An Interesting "What If"

Of course the Internet is full of "what if" gun scenarios, up to and including a EMP that triggers a zombie outbreak in the middle of an economic collapse during the worst snow storm in history. Over at the All For Guns blog, the guys spun up an off-grid living in Alaska battery:

Consider what the Alaskan DNR says about it: "Select a gun that will stop a bear (12-gauge shotgun or .300 mag rifle) and practice firing it at a rifle range." When the people who don't want you to shoot a brown bear tell you to bring a big gun, you'd better listen. Let's not forget that the Coastal Brown Bears of Alaska are the four legged apex predator of North America. Ranging 800-1,400 pounds for grown males, which is bigger than a Rocky Mountain (inland) Grizzly by a good bit. They can and will kill anything they find appropriate in the moment. And they are meat eaters. People are made of meat. You don't want to find yourself looking eye level at a brown bear that's standing on all fours and then wish you had brought a bigger gun. That's like swimming in the ocean and then wishing you had a boat when a Great White swims past you.

Interesting "what if" story…since I own or have owned most of the firearms mentioned (except the Mosin, which IMHO make excellent lamp stands), have spent some time in Alaska and presently live 100% off-grid in Colorado, I thought I'd throw in my own $0.02-worth!

My current "hiking gun" is a 2.75-inch Redhawk .44 magnum (44 ounces, rather than the 47 ounce 4-inch). It is generally loaded with hot Buffalo Bore .44 Specials. In the spring and late fall, when our local bears are either hungry or grumpy (probably the same thing), I switch to a Ruger Alaskan in .454 Casull and Corbon hunting loads. If/when I go back to Alaska for a visit, I'll be taking the Alaskan. While I love the looks of the S&W 69 (and own several 29/629 revolvers), it is a BEAR to shoot, even with 240-gr JHPs, the baseline .44 Magnum loads. I shutter to think how the little L-Frame would handle with heavy bullet heavy loads.

As you guys already nowI used the Ruger Guide Gun in .300 Win Mag in Africa on plains game, and it worked great on an eland the size of a Prius (call it 1500 lb) and various zebra. It is my number 1 go-to rifle. I took it to FTW Ranch in Texas and spent 3 days and 300 rounds at distances from 300-800 yards. I like the .300 Win Mag over the .338 for ammo availability and versatility. My producer John Carter used a .338 Guide Gun in Africa, and he ended up severely limited in bullet choice (for example, I was using Hornady GMX bullets, which performed spectacularly; he was limited to Hornady SSTs, which proved to have not as much penetration). If I was specifically hunting brown bear (I wish!) I would go with something heavier…I've shot the Guide Gun in .416 Ruger, and given my familiarity with that platform I'd probably go that way.

Within the Lower 48, I'll always default to my .308 GUNSITE Scout…lighter, crazy accurate, incredible ammo versatility/availability, including the spectacular Hornady TAP anti-personnel ammo and the various A-Max match ammo.

Shotgun-wise, I wouldn't ever argue the 870 12-gauge. My 870 is one of the old Remington Police models, which had almost no plastic parts, rebuilt by Hans Vang, the greatest shotgun mechanic on earth. The modern selection of 12-gauge rounds pretty much negates the advantages of the Vang Comp system. My personal 870 is loaded with Hornady TAP #00 buckshot backed up with Remington Reduced Recoil Slugs, which shoot really well in that gun.

If I was going to a semi auto shotgun, I think I'd probably default to a Benelli M4. i shoot a Rem VersaMax in 3-Gun (and a Benelli Nova pump for the Heavy Metal division), but I have spent a lot of time at Benelli in Italy going through the design parameters of the M4, and it's impressive. The gun was designed from the grind up for the Marines, which pretty much says it all!

Your thoughts?