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I would carry my 1100 and knew lots of people that carried Benelli M1/M2 guns. Honestly I've always wondered if they wouldn't be a better choice for lots of people because the vast majority don't ever train.
Pump guns are everywhere because they are cheap and solid.
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Probably a dumb question but are there any semi auto shotguns that are considered reliable enough for use in big bear country?
I would carry my 1100 and knew lots of people that carried Benelli M1/M2 guns. Honestly I've always wondered if they wouldn't be a better choice for lots of people because the vast majority don't ever train.
Pump guns are everywhere because they are cheap and solid.
True, that.
Pump guns are 'cheap and solid,' and even a complete drooling moron can be trained to rack an 870 or Mossy 500 hard enough so as to NOT short-stroke it.
The real issue is
how fast can the 'chargee' operate his pump 12ga under the stress and adrenaline-rush induced by a bruin's charge - assuming he's aware in time.
On a separate note, and this is probably beyond the O.P.'s budget and time-frame, but if I were planning to spend any extended time out and about in AK's bear-infested boonies, and wanted to do so with more than a G20, I'd send a 'donor' M1 Garand to Shuff's Parkerizing for Tim (the owner) to convert into a 16.1" Mini-G carbine in
.35 Whelen. No bullshit. It's roughly the ballistic equivalent of Remmy's old M600 magnum carbine in .350 Rem. Magnum, except it's a
semi-auto, not a bolt, and holds 8-rds down instead of three.
I've talked to Tim and he's built a lot of Mini-Gs for AK clients, most still chambered in .30-06, but also quite a few in .35W, which starts with an M1 profile barrel from Criterion. He mentioned there are two such Minis in use by residents on Kodiak Isl. Tim makes mods to the lower receiver to assure reliable feeding of the big heavy .35-cal Whelen bullets from an 8-rd GI clip. He also installs his version of a 'Holbrook device' to prevent premature ejection.
There's more to the details of Shuff's .35W Mini-G conversion than that, as well as build options, but I'd prefer one of those over an 870 or a Model 70.
Here's a link to a post from an Anchorage resident talking about his .35W Mini-G:
https://www.gulfcoastgunforum.com/threads/shuffs-parkerizing-mini-g-in-35-whelen.25256/
More discussion of the weapon, with range report and pics, from the same guy here:
https://www.gulfcoastgunforum.com/threads/oneshot-how-would-i-score.32698/#post-293565