I enjoy going to the range 2-3 times a month with my 9mm Sig and am quite happy with my results but now I'm hoping to tap into some wisdom involving a completely different situation. I'm going to find myself in the upcoming years hiking in the high mountains in bear country. I want to be able to carry a firearm that will kill or at least turn a charging bear that I would come up on by accident. A revolver like a .454 or.460 or .500 in a holster would be convenient to access but I'm afraid that because the encounter would happen so fast and so much adrenaline would be gushing through me, I may not be able to get the controlled, accurate shots that I'd need. I also don't want to depend on proper wind direction, for pepper spray.
For the purposes of this discussion I'll let you know that I'll practice on a regular basis with whatever solution we come up with and that includes testing different loads to maximize reliability. I'll always have the gun properly cleaned and lubricated, as well. In my scenario, let's also say that from the time I raise the weapon up and get a line of sight, I have only two seconds to save my life. Realistically a bear charging straight at me presents a small target (head or just below the nose) so I'm thinking what would happen is I'll knock it down, change my shooting angle and deliver the final kill shot(s).
Right now, I'm leading toward a 12 gauge semi-auto shotgun, 18.5" barrel with a sling. I know that a pump is more reliable but given the very short amount of reaction time I'll have, I'll probably get only two, maybe three shots off with a pump. Working a pump under that much stress WILL work against me. I started to look at semi-auto shotguns that 3-gunners use (because of fast cycle times and being able to handle combinations of different loads) and I'm leaning toward a Beretta 1301 Comp. I could get 5 maybe 6 shots off in two seconds and still stay on target. Any thoughts?
Ammo: Shooting a combination of 3" Brenneke slugs and either 00 or 000? That would give me a little more margin of error. Would a solution in 3 1/2" shells in a 10 ga be too hard to control in a rapid shooting situation? Here's also something I've never seen talked about on forum boards...I know you can get 12 ga pepper rounds but they are only effective at fairly close range. Would they be effective at all on bears or would there be too little pepper concentration to bet my life on? Also what about one of my rounds being a 12 ga dragons breath? I'm not looking to burn a forest down but if I could turn the bear away and not have to kill it, would that be an option?
Rick
For the purposes of this discussion I'll let you know that I'll practice on a regular basis with whatever solution we come up with and that includes testing different loads to maximize reliability. I'll always have the gun properly cleaned and lubricated, as well. In my scenario, let's also say that from the time I raise the weapon up and get a line of sight, I have only two seconds to save my life. Realistically a bear charging straight at me presents a small target (head or just below the nose) so I'm thinking what would happen is I'll knock it down, change my shooting angle and deliver the final kill shot(s).
Right now, I'm leading toward a 12 gauge semi-auto shotgun, 18.5" barrel with a sling. I know that a pump is more reliable but given the very short amount of reaction time I'll have, I'll probably get only two, maybe three shots off with a pump. Working a pump under that much stress WILL work against me. I started to look at semi-auto shotguns that 3-gunners use (because of fast cycle times and being able to handle combinations of different loads) and I'm leaning toward a Beretta 1301 Comp. I could get 5 maybe 6 shots off in two seconds and still stay on target. Any thoughts?
Ammo: Shooting a combination of 3" Brenneke slugs and either 00 or 000? That would give me a little more margin of error. Would a solution in 3 1/2" shells in a 10 ga be too hard to control in a rapid shooting situation? Here's also something I've never seen talked about on forum boards...I know you can get 12 ga pepper rounds but they are only effective at fairly close range. Would they be effective at all on bears or would there be too little pepper concentration to bet my life on? Also what about one of my rounds being a 12 ga dragons breath? I'm not looking to burn a forest down but if I could turn the bear away and not have to kill it, would that be an option?
Rick