What would be the best milsurp bolt gun to take into grizzly or brown bear country

S

smleno1mkIII

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excluding anything in 30-06. it also has to be in its original configuration
no p17 rebarreld in 458 win mag. or mauser 98 in 35 whelen.
 
Lee-Enfield No.5 carbine. 10 rounds of 180gr .303 softpoints in a robust, reliable, compact CRF carbine with aperture sights. What's not to like?

LE No.4s are still used by the Canadian Rangers who patrol our arctic.
 
Dang, all my choices were going to be in 30-06.


How about a Winchester Hotchkiss 45-70? Or a Remington-Keene in 45-70?
 
oh very good but also very uncommon but I agree. Oh I just thought of a good one what about a Mosin M38 7.62x54R has roughly the same power as a 30-06 20inch barrel light roughly 7 lbs would also be great for someone on a buget. I've heard those wolf 203 grain soft points are killers and the dang thing is so loud even if you miss ther's a chance the noise and flash erupting from the muzzle might scare Mr. Bear away.
 
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8mm Mauser with heavy hand-loads or some stout European ammo. I think Norma makes some good stuff. American 8mm ammo is only loaded to 32 Winchester Special velocity or so. Why not a Springfield or 1917 in .30-'06?
 
8mm Mauser is a good round. If you want to go with black powder then the 11mm Mauser or one of the 50 caliber repeaters such as a Spencer might be ok.

There were some very large caliber rounds used during WWI. iirc a 20+mm Mauser and similar rifles used by the allies.

The Winchester 1895 was issued to the Russian military in 7.62x54r.

Of course you could consider a military shotgun in 12 gauge. Several types of ammo were used in pump guns from slugs to various types of shot.
 
For me a No5 Mk1 - The 303 has taken all of Africa's big 5 game and has taken just about every kind of game on earth since the 1900's. I recommend you read Pattersons book about the Tsavo Lions that the film Ghost and the Darkness was based on. I have the book and he talks about his trusty .303 with some regularity ... then you see Rhino's on the deck.

Here's a Water Buffalo taken out by a Jungle Carbine in Australia's Northern Territory ... the .303 does just fine.

JungleCarbineBuff2.jpg


Tiki.
 
i think a Mosin m44 would do the trick, if you couldnt hit it with the first 5 shots you could bayonet it in the face :D
 
What would be the best milsurp bolt gun to take into grizzly or brown bear country
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I think the question is answered differently if I'm actually hunting bears or just traveling through bear-strewn wilderness. For the former I'd take the most accurate milsurp - either a K31 or a Finn Mosin. If it's the latter, accuracy may not be as important as portability, in which case any Mosin carbine or even an M95 would be my choice.
 
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