I am scheduled to hunt black bear in CO in late Sept. I do not have the resources to hand load cartridges. So I went out and bought a couple of boxes of Federal Premium factory loaded with 200 grain sierra game kings for my 300 win mag. Has anyone had experience with this hunting black bear. I feel pretty confident with this but wanted some thoughts before I went to the range and couldn't take them back.

ElCaballero,

Good bullet weight for that calibre, but if I was buying Federal's Premium line, I would go with their Trophy Bonded for the little difference in money.

I got these as they were the only federal premiums that they had on hand.

I'd try to avoid any major bone like the shoulder with those on BIG blacks. Having them in 200gr will slow them down some so you should be O.K.

I've killed one 400 pound Black bear with my S&W Mdl. 57 in .41 Magnum, using the Federal 210 Gr. JHP. One round, a dead bear.

I also killed a 250 pound Black bear with my .280 Remington using my handload, 160 gr. Nosler Partition bullet. Again, one round.

I surely do not think you'll have any trouble killing a Black bear with a .300 Mag., and the 200 gr. Game King bullets, if you shoot accurately.

JMHO. L.W.

You'll have a great hunt and those 200 Sierra's will work like a charm out of your 300-I've used em enough to know.

What part of Colo are you gonna hunt?

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

Although the Sierra is considered a "soft bullet," you shouldn't have any problems. Just remember that if you are shooting at close ranges and you hit heavy bone, you could have a problem. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just shoot the darned thing and enjoy the hunt! jorge

A typical Colorado blackie will likely weigh less than a good Colorado mule deer buck. Your 200 grain Sierras are more than adequate, as would be a 180, 165, or even 150 grain Sierra for this purpose. If anything, you will suffer a bit from underexpansion with this bullet on a blackie, but I'd be much more worried about finding and shooting a bear than just how "dead" he's going to be after you shoot him.

Good luck on your hunt!

I will be hunting in eagle county. A friend I used to work for lives there and we entered the draw as a group so we would be sure to be able to hunt together. His work put him in the forest all summer so scouting has not been a problem. He has been seeing two or three a week for the last two summers. Been dry and they are working harder for food and are more visible. hopefully

[ 08-20-2003, 01:18: Message edited by: ElCaballero ]

Your question has been obviously answered but just thought I'd throw in that I'm looking for a WA north Cascades blacky with a 215 Sierra gameking in .338. Without reservation I might add! Have fun, it has been hot here and I've only seen two bears so far. After seeing the second I realized I should have shot the first. Oh well, this prarie kid from MT is learning about judging bears anyway.

I've used them in the .300 WSM in handloads at 2870 fps, which is probably around what your .300 Win Mag factory loads are getting. Here's one that penetrated 24" through an African Blu Wildebeest:



Can't ask for more than that.

[ 08-20-2003, 05:03: Message edited by: KuduKing ]