the first ep of the show LIFE BELOW ZERO on Netflix, one character showed this gun that she uses for bears. Anyone know what gun this is?

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https://ibb.co/c8Fuvk

Also, any other guns you'd recommend to write in a script for hunting grizzlies? I've heard the .45-70 round is fairly common.

Question #2. Also, anyone know of a gun that LOOKS big but is pretty weak. The scene involves the characters gearing up and one character is all about the showiness of their gun but another character points out that it looks big but is useless for hunting a bear.

Thanks in advance for you help! :)
 
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I have never seen the show but from the picture provided, it looks like an AR-10 with is a semiautomatic rifle typically chambered in .308 Winchester, similar to but larger than an AR 15. It's used because it's a heavy bullet, moving relatively fast, is short and easy to handle, and can quickly fire up to 20 rounds of ammunition.

The .45-70 is a common round for dangerous game hunting. I believe Mosin Nagant Rifles (91/30 or M44 Carbine) show up a lot on the show as they are cheap, powerful, and simple. Shotguns with slugs and big bore revolvers (such as .44 Magnum) are supposedly popular also. Double rifles are sometimes popular with big game hunters because of the fast follow up shots but only have 2 rounds. There are a number of rounds, both common and exotic, which could fit the bill in either a double rifle or bolt action rifle.
 
That looks like a skinny barrel for .308. And if you look just ahead of the forward heat shield, it looks to me like that barrel is actually an M4 profile. I think that's just an AR-15 ... which I wouldn't use for Alaskan bears.
 
It would be helpful to know when and where the movie will be set. Rifles and cartridges tend to fall in an out of favor, with new cartridges taking the place of old standards. This often occurs along geographical lines. In remote areas where grizzly-bear hunting is likely to be taking place, a firearm's popularity is often driven by the types of ammunition that are readily available.

In many instances, a cartridges' popularity may spike depending on what types of military-surplus rifles are most readily available, as these have historically been (and to some extent remain) the cheapest high-powered rifles on the market, and are typically very tough and well-suited to harsh conditions. The Mosin-Nagant is an example of this, as is the .45-70 cartridge, which was used in the 19th-century U.S. Army Springfield Model 1873 infantry rifle.
 
Aguila,
I had the same thoughts about the rifle being kind of small for a .308 but the mag well does look rather large. I also agree that the .308 makes far more sense than .223 for grizzlies which is why I went with my gut on it being an AR 10.
 
I'm doing some research for a movie script
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Stupid is far more common than evil.
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While I sincerely believe in the 'stupid is far more common than evil' quote that another member posted elsewhere on this site, the conspiracy nut within me is beginning to suspect the gun gaffs in movies and books are being done on purpose just to get a rise out of all the gun folk and some cheap publicity.

I mean can Stephen King and Lee Child really be that ignorant???

One best selling Southern lady author has her heroine working in the family GUN STORE for heaven sakes and while the heroine is supposed to be an expert on all things firearm related it eventually becomes clear that the author doesn't know the difference between the cylinder and the barrel of a revolver!!! The author credits 32 people with providing her input on her book. (For goodness sake, with 32 advisors she could have just let each of them write half a chapter and she would have been done!) Does anybody expect me to believe none of those 32 people caught the numerous firearm faux pas's she sprinkled through the manuscript???

I suspect you writers have started twisting our tails on purpose!
 
dakota.potts said:
Aguila,
I had the same thoughts about the rifle being kind of small for a .308 but the mag well does look rather large. I also agree that the .308 makes far more sense than .223 for grizzlies which is why I went with my gut on it being an AR 10.
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I looked again -- at the larger photo in the link. Unforunately, the magazine well isn't easy to see, but you can see the trigger, and you know about how much space there is ahead of the trigger. Proportinally, I think the mag well is .223 size, not .308 size. And I still think the barrel looks too skinny to be .308, and it does appear to have the reduced diameter ring just forward of the handguard, so I'm still of the opinion that it's a .223/5.56 M4gery, not an AR-10.
 
I just watched the segment.

Her references to 'bear defense' are primarily in regard to a .45-70 Marlin Guide Gun and a .44 Mag Ruger Super Blackhawk, not the AR. The AR, reading between the lines, sounds like it is intended to be used more for wolves or for firing 'warning shots' at distant threats.

Whatever the AR's purpose, it definitely looks like a .308-length magazine well, with more views to examine. And there is a very brief glimpse of ammunition boxes on a bed that appear to be labeled as .308 Winchester.
 
In the segment, she's unpacking the Guide Gun and AR, which are both brand new; and getting her gear ready for a trip back up to her remote outpost after recovering from an injury and surgery. I'm sure she had something in there that was going to be installed before it was put in service.


(She's no stranger to 'reality' TV. She's been featured on several other shows, due to the station she maintains -- and her record of surviving bear attacks. She isn't stupid, and knows how to prepare for living 350+ miles from the closest human. I'm sure she has it figured out.)
 
Original post by FrankenMauser

Her references to 'bear defense' are primarily in regard to a .45-70 Marlin Guide Gun and a .44 Mag Ruger Super Blackhawk, not the AR. The AR, reading between the lines, sounds like it is intended to be used more for wolves or for firing 'warning shots' at distant threats.
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Thanks for the clarification and the specific guns that she WAS referring to in regards to bears. Much appreciated!

Any recommendations for a BFG (rifle or handgun) that the newbie character might have bought that LOOKS powerful, but wouldn't be effective against a bear? Something perhaps like this... (but maybe not as ridiculous)

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Wonder if they knew that was an empty chamber flag or just used the gun as handed to them?

Sights? Apparently it's only for bears once they are at arms length.
 
LOL that's Sue. If you watch that show you'd see she likes guns, has all sorts of them. However, the more you watch it, the more you'll she cant shoot for poop. Which seems to be the case with most of those Alaskan reality shows.

The group I like (and seem the most realistic) is the native family. Their rifles look more realistic based on the guns I've seen those natives use. They aren't real good about taking care of their guns, not into purty, more of function.

They shoot what's cheap, not a lot jobs up there. Natives arnt big on big guns either. You'll find some sort of 223 being the most common. Though do to the prices, Mosin's became common after the National Guard tighten'ed their ammo policy.

The 22 centerfires are their preferred caribou gun.

Those shows are more about drama then reality.

As to the natives and their guns. They sometimes tend to leave them in their boats and sometimes forget them until the next spring. When I lived with them I ran across a guy who traveled the villages buying up junk guns stripping them and selling the parts.

He sold me "6" Model 70 Actions, $235 for the lot. I think he spent all his money on ivory and needed to get back to Anchorage. Anyway I put together some darn nice rifles with those actions.

Anyway, If I thought there was any truth to those Alaskan shows, I'd go back and get a job teaching those people how to shoot, I'd get rich.

The truth be told, those big guns aren't near as common in the bush as they are in the cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks.
 
Question #2. Also, anyone know of a gun that LOOKS big but is pretty weak.
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Tough one there......

Even a .22 long works...

The story is off a little though.
The bear went down for good after being shot once in the head.
The circle of shots mentioned were put there for "insurance".
 
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rickyrick said:
...LOOKS big but is pretty weak.
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HiPoint pistols look like train engines with handles.
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But the really BIG Hi-Points are the .45s, and we all know that a single .45 ACP will pick up a 300-pound man and throw him 15 feet across a room ...

The 9mm Hi-Points are, by comparison, wimpy little things that almost look like regular guns.
 
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