Eugene, yup on the shotgun....8 shot riot gun is at the ready here. As far as rifles go, lets just cut to the chase and carry a Barrett .50. That will give you time to fix breakfast as you watch your attack bear through the scope 2500 yards away......commin ta git ya! It WILL hammer in your tarp pegs when not locked n' loaded. I've never held/seen a 500.

Yeah, Jimshaw, I've seen bears in the wild. The first one was sitting in the middle of the road in Canada, west of Toronto, while my wife and I were riding our bicycles. We thought it to be some HUGE dog (Texans don't automatically think 'bear') and rode up to get a closer look. It saw us, looked upset, and ran off.
Second bear was just west of Juno....big sucker, no threat, majestic to watch. Our guide carried a 30-06...we hiked through a lot of devils glove.
Third bear was a black that stopped a mountain bike race I was in, cold, while in Arkansas. It planted it's butt right in the middle of the single-track and wouldn't budge. We rang bells, banged sticks on the handle bars, blew whistles....finally it wandered off and we continued.
Fourth bear was one of the first sightings of a Mexican black bear that returned to Big Bend National Park. They were hunted out of the park over 60 years ago.
I was hiking up Pine Canyon and caught a glimpse of a sow and cub running along the canyon wall above me....Mexican black bears are one of the smallest North American bears.
Fifth possible "encounter" was also in Big Bend where I was 'checked out' by what I believe to be a bear while on a solo hike/camp in the Chisos mountains. Noisy, breathy, and stank like old road kill. I'm not absolutely sure what it was....it was on the back side of my tarp at 3:00am. Smelled like rat snake musk but was way too noisy for a snake, breaking stick and bark. Funny...I was petrified and fell back asleep while trying to remain still. Got bored I guess.
Only one griizzly out of all the above.

Cheap,... lighten up. You are new to the forum and are dealing with a lot of folk who know what they are talking about....and some are having fun with you. No, we don't use rifles/shotguns as tarp poles. I don't carry weapons in the backcountry unless there's a really good reason to....and that's pretty much never. I get the impression you don't go back and read responses to your posts, based on your responses....might be time to do so.