Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Rifle for moose / bear (Big bore lever)

I’m in the initial planning stage of an Alaskan moose / grizzly hunt. This is a bucket list hunt and I would really love to use either my 1886 Winchester in .45-70 or my Browning 71 .348 to take these animals.

1) would you forego a Stainless / synthetic scoped rifle and subject a wood / steel lever gun to the Alaskan weather?

2) would you choose .45-70 or .348 ?

3) are 100 yds and under shots Realistic expectations?

Took my 30-06 on a 9 day grizzly hunt in the Brooks Range. Wood & "blued" steel. It did fine. I wanted to be prepared for a 300 yard shot if necessary. Lots of open country there.

Ended up emptying my magazine, every shot at 40 yards and under. Got the bear.

Afterwards, I was thinking, "Dang, I would have liked to have had my 45/70 Marlin in hand."

Or my 375 H&H. But... I used what I had.

One of the things my outfitter asked before my trip was if I was comfortable making a 300 yard shot if necessary, because it's pretty open terrain on the tundra. Yes, I was. But... Instead I ended up doing some short range, fast action shooting.

I don't know if I'd risk the expense and effort of such a trip on the Marlin or not. For a short - mid range proposition, absolutely.

Regards, Guy

i have a very nice Winchester Special 348 ,yes this rifle is a great short range rifle but when i go to Alaska next year i will be taking a bolt action magnum with a scope my reason is i can shoot much farther with a 300 W. mag or a 7 mm mag or even a 30-06, if i was going to take a lever rifle i would take a Browning BLR in one of these same cartridges . good luck with your choice,Pete53

It will depend on where and how you are hunting. Along rivers and muskeg those would both be good. Mountains and tundra not a good idea.
My choice would be the 348 and a bolt action in 30 to 375 caliber. With all the new products like gun shield and the tried and true Johnson's paste wax (or Renaissance) there is little to worry about a blued and wood rifle. SE AK I would opt for the synthetic & stainless but most other locations the pre-treatment plus a rag with any of the top rust preventatives is enough.

100 yard shots would be a fairly reasonable expectation for moose and very possibly brown bear. Interior griz may average further but I'd suspect your guide wouldn't want you shooting much past 150-200 anyhow, depending on terrain.

Alaska will tear your gear up but a properly sealed wood stock will still be fine. I've done it. I'd go the 45-70 but there's no reason to think the 348 wouldn't work just fine too but you'd have to accept passing opportunities that you wouldn't have to with other rifles.

There are lots of successful hunters for moose and brown bear in AK that use sharp sticks and have less than half the effective range you're contemplating. As for the blued/walnut, that's a personal question. The weather is often wet, but wet can largely be mitigated with a little care each day. Coastal areas are another consideration as saltwater is much more ruinous to steel than rain. I've hunted blued/walnut rifles in coastal AK and there are always going to be scars after 10-14 days in the field. The rifles aren't ruined, but they're forever marked and that doesn't bother me. A Miroku Browning wouldn't give me pause, but an original 1886 in 90% condition probably would. Just my thoughts. I wouldn't turn my handover for the difference in using a properly loaded .348 or 45/70 at distances out to 100 yards; either is just fine moose/brown bear.

Let's say you wound a bear and suddenly you are faced with a 250-350 yard shot as he is going over a ridge. What would you want in your hands? The thought of handicapping with a 45-70 leaves me shaking my head, Regardless the location you could easily come up with a desire to shoot beyond a reasonable range...

Ultimately, to bring a lever gun like those you have to think about the decrease in your efficacy in bagging those animals. The situations have to be right. If they aren't you'll get to have cool encounters and memories, but no taxidermy bill.

If a big part of the experience you want is with one of your lever guns that you trust, then do it. If its more about coming home with animals, then I would bring another rifle that you trust and feel comfortable with.

Every gun in my safe that hasn't shot something exists that way because I wasn't holding it when I saw something I wanted to shoot.

That said, while having a black bear roar at you from 20' above in a cottonwood tree is not the time you want to have a kid's load (150gr NAB going 2200fps) in the tube...the bear died, but I wouldn't like to repeat it.

Yes. For moose.

I have killed 20 something moose. Only two were over 100; my longest was 160, my shortest 16, the average is 60- 70.

Having never shot a brown/griz (with no desire to do so) I'd listen to those who have, but offhand, what Art and others said.

On my caribou hunt last fall I packed the 30-30 the first day ( SG-reasoning), but shot a wounded cow at nearly 300 with the .260 my son was carrying.

The next day I was carrying the M70 in 7X57 and filled my second tag with an orphaned calf at 15 -25, in the fog....

.It would be a good plan to have something along to reach out there....

If you can only bring one, the reacher would be my choice. If you take both, there's a chance you will have the "wrong" one in hand at the time, but the reacher can handle short also.

A backup gun when spending the coin you will be is an excellent idea anyway. Or an already sighted in spare scope for a one-gun hunt.

I don't disagree with your point, but I'd replace handicap with challenge.

No doubt you've killed numerous bears and moose where a firearm capable of 100 yard performance is more than enough. The issue for the OP is if he's willing to embrace the additional challenge (handicap if you prefer) he's creating with his selection and will he accept the limitations his firearm will dictate? Two different questions from my perspective.

Each to their own. And we all like to hunt the way we like. But, I would not limit myself. I would use a stainless, scoped, 338 Winchester with 225 grain TSX or TTSX myself.
But, I ain’t paying the cost nor even thinking of putting perimeters on someone else’s hunt. I do know that sometimes the critters are hard to put in the distance and position one would prefer. Terrain can vary drastically in the same area.
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Do those who prefer to bow hunt make you shake your head too?

What about those who are only set up with a set and forget duplex scope? They're pretty much limited to 3-400 yards....depending on the setup.
Does that make you shake your head---as the possibility of a 500 yard shot at a wounded moose could come up.

Great questions and there are a bunch of answers that are only going to swirl the stew!

I sat on a frosty Kodiak beach for about 45 minutes while a friend stood about 30 yards in front of me. Beyond him was a brown bear just outside his set limit of 23 yards that day with a recurve bow he had built himself. He would have been very upset if he had loosed an arrow and I was forced to shoot his bear. The bear came within 2 yards of his limit but he never shot. That was a challenge he made for himself and I completely understand, support, and accept it.

I see a rifle of any kind differently and see no particular disadvantage in killing a bear with one beyond a modest change in range. That 45-70 is far more lethal than a bow in most ways.

I have also been there as guide and back-up when stuff went wrong. I have had a handgun shooter get angry with me for putting a bullet in a critter he wounded, which was outside his acknowledged range. Archery, handgun, limited rifle make no difference in my mind if a wounded animal is about to Houdini into the puckerbrush. Especially if I am the one doing the chasing...

As I said in the previous post the real question is how the shooter is going to feel if the back-up/guide is forced to shoot a wounded animal outside his range. Like it or not, a critter about to disappear must be shot by the guide under AK law.

Larry
Absolutely correct, it is their game to set the rules on if the guide agrees. And they will probably be okay going with whatever they want, but a wounded critter might just run farther than expected even when well and truly dead on its feet. What is the outcome you have to have?

Take the rifle you really want to. But be practical with yourself on your limits with it and stick to them.

I have heard from bear guides that the ideal range is between 100 & 200 yds. for safety and accuracy. The levers can handle this easily. The moose I have shot and seen shot have all been at closer ranges. Moose are easy to stalk if they are feeding on aquatic vegetation with their head under water.

But I have seen many situations where getting closer was not possible and the wounded fleeing bear scenario puts me back in the bolt action camp. A guide friend has shot maybe a dozen moose and several bears with a 444 Marlin which is less capable than your two levers. But these were meat hunts or to get rid of nuisance bears so different context.

So I am still in the take the lever and a bolt back up camp and decide when you see what the hunting is going to be like and if the guide is cool with your choice. The last is important as he is the one that gets to go after the bear if things don't go well.

Ive been guiding in Yukon for over 30 years now. In all that time the average shot has been well under 200 yards. Most guides are not going to let you shoot at a bear much past 200 anyway. Moose are most often taken at close range, especially during the rut. In 3 moose hunts this year the furthest shot was under 100 yards. I would take either of the guns mentioned.....in fact I often do, my 86 is one of my favourite rifles. Good luck

I disagree that the 444 is less capable than the 45/70. Its actually better in some ways. I own two of them and have taken all sorts of game with them including grizzly in DLP situations.

Ive never used them there but why would a 348 win or better yet an 348 ackley be range limited or a handicap? Why couldnt they be used on out to 250-300yds? Maybe the iron sights may limit you but i think the 348 is fully capable at that range.

Shots on Brown Bears should ideally be inside 100 yads, with a set up that allows follow up shots. Although I've had clients miss at all distances, close and far, the margin of error is greatly increased the closer you are. I'll never let a hunter shoot a brown bear much further than 150 yards, that would be the upper end of things.