Polar bear rifle, what would you use?

[Come and take it.]

12 or 10 guage with slugs or 000 buckshot.

 

[Old Grump]

Buckshot vs 1500 pounds of thick hair, muscle and huge teeth and claws. By the time the bear was close enough for buckshot to be effective you would be a very sad fellow because you have no idea how fast they can move or how much it takes to put them down. Even a 30-30 is far Superior because the bullet can penetrate in far enough to reach the vitals. It's not even an optimum round for a 150 pound deer. Why would you use it on something that wants to eat you? I'm not putting down the buckshot recommenders I just want to know what your reasoning is. What makes you think it is such a deadly round that you would trust your life to it against a Grizzly or polar bear.

Size relative to a 6-ft man:

Type: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore
Average life span in the wild: 25 to 30 years
Size: Head and body: 7.25 to 8 ft
Weight: 900 to 1,600 lbs

Against a boogerman breaking into your shop, home or apartment is one thing but a bear? I am really confused. Do you know something about buckshot most of us don't or am I the ignorant one?

 

[Ignition Override]

As somebody stated, seeing it first at a distance must be the key point, as with our soldiers and the Taliban etc.

If you can find a "National Geographic" magazine from '96 or '97, there is an article about the northern Canadian Inuit Tribe. Some of these guys are the border patrol, and in the 90s were issued Enfield #4 rifles by the Can. govt!

A photo shows a guy just standing next to his snowmobile, aiming his "underpowered" (many people claim) Enfield at the bear. He seems to be about 150 feet or less from the huge beast.

The bear reportedly dropped and died from the first shot, although I could not be certain that only one shot was taken.
I'm curious how the Inuit could have gotten so close on such a noisy machine (?), then found the nerve to stand on his feet for the shot.
The limited photo indicates flat, smooth snowy ground.

Years ago there were media reports that a photographer set up his camera near a polar bear. Maybe he took his eyes off the bear for just a short while?
The bear sneaked around in a circular path (maybe behind some obstacles), attacked from the rear, and killed the guy.

 

[Rifleman1776]

There is a town in British Columbia that has a polar bear infestation every year. There are occasional documentaries on TV about the phenonomon. The people there almost universally carry .308s for protection.

 

[Mk VII]

Coroner's inquest resumes prompting an update on this thread.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...tml?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Looks like bad drills with the Mauser 98k. Most seem to have been unaware of how the safety mechanism works. Told not to use it but do a "Make Safe" (in British Army parlance) instead. Granted there's a case for doing that, but if the safety gets applied 'somehow' then you need to know how it releases. Report of judge's inquiry on the expedition here: http://www.britishexploring.org/Portals/4/inquest/Chanzin Inquiry Report (redacted).pdf suggests safety flag was in the middle position. Poor familiarity with firearms generally, only to be expected with British people.

 

[green_MTman]

a .300 win mag with 200 gr. should do it,or anything more powerfull.seeing it first is more important then firepower.rig a circle of bells outside your tent that could work as an alarm.

you would be better with a .270 and have a warning then reaching for a 300 or 338 magnum just as the bear breaks open your tent.


who said .22WMR would work on polar bear,yes 22 rimfires have killed bears but mostly when they get shoved into the bears mouth at close range and cracked the skull.this happens when a 22 rifle is all that one has.

a norwegian man was killed by a polar when she emptied a 10 clip mag of 22lr into a polar bear

 

[WV_gunner]

Since this is protection not hunting, I vote for a .405 Winchester 1895. If money isn't an issue how about a 2 bore? I don't believe I own a gun I'd trust for polar bear defense. I have hunted black bear with a single shot but that's a much smaller bear afraid of its own shadow and that's hunting, not for protection.

 

[Ruger480]

Think I would choose the 458 SOCOM. Mostly for the rapid round count.

 

[seeker_two]

Anything that fires the 40mm grenade should do nicely....

 

[alaskabushman]

I purposefully live in a part of Alaska where I dont have to worry about polar bears! I see its already been mentioned that the Eskimos prefer .223. I dont know how true that is, but I do know that there would NOT be a large selection of ammo at these remote inland (or coastal) villages. It makes sense then that common things like 30-06, .243 and .223 would be popular, because thats the only option. Bears don't really have tough thick skin like a lot of African big game, so the heavy thumpers used there might not be necessary. I would say a .375 H&H would be a good top-end choice in a rifle, and as much as I hate the .454 Casull that would probably be a decent sidearm choice. In reality though I would feel comfortable with a 30-06 (with some 200 grainers) and a .44 mag.

 

[Art Eatman]

Let's follow Mk VII's URLs in this resurrection.

Three things stand out as to the tragedy: 1, a very old bear in poor condition. Way below normal weight; worn teeth. 2, the alarm system equipment was not "up to snuff" in either quality or quantity. 3, a definite lack of familiarity, much less, skill, with the rifle.

 

[Pond James Pond]

I have no idea which caliber, nor which model I'd choose, except that I'd steer clear of a semi-auto: this is the Arctic.
It is quite cold...
Things seize in the cold...

 

[HiBC]

I think your .375 is correct.Very similar to mine.Mine is a 375 Taylor.I neck down .458's.Its on an old commercial FN Supreme.

I had an Alaskan experience with a large black bear.6 ft 6 in nose to tail.Hardly a Polar.

I had a 12 ga Win 97 loaded with Foster slugs.

This bear bit my wife through the tent.We were 200 river miles from the Haul Road that follows the pipeline.

He declined my invitation to leave.

First shot,frontal,he was erect.I put the bead on his nose and fired.Range,I'd guess 30 yd.+/-10 yd.

Slug hit lower incisor teeth.Bear went down,got back up.

He was shaking his head.I saw axis of rotation in his neck.Fired on that.Put him down.

First shot,slug turned to lead flakes.Maybe 6 in penetration.Failure.

Second shot,stopped at spine,slug in fragments.Did the job,nothing extra.

IMO,shotgun with Foster slug,despite popularity,is highly over rated.

I would not consider buckshot.You need to penetrate and break.

I would agree,some of the specialty slugs might work great.

I would also agree,for a precise,surgical shot,the .303 Brit,30-40 Krag,.308,etc,with proper heavy bullet would work .180 to 220 gr at about 2400 will penetrate pretty well.

Its not like I am an Alaska bear expert,but a 375 would suit me.First choice.

 

[aaronsc]

I have no idea which caliber, nor which model I'd choose, except that I'd steer clear of a semi-auto: this is the Arctic.
It is quite cold...
Things seize in the cold...

I agree. I'm surprised to see all the semi-auto suggestions, especially when some dismiss a bolt gun because of freezing.

I personally would choose claymores.

 

[reynolds357]

Thankfully I dont have to worry about White Bears down here in heat wave land. I guess If I were going to to go to Polar Bear World, I would take my .350 Rem Mag. Guide gun.

 

[JD0x0]

BAR in .300 win mag with 240 grain soft points. 4 shots, but it's not likely you'd need more than that, and it's not likely that you'd have time to fire off all 4 shots.

Next logical step up from there would be .338 lapua or 45-70/.458 win IMO. I wouldn't mess around with a 12 GA personally, unless it's a semi auto loaded with HEAVY slugs that are known to feed reliably.

 

[40-82]

The last time I was in polar bear country I carried a 40-65 1886 Winchester which fires a 260 grain bullet about 1800 fps. Bigger would have suited me better If I'd had it, but I didn't run into any trouble with polar bears.

My suggestion would be that your rifle is fine, but before you settled on using the telescopic sight try it in the dark. For hunting a telescopic sight is an advantage at 10 feet or less in low or no light, when you're just trying to save your life it may not work as well.

I also don't discount a shotgun with buckshot. At twenty yards buckshot is a very poor choice. At twenty feet or less, which is more realistically what you're going to wake up to, a load of buckshot in the face outperforms a rifle.

 

[Unlicensed Dremel]

The point of this resurrection is the inquest findings.... the non-tripwire, gun-related part is:

Describing the incident, Sir David explained how the bear had approached through the north-western side of the trip-wire system but none of the warning mines had exploded.
It then ripped open the tent on Horatio's side and dragged him out, causing potentially fatal head wounds.
The rest of the camp woke up to screaming and shouts of 'bear!'.
Horatio appeared to try and sit up and stand but the bear reared up and slammed into him, pushing him to the ground. He was not seen to move again, the report says.
There was then a shambolic scramble for guns, but no one in the team could work the rifles.
'In the meantime,' he writes, '[one of the leaders] had got hold of the rifle. He operated the bolt to seek to load and cock the rifle but it failed to fire.
He operated the bolt on three or four more occasions without causing the rifle to fire. On each occasion a bullet was ejected on to the ground leaving the rifle empty.
'The bear then turned on [the leader] and mauled him about the head. He dropped the gun. [The other leader] had previously emerged from the rear of the leaders' tent.
'He was unable to pick up the gun as the bear was over it.
'He realised that, having seen the attempts to shoot the bear fail, he needed the spare bullets but was not immediately conscious of where they were and shouted for help in finding them.'
Unable to load a pen flare, he started throwing stones at the bear - which turned on him and mauled him too.
The bear continued to move between the bodies of Horatio and the two leaders, while attacking other members of the group as they tried to flee.
Sir David described how some members of the camp had managed to escape to about 20 metres from the scene.
He continued: '[The first leader] now managed to find one of the bullets that had been ejected, went back into the front of the tent to retrieve the rifle, loaded the rifle and, as the bear came back close to him, shot it dead.'

Shaking my head. These poor city kids need to be taught on rifles, if they're gonna have one and rely upon it (obviously).

OK, to answer the obligatory 3-year old question... Marlin 1895 SBL

 

[agtman]

Polar bear rifle - what would you use?

For me, the minimum cartridge would be a .375 H&H magnum.

BRNO 602 in .375 H&H Mag.


Were my .404 Jeffrey CZ rifle housed in a synthetic stock, that would be THE go-to big bore for dispatching any of the Alaskan/Polar Region bruins, and not just those cute, cuddly polar bears.

 

[jglsprings]

How nice to see that even after all these years on this thread the 375 is still the go-to bear rifle.

It is the standard by which all others are measured.