Hi guys,

Wondering what bullets and loads you would recommend for bear defense?

Marlin 1895GS

Those look awesome!
Too bad I can't get them up here in Canada...

where there is a will there is a way

I am sure those norhforks would be a great bullet for your purpose, you could practice with a 350 grain Hornady flat nose, that is the bullet I load for a frend who takes canoe trips in alaska.
I get about 1950 and i would expect them to do in apich. But the north fork would likly better...tj3006

Actually, I prefer the 350 Hornady as it was specifically designed for use in the 458 Win Mag. Bunches of folks use them in 45-70 for moose and large game. They will hold together and penetrate. If you have the $$ and avail for Northfork, pls be my guest, but I don't think anything that walks, crawls or flys will want to tangle with you after a GOOD shot with anything of the right weight for the purpose in your 45-70. Shrps74

For black bear I'll wager the Remington factory 405 @ 1200 would be plenty. For grizzly or polar bear I suppose I'd be happier with a ~400 LBT-pattern going as fast as a fella's shoulder would tolerate (do replace the truck tire the factory calls a recoil pad with something squishier). For coastal browns I'd really rather be somewhere else. Can you purchase Garrett or Corbon ammunition in Canada?

For the Marlin, we use the Hornady 350, it's commonly available and it's been successful on both blacks and griz. Nice thing is that you can use the cannelure for crimping the bullet. The Speers and Sierra will prove to be too long for the action if used in the Marlin. ~Arctic~

Try the Nozler Partition.Natchez has them as any large Mailorder place should.They are very accurate in my No.1

Whoops forgot the load. 59 grs of N133 and a WLR primer. Chronos 2,110.Probably not safe in a leveraction.

I used the Remington 405 gr. on a black bear and it certainly killed it. It shed the core from the jacket though. Now I use the 350 gr. Hornady FP. The only large animal I have taken with it is a hog and it had complete penetration so no bullet was recovered. I carry my Marlin lever action in a saddle scabbard when in griz country and have complete confidence in the 350 gr. Hornady.

I want to make a clarifacation.
Hornady makes 2, 350 grain .458 bullets. The flat tip is for the 45/70 and the round nose is for the .458. Lots of guys use the round nose in the 45/70 , I played with them in my Marlin , but i really don't like the way the nose of the bullet looks against the primer of the one in front.
While I would say ignition is not likly, the flat nose is both safer and designed for the velocity of the older slower round...tj3006