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bear rifle suggestions?
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warbirdlover
New member
For the big Brown bears I'd go with a minimum of .375 H & H. I've read of guys emptying .300 Win mags into them without stopping them. Black bears are easy to kill.
I have never shot a .338 mag or a .375 H&H magnum, but from some of my friends, they tell me that the .375 H&H has more of push than a fast slap of the .338. If it weren't for my medical conditions, I would go with a .375 as first choice bear hunting rifle. Of course some folks go with the .416 Rigby and other such rifles.
For bear defense, the 45-70 gives you the option of high powered loads and rapid follow up shots that is better than the bolt action when time is of essence. The Garrett Hammerheads 540 gr bullets are as close to a one stop shot as you can get with bear defense. Shot placement of course is the most important aspect once you have the bullets that will penetrate well.
Many people have killed these bears with the 30-06 and many of the Eskimos use guns considered inadequate by just about everyone. One of my friends in Nome Alaska killed a goose in flight at about 30 yards with a pellet gun when I was a kid. Shot placement is the issue when using less than full magnum rifles for bears.
For myself, since I am on dialysis and must protect my arm where I have the blood lines, recoil is a HUGE issue I must consider. In such, I went with the .444 which gives me 335 gr bullets from Buffalo Bore at 2025 fps and proven stopping power for an estimated recoil of about 25 pounds the way I have my rifle set up. It feels like a 20 ga in comparison. The 45-70 with Garrett Hammerheads comes at the price of over 40 pounds of recoil energy.
The choice of which gun is a personal decision based on several factors. The minimum bear gun is felt to be the 30-06 by most experts. My dad had two rifles in Alaska, the 30-06 and a .300 H&H magnum. In the 1960's, that was felt to be enough by most folks. Today, those are felt to be inadequate. Well tell that to the three bears my dad shot while up in AK, most of which he dropped with one shot.
The good news is that there are a lot of options and if you have the pocketbook, get more than one to fill in the gaps that each rifle has.
Good luck and stay safe.
For bear defense, the 45-70 gives you the option of high powered loads and rapid follow up shots that is better than the bolt action when time is of essence. The Garrett Hammerheads 540 gr bullets are as close to a one stop shot as you can get with bear defense. Shot placement of course is the most important aspect once you have the bullets that will penetrate well.
Many people have killed these bears with the 30-06 and many of the Eskimos use guns considered inadequate by just about everyone. One of my friends in Nome Alaska killed a goose in flight at about 30 yards with a pellet gun when I was a kid. Shot placement is the issue when using less than full magnum rifles for bears.
For myself, since I am on dialysis and must protect my arm where I have the blood lines, recoil is a HUGE issue I must consider. In such, I went with the .444 which gives me 335 gr bullets from Buffalo Bore at 2025 fps and proven stopping power for an estimated recoil of about 25 pounds the way I have my rifle set up. It feels like a 20 ga in comparison. The 45-70 with Garrett Hammerheads comes at the price of over 40 pounds of recoil energy.
The choice of which gun is a personal decision based on several factors. The minimum bear gun is felt to be the 30-06 by most experts. My dad had two rifles in Alaska, the 30-06 and a .300 H&H magnum. In the 1960's, that was felt to be enough by most folks. Today, those are felt to be inadequate. Well tell that to the three bears my dad shot while up in AK, most of which he dropped with one shot.
The good news is that there are a lot of options and if you have the pocketbook, get more than one to fill in the gaps that each rifle has.
Good luck and stay safe.
sc928porsche
New member
I used to use a 300WM but I have upgraded to a 378WBY. 45-70 will work just fine for black bear.
I think the accuracy of the 45-70 is being underrated. No, a Marlin 1895 isn't a good candidate for a tack driver, but shooting off hand I can keep mine confined to fist sized groups at 100 yards. I use aperture sights.
The lighter 325 grain 45-70 loads (Leverlution, which are also the cheapest) kick about the same as heavy 305 grain .44 magnum rounds out of my much lighter Rossi M92. Which is quite a bit less than even a .308.
I haven't tried these Garrett Hammerhead 540 gr, which I think would probably kick in a very unpleasant way. I have run plenty of 430 grain gas checks through it. Recoil isn't awful with those, but I fired once with the stock poorly seated and it left a hell of a bruise. The LOP on the stock 1895 is way to short for me. If you're tall that may be something to consider.
I know a lot of people who use the .375 H&H, but I do not like that round. It is very accurate, and a great large game round, but the ones I've fired have all had very unpleasant, jarring recoil. Not much in the way of pushing, shoving, or slapping, just an unpleasant sort of concussive shockwave that travels across the cheekweld and gives me a headache.
Of the two the H&H is the superior round in all respects other than the 45-70 leaves a bigger hole, but I'll take the 45-70 any day of the week.
The lighter 325 grain 45-70 loads (Leverlution, which are also the cheapest) kick about the same as heavy 305 grain .44 magnum rounds out of my much lighter Rossi M92. Which is quite a bit less than even a .308.
I haven't tried these Garrett Hammerhead 540 gr, which I think would probably kick in a very unpleasant way. I have run plenty of 430 grain gas checks through it. Recoil isn't awful with those, but I fired once with the stock poorly seated and it left a hell of a bruise. The LOP on the stock 1895 is way to short for me. If you're tall that may be something to consider.
I know a lot of people who use the .375 H&H, but I do not like that round. It is very accurate, and a great large game round, but the ones I've fired have all had very unpleasant, jarring recoil. Not much in the way of pushing, shoving, or slapping, just an unpleasant sort of concussive shockwave that travels across the cheekweld and gives me a headache.
Of the two the H&H is the superior round in all respects other than the 45-70 leaves a bigger hole, but I'll take the 45-70 any day of the week.
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The OP should search bear threads. He'll read the same arguments posted to this thread.
Yeah, but it is so much fun to keep hashing it out even with the same drawn out arguments each and every time. There must a psychiatric diagnosis for this condition, but so be it. LOL