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A long gun is pretty special in your car/house/safe/whatever. You don't have to fight your way far to it!. WTF
anyway, you gnawed off face you!
edit for a "carry gun" is not a 45-70 lever gun.. unless you want to play them tardative slappy cakes
 
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+1 on the 45-70 "Guide Gun"! Marlin and Henry .45-70 Guide Guns Compared
It is well thought of up here, most professional guides I know carry them.
I just like my 12 gauge better for bear protection, PERSONAL PREFERENCE!!

Thanks for the link, Art. Interesting article. I've been collecting Marlin lever guns for years and fortunately all of mine are pre-Remington and pre-lawyer button. I don't agree with the author's contention that the straight-gripped stocks recoil less than the pistol-gripped stocks. I bought my first Marlin 1895 at the Palmer Gun Show in the early 1980's (still have it!). It has a straight-grip. Then I read an article that asserted the same thing about recoil so at another Palmer Gun Show I bought the pistol grip variety. Fired them side-by-side using the same loads. Kept the straight stock, sold the pistol grip. The recoil on the straight stock is an inline push to the rear. The pistol grip stock pushed back at downward angle that made for a lot of muzzle rise.

Since I only use the .45/70 for large, toothy critters in up close and personal settings I had the stock shortened to a 12.5 " length of pull. When I'm in the field I'm wearing heavy clothing and carrying a pack with shoulder straps and having a short LOP allows one to get the rifle into firing position quickly and work the action without taking the rifle off my shoulder.

Usually I use the old Elmer Keith loads - a Speer 400gr. JSP over 53 gr. of IMR-3031. This is an extremely accurate load in my old 1895 with the Micro-groove barrel ( 2" at 100 yards with peep sights when my eyes were younger). Lately I've been trying out some 425 gr. cast-lead flat point gas check bullets from Beartooth Bullets located near me in Dover, ID that are very promising. 45 grains of IMR-3031 yields 1600 FPS out of a 22" barrel, very accurate, and hits hard. I shoot these in a first-year-of-production M1895 that has Ballard rifling. According to my gunsmith Marlin ran out of Micro-groove barrels that first year and made about 1000 guns with Ballard barrels and I've got one of them. There are some things that lurk in your gun safe that you probably don't know about, eh?

Marshall at Beartooth has a wealth of information about bullets, reloading, and ballistics at Beartooth Bullets > Home. You have to register at his site to get into the reloading section - its well worth it. His bullets are a work of art. I also shoot a lot of his .44 x 300 gr. cast lead flat nose gas check bullets. My Redhawk really likes those.
 
They are still on my list of wants ( that is a guide gun in 45-70) I've still not narrowed it down as to which one, THANKS for the heads up on stock difference and opinion of results.
I've found the straighter the push into my shoulder the better, but I tend to shoot better with a higher cheek weld.
One of my fitting tricks ( IT'S NOT MY INVENTION) is to close my eyes, put the gun to my shoulder and open my eyes. Where is the sight /scope in relation to getting a good shot?
 
Since I do not own a .45-70 lever, my choice would be my Remington 870 set up- with tritiums, sling, 20" barrel, 3" chamber with 7-shot tube. It was one of my work shotties and an old and trusted companion, and has shot a few bears. Getting a pre-safetied Marlin (The looong one, not the guide gun- but the guide would be easier to lug, just wish the barrel was a bit longer, don't like muzzle blast in my face!). A .45-70 is on my "list" but at this rate probably won't find a used one anytime soon. So the trusty 12 with sabot slugs is my choice for grizz. I have dealt with and shot more black bears than most people ever actually see, they are a PITA but generally less aggressive.
 
Have no spend a lot of time or plan to in bear country, but a couple of friends do regularly. The 870 with 20 inch barrel and 00 buck with a 45 Blackhawk in a chest holster cross draw is their choice, other one has the 870 and 2 1911's.

Bear spray ?? The bear gets that close you are completely fd anyway. I will look at the bears from the front seat of my pickup and camera lens.
 
I would say a .357 magnum is okay. Unless you need an excuse to buy a new toy. Learn how to shoot and have good situational awareness. None of us would be here if our ancestors were too worried to go into the woods without the newest hand cannon.
 
I just did a 52 mile hike over 6 days in Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana. My wife and I each carried a can of bear spray, and I carried my largest pistol, a .40 S&W. In those 6 days we saw exactly 3 other humans - they were Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officers who were out there trying to trap grizzlies. There are roughly 1700 grizzlies in the lower 48 states, of which roughly 1000 live in that ecosystem (which also includes Glacier National Park, just north of there). If we had been on horseback, I would have probably carried a rifle, but since we were hiking, the pistol is what we took. Of course, we didn't need it. We only saw one bear, and it was a black (but we saw some beautiful bighorn sheep).

Ultimately, I think your chance of even seeing one is super slim, much less having a negative encounter. But if you do have an encounter, the statistics seem to show that Bear Spray is more effective. Of course, I still carried what I could...

I live in Alaska and I enjoy going fishing and hiking up here (Many more Brown bear than Idaho). Listen to the guy quoted above. Take your 357 for peace of mind and some bear spray and you'll be fine.
 
Again, Thank you for all the posts everyone.

We are back home safe and sound and loved Idaho, great forest hiking and a beautiful, clean, safe city with places to eat and drink.

We didn't end up hiking to far out of town so we ran into many other people in the forest...the only 4 legged guys we encountered were black tails and lots of them.

We'll be going back sooner than later in which case I will either be buying a lever gun, scout rifle or bigger handgun by then...tax returns and hopefully Christmas bonuses are coming. I'm really drooling for a 45-70 lever gun lately.

Glad you had fun. Unless you REALLY want the 45/70 lever gun, you might think twice about it for hiking. I just HAD to have one when I moved to Alaska. It's so d*amn heavy that the only place it's hiked to is my gun safe.o_O
 
If you want to be really safe and are confident you will have 10 ready yards between you and a grizzly, I would choose a 45/70 lever carbine. Otherwise, a .44 magnum revolver that doesn't have a barrel too long to jam into something laying on top of you.

I doubt you'll even see a grizzly. I only once saw a black bear cross a road up there, but I stay on the rivers.

Remember, this is from somebody who has seen two black bears ever and did not have to defend themself against a bear. Granted once was close enough to touch my foot with it's nose... a little tap back was enough to discourage the thing.

Stop in the tavern along the Coeur d'Alene river, the back of their menu should tell you all you need to know about the differences between black bear and grizzly while hiking.
 

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