35 remington bear defence

[nelsonob1]

What do you think of a Marlin lever in 35 Rem for use as BC bear defence. I hate lugging round the shotgun defender because it has no practical hunting value.

[coach]

Honestly, do you have any idea how big, nasty and dangerous BC bears are?? Anything less than a .700 nitro express is underkill.

[.330 Dakota]

Weld a bayonet on it and call it good

[nelsonob1]

Weld a bayonet on it and call it good

^^LOL funny.

[limit time]

What do you think of a Marlin lever in 35 Rem for use as BC bear defence. I hate lugging round the shotgun defender because it has no practical hunting value.
Are you carrying two guns during hunting season?

[BiG Boar]

The force is strong with the 35 rem OB1. A big coastal grizzly would just shrug a blast to the face off, but an interior Nelson mountain bear would probably surrender immediately.

[MRP]

If u-r a good shot under presser. Its a lot better than a rock.

[Darksith]

U need to think bigger, maybe get a smithy to build a custom over under, or better yet a 3 barrel! Now we r talkin

[nelsonob1]

Are you carrying two guns during hunting season?

Bow hunting elk sometimes with young sons. Plus a camp gun during rifle season - I'm a better quick shot with the lever.

[Iron Glove]

To paraphrase the old trapper's advice when asked about using a hand gun for bear defence: "Better file down the sight so it doesn't hurt so much when the bear rams the gun up yer butt." :wink:

[Steelwheels]

Bow hunting elk sometimes with young sons. Plus a camp gun during rifle season - I'm a better quick shot with the lever.

I've been practicing with my play button on my ITunes App. I'm thinking Celine Dion should work well :mrgreen:

[olympia]

your better off googling it since all your getting are smartass answers for a legit question. Personally I think its good enough but be sure to practice with it so its not so foreign to your "muscle memory" when you do need it. Make sure your wearing your hunting gloves when your practicing, maybe even try on your hunting jacket and shoulder it so there are no surprises if you need it. Practice with it in the same attire as when you will be hunting.

[panhead]

I've been practicing with my play button on my ITunes App. I'm thinking Celine Dion should work well :mrgreen:

Feed em Justin Bieber ...

[BigfishCanada]

I carry a 44 mag rossi ranch hand, but worry about what someone said about the bear charge. I think ill get a defender, would rather shoot his eye balls out as he barrels me over that to miss with my 44.

[MRP]

Yes I would. My go to guns for walking in the woods are my new 1902 30-30 or a .44 Rossi. I'd trust a guy with a leaver action open sights over one with a over scoped cannon and a 26" truck axel for a barrel.

[257stew]

35 Rem. will do, however if you still need to acquire a gun I would lean towards a Marlin Guide gun in 45-70. If you already have a 35rem. then practice ,practice ,practice. Nothing wrong with the old 35 in a lever.

Cheers 257Stew

[257stew]

To those of you who took the question seriously and gave an honest answer or opinion. THANK YOU. To those smart ass comedians, give it a break.
If a guy has a question we should do our best to answer it. If you think a question is a joke then move on to something else.
Some of us realize the answer to "is the 308win big enough for bear" is a simple question to answer, some people starting out may not know the answer and feel they need to ask and they should ask to make themselves feel better and get what works.

Cheers 257Stew

[REDGREEN]

I would lean towards the 45 70. A 35 Remington is great for deer, black bear and moose, but bigger is much better if an enraged grizzly is about to tear you a new one.

[Darksith]

To those of you who took the question seriously and gave an honest answer or opinion. THANK YOU. To those smart ass comedians, give it a break.
If a guy has a question we should do our best to answer it. If you think a question is a joke then move on to something else.
Some of us realize the answer to "is the 308win big enough for bear" is a simple question to answer, some people starting out may not know the answer and feel they need to ask and they should ask to make themselves feel better and get what works.

Cheers 257Stew

calm down...this has been beaten to death, over and over, thus the jokes...
there is no right answer, do what makes you most comfortable. For myself I will never pack a gun simply for bear defense, it simply is too statistically small to be required, for others its a must. Some think bear spray is good enough, some need a 50 cal...

[two-feet]

If a grizz is actually on the charge and intent on trouble you will want a BIG gun. I would not trust the .35 for the job

[BiG Boar]

If you have a grizzly coming at you you'd better have some real stopping power and something you can shoot. A 22 would work if you could brain him, but I'd feel a lot more comfortable with a 700 NE. Statistically you're toast either way, so I wouldn't really put too much thought into it. Which calibre is good enough is only relative to your ability to use it or something bigger. Bow hunting I would go with bear spray.

[257stew]

calm down...this has been beaten to death, over and over, thus the jokes...
there is no right answer, do what makes you most comfortable. For myself I will never pack a gun simply for bear defense, it simply is too statistically small to be required, for others its a must. Some think bear spray is good enough, some need a 50 cal...


To those of us who have been on this site for a long time this may seem beaten to death. To a newbie it may seem like a legitimate question. Last thing we want are people not asking a question because of the possible ridicule and joking that will take place.
Better for those that may not know to ask us here on HBC, read the replies and between all of us we should get them on the right track.
Do not get me wrong, I too am a little tired of the 270vs.280,"is 308 big enough for black bear" etc. threads. But there are a lot of people out there that just do not know. Take it as a compliment that they are asking us and try and help them out.
If they are asking the question then they most likely will not get the joke. Only us long time HBC members will get the joke at their expense.

Cheers 257Stew

[olympia]

If a grizz is actually on the charge and intent on trouble you will want a BIG gun. I would not trust the .35 for the job

I agree with the first part of your answer but I don't think the op is talking about Alaskan browns and his shot is gonna stay in the 50 yard distance range, inside 50 yards I would be more confident with a 35 lever iron sights vs a .338 win scoped with a nasa telescope.

[Gateholio]

I think most of the comedians have never shot anything with a 35 Remington or they would know that a 200gr bullet at 2100fps will kick the snot out of most bears encountered in BC. I would probably reccomend something a bit bigger for use where coastal grizzly populations are dense , but the 35 Rem had been a capable killer of big animals at moderate range for a very long time.

[Iron Glove]

OK, I'm one who made flippant remark, sorry.
Now a more serious answer. When we go for walks around our cabin, I'm generally not too worried and rarely carry but when my wife accompanies me I do carry. I'm personally more concerned with cougars but we have a ton of black bears around and the odd smaller grizzley. Nearest grizzly was maybe 1 - 1.5 km. from our place so we do know that they are around.
I'll pack my Marlin 44 Mag as like you, I believe in the ability to put a lot of lead out in a hurry with a lever action. Not too worried about distance as if the bear is far off, we are just going to get outta there, not shoot. The Marlin is easy to carry, particularly in the bush. Also have a real nice Savage 99 in .308 which I am sure with a good choice of ammo would be capable of the task but I find it heavier to lug around.
If bears were not around and there were only cougars I would pack my Puma .357 as it is super light and easy to carry.

[257stew]

I think most of the comedians have never shot anything with a 35 Remington or they would know that a 200gr bullet at 2100fps will kick the snot out of most bears encountered in BC. I would probably reccomend something a bit bigger for use where coastal grizzly populations are dense , but the 35 Rem had been a capable killer of big animals at moderate range for a very long time.


I whole heartily agree.... well said...as I stated in my first post if a person has a 35rem. or really likes the Marlin 336 then go with it. A good second choice would be a guide gun in 45-70. Cheers 257Stew

[kendoo]

I hunted wit a 35 rem 600 bolt action for 20 years (was my only gun) got my moose every year, never had any trouble killing bear including 1 G-bear. Just remember keep it under a hundred yards & use 200 gr bullets if for closeup bears. What I liked was this bullet cut brush real good. I found it was hard to reload for (hard to crimp) So stuck to factory loads. After saying all that if I was packing just for bear protection I would pack the 12ga defender.

[Darksith]

To those of us who have been on this site for a long time this may seem beaten to death. To a newbie it may seem like a legitimate question. Last thing we want are people not asking a question because of the possible ridicule and joking that will take place.
Better for those that may not know to ask us here on HBC, read the replies and between all of us we should get them on the right track.
Do not get me wrong, I too am a little tired of the 270vs.280,"is 308 big enough for black bear" etc. threads. But there are a lot of people out there that just do not know. Take it as a compliment that they are asking us and try and help them out.
If they are asking the question then they most likely will not get the joke. Only us long time HBC members will get the joke at their expense.

Cheers 257Stew
never said it wasn't a legitimate question, but isn't there room for some humor on the intraweb? Its not like the comedic comments weren't so far out that it wasn't obvious what they were. No one was insulting, I saw no ridicule, no one gave advice that could be considered dangerous. You gotta wade through things, pick what you want, discard the rest, don't get insulted by comedy...lifes too short...especially if you aren't packing a 50 cal when walking in the woods ;)

[finngun]

grey bear been shot with 22lg dead,,,just hit eye on ear...but yu better be at very good shot,,,or really fast runner:mrgreen:,,or both....uups it is against regs,,:cry:

[Moose Guide]

Yes I would. My go to guns for walking in the woods are my new 1902 30-30 or a .44 Rossi. I'd trust a guy with a leaver action open sights over one with a over scoped cannon and a 26" truck axel for a barrel.

I would love to see a picture of that 1902 .30-30 I just picked up one made in 1898.

A lady that used to live just down the road shot a charging grizzly, she had to shoot over her children who were playing in the yard, she was standing on her own porch! Her rifle was a Winchester .30-30 carbine! It's not what you shoot but how well you shoot it that counts. I wouldn't choose the .35 Rem. as my grizz gun but I would gladly pack one as protection from grizz!! Just shoot well, you will probably never need it but it is better to be safer than sorrier!

[gerrygoat]

A guy I know has used the 356 Win and a 220 gr Speer for grizzly and it worked fine, that should be fairly easy to find them. The 35 Remington will work just need to shoot straight.

[Hodaka]

What do you think of a Marlin lever in 35 Rem for use as BC bear defence. I hate lugging round the shotgun defender because it has no practical hunting value.
Do you already have this gun?
Ive noticed over the years that a lot of people shy away from the 45-70 because they think it's too much of a cannon to shoot comfortably. It's not. If you happen to be in this camp, I'd love to let you try my 45-70 with my 405gr hand loads. Plenty of knock-down punch-through power, easy on the shoulder. I also have a Ranch Hand in .45 Colt with some stout hand loads that packs a similar punch on the receiving end, just getting a full length stock fitted to it. Either one is great, and can still be used for deer/elk, etc.

[todbartell]

35 Rem has plenty of frontal area and bullet weight to impress a bear at encounter distances.

[Foxton Gundogs]

There's a reason a lot of pros use a 45-70 for backup when the $hit hit the fan. If you have a 35 already, don't want to buy another rifle(can't see that being the case lol) and want to pack a rifle then it's better than some, use the heaviest best constructed bullet you can find. If you really want a "stopper" then go with a 45-70 or 450(or even a 444) and a big well constructed bullet. If you must use a shotgun, pull the plug and load her to the hilt with top quality slugs. As for the pistol rounds(357, 44 etc.) it's like the old packer said "carrying a pistol for bear defence is like having sex with a leaky condom, it will give you a false sense of security while getting f**k*d". I'll take the liberty of extending that to pistol calibres in rifles as well.

[guest]

Whats that noise ???? The sound of the hikers bells and your 35 glanging together in his Guts as he runs away will full Stomach haha

It is after all about placement.

35's better then a 32.

[Hodaka]

As for the pistol rounds(357, 44 etc.)
A 340gr hard-cast .45 colt travelling at 1400-1500fps is a pretty potent pistol round. It plows through stuff pretty good.

[Foxton Gundogs]

A 340gr hard-cast .45 colt travelling at 1400-1500fps is a pretty potent pistol round. It plows through stuff pretty good.

OK but pretty potent and pretty good just isn't good enough for me when it's my a$$ on the line,

[Fred1]

To those of us who have been on this site for a long time this may seem beaten to death. To a newbie it may seem like a legitimate question. Last thing we want are people not asking a question because of the possible ridicule and joking that will take place.
Better for those that may not know to ask us here on HBC, read the replies and between all of us we should get them on the right track.
Do not get me wrong, I too am a little tired of the 270vs.280,"is 308 big enough for black bear" etc. threads. But there are a lot of people out there that just do not know. Take it as a compliment that they are asking us and try and help them out.
If they are asking the question then they most likely will not get the joke. Only us long time HBC members will get the joke at their expense.

Cheers 257Stew

Exactly! Ask away! However, Im still healing after asking my HBC opener about Jim Shockey... 0_o
As for the bear gun... go with what you can handle and shoot effectively, but always use enough gun! Personally I wouldn't bother with the defenders - mine holds up my hat in the corner. I use the 45/70 - but honestly I only really worry about bears when Im guiding because that's where they are - and we leave gut piles all over the place. Some guys like to load up 400 or 500 grain bullets but the 325's will git 'er done without the heavy kick. So if you are worried about the ability to shoot or handle a "super hero" 450 grain solid cast thumper, just use smaller bullets. And as said, do a little shooting practice - I recommend doin it with your drawers full too - cause that's what will happen when that bear goes boo!!

[hunter1947]

When I bow hunt early season and shed hunt early spring I carry my 12gage defender over my back with 1,1/4 oz 3inch slugs loaded to the hilt I took off the handle grip and put on a stock in order to get a better aim at a incoming bear makes me feel better when I have this over my back..

[Walksalot]

Being that, back in the good old days, when the 30-30 used to be one of the most popular calibers must have meant that many hunters were killed by charging Grizzly Bears because the poor buggers were so sadly under gunned. Or maybe they simply never had their head filled with stories of the "bear from hell". Maybe, when confronted with a bear with bad intentions, they simply shot the surly bruin and went on their merry way.