coastal hunting

[50north]

I have only hunted in the interior,never the coast.


  This is new to me the coast that is. If the choice was yours would you take a whitworth 375 H&H, Ruger 77 in 35 whelen, 338 win mag or marlin SBL 45/70 all handloaded ammo. I might do a blacktail deer, brown bear hunt combo maybe kodiak Is. I am trying to do some pre game statagy.


Thank you for the help
50north

[Drilling Man]

  Me personally? I could live with the Whelen loaded with preminum bullets, or better yet the .338 mag. loaded with NP's.  Also i would prefer something different than a Ruger 77.
 
  DM

[50north]

DM,
  Your not a fan of the 77 mkII ruger rifles.
My whelen holds 5 in the mag and can push a 250 gr bullet at 2600. The 338 holds 4 in the mag and weights about a pound more than the whelen. It does push the same weight bullets at 100 to 150 fps faster though.


50north

[Winter Hawk]

My ex-FIL was an avid bear hunter back in the '60s and '70s, working for Wein Air Alaska.  He used a .300 Win Mag for everything.  Some of the clients convinced him once that he needed at least a .338 Win Mag so he traded his rifle in on one.  He told me he shot half a box through it and that was enough - went back to Frontier Sporting Goods and got his old rifle back.  His house had grizzly, brownie, blackie and polar bear skins throughout.  He said he never felt under gunned with the .300.

I would think that the .35 Whelen would be perfect.  Even if it IS a Ruger....

The Forest Service requirement minimum for a crew working in bear country was .30-06 with 220 grain bullets for protection against the big bears.  I don't know if that has changed since I left SE in 2006; they came up with that after extensive testing back in the '70s so may have revisited the issue.

~WH~

[BBF]

I guess it depends on how worried you are in regards to the big bears.
If I was younger and in the same situation I'd pack the H&H and possible some type of sixshooter on the hip.
Second choice would be the Marlin.

[Bigeasy]

Well, never hunted coastal brown bears, but I have owned all those calibers and most of those makes of rifle, so I'll give my 2 cents.

My choice would be the Whitworth (Mark X mauser action?) in 375 H&H.  Loaded with 300 grain Nosler PT's, or A-Frames, it will penetrate deep, and hit hard.  The mauser action is about as reliable as it gets.  Still shoots flat enough in case you get a 300 yard shot at a blacktail.

The 45/70 will be lacking if you get a long shot at a deer.  The 338 and 35 Whelen will work, but since a big brown bear is over 1000 lbs., and probably going to be close, why not use the hardest hitting caliber of the bunch?  If that 375 has a pretty wood stock, I would replace it with an inexpensive Hogue overmolded synthetic stock for the hunt, as there will likely be a lot of thick brush and rain every day.

Larry

[50north]

Thanks for all the replies.
  I mostly agree with Bigeasy. I love my 375, it does have a brown precision fiber/ kevlar stock and if's lighter than my 338. Kicks less too.




Thanks again
50north

[Winter Hawk]

I missed seeing the .375 on the list  .  Kind of overkill on a deer, but plenty for the bear.  Adding to my previous post, that is what the U.S.F.S. issue rifle is (was?).  That, or a 12 ga. with slugs. 

The Ketchikan survey section of the Tongass N.F. got a Remington 700 in .375 from the law dogs because they were having problems with it.  Once we had it I took it to the range.  First shot was failure to fire.  Waited a minute, ejected the round and tried again, same result.  Tried again from the hip and watched the striker s-l-o-w-l-y ease forward.  I took it home that night and cleaned out the crud in the bolt - it was amazing how much dirt and old grease came out of there!  It worked great after that.  I had it refinished with Teflon over Parkerizing to make it pretty well water proof (only the bore and chamber couldn't get that treatment so they needed a coat of grease).  It just wasn't all that handy to carry when out on the job packing tripods, instruments, reflectors, etc. out in the field.  The last email I got from the Forest Surveyor said that he had bought a Marlin .45-70 Guide Gun and turned the .375 in as it wasn't reliable anymore.  I wonder if he ever cleaned it?

~WH~

[50north]

I don't mind to much gun when bears are involved.I know the 375 works nice on moose, not required but very effective.


Thanks for the help
50north