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My thanks for the responce. Yes, I had already determined that .30 cal and higher was the way to go. A .357 can kill a bear but at ten yards and full charge it is extremely difficult to hit the sweet spot. Not to mention the thickness of a bear skull and the steep angle when head-on makes a glancing shot extremely possible when going for the brain, and the layers of fat over muscle makes penetration difficult when going for the heart. Even a .45 is not a guaranteed stopper. I am for the most part trying to stay away from the revolver category for the simple reason that, generally speaking, the higher the calibre the greater the recoil, making follow-on shots much more difficult.

I have been looking at the Mossberg 500A recently, thank you for the suggestion, and might just go that route. Pellet spread is something I am still cogitating upon but yes the Solid Slug / 000 buck combination sounds good. I would still prefer a semi-auto carbine for the occasional longer shot and as a good trade-off between shotgun and long rifle, but you make an excellent point in your suggestion and I do indeed find your advice useful.

Spring is here and the bears are coming out of hibernation. I must needs spend even more time outdoors this year, and considering how dry it has been for the last few years and how bold and hungry the predators are becoming I am trying to prepare as best I can before we come across each other yet again.

If you've got a bit more than the amount I mentioned in your budget you might look at a semi-auto 12 gauge with a rifled barrel. At close range it won't affect slug patterning that much and it would still be useful with slugs out to 100 yards or so.

I've done some tests on the Federal Copper Solids and the penetration is quite impressive. I've fired them from both rifled and unrifled barrels. Accuracy is MUCH improved at longer ranges with a rifled barrel of course, but inside 50 yards or so there really isn't much difference in my experience.

As far as pellet spread goes, you might be interested to learn that inside about 15 yards or so there really isn't very much 'spread' at all. Almost every pellet will end up in an area the size of a dinner plate.

In my never to be humble opinion a properly loaded and used 12 gauge can solve a wide range of problems both social and wild life related.