Grizzly defense with a Shotgun
- Thread starter Slugman1187
- Start date
Don Fischer
New member
Somewhere around here I have the book, "Alaska Bear Trails". Great book, I read some to a nephew on a camping trip years ago and he didn't get one minute's sleep that night!
In the book it talk's about shotgun's on bears and as I recall only the 12ga with slugs were really useable and then only at close range. They shot a Grizzly head at 20' with the 20ga and a slug and the shug was deflected away but the head. At the same distance a 12ga slug merely cracked the skull. If I was out hunting, I would not give up my rifle for a shotgun but if I was along fishing with other people I think a 12ga would be the thing to have. When I went fishing in Alaska with friend's I took along my 308 with 200gr bullet's. When I went fishing alone, I took my fishing rod!
In the book it talk's about shotgun's on bears and as I recall only the 12ga with slugs were really useable and then only at close range. They shot a Grizzly head at 20' with the 20ga and a slug and the shug was deflected away but the head. At the same distance a 12ga slug merely cracked the skull. If I was out hunting, I would not give up my rifle for a shotgun but if I was along fishing with other people I think a 12ga would be the thing to have. When I went fishing in Alaska with friend's I took along my 308 with 200gr bullet's. When I went fishing alone, I took my fishing rod!Unless you're John Wick,
... skip the fantasy of trying to stop 800lbs of charging, p.o.-ed Grizzly with a 12ga. Use a .375H&H or something similar in the magnum rifle class.
If I could source one, an M1 Garand chambered in .458 Win Mag would be ideal medicine for stopping the Big Bruins.
See here: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/07/06/oood-mccann-industries-458-win-mag-garand/
If the bear free zones work as well as the gun free zones, expect to find bits of shredded clothing and not much else...
Last edited:
A most interesting thread!
Why? Simply that so many comments do not reflect the reality of shotgun ammunition options available today.
Foster slugs: These nose heavy lead thimbles are for the most part made of soft lead, have a marketing department driven "hollow point" and readily break apart when striking medium game like deer.
Foster slugs - The exception: Federal's Deep Penetrator slug. This foster type slug is still a nose heavy lead thimble - only made of a harder alloy with a thicker reduced diameter solid nose section. These usually demonstrate slightly deeper penetration than one ounce "original Brenneke slugs in calibrated ballistic gelatin.
The bore diameter sections of all Foster type slugs are over the hollow area to allow safe passage through choke constriction. The basic Foster slug design dates back to the 1930s.
Brenneke Slugs: This design dates back to the closing years of the 19th century. The design consists of a harder lead core with a ring of soft swaged lead "rifling" to allow safe passage through choke constriction. This design has a long standing reputation as a penetrating slug.
Other drag attached slug designs: Usually have a soft lead hollow core design with an attached plastic wad.
Sabot Slugs: Reduced diameter slugs encased by a sabot for in barrel passage, these are designed primarily to extend the range of rifled shotguns for use on medium game.
Dixie Slugs: These 730 to 870 grain slugs were designed in the early 2000s by a former Winchester, Smith & Wesson, and Fiocchi ammunition designer. The designs, inspired by the legendary Paradox big game slugs of the late 19th century, are made for modern rifled shotgun barrels. For maximum penetration these slugs are cast from "...standard bullet alloy and heat-treated." The IXL-DGS also has a weight forward design that can be used in certain .729/.730 inch CYLINDER ONLY smoothbores for short range defense. Solid slugs of this type are not suitable for reduced bore size or choke bored shotguns.
It seems to be a no-brainer as to which of the slugs discussed would offer the greatest bone breaking penetration potential.
Buckshot: Traditionally these multiple ball shotgun loads have been associated with short range medium game hunting - although at times these have been pressed into use on larger game with mixed success.
For larger game traditional buckshot loads suffer from soft lead construction and low projectile mass that limits penetration.
Dixie Tri-Ball Buckshot: This choke friendly three pellet buckshot load was designed to overcome the twin problems of low projectile mass and soft lead construction. The three inch 12 gauge Tri-Ball buckshot round contains three, sixty caliber 315 grain hard cast lead pellets in a tough plastic wad/shot cup. In my experience this load fires its 945 grain payload into exceptionally tight, deep penetrating patterns at normal shotgun ranges from ordinary modified to full choke shotguns.
Again, it seems to be a no brainer which buckshot load would stand the best chance of stopping a large predator - particularly at close distances when the pellets would strike in-line.
Previous posts in this thread document the short range penetration potential of heavy hard cast slugs and large inline buckshot loads in comparison to known big game rifles at close cover distances.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I have no financial affiliation with any of the firms mentioned.
Why? Simply that so many comments do not reflect the reality of shotgun ammunition options available today.
Foster slugs: These nose heavy lead thimbles are for the most part made of soft lead, have a marketing department driven "hollow point" and readily break apart when striking medium game like deer.
Foster slugs - The exception: Federal's Deep Penetrator slug. This foster type slug is still a nose heavy lead thimble - only made of a harder alloy with a thicker reduced diameter solid nose section. These usually demonstrate slightly deeper penetration than one ounce "original Brenneke slugs in calibrated ballistic gelatin.
The bore diameter sections of all Foster type slugs are over the hollow area to allow safe passage through choke constriction. The basic Foster slug design dates back to the 1930s.
Brenneke Slugs: This design dates back to the closing years of the 19th century. The design consists of a harder lead core with a ring of soft swaged lead "rifling" to allow safe passage through choke constriction. This design has a long standing reputation as a penetrating slug.
Other drag attached slug designs: Usually have a soft lead hollow core design with an attached plastic wad.
Sabot Slugs: Reduced diameter slugs encased by a sabot for in barrel passage, these are designed primarily to extend the range of rifled shotguns for use on medium game.
Dixie Slugs: These 730 to 870 grain slugs were designed in the early 2000s by a former Winchester, Smith & Wesson, and Fiocchi ammunition designer. The designs, inspired by the legendary Paradox big game slugs of the late 19th century, are made for modern rifled shotgun barrels. For maximum penetration these slugs are cast from "...standard bullet alloy and heat-treated." The IXL-DGS also has a weight forward design that can be used in certain .729/.730 inch CYLINDER ONLY smoothbores for short range defense. Solid slugs of this type are not suitable for reduced bore size or choke bored shotguns.
It seems to be a no-brainer as to which of the slugs discussed would offer the greatest bone breaking penetration potential.
Buckshot: Traditionally these multiple ball shotgun loads have been associated with short range medium game hunting - although at times these have been pressed into use on larger game with mixed success.
For larger game traditional buckshot loads suffer from soft lead construction and low projectile mass that limits penetration.
Dixie Tri-Ball Buckshot: This choke friendly three pellet buckshot load was designed to overcome the twin problems of low projectile mass and soft lead construction. The three inch 12 gauge Tri-Ball buckshot round contains three, sixty caliber 315 grain hard cast lead pellets in a tough plastic wad/shot cup. In my experience this load fires its 945 grain payload into exceptionally tight, deep penetrating patterns at normal shotgun ranges from ordinary modified to full choke shotguns.
Again, it seems to be a no brainer which buckshot load would stand the best chance of stopping a large predator - particularly at close distances when the pellets would strike in-line.
Previous posts in this thread document the short range penetration potential of heavy hard cast slugs and large inline buckshot loads in comparison to known big game rifles at close cover distances.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I have no financial affiliation with any of the firms mentioned.
Last edited:
