In your opinions what would be a good bullet for hunting black bear,in 30 cal.

180 or 200 gr Swift A-frame, 180 or 200 gr Partition or 180 gr TSX. Which ever groups best in your rifle.

I'd opt for partitions or accubonds. 165gr'ers as a minimum in 30 cal.

The barnes tsx bullets are they to hard for black bear?ive used tsx bullets on cape buffalo with excellant results,but we are talking day and night, cape buffalo vs black bear, (skin-hide wise).

I ment 338 cal,im sorry....

I have seen good results from Corelokt's, and NP's.
IME black bears aren't too tough to bring down.
On a coyote hunt years ago a friend called in a good bear and dropped it with a Ballistic tip out of a 22-250.
It worked really well, however I don't want to try it.

I'd probably use a 210 gr Nosler Partition in either the 338-06 or 338 WM as they open up faster than the X or TSX but will blow all the way through.

I'll be using a 225 grain Nosler Accubond or a 250 grain Sierra GK out of a .338 Lapua.

Todd

quote:

Originally posted by mstarling:
I'd probably use a 210 gr Nosler Partition in either the 338-06 or 338 WM

Yup.....agree with this.

Nosler AB or Pt in as heavy as you can go. Around here most of the B bear are shot w/ the good old 30-30 lever actions, but I can see where you may want to ensure good penetration if you hit some bone.

Which bear? With even a good sized Black Bear, about any .338 bullet will work fine, and with a BIG bear, I may use a Barnes TSX, or some other premium slug.

The 210 gr PT would be an excellent choice.
Black Bears are not that tough to kill if you hit them right. I have used 30-06, 35 Whelen and 338 RUM, all with Nosler PT's and took out a shoulder.
They always go down at the shot and never go anywhere.

JD338

I use the 200 gr. partition in my 06 and 300 H&H..I love the 300 gr. Woodlieghs in my .338, that is a blackbear hammer...

The main thing about black bear is you want two holes in them per shot..That long thick hair sucks up blood like a sponge and sometimes does not leave a good blood trail...Thus the heavier bullets like the heavy for caliber Noslers etc.

I have used TSX and TBBC and Speer SBT. I have seen them taken with Nosler PT, Nosler AB and Sierra BTSP. All worked equally well and the bears died just as they were supposed to.

My favorite .30 cal. bullet is either 180 gr or 220 gr Hornady RN. They're cheaper, hit harder, and work every time. They can't be bested in deep woods, heavy timber hunting.

I used a 200 grain Nosler Partition on my black bear. Did I need the Partition or that heavy of a bullet probably not, but it worked very well. My load was 52 grains H4350, CCI 200 primers, and R-P cases in .30-06. I got 5 shot groups of 1.5" @ 100 yards with this load.

Remi 225gr PSP 'Core-Lokt' should be sufficient unless we're talking 400+lb monsters.

Black bears don't require a hard bullet, but I'd stay away from short, light-for-caliber bullets like the 210 grain .338. If I were going to use a .338, I'd go with the 250 Nosler and, if hunting in timber, I'd consider Ray's 300 grain Woodleigh suggestion. For hunting black bears in timber, I've always used 300 grain Hawk RN softs in a .400/.360 Nitro Express double, and it works like Thor's hammer on them.
-----------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

I will be using my 340 weatherby.

We're talking about black bears, not polar bears or elephant, aren't we? Even with a 400 pounder most of the 165-200gr bullets would work fine in a 30. 150gr partitions, TSX, A-frame...... would also do the job. A good friend of mine has pummeled two 400+ pounders with his 270 and 130gr partitions. BOTH 1 SHOT KILLS AND LESS THAN 35 YARDS AFTER THE SHOT. Let's not get whipped into a frenzy and remember that the most important part is to put a good enough bullet into the right spot.

TMc

I used a 150gr swift scirocco out of a 7mmRM to drop my idaho bear, though next time i'll probably take 160gr tsx. my friends that live there hunt with .270's and core lokt bullets. not an extremely tough animal to bring down. one of the local guides/taxidermists prefers tbbc. with a .338, just pick a bullet that shoots well, and post pictures of your big bruin.

On a hunt in Canada a few years ago, my friend shot a 400 lb. black using the .338 win Hornady interlock 225 gr. sp. @2800 fps. The boar was highly agitated over another bear coming near his kill. My friend shot the bear three times between the shoulders(from behind) all bullets exited the front chest and combined, made a hole the size of a softball, the boar just kept trying to get up! He shot another 250'ish boar the next day, one shot, dead. Good bullet performance. I was using an 8/06 with 200 gr. NP's (2700 fps.)and had excellent performance on my two bears. If I were using a 340 WTBY loaded to its potential, I would use a 250 gr. Swift or NP. No sense taking any chances on close range bullet failure. My buddy's rug from his 400 lb. bear will cover the top of a king size bed, he was a monster and our guide said he was far bigger than the average griz taken in that area of B.C.

quote:

Originally posted by vip:
I'd opt for partitions or accubonds. 165gr'ers as a minimum in 30 cal.

ditto! I used to kill my blackies with a Mann/Schoen .270 Win carbine and 150 grain Partitons. Things like the .338 Win & .340 Weatheby are totally unnecessary for black bears!

This will come as a shock to many but Blackies do not have armour plate!
If your talkin a non magnum .338 all you need is a 210-225 gr at most. A good bonded bullet or partition, Barnes all work fine. They are not hard to kill. Just get your shot in the appropriate spot (I always shoot for the Lungs personally) and the Bears in the bag. They are really not hard to kill at all.
My last Blackie I shot with a 7mm Rem mag with a 150 gr bullet thru the lungs, he went about 10 yds downhill from the point he was shot.
The 210 Nosler Partition has a well deserved rep as a surefire killer on medium game I think that would be my pref.

quote:

Originally posted by D B Cooper:
My favorite .30 cal. bullet is either 180 gr or 220 gr Hornady RN. They're cheaper, hit harder, and work every time. They can't be bested in deep woods, heavy timber hunting.

DB,

With all the $$$ you made on your "plane ride", I would think you could afford better bullets than Hornady!

I got a black bear with my 300 RUM one shot to the back It came out thru his heart. I used a 200 gr bullet Noslers partition.

quote:

Originally posted by tmc:
We're talking about black bears, not polar bears or elephant, aren't we? Even with a 400 pounder most of the 165-200gr bullets would work fine in a 30. 150gr partitions, TSX, A-frame...... would also do the job. A good friend of mine has pummeled two 400+ pounders with his 270 and 130gr partitions. BOTH 1 SHOT KILLS AND LESS THAN 35 YARDS AFTER THE SHOT. Let's not get whipped into a frenzy and remember that the most important part is to put a good enough bullet into the right spot.

TMc

AMEN to that! My wife shot a 380# boar two years ago, using a .308 Win and 165gr Interbonds. They're not super beings. It never went 50 yards after a double lung hit. Most folks around here shoot moose and bear using the .303 British which has less energy then the .308 Win.

A few years ago i shot a bear with a 6.5x55swede using 140gr nosler partitions
and it went down in less then 30 yards the bears wieght was about 380

I'f be inclined to go with the 225 Partition...or even CoreLokts...on small black bears...or biggies..would want heavier bullets...

Depends on the situation. Hunting blackies over baits means you get to dictate range, so I would go in close with a .30-06 and 220gr bullets. In mixed terrain, same gun with 180gr bullets will suffice. They are not invincible, but sometimes they do not go down right away and if they're on to you, you need to take them down fast. Even though they are much smaller than a grizzly or Kodiak, they're still a handful when they're charged full of adrenalin and looking to reconfigure your facial features with their claws and teeth, so I would opt for heavy bullets of standard (non-monometal) construction.

I've used TSX, Partitions, Accubonds, X bullet, Interloks, Power Points and probably a few others, and they all work.

TSX work very, very well.

For a 30 caliber, I use 165-180gr bullets, but I'd use a 130 or 150 grTSX, no problem

Just use some basic core lokts, 150's will work, some people are crazy and think that you need a bullet that would shoot through a vault, i mean give me a break, since 1906 animals have been dropping, but all of a sudden animals got this crazy vest they wear under there skin that humans just found out about.

quote:

Originally posted by AzGuy:
DB,

With all the $$$ you made on your "plane ride", I would think you could afford better bullets than Hornady!

Yeah well, I spent most of it on guns, booze and women. The rest I just wasted...

Actually I prefer a 475gr hard cast, flat nose at 1500-1600fps out of a Marlin 45-70. Cheaper and better yet.