Which bullet for reloading would be best for black bear that will be shot from a Weatherby 340 mag with speeds of 2800 fps? I currently have been loading woodleigh bullets but noticed that they over expand at 100 yards and actually come apart. I thought about Nosler but for black bear I thought may not expand enough. Thoughts?

Use the Woodleigh. Any black bear properly hit with that load will drop like a stone. Remember, it's a black, not a griz. Any load good enough for large deer will be just fine. My opinion based on 40 years wandering the woods.

Nosler accubond, Partition, Groove bullets, even Hornady 250 gr will do great. Blackies are not that hard to kill with a 340!

I've taken black bears with many different calibers,on blackies I like alot of expansion,they are not a really heavey critter,at least not where I'm from.In the 340 I've had luck with the 250gr hornady at 2900 on blacks,the nosler would be perfect.I think if you choose a hard bullet it tends to pass right through,and lacks the dramatic effect of alot of expansion on a 250lb animal.

I've only killed two Black bears, and one of them was killed with a 160 grain Nosler Partition in my .280 Rem. The distance was about 90 +/- yards, and the bear took a few steps and fell, before I could fire another round.

He was approx. 250/275 pounds. The N.P. blew out a rib going in, shredded both lungs and clipped the off side shoulder upon exit. I use N.P. bullets now, when hunting Black bears with a .280 Rem. (Use them for elk and deerr, too.)

The other Black bear, a 400 pound boar, I killed with my S&W 57 in .41 Magnum. That was with my handloaded round using a 210 grain Sierra JHP bullet. One shot and the bear died as it hit the ground falling from the top of a tall Ponderosa pine.

I imagine with your .340 Weth., jut about any bullet you use, will do very shortly for a Black bear.

Good luck. L.W.

yankees1,

In the 44 years I have been hunting Black Bears I have seen some strange things happen using different bullets. Go with Nosler Partitions and forget the others. Nosler Partitions are what everyone else measures themselves to anyway so why not use the best. Lawdog

yankees1,

Is there a reason why you intend using Weatherby 340 mag on Black bear? Being from the UK I had never seen a blackie beyond the zoo, but I always understood that something in the order of a 308Win up to say a .358Win was "ideal" for these critters?

No crititism intended here, just trying to learn/understand from flks with a lot more expirience than me..

Regards

Pete

If I had a 340 Wby I would use it on black bear

Take a look at the 225 gr. Accubond, should work well for you.

I like the barns 225gr flat base. Last spring I shot a bear just over 200 pounds with my 338WinMag loaded to around 2700 fps. Compleatly crushed the shoulder just below the joint, went accross the front of the heart and lungs and exited out the othe leg. I've also had very good luck with the same weight A-frames. As far as what some people hold to be true that if a bullet passes through it didn't deliver enough "shock" to the animal or didn't expand enough to do damage, ask the last 5 black bears I've shot (from 145 to 225lb). I have never recovered a bullet yet and have never had one make it past 25 yards when hit. When guiding bear hunters though I can atest to the benifit of an exit wound for blood trailing a bear in the thick brush.

Yanks: I've had great results with the 225gr Swift A Frame in the 340, but the Partition is a great bullet also. Heck even the 250gr Hornady will serve you well, just be a bit more jusdicious at point blank ranges. Just pick the one your rifle shoots best. jorge

The only bullet I ever shot black bears with was the 150-grain .270 Nosler Partition jacket (old style) and it took exactly one bullet to kill one bear. In a big ol' 340 Weatherby, practically any decent .338" bullet is adequate for black bears! They ain't bulletproof!

I'd like to know where people get the idea that Nosler bullets "may not expand enough." If you are talking about Ballistic Tip Noslers, they expand easily. If you are talking about partiton Jackets, they have a very easily-expanded front section, so much so that they can be relied upon to exand at very low velocities after they have gotten to 400 or more yards doiwnrange. At 2800 FPS, a Nosler Partition's front core literally explodes at ranges up to 100 yards or so, but AFTER it has gotten inside! The bears I shot in the boiler room with a .270 Nosler literally ad nothing left in front of their diaphrams but a bloody soup with quarter-sized pieces of lung tissue floating in it. But the reart portion of the bullets went on through and were lost. (I did find one. It hit behind the last rib on the left side, went throught chest cavity diagonally, smashed the right shoulder, then travelled down the bear's leg, breaking it in two places, and coming to rest uncder sthe skin on the right wrist!! The bullet was exanded, front core gone, but still had the mushroom shape.)

I think for black bears with your gun, any bullet will do, if you shoot'um good!