Knowledgeable, easy to listen to. So humble. Causally mentions.... "I had to use this shotgun to defend myself from a charging Moose". Bro... that qualifies you for the most ACTUAL self defense use of a gun. By ANY youtuber ive watched in years. you rock!!!
I concur. Living in North-Central British Columbia and only 18kms as a crow flies from the largest Grizzly bear sanctuary around, I never go anywhere in the woods without my Mossberg 500. Have not had to use it in a lethal way yet, but I have peppered a few bear with gravel to the snout after bearspray was ineffective, most likely due to the effects of the wind.
I like the moving bear test. Most videos test ammo but not skill. About the only time a bear is not moving is asleep or dead. Good test. I think most of us need better skills and more practice. "Hold still while I get my gun out."
Another great one Alan. In camp, I always have my AR-10 in .308 handy, and it would be my go to gun if attacked. It's not practical for hiking for obvious reasons, so that's when I carry the Springfield Armory XDm in 10mm. Thanks again for bringing us these videos.
How do you like your SA xdm? Funny enough looking at buying one is what has brought me here as I also own a .44 super red hawk so these videos have been so eye opening
I always have my Mossberg 590 Shockwave with me when I’m the woods. Full 12 gauge power that I practice with often. Shorter and lighter with Mossberg reliability. And just as powerful as a full size shotgun. Easy to whip out when tracking your kill of you get charged and with practice you’ll easily get 3-4 shots off in that timeframe. I’ve pushed it’s limit too and got all 6 rounds off as fast as some semi autos. Amazing little predator defence choice
Like the shorter barrel but can you actually get good accuracy on that no-shoulder mount and just holding that in your hand? More to you if you can. Also, that must be a pain to practice with!
Up until the covid thing I worked as a range officer for DNR. We used to get guys who were going to Alaska to bear hunt show up to practice. I would give then a target at about thirty yards and four seconds to fire their best with whatever gun they planned to carry. None of them did half as well as you do. Of course they were mostly using something like 300 WinMag or bigger up to 577/450. It humbled most people, especially the hand gunners who couldn't hit dink with a .44 Mag when under time pressure.
A great man once told me to "Shoot a charging bear in the nose." You can hit important things no matter how badly you miss. * My firearm of choice would be a lever gun in .45-70 or a 12 Ga with slugs.(with a big bore hand gun as BUG)
Very interesting. I am surprised at how much more accurate you were with the long gun over a handgun. After seeing a few of your videos I want to say I like your taste in firearms.
Awesome video. While I don’t hunt Alaskan bear, I do hunt black bears in the lower 48. More specifically, three states in the lower 48. But I do 2-3 night backpacking hikes in states with Grizzlies, (Montana and Wyoming). For bear protection, I usually pack a Glock 20 or a Freedom Arms .454 Casull. However over the last 10 years or so, I prefer the Glock 20 better with 210gr hardcast lead and 30+1 rounds on me between two magazines in a Diamond D leather chest holster. While I have some big bore rifles I inherited (Remington 700, 24” barrel in 458 Win mag, J.W. Marlin .45-70 guide gun), I do feel those would be too slow if strictly used for grizzly bear “protection.” In that case, I have brought with me on deep woods backpacking trips in grizzly country a Ruger Mini-30 with 20 round Ruger magazines, loaded with 7.62x39 Steel core FMJ’s, or my Springfield M1-A SOCOM with 7,62x51 in 20 round magazines, with 150 or 180 gr FMJ’s. The speed with a semi auto .30 caliber rifle with a high capacity magazine to the face, just can’t be beat. The steel core 7.62x39 is a deep penetrator! It crushes everything and would have no problem detonating a bears skull. My mini-30 while not the most accurate rifle, is very light in weight and allows super fast on-target acquisition against anything within 50 yards of charging me. Yes I know, it’s a “spray and pray” moment and I’d never use the 7.62x39 or 7.62x51 for hunting. But I’m talking about a wall of bullets (20) being dished out if necessary at a charging bear. They beat 5.56!
I love everyones ongoing obsession of charging bear scenarios and how to be prepared. I’m bringing my m&p 10 loaded with hot 308’s for bear country and a 10mm semi auto as a backup. If those don’t work, I’m drinking a can of red bull so I can hopefully just fly away.
Short of a real bear charge,you got as real as you an get simulation. Your shooting under time and duress is excellent and you need it where you live! Thanks for the well done video with real world,common firearms that lots of people own .
So happy to find your tests and experiments. I lived in Fairbanks, AK for a few years and there was so much debate over caliber and such. Just plain hard to beat the 12 ga with slugs. It also shows the importance of being familiar with your gun and the need for practice.
"Comfortability". A new word added to my dictionary! Love it! Great videos, very informative and realistic. I'm not exposed to bears much, maybe just black bears here in S. AZ, but it is making me rethink my woods gun choices.
Your 30-06 with the 200 grain partition reminded me of an Alaskan bear guide who used to write for Bear Hunter mag - he got tired of his .375 belting him off the mountain and went to his 30-06 with that same load to back up his clients. It worked for him. My standard load for mine is the 180 partition, but I do have a box of 200's on hand, think I will work up a good load for them, too. Someone once wrote a book - Use Enough Gun. Use Enough Bullet, too! Saint Nosler showed the way. Jerry
I think the partition is a sweet bullet. My theory is that shot placement and bullet construction are more important than having a huge cartridge. They say the average shooter can't handle much more than a 30-06 without developing a flinch. Better to stick with an adequate cartridge that you can shoot well than have a rifle you are afraid of.
My two most powerful long guns are either my Mossberg 500 firing 3 inch 1 1/4 ounce slugs or my yugo m24/52c rifle firing 196 gr Soft points. I would probably choose the Mossberg because of the faster follow up shots. Slide action is way faster than a bolt action. Nice vid
Curious as to how an optic equipped rifle/shotgun would enable/impair good hits on target? Many folks would have their hunting rifle with magnified optic for protection. How much does magnification or red dot at 0x impact quick application of weapon to charging bear? Might be something to add to your comparison series. Great, creative stuff!
Appreciate your believe in Brenneke Slugs. New to your videos. May I ask which of the Brenneke Slugs you are carrying? I've heard good things regarding the Brenneke 2 3/4" Green Lightning slugs. Thank you for posting this video. Great example. Like your shotgun set up with the 5 Slug Stock Cuff. Overall good carry set up. I believe strongly in 12 Gauge Shotguns. Thank-you for your demonstration.
I think a lesson that should be mentioned when hunting in grizz country is that you need to be ready . Round chambered , safety on ready to shoot . You won’t have time to chamber a round in most cases
One thing I would point out between the pistol test and this one is that you drew the pistols from their holsters but you raised the rifles from the ready position. Some people will carry their rifle in their hands while in the field, but most will sling them. That's an important difference in this test and anyone considering carrying a long gun for bear protection should really try bringing their rifle to bear from the slung position before committing to it. I have practiced it, and with the way I do it, I can do it very quickly but not as quickly as drawing a pistol. My latest and greatest bear toy is a Ruger M44 carbine. It only holds 5 rounds of .44 Mag but it launches them at about 1900fps and being semi-auto it spits them out quick. I removed the scope and zeroed the iron sights for fast point and shoot target acquisition. It's compact and sleek and I can whirl it from slung on my shoulder into action very quickly... but not as quickly as a pistol.
Good stuff and enjoyable. I like the way you created the charging bear speed. I've read they can take off at 30-35mph from a dead stop and reach that speed almost in an instant. Have you thought of doing this series again with some tweaks, perhaps one version with the long guns slung over your shoulder in a walking or hiking position and one version with the hand guns at ready already out of the holsters like you were with the rifles/shotgun? I can guess the results, but that may provide a more apples to apples comparison. I would also like to see you repeat it using inert training bear spray deployed at the same stage from a holster with the safety clip in place. I think I can also guess how that will go, but your setup would clearly demonstrate whatever happens.
5.56 on a AR-15 platform has been used, with success, on polar bears more than once. I would not recommend it, but this character I knew personally took several. Using the rifle with 55 grain FMJ. At close range.
I hunt in Texas wild boar with M193 no problem at all. I did use the same green tips 62 grain. I really don't think that any bear will keep changing at a person with 10 following rounds out of any AR platform or Mini 14 etc. That bear has to be made of AR 500 steel. Just my humble opinion.
Nice looking 1917, much nicer looking than mine. I can understand your feelings for your savage 99 too. The 300 is a great cartridge, although I have chosen the 308 for my own 99's. Either way, a wonderful, handy, and effective hunting rifle.
Excellent video!!! You do a great job on these. I’m not at all surprised by the results. Maybe a little by the accuracy being so much better. I expected better, but not so blatantly clear. Keep up the good work and thanks much.
Great video with a nice ending! So nice to see an AR rifle for a change, way to many carbine videos out there. Amazing shooting. You are a talented outdoorsman and my money is on you with that Mossy 500!
Brilliant work!! This video illustrates what we see in combat shooting exercises constantly:the long gun trumps handguns re speed, ballistic efficiency and accuracy all the time.,
Interesting video- Maybe an AR platform in a serious caliber would be the best thing to carry, or an autoloader shotgun. But my question is this- if a person is really in a situation like this would they be likely to have the shotgun in their hand or slung over their shoulder? So the next test might need to be how quickly can you get the shotgun off of your shoulder and make a shot vs. how quickly can you pull the handgun from a chest holster and make a shot?
Hopefully the long gun would be in the hands in thick stuff where one can get surprised at close range but in the real world that will not always be the case. I would guess the chest holster handgun would be just as fast or probably faster to get into action than a slung long gun.
Normally I think full auto is impractical for most serious use cases, but this is definitely a time when i wouldn't mind having an M16A1 with the giggle switch lol
The best test I have found on RU-vid. I am a hunter beginer and I am looking for a rifle suitable for hunting and bear defense. Lever action seems to be a good option. Thank you ! Greetings from Slovakia. (Bear country)
Perfect! Great way to round off the comparison. I do carry a 357 but always have my 45/70 and Mossberg 500 with slugs near by. I was considering an AR rifle more for smaller animals but looks like it could be very effective for bear! Hey you did this test on a moving target AND wearing snow shoes! Can't make it more "realistic" than that! 😁
I've really enjoyed the videos he's done on this subject, in part because the treatment of the scenario is the same each time so the results can be fairly evaluated. Letting the bear get up some steam before he engages is a nice touch. As far as realism, though, there are some things that could be improved. In the test, the "bear" is coming at him from directly to his front, there's no intervening brush, and most of all -- he knows it's coming. He has the weapons in the ready position so he's an instant away from having the weapon mounted. So, while the conditions are the same for each test, the conditions are also optimal which is unlikely in a field scenario.
I'm from Tennessee so I've never been around brown bears so if this question seems stupid ... Down here 00 buckshot is hard to beat at close range. Is it not good on brown bears or is the penetration lacking?
@@gunsgearoutdoorsalaska5875 Down here people are the brown bears of the south. Buckshot is devastating where concealment and penetration isn't an issue. Thankfully awareness and commonsense can keep you out of a lot of those situations. I think of how it will be viewed in court if you have to defend yourself. Each round releases 9, 30 cal. balls so two rounds equal 18 projectiles. That will stop any human regardless of what drugs they are taking versus emptying most of a full mag from an AR. A good prosecutor is goina kill ya with 18 rounds from a .223. They'll say you didn't just want to stop the threat, you intended on killing the guy. Any time you shoot someone you are intending on killing but it doesn't need to be so obvious. Dead men don't change their story before a jury.
Bear and his buddy watching from the forest. "I don't know what this guy is doing, but I don't like the look of it, Kodi" "Me neither, Ted... me neither..."
The local Ranch butcher uses a .22 Mag rifle loaded with CCI FMJ"s he drops beef cattle with one shot at 15 feet, one shot every time, they just collapse instantly. So, I'm sure a .223 FMJ will work just fine. Good test, thanks.
Awesome presentation, great job comparing the different action types. Just wondering about how you "aimed" the shotgun, I see that you have ghost rings on it but was wondering given how fast and close the target was if you were able to aim with the ghost rings or if it was more instinctive shooting like when shooting clays?
Great question. I really like the big ghost ring because it naturally centers your eye and allows for fast instinctive shooting. I was looking through the ghost ring but I did not pay any attention to it. Focusing on the target first and on the front sight secondarily. Hope that answers your question.
Nice shot placement ! Greetings f/ Washington State. We are going to have or have a Grizzly Bear Re-Introduction Program now. Yes . . . (I have no problems w/ Dangerous Animals keeping my future property safe.) I'm over the Mountians and Aerospace and College on the West here. I'm going for a Glock 20 & AR-10 by PA now. Someday. No hurry. I don't get out much. I do Kayak and have been wanting to Kayak Camp on some easy Rivers. It just that I wanted to live close in Woodlands for a break f/ Tech. (ya want the 30 rnd clip on those Glocks because if it's close . . . )
