the brown bears are coming(from Sweden), and its probably only a question of time before they reach my hunting grounds.
and of course im starting to get paranoid.

200kg/440lb(live weight) is considered a big one.
what cartridges would you guys who have experience with bears, rate as enough gun?

thanks for your reply.
i was hoping that a .30-06(200gr at 2500-2550fs) would be enough gun.

i appreciate comments from you NA hunters, we had a similar thread on a norwegian forum.
to sum the discussion up: anything less than a .338WM or 9.3x62 would be suicidal
(guess its because we haven't had any animals that can bite back for roughly a century).

Our black bears are about the same size as your browns. My wife hunts them with a .308 Winchester and 165gr Interbond bullets. My neighbor uses the old .303 British.

Your 30-06 is fine with 180gr bullets. Who ever said the 338 win mag is a minimum sounds like a windbag to me. They're not as tough as you think.

beretta96 hit it right on the head, I've shot 400 pound black bear before and they don't require magnum class power to kill. I've taken them cleanly with a .303 as well using the 180 grain Federal load - no problems. A .30-06 with premium 180's will shoot straight through them with excellent results. Anything bigger isn't really needed, but I really like the Marlin in .45-70 for shooting out of stands - quick follow up, big hole, close range - it works well.

quote:

Originally posted by Steffen-9.3:
I was hoping that a .30-06(200gr at 2500-2550fs) would be enough gun.

IMO if you can't do it with that, then you won't do it with more either.

Happy bear hunting!

An 06 with a 200 grain bullet would work great. My Bear gun is a Remington 7600 slide action in 35 whelen. I shoot 250 grain Round nose bullets. They work great! This was from bear camp in 2004. The bear on the right is a 400 pounder. The whelen floored him as he tried to sneak through the drive.

Your 30-06 would do fine with a well constructed bullet that is well placed. My preference would be my 338-378 Wby, but then you probably knew that Steffen . I wouldn't be concernced with the black bears here in Arizona with even my 257 Wby or '06 with Barnes bullets. One thing is for sure, shy of a spinal or brain shot, they can absorb some lead before they give up the fight if their adrenaline is up. Shoot one in the boiler room when he doesn't know you're there, from a distance, and they want react much different then any other good sized animal. I wish I had experience with the brownies but my friend in Alaska says it's not an issue as he uses a 30-06 for all of his hunting.

Ken....

[QUOTE] Originally posted by Heat:
My preference would be my 338-378 Wby, but then you probably knew that Steffen [QUOTE]

actually, i didn't.

the .338-378 must be an incredable killer.
them Arizona deers must be really tough

i'm thinking of selling my .300wby for a .30-06, because i think i can shoot it more accurately.

i'm not sure, i will spend some time at the range with my Weatherby and we'll see how it goes.
i haven't shot it that much, and this is the first rifle i handload for.
if i can consistently get 2MOA groups with a 200gr partition and 1-1,5MOA (3-shot groups) with a deer bullet i'll probably just keep the .300
and i need some equipment i still haven't bought, like a chronograph, super-expensive Norma powders etc.

Many years ago, a hunter just down the road from us took two black bears with a .35 Remington, which many "experts" would tell you should only be used on bear if your contemplating suicide by bear.

He said they both went right down without a problem. 30-06? Plenty strong enough. The .303 British is to Canada what the .30-06 is to the states. They take all manner of large game with their .303s.

Well I narrowly missed a large black bear near Salamanca NY yesterday. My weapon of choice was a 2005 Peterbilt 379 Semi w/ 49,500 lbs of condensed milk in a Walker tanker. If I would have been empty boy would the tires have been smoking. I had about 1/2 a second to react and missed him by probably less than 5 feet. My heart was pounding for about 5 minutes. Not exactly the way I like to do my bear wathing.

quote:

Originally posted by federali:
Many years ago, a hunter just down the road from us took two black bears with a .35 Remington, which many "experts" would tell you should only be used on bear if your contemplating suicide by bear.

.

Would be interesting to know who ordained them as ex-spurts. The .35 Remington has been used for 3/4 of a century (mainly in the eastern U.S.) for black bear, with very few problems apparently reported.

Does that prove the old definition? "Ex-spurt" = a former drip, under pressure.


Seriously, out to at least 100 yards, the .35 Remington with 200 gr. bullets such as Core-Lokts is quite enough for Blackie, in the hands of a good, cool, shot. In the hands of a lousy, fidgety, shot, a 155 full of Willy-Peter could be inadequate. (A little exaggerated poetic license there, but maybe not too much.)

quote:

Originally posted by Steffen-9.3:

i'm thinking of selling my .300wby for a .30-06, because i think i can shoot it more accurately.

That makes ALL the sence in the world!! I wish more people would admit that....

Or use 220 grs and load it down below 2600 fps.
I did that im my 300FGC after I figured I was not shooting any animals beyond 300 yards anyway. I use Woodleigh, and Vithavuori N-160, why use a more expensive powder? You do not want max velocity anyway!

Cal301906!







Cal301906

quote:

Originally posted by Steffen-9.3:

quote:

Originally posted by Heat:
My preference would be my 338-378 Wby, but then you probably knew that Steffen

actually, i didn't.

the .338-378 must be an incredable killer.
them Arizona deers must be really tough

i'm thinking of selling my .300wby for a .30-06, because i think i can shoot it more accurately.

i'm not sure, i will spend some time at the range with my Weatherby and we'll see how it goes.
i haven't shot it that much, and this is the first rifle i handload for.
if i can consistently get 2MOA groups with a 200gr partition and 1-1,5MOA (3-shot groups) with a deer bullet i'll probably just keep the .300
and i need some equipment i still haven't bought, like a chronograph, super-expensive Norma powders etc.

HA HA HA HA

Yeah Steffen, the deer here are tough and getting tougher, they hide behind the trees so I bought the boomer to shoot through the tree . No, really I just bought it because I wanted a .338 caliber rifle and it just intrigued me. On the other hand the dear and antelope rifle is a 257 Wby and my "all else/backup" rifle is a basic lightweight 30-06.

What model/brand is your 300 Wby? They can certainly kick when on a light platform.

Ken....

quote:

Originally posted by Heat:
What model/brand is your 300 Wby? They can certainly kick when on a light platform.

Ken....

it's not a lightweight at all, its a Weatherby Mark V Eurosporter.
i guess i proceeded to a bigger cartridge too fast.
i bought a .30-06 as my first centerfire, and i shot that one well, so i immediately sold it and bought the .300...

Originally posted by Steffen-9.3:

quote:

i'm thinking of selling my .300wby for a .30-06, because i think i can shoot it more accurately.

Good idea.

Steffen-9.3…Does your handle indicate that you already possess a rifle chambered for one of the various 9.3x53mm through 9.3x74mm cartridges??

If so, then you don’t need to use any other cartridge as any of these cartridges with the appropriate bullet will perform more than satisfactorily against an under 500lb brown bear.

However, if you just feel the need for another cartridge then by all means buy it if you don’t already possess it – many of these recommendations within the thread will fully fit your needs.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by capoward:
Steffen-9.3…Does your handle indicate that you already possess a rifle chambered for one of the various 9.3x53mm through 9.3x74mm cartridges??

it indicates that i had a x62 when i registrated, but not any more.

if i could have one rifle for moose and bear only it would be the 9.3x62, and i wouldn't hesitate to take it to Alaska for grizzly's.

but there is a new gun law right around the corner, and it will probably limit me to 6 hunting guns
and i must have a shotgun, combination gun, and a .22 lr.
and that leaves me with 3 rifles for absolutely everything...

Normally I reach for the gun that gives me much confidence--my .340 Weatherby Magnum--- shooting 250 gr. Nosler partitions.

Steffen !

To pick these 3 rifles is easy....

1)30-06 takes care of everything from small deer to Elk.

2)9.3x62 takes care of everything from Elk to Elephants.

3)If you are ever going to hunt Elephants then just pick something big that you can handle !

P.s. as for your combination rifle I would pick 25-06 or 6.5x55...they handle well everything from varmint to deer. With this you can easily handle everything...!

Hilsen....
Ingvar Johann

quote:

Originally posted by Iron Buck:
An 06 with a 200 grain bullet would work great. My Bear gun is a Remington 7600 slide action in 35 whelen. I shoot 250 grain Round nose bullets. They work great! This was from bear camp in 2004. The bear on the right is a 400 pounder. The whelen floored him as he tried to sneak through the drive.

That's the same setup I use, it doesn't get much sweeter than that.

quote:

Originally posted by Steffen-9.3:
...i'm thinking of selling my .300wby for a .30-06, because i think i can shoot it more accurately. ...i haven't shot it that much, and this is the first rifle i handload for. ...

Hey Steffen, I'll agree with "Bent Fossdal", try using a Starting Load shown in the Manuals in your 300WbyMag with a 180gr, 200gr or 220gr bullet. By doing that, you are darn near at 30-06 levels and don't have to trade your rifle.

The Impact Velocity and Bone Structure pretty much dictates what kind of Bullet a person needs to be using on 400# Game.

quote:

Originally posted by beretta96:
My wife hunts them with a .308 Winchester and 165gr Interbond bullets.

I've seen perhaps as many Killed with that combination as with a 200gr RN or SP Interlock in 358Wins. Both work perfectly at their Impact Velocities.
-----

Nothing wrong with Trading rifles, but you have the 30-06 capability if you use the Starting Loads instead of MAX Loads.

Good Hunting and clean 1-shot Kills.

IMO the minimum caliber would be a 30-30 and it works well on 300 to 400 lb. animals up to 200 yards,

The optimum caliber would be a 30-06 with 180 Noslers. A 7x57 with 175 gr. Noslers would also be nice..Other excellent calibers would be 300 Savage, 308 Win., 270, 9.3x62, 35 Whelen, 338-06,the 300s and a host of others.

I would stay with at least .284 and prefer .308 calibers or larger for bear simply because they have a lot of hair and that hair sucks up blood, the larger bores leave a blood trail and the lesser bores do not.

quote:

Originally posted by cal30 1906:
Cal301906!



Cal301906

Not quite. In 1912, Holland & Holland created the .375.