I live and hunt in Alaska and have owned and hunted with the Browning BLR AND the Marlin Guide Gun.
It comes down to what and where you want to hunt. I live in Kodiak which is all grassy mountain sides - I need something with range to hunt effectively. I let my BLR go a few years ago in a trade (dammit!) but it would (and did) serve very well for that purpose - wonderful rifles and plenty accurate.
But for fishing or just general packing around for bear protection you can't beat a .45/70. The BLR does not come in any caliber or bore size anywhere near large enough for close range "stops" on a brown bear. I wouldn't think twice about using a .300 WinMag to pop a bear at 200 yards, but at ten yards in the alders, I want a 500 grain flat-nose. If I lived in a heavily forested area, I'd use the .45/70 for all my hunting.
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Keith
The Bears and Bear Maulings Page:
members.xoom.com/keithrogan