Need advice on which camp/truck gun.
When in the woods of North Idaho, I have either my Glock G29 in 10mm or my Ruger BH Bisley in .45 Colt strapped on. I was thinking of adding a short carbine to my collection for having handy when in the woods for additional firepower. The rifle would be mostly sitting in my Jeep, or on an ATV, and occasionally slung over my shoulder.
My initial feeling was that I had a Ruger AR that I didn't use and would like to get a new upper for it in .450 Bushmaster. However, I discovered that uppers in that caliber are $700 to $900 and the mag capacity is only nine.
I believe most .45 Colt lever guns hold around 10 and cost about the same. I'd rather have a lever-gun for a rifle that will be knocked around and abused and will need to work when called upon.
So my question is two-fold...
1. Will the .45 Colt be up to the task of Bear/Moose/Wolf defense at distances of up to 75yds? If not, then .45-70 is my second choice. I reload for both. I prefer the added capacity and shared ammo with my sidearm of the .45 Colt.
2. What lever gun do you recommend that is in in the $700 to $900 range that isn't too nice to be used in the woods, is robust and reliable, and can be bought new.
For additional insight, I currently cast my own 300gr boolits for the .45 Colt for the bear defense loads and can't remember the powder charge off the top of my head, but I was curious as to how much oomph the .45 Colt can pick up when used in a carbine barrel. Is there a Ruger-strong carbine that can take a hotter load than other carbines?
Thanks!