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Now I havent been in the situation myself where I needed to stop a charging grizzly, but from the articles, books, and surveys I have read the shotgun is the number one bear stopper out of all firearm types. The best deterent is pepper spray, then followed by the shotgun. I believe Outdoor Life or Field & Stream did a extensive survey on the subject and researched bear attacks. They worked closely with the Alaskan Fish and Game Dept in the investigation. The shotgun in the cases it was used out-performed all the cases of rifles and pistols being used. People using a rifle or shotgun had a better chance of being maimed or killed before the bear expired from the wound or the bear turning away from the impact. Im not at all saying the 45-70 isnt enough to stop a bear but shot placement is the critical factor, which can be quite difficult under the stress of the situation. A shotgun slug if I remember right is around a .72 caliber(12gauge) compared to the .45 diameter of the 45-70,almost twice as large a frontal diameter creating a larger wound channel and greater spread of energy transfer. I agree with trooper3385 in wanting to shoot a bear before it gets in shotgun range, but there may be legal problems, because until it gets close you will not know if it was a legit charge or bluff and you may not be allowed to fire unless you were in imminent danger.
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