All, Thanks for the many insightful and educational responses. I'll try to hit the main questions in this response to Fireball as his examples appear to be the medicine I am looking for.
Wyo1895, I havent had a chance to handle the mossberg yet but why buy new when I can make use of a vintage walnut and steel example of american craftsmanship! Also my 94 is a 30-30 and although I like it very much I'm interested in getting somethign with a bit more oomph. I should add that I'm also thinking forward to when my daughter or son will need a firearm of their one to join in the fun. They are 8 and 5 so I have a few more years.
Fireball, That 358 sure looks like the bees knees! any idea what the carry weight is? I suspect the larger diameter bores will weight a bit more than the 30 caliber? Also what type of front sight did you have put on?
gnoahh, Several members of our bear club do carry a revolver ( Ruger Redhawk/Blackhawk in 44Magnum seems to be the preferred chambering). Although I have considered a pistol as an option to back up when others are designated as the shooter, I'm hesitant to use as my primary for a couple of reasons. Shot opportunities can occur in several scenarios 1) a treed bear in which shots are taken at anywhere from 10-40 yards. Head shots are preferred as it is important to have a near instant kill to avoid potential injury to the hounds as they rush in when the bear falls. In ideal situations we get them all tied up and held back a few yards but ideal situations and bear hunting do not always go hand in hand. The second shot scenario is a bayed bear which is on the ground, surrounded by dogs and often in the most inhospitable terrain imaginable. Again headshots for an instant kill are preferred but heart/lung or through the shoulder shots are sometimes necessary. Finally, sometimes shots are available when a running bear crosses a trail being chased by the pack. In this scenario, the target is the shoulders with rapid follow up shots likely. I feel much more comfortable in all the scenarios with a rifle. I don't have a lot of experience with pistols.
Loggah and Why1895, those are nice looking rigs. As you can tell from my description above, bear guns take a ton of wear and tear in the thickets and rock cliffs. A few years ago my father was carrying his old marlin 336 thru a thicket leading dogs back from a tree and his sling came unattached. With dogs pulling, a pack, heavy coat, and tangled in the laurels he didnt notice when it came loose. He only realized when he got back to the truck at dark. It was several days before he could backtrack and find the gun. In the intervening days a bear had taken several bits on the buttstock. Attracted to the smell of the hand oils I suppose or perhaps motivated to take revenge on a gun that has taken dozens of bear over the decades. That gun still carries the tooth marks. As noted above my plan would be to find a real beater/rat in good mechanical condition for this purpose. I do love a fine looking rifle though and suspect a mid-century 99 with a schnabel forend in 300 savage is in my future.
S99VG,
Scopes are untenable due to weight and proclivity to damage. I'll require iron sights with an appeture to take advantage fo the longer sighting radius My 94 trapper with factory open sights had such a short sight radius I could barely hit the target until I put on an Skinner sight a couple of years ago. I now have a fold down rear sight which I employ along with the peep when I can take carefull aim. Three sight objects all in a row really helps me out.
Again thanks to all.
