Best for Polar Bears

[kyratshooter]

Due to these cold temps and my general lack of interest in getting out in this present mess I have restricted my self to some intense reloading activities and research.

Due to the cold the research has drifted to the northern realms of the planet and a quest for the firearms used by troops operating in those regions where no other human with good sense would venture in the depths of winter, like Greenland!

During the early 1900s it was decided by the world court that if Denmark was to maintain its claim to Greenland, based on the nationality of first settler Leaf Erickson, they would have to maintain a military presence to prove sovereignty.

A unit was formed called the Sirus Sled Patrol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius_Dog_Sled_Patrol

It is an elite unit of 14 men, highly trained in arctic survival and operating for a 2 year hitch after they have completed their standard tour of duty in the Dutch Army.

They provide reconnaissance, police, and emergency services for the sparsely occupied Island of Greenland.

I was especially interested in the firearms they carry.

Standard issue rifle is an Enfield 1917 model in 30-06.

They have been offered the best hardware available from all over the world and the patrols have determined that this bolt action rifle designed before WW1 is the best firearm for their use. It is strong, reliable under all the conditions imposed by the environment, and it is chambered in 30-06 which gives superior performance, over the 7.62x51, on Polar Bears and Musk Ox!

They recently ditched their SIG 9mm pistols and replaced them with Glock 20 pistols in 10mm, for the same reason. During the course of 75 years the 9mm proved useless on polar bears. :m107:

[hunter63]

I guess that does not surprise me at all.......

Calibers and loads come and go....but when push come to shove....the old 30-06 seems to be in the running somewhere.
That and the 30-30 maybe the most popular rifle calibers and most used..... from the early 1900's to date.

Polar bears are supposed to be the meanest, badazz bear around...
One of the Alaska shows....show a little entry.... on a building....to check for bears before going out.

[JohnLeePettimore]

It makes you wonder, is this a good or bad detail to receive. Stuck in the middle of nowhere for 2 years sounds bad. But, the fact that you are there keeps the territory for your country. They might pay a lot for that.

[kyratshooter]

Duty with the Sled Patrol is supposed to be the top "proof of Bad A$$" the Dutch Army has.

It is an all volunteer unit and takes only single, unattached men that have already served at least one regular tour in the Dutch Army. They want no problems with long distance relationships not working out.

Training for the unit is about a year of intense work, including advanced medical and dental training along with sled dog work, special marksmanship and a bunch of other stuff no one else would ever need to know.

They have served in all the capacities they are allotted as well as raiding several German outposts and taking prisoners during WW2. That caused some real problems since the Sled Patrol was under command of the Dutch Army in exile and the Germans were in control of the Dutch Nation. The head of the Sled Patrol was charged with treason after the war and the charges were dropped the same day.

The present Crown Prince of Denmark was a member of the Patrol back in the day.

As a side note, I have owned a couple of the P17 Enfields these guys use and I have never found one that was not extremely accurate. One that I owned was a sporterized model that was the first rife I ever owned that would shoot MOA every time I picked it up. The only real "sporterizing" was a change of stock and stripping the excess metal hardware off and drilling for scope mounts. It still had the military barrel and trigger.

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

I have read that one of the only reasons the 30-06 was not used for more dangerous game (in the past) was the lack of availability of RN solids in commercially loaded ammo. A 220 gr RN soft point from a 30-06 will kill anything in the Americas and most things elsewhere.

Alan

[Faiaoga]

I think there is some confusion here between Dutch and Danish. Greenland is governed by Denmark. It is not Dutch.

[crashdive123]

You don't need a rifle or a pistol to deal with Polar Bears. All you need is a saw and a bag of peas. Cut a hole in the ice and scatter the peas around the edge of the hole. When the Polar Bear comes to take a pea, kick him in the ice hole.

[hunter63]

Bhohahaha....Been waiting a long time for that one.....

[Antonyraison]

I think there is some confusion here between Dutch and Danish. Greenland is governed by Denmark. It is not Dutch.

Indeed... VERY VERY different people... A lot of us out here are dutch decedents... (I am not, I am french decent)
Very interesting Post though, Although I know pretty much next to nothing about fire-arms..
I have fired a few in my time, but never have owned one... but very interesting post none the less, thanks for the education guys, in a while I likely know a lot about Fire-arms just reading the forum.

[Rick]

Danish. That's the people not the pastry...right?

[Antonyraison]

Danish. That's the people not the pastry...right?

DRAT, now I am hungry for a well you guessed it a Custard Danish... and coffeee..Oooo.

[Manwithnoname]

9mm hell, even 10mm, a polar bear, really? I'm making sure the last round is saved for me!

[kyratshooter]

Some of the 10mm loads match a .41 magnum in power level.

I am sure the pistol is easier to use inside the tent rather than the P17 Enfield. That would be just plain awkward. Bear slices through the tent side and you have to haul that long rife out.

Personally I would consider the 30-06 a little light for a big polar bear. Those guys probably do not realize that being much like the situation Anthony is in, with lack of exposure, therefore no experience in choosing proper caliber for the task. It's a gun, just shoot it.

Be it Dane or Dutch or generic European, they will seldom get a chance to fire any firearm unless it is handed to them by the military and they are careful to keep their armies on the small side.

[Antonyraison]

Our gun laws are extremely Stringent here, you need to apply for a licence for each weapon, do a competency, wait a very long time, loads of paper work, and the renew it every so often.
I was brought up going to the farm every other weekend Shot rifles, and other fire-arms, did a bit of musketry.. shot guns here and there.
But I have never really wanted a gun.. I have yet to have a need for it... even though I have been mugged, I have been hi-jacked also, and I have been tied up in a house robbery for several hours..been in a few brawls... (no fault of my own)
I have still not really had the need or desire yet to have a fire-arm...
My dad owned a few, he was in the Army, and when he had left the army he own a small side arm, my grand parents and great uncle etc had farms so they had several fire-arms...
eventually My dad handed in his fire-arm to the police once gun laws became very stringent..and never owned one again.
I am an advocate for people owning guns, and see the merit of them, I just simply haven't had the need for it.

If I own A farm that story will likely be a very different ball game. 90% of my life is in suburbia.. only 10% in the Bush (its a hobby of mine Survival, but its a passion also, so with Time I hope it becomes more my vocation)

[Phaedrus]

An ought six wouldn't be my first choice for big bears but I reckon it's probably a killed a whole lot of 'em over the last century.

[Antonyraison]

All I know is a popular riffle here used for Most hunting purposes, is the good old 303... that is what most here swear by. well for mid sized to very large game, I wouldnt use it for rabbits now hahahahah yeah nooo hahah... and this can take a polar bear, a lion, a rhino, a cape buffalo, an elphant (its been known to do that even) Large antelopes, kudu, gemsbok, impala, eland, the works, it nabs it no issues, bolt action, has a magazine also.. reliable as hell.. Its quiet a legendary weapon here, very rare you wont find a hunter or a farmer that doesn't own one, the have mythical properties and large tales always attached to them... like really crazy mad stories , een dag ek het daar tissen die berge geloop en daar veer oor die koopie die mist het net begin om te vertrek, En daan ek het hom gesein die Groooste Bul ek het ooit in my hulle lewe gesien... bla blah blah.. Normal stories... hahah

And they always told in Afrikaans, always lol..
well It makes sense when some of the riffles where kept in the family from the anglo boer war era, they just keep handing them down father to son... so they are really highly prized possessions here..

[randyt]

The 1917 enfield is a fine rifle, I keep a couple on hand at all times. Currently have a winchester and a eddystone.

[Faiaoga]

I read where a Canadian Ranger used his issue rifle to kill a big bear. If I remember correctly, the animal was supposed to be a polar bear and grizzly hybrid.
I believe the cartridge used was .303 Enfield.

[DuncanKunz]

I picked the .30-'06 Spgfld as my go-to cartridge based on detailed research and study. My then-girlfriend was right-handed but left-eyed. When we decided to go deer hunging the only relatively cheap used rifle we could find for her was a left-handed bolt gun (I forget which) chambered in .30-'06. Since we wanted to limit the logistics 'tail' I decided to get the same caliber and what I bought was a -- get this -- Western Auto rifle. Years later, after killing a few deer and carrying it around northern Arizona for a while, I found out that it was a Mossberg made for Western Auto.

It's still the only full-sized rifle I have and it still works just fine. Even though the mulies here dress out at about 150 pounds max, I feel a bit better if I am faced with a rampaging Ursus maritimus next time I'm hiking in the Sonoran Desert!

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

....
But I have never really wanted a gun.. I have yet to have a need for it... even though I have been mugged, I have been hi-jacked also, and I have been tied up in a house robbery for several hours..been in a few brawls... (no fault of my own)
I have still not really had the need or desire yet to have a fire-arm...
....

I have lots of guns and nothing like that has ever happened to me (except maybe the brawls, some of which were entirely my fault).

Alan

[Rick]

I would like to think that none of those things have happened to me BECAUSE I own lots of guns. When you walk from the house to the truck with gun cases and targets and such folks do seem to notice. Well, that and the cannon in the front yard but hey...

[1stimestar]

You could just use spears.
http://www.north-slope.org/departments/wildlife-management/studies-and-research-projects/polar-bears/polar-bear-patrol-and-polar-bear-safety

[Rick]

I will volunteer to be the Polar Bear officer. It looks like he has the job of contacting the Polar Bear Patrol personnel not actually getting involved with the bear directly. That is keeping with reducing the whole human bear interactions thingy. Shoot, I could do that from down here. Less likely to actually interact with the bear you understand.

[madmax]

It's a good thing they aren't down here. The NFS closed Juniper Wilderness Area in the Ocala National Forest for awhile because of ... bears. Imagine that. Bears in a wilderness area. Wonder what brainiac made that call.

[randyt]

here's my eddystone. I was boiling sap one spring so I took to some plinking while the sap was boiling.

https://i.imgur.com/kw3W8Qul.jpg

[Rick]

My wife's cousin had a very large room filled with firearms. I mean filled. Floor to ceiling. It had everything imaginable inside. Twos and threes of many. That was all that was in the room. Just firearms. There were racks on the floor for rifles and shelves on the walls for handguns. I was privileged to be in that room twice. Some things he handed me I still have fond memories of. You, sir, have him beat. You must have a house filled with doors that must be shoved closed.

[randyt]

who me????

[jim Glass]

Well, that and the cannon in the front yard but hey...

Now that would be cool to have!!!

[kyratshooter]

Would not be anything special if you had grown up in the south, in a small town that had hosted a major battle during the "Former Unpleasantness".

We had cannon at the park, cannon on the courthouse lawn, cannon at the museum, cannon in front of stores, and several people did have cannon in the front yard.

We fired cannon when we made a touchdown at football games!

No polar bears, but we did have the cannon.

[Rick]

That and I think the Rock Island Arsenal was kept in business just making 105s for the VFW displays.

[kyratshooter]

Our VFW did not have the traditional 105 display,

We had 6 pound brass Napoleons with green patina, big wooden wheels and caissons hitched behind.

We did not have polar bears but we had access to the Twilight Zone.

[randyt]

I've been wanting to get a cannon, might have to settle for a fougasse

[Rick]

The French bread?

[randyt]

no the projectile weapon but on the other hand french bread is pretty good.

[Rick]

Yeah, French bread would get soggy out in the front yard.