grizz back-up gun

[BrownBear]

Here's a good rule of thumb based on multiple firsthand experiences:

If it's a serious charge, you aren't going to have time to change guns unless maybe to reach for something on your belt. Whatever you have in your hands when a charge starts is the only thing you're going to have time to use.

If the charge starts far enough away that you have time to change guns, it's likely a false charge anyway.

And basically if you're shooting beyond 20 yards you're shooting too soon. Might be a false charge you're turning into the real deal. My false charges almost all have come within 20 yards before stopping, and 10 yards is a pretty typical stop distance.

I'm looking through the sights and have my finger on the trigger at 20, for sure. But I really don't want to shoot a bear, so I give them a last chance to stop. Shoot a "charging" bear past 20 yards, and odds are pretty good you're going to end up filling out lots of paperwork. Lots of paperwork. And getting a whole bunch of suspicious questions from the badges walking the site and photographing evidence.

 

[Halftail]

Some years back myself and a partner went on a float hunt in Alaska for moose. Our weapons were longbows. The trip consisted of floating 100 miles down a wilderness river. At the suggestion of our outfitter, the other weapons that we took besides our longbows were 44 magnum hand guns and a shotgun. He said the 44's were handy for signaling when we got separated in the bush and needed help, and the shotgun was a grizzle deterrent. My handgun was a 5" Ruger Black Hawk. My partner loaded some special hot hardball ammo for our 44's. The 12ga double was kept loaded with a slug in one barrel and 00 Buck in the other.

That old double is still doing service as an over the door gun out of reach of the grandkids. It';s kept loaded with 00...just in case some nut :youcrazy: decides to call. If he does, he'd better be carrying a white flag. :surrender:

note the front sight and peep with the insert out on the cut down double.

I think I remember you posting pictures describing that hunt one. :hatsoff:
I like your Guides recomendation for bear Back up also :thumbsup:

 

[Ron LaClair]

My Guide/Outfitter was the late Jay Massey, 1941-1997

Jay wrote several books, "Bowhunting Alaska's Wild Rivers" and "A Thousand Campfires" to name a couple.

He was my friend and a man I admired greatly. Here's an excerpt from Bowhunting Alaska's Wild Rivers,

From "Bowhunting Alaska's Wild Rivers":

"The river was good to us. It provided a means of getting into the wild, un-hunted country we'd never have seen otherwise. It offered some of the finest moose hunting I have ever seen in Alaska.

But, the actual hunting is only a part of what intrigues me about river running. I love to drift silently down river, seeing mile after mile of new country, never knowing what's around the next bend. I welcome the chance to use my personal resourcefulness and my acquired outdoor skills, something most of us rarely have a chance to do in this day and age.

And, I enjoy a crackling campfire and good companions after a hard day afield. I thrill to the whisper of the river flowing nearby, the sound of salmon splashing through the shallows, the howling of a timber wolf on the ridge and the challenging grunt of a bull moose from across the beaver pond.

The river is calling. It beckons. Let us go."

 

[sharps54]

SNIP
If I make a killing shot,and I'm sure I won't need another for my intended game, I will up my powder charge to the high range of it's capabilities, and load two balls down the barrel
SNIP
VS

OK, I have to ask what is probably a stupid question. I just want to clarify what you guys are saying about double round ball loads. You are loading the rifle with a heavy powder charge (still safe in the gun, just top end), patched ball and then a second patched ball seated firmly on top of the first, correct? I know it's not a difficult concept but I'd rather ask then blow up my .54 Renegade trying this out at the range.
Thanks in advance,
Sharps54

 

[paulvallandigham]

That is what he is saying. Yes, one PRB sits on top of the first PRB. How much powder your gun will tolerate with a double ball load will often depend on the size of the barrel, and the make of the gun. I would be careful about double ball loading my flintlocks, for instance. Well made percussion gun, like the T/C guns can be loaded this way without any trouble.