William, please clarify your experiences with stopping charging bears. I'm especially curious to hear what kind of bears they were, ranges, and weapons, especially buckshot. I'm also curious to know your experiences with bluff versus real charges.
You said: "Whereas my criteria is HEAD shots and broad patterns, some seem to be stuck on body penetration."
Your thinking runs afoul of my experience. In my experience when a bear is coming for real, you shoot the middle of the brown blur with something big enough to matter. You use something with about 2200-2500 fps velocity with a good bullet that will expand and dig deep. I like a .375 and a 300 grain Nosler, but the 9.3 with a 286 would likely do the same job. Lots of other stuff out there will work. The only way I'd use a shotgun is with magnum brennekes, and that's a ways down the list.
I've only had to deal with brown bears, so I can't tell you about anything else. I've shot various bears including four that were tying to get me. Distances were 12, 7, 12, and 2 yards. The 7 and 2 yard experiences were one shot CNS hits. The others were rapid fire events. The first time i used a 12 ga and foster slugs. Never again! Very poor penetration. The others were with a .375. Typical performance there is stem to stern penetration.
The angles afforded on rapidly closing targets in these circumstances require penetration no buckshot load can provide. To believe in buckshot yourself is silly. To recommend it to others is irresponsible.
