But, if I were to have my woman a rifle for any N.A. game. It would be a 7mm08 or a .270 Win. Better yet a .270 WSM. Either, don't really have much recoil. For bear you want something that will penetrate. So stick with a bullet like Barnes. Maybe some of the good bondeds will work too. Have your lady shoot alot. Get her used to shooting. WOW, you are luckey. You have an angel that wants to shoot with you. I have a Swedish wife that hates guns.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

Black Bear Rifle for Wife

I'd say it was a pretty good trade.....

Read this at 5:30 this morning......got my day started with a laugh..thanks..btw seeing you are from west ne, I my son and i was on a bowhunt in Chadron 3 weeks ago for white tail and speed goats, he made a great 400 yard stalk on a nice antelope and completed a 53 yard shot.

quote:

Originally posted by huntnjim:
I will be at her side during the hunt and will have a 340wtb backing her. I have decided on the 280 and will load the barnes 140tsx. Not sure what load yet so if any of you have a tried and true load I'm all ears.

This recommendation is from a friend as I don't have a 280. He uses all of these powders with a Fed 215M primer, and his choice is in this order:

Re19
Re22
H4831
IMR4350

I've seen him shoot multiple loads at the range and his targets were quite impressive. The rifle was a factory Savage.

Winchester brass only, and his favorite most accurate is Re19 powder. It shot best at his max load and it was most accurate and gave best velocity, near 3000 fps.

Good luck!!

8X57!!! Think of it as a lower recoil 30-06.. Ray's 7X57 is also an excellent choice for your criteria..

"Black Bear rifle for wife?"


Maybe, if you got the first shot off before she even looks up. But, if she has a tongue like my wife's, you'd better make the first shot a good one! Otherwise you'd be severely outgunned.

Oooohhh...for your wife to use? Hell, mine don't need no gun. She'd just use a flying plate or the back of her frying pan, then skin it out with her tongue from a distance of 20-to-30 feet.

Y'all have fun now....

quote:

Originally posted by huntnjim:
my son and i was on a bowhunt in Chadron 3 weeks ago for white tail and speed goats, he made a great 400 yard stalk on a nice antelope and completed a 53 yard shot.

Hey...great stalk....this is what makes real hunts!...Congrats

quote:

Originally posted by ldkier:
I really wish the 9.3x57 was chambered in some of our more popular rifles. This cartridge would be perfect for your woman. I, myself think this is a good ctg. for close range hunting of "bad" stuff and "beast-like" stuff.
The recoil of this ctg. is more of a "push" than a "kick". I dream of the day that somebody like Ruger thinks of this ctg. for their #1 or 77. I just wish we had a ctg. like the 9.3x57.

That's why I bought a pre-war Anshutz 9.3x57 - for my wife.

quote:

Originally posted by ldkier:
I really wish the 9.3x57 was chambered in some of our more popular rifles. This cartridge would be perfect for your woman. I, myself think this is a good ctg. for close range hunting of "bad" stuff and "beast-like" stuff.
The recoil of this ctg. is more of a "push" than a "kick". I dream of the day that somebody like Ruger thinks of this ctg. for their #1 or 77. I just wish we had a ctg. like the 9.3x57.

The 9.3x57 is an excellent cartridge with a mild recoil.

With 5-7 grains less powder inn a 9,3x62 you have the same result......
And far more to choose from.


M

Adequate killing power and minimum recoil *** 6.5 X 57 156gr. bullet! JMHO roger

quote:

Originally posted by metric:
With 5-7 grains less powder inn a 9,3x62 you have the same result......
And far more to choose from.


M

I agree with that, but not all hunters are reloaders

I'll break with the crowd on this one.

quote:

Originally posted by huntnjim:
I have decided on the 280 and will load the barnes 140tsx. Not sure what load yet so if any of you have a tried and true load I'm all ears.

Jim - I agree with most of the replies; one of the 7mm cartridges is a nice way to go and your choice of 280 is a good one. However, I will break with the crowd here and suggest a 160gr bullet. My experience with loading and shooting 7x57, 7x64, and 7x65R is that the difference in recoil felt between shooting a 160gr 7mm bullet and a 140gr 7mm bullet is imperceptible. Yet, the 160gr bullet has a much better sectional density and will penetrate considerably better than the 140gr, especially if the hit is in the shoulder or some other dense area. Additionally, I believe the 160gr would do better against a big bear on the off chance you should need it.

If shooting a 458 Winchester Magnum rifle with 500gr bullets recoils too much, shooting 350gr bullets out of it is not the solution. If shooting a 375H&H rifle with 270gr bullets recoils too much, shooting 235gr bullets out of it is not the solution. And, if shooting a 30-06 rifle with 180gr bullets recoils too much, shooting 150gr bullets out of it is not the solution. In each of these situations, if the rifle recoils too much for the shooter, the best option is to choose a smaller caliber. So it is with the 7mm. If shooting bullets heavier than 140gr from the .280 is to be a problem, then I suggest shooting one of the .270, 6.5mm, or .25 calibers would be the correct solution. Otherwise, use the proper 7mm bullets for the task, in this case bear.

To look at it another way, let's imagine you had asked what the best bullet choice would be for hunting black bear in Alaska with a rifle chambered in 280 Remington. Do you think anyone would recommend a 140gr bullet?

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
To look at it another way, let's imagine you had asked what the best bullet choice would be for hunting black bear in Alaska with a rifle chambered in 280 Remington. Do you think anyone would recommend a 140gr bullet?

Yep. A 140 TSX will plow through any black bear. I have learned that you don't need a lot of weight to punch 2 holes in bears. In fact, the ONLY bullet I've ever recovered was the biggest one I used, a 225 Accubond from a 338 WM.

Doc - Are you saying the "best bullet choice for hunting black bear in Alaska with a rifle chambered in 280 Remington" is a 140gr bullet, in this case a TSX?

With agreeing that another 20 grains (140 to 160) up front for most of us is viable for Black bear I also want to minimize recoil for her, not only does she have a small frame she had rotater cuff surgery this year. By the time of our hunt, it will be 7 months.....just don't want her to create flinch.

From ChuckHawks Recoil Table:

quote:

Recoil of a .280 Remington with an 8 pound rifle. Free recoil energy is given in foot pounds, and free recoil velocity is given in feet-per-second. All recoil values have been rounded off to one decimal place.

.280 Rem. (140 at 3000) - Recoil Velocity = 17.2 | Recoil Energy = 11.8
.280 Rem. (150 at 2900) - Recoil Velocity = 17.4 | Recoil Energy = 11.8
.280 Rem. (160 at 2800) - Recoil Velocity = 17.0 | Recoil Energy = 11.7

This corroborates my personal experience that the recoil difference between 140gr and 160gr is imperceptible. Chuckhawks table actually shows more recoil velocity and more recoil energy with a 140gr bullet than with the 160gr bullet but you wouldn't "feel" the fractional difference. If a 160gr is going to recoil too much then the 140gr will recoil too much.

I don't know if you were looking at buying another rifle for her or not but the best way to tame the recoil of the .280 would be to shoot it out of an autoloader.

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
Adequate killing power and minimum recoil *** 6.5 X 57 156gr. bullet! JMHO roger

I screwed up. I meant the 6.5x55. roger

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
Doc - Are you saying the "best bullet choice for hunting black bear in Alaska with a rifle chambered in 280 Remington" is a 140gr bullet, in this case a TSX?

It is the "best" choice for the man's wife in question. And in my opinion, there would be zero difference in the outcome of a 140 TSX v. whatever 160 bullet was used from the same rifle at the same bear at the same distance. Same goes for a partition or Aframe or Northfork in 140 weight. Simply will blow through any blackbear on earth. They have thin skin and die easy. I've had whitetail Does at 100 pounds take more bullet from a 30.06 and, although they died on their feet, still made it a considerable distance while in the process of expiring. I've never had a black bear make it more than 20 yards and that one was killed with an arrow.

In fact, I plan on taking a 270 with the 110 TTSX on my next BB hunt.

quote:

Originally posted by huntnjim:
With agreeing that another 20 grains (140 to 160) up front for most of us is viable for Black bear I also want to minimize recoil for her, not only does she have a small frame she had rotater cuff surgery this year. By the time of our hunt, it will be 7 months.....just don't want her to create flinch.

All the more reason to use a 140. Would a shooting pad help?

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:

quote:

Originally posted by huntnjim:
With agreeing that another 20 grains (140 to 160) up front for most of us is viable for Black bear I also want to minimize recoil for her...

All the more reason to use a 140. Would a shooting pad help?

Doc - If you think the 140gr TSX is the bees knees for bear then I'm not going to try to persuade you differently. However, if you're recommending the 140gr because it has less recoil then you didn't look at the numbers I posted above.

.280 Rem. (140 at 3000) - Recoil Velocity = 17.2 | Recoil Energy = 11.8
.280 Rem. (160 at 2800) - Recoil Velocity = 17.0 | Recoil Energy = 11.7

huntnjim's wife will not be able to tell any difference between the recoil of a 140gr and a 160gr in the .280 Remington. If shooting the 160gr hurts her rotator cuff then shooting the 140gr will hurt just as much. If that exceeds her limit then a smaller cartridge, not just a lighter bullet, would be a better choice.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by huntnjim:
I am trying to decide a good rifle choice for a spring black bear hunt in Alaska this coming year for my wife. I have a 280? 30-06? 300wsm? 7mm mag? she does not like a lot of thump on her shoulder.[/QUOT

06 with a good bullet, blood trail blackies and small calibers make tracking harder. Black Bear we shot last year had to run my arm across
thick moss to find blood. Could not see it.

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
Doc - If you think the 140gr TSX is the bees knees for bear then I'm not going to try to persuade you differently. However, if you're recommending the 140gr because it has less recoil then you didn't look at the numbers I posted above.

In part I recommend a 140 due to recoil, yes, that is true. I also recommended a tough bullet, or any of the others I mentioned too. I just like the Barnes. There's no doubt a lot of hunters would prefer more lead but now that I've killed quite a few blackies and have seen a bunch killed with smaller stuff than I own, I learned that bigger is certainly not necessary.

To date, my buddy that has a 243 lets his wife use it on every bear hunt and so far she's filled her tag each time and that is using Remington Accutips or Nosler ballistic tips at bait range.

So if a 6mm bullet can do that at 10 yards with a ballistic tip that weighs 95 grains, well, I think a 140 is more than enough in 7mm. Black bears die really really easy and quick.

Doc -

Out of curiosity, I asked Barnes what bullet they would recommend.

quote:

Dear Barnes,

Which of your bullets would you recommend for taking on a black bear hunt in Alaska? The rifle is a 280 Remington. Thanks.

This is their reply:

quote:

I think I would shoot the 150 gr. ttsx in that cartridge for black bear.

Thanks,

Ryan Farr | Consumer Services
Barnes Bullets, LLC

It has become abundantly apparant that some you don't really have you wifes best interest at heart and lurking in the back of your mind is a rifle that YOU would like to have when she scrams and runs to the car after your choice of rifle has just stuck her thumb up her nose from recoil...

Said in jest as there are those here that have to be told we're having fun..

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
Doc -

Out of curiosity, I asked Barnes what bullet they would recommend.

quote:

Dear Barnes,

Which of your bullets would you recommend for taking on a black bear hunt in Alaska? The rifle is a 280 Remington. Thanks.

This is their reply:

quote:

I think I would shoot the 150 gr. ttsx in that cartridge for black bear.

Thanks,

Ryan Farr | Consumer Services
Barnes Bullets, LLC

Good choice, as is a 160 weight bullet. Did you ask what they'd choose for a lady who is petite and has had recent rotator cuff surgery? I wonder what they'd say about that. They may not even recommend a 280.

Oh well, the OP said he's loading a 140 TSX so hopefully he'll report the outcome of the hunt when the time comes.

I am going to stick with the 280 and Barnes 140TSX or TTSX for her and try and get close. I will back her with a 375H&H. We will be hunting with a friend of mine Budd Rosenbruch (Jimmy's son) for those that know him. We will stay on Budd's boat (not Jimmy's Yaght) and lower the dingy when we spot her black. We will have two tags, her first black bear hunt.

quote:

Originally posted by huntnjim:
I am going to stick with the 280 and Barnes 140TSX or TTSX for her and try and get close.

Personally I don't see how you can go wrong with this combo. I'd trust that combo to at least 400 yards, but I like everything at bow range! When is the hunt?

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:

quote:

Originally posted by huntnjim:
I am going to stick with the 280 and Barnes 140TSX or TTSX for her and try and get close.

Personally I don't see how you can go wrong with this combo. I'd trust that combo to at least 400 yards, but I like everything at bow range! When is the hunt?

Starts May 12 of 2012.

308 with 165 gr.
Easy on the shooter and a killer on the animal
joe

I have never felt like black bear were that hard to kill..any deer caliber seems to kill them just fine..

About 65 years ago, maybe longer, I killed one with a 22 pistol, took the whole clip in a hurry but he expired, but it got pretty exciting and the other two kids left me high and dry.

shot most of mine with a 30-30 and 25-35..Sometimes the hair sucks up the blood trail, or a gob of fat plugs the hole, even with big bore rifles.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I have never felt like black bear were that hard to kill..any deer caliber seems to kill them just fine..

About 65 years ago, maybe longer, I killed one with a 22 pistol, took the whole clip in a hurry but he expired, but it got pretty exciting and the other two kids left me high and dry.

shot most of mine with a 30-30 and 25-35..Sometimes the hair sucks up the blood trail, or a gob of fat plugs the hole, even with big bore rifles.

My Uncle was an avid deer hunter from the south Texas brush country, hunting, like many of us here was a passion to him as well. As he reach his mid 80s he developed glacoma and lost all sight beyond 40 feet. Did not want to have the surgery just made do. He built deer stands/hides where he could shoot with his 22 inside 40 feet, doe or buck didn't matter he would make a head shot and drop them in their tracks.

quote:

Originally posted by Zephyr:
Federal 338