I'm going on a bear hunt in canada next year. I'll be using my 45-70 rifle. In your opinion would a 300 gr fnhp be sufficient or should I go up to the 405 gr bullet. I'm asking for experienced opinions here not bench or theoretical. I don't want to find out in the field that I used the wrong bullet. Thanks!

Those will both be more than adequate from the liver forward.

300's will work, but the 350 grain hornady will provide better penetration. 405's are fine but the Remington factory ammo is slow and drop is a concern (at least for me) over 150 yards. Would be fine on a stand however.

I have killed a bunch of black bears with the Remington JSP 405 gr over 69 grs. of IMR 3031 and a good crimp.

What caliber rifle? That is a serious if not impossible over load in a 45-70.

thank you guys for your input.

quote:

Originally posted by sharpsguy:
What caliber rifle? That is a serious if not impossible over load in a 45-70.

Loaded for a 1895 marlin f2f and well under pressure max. Do not shoot that in a sharps.

That was supposed to read Marlin 1895 GG

Just the opinion from a person that has killed exactly one bear.

It was in Idaho, range was 40, maybe 45 yards on a 165 pound bear.

I was in a tree stand uphill from the bait and placed my shot just left of center in its upper chest. Bullet passed lengthwise thru its body and exited just below its right hip.

I was using a .377 diameter, 255 grain bullet, a Barnes Original, out of my 1894 Chief Crazy Horse Commerative.

The bear made it about 30 yards and was dead when I got to him.

A .45/70 with a good load that your rifle shoots accurately should do as good or better.

2th doc--I stand by my post. I happen to have a Cowboy Marlin in 45-70, so don't assume that I don't shoot any thing but a Sharps.

Now. I just filled an unsized Starline 45-70 case LEVEL FULL of IMR 3031. Guess what. It won't hold 69 grains of 3031. Level full, the Starline case holds 66.8 grains of 3031, and to load even that, you would have a seriously compressed powder charge. That is a long way from 69 grains.

My 49th edition of the Lyman Reloading Handbook lists as a MAXIMUM charge of 3031 for Ruger No.1 and No.3 as 57 grains, and this is a compressed charge, and maximum WITH A 350 GRAIN JACKETED BULLET, not a 405.

As for pressure, Kirk Bryan at Shiloh tells me that my Shiloh Sharps will take any load that a Ruger No. 1 will stand, so don't sell the Sharps short. My Sharps will take any pressure level that our Marlins will. For what it's worth, a Lyman 457121 480 grain FN bullet at 1240 fps will shoot through and through any bear that walks at any angle, and do it without heavy recoil. 39 grains of 3031 will get you there with that bullet if you feel like you have to shoot smokeless.

Load what you want to shoot as I will.
Worthy of note is I've used that load for 500 plus rounds in my Marlin and Mausers it is accurate and deadly, chrono @ 1900fps I have killed everything from woodchucks to cape buffalo with it (the cape I loaded/shot out of a 458 Win mag brass using a Yugo Mauser .458 for legality reasons in Tanzania). No sticky action no flattened primers, no cracked cases.
An friend of mine loads 71.5 grs for his Marlin but the recoil is stouter than I care for. I also have a Buffalo Classic 45/70 I shoot the 69 grs out of scary accurate using Lyman peep and globe sight.
I have killed about a dozen or so black bears with my recurve 47# @ 27" bow most shot thru and thru behind the shoulder, the largest 485 dressed #s went less than 30 yds. after the double lung. So we both know it isn't horsepower but placement of the shot...it is however a matter of enjoying what you are using.
I have an original 45/90 Sharps that I had punched out to 45/120 and load strictly BP with a drop tube, having spent more than one afternoon flipping brass into a soapy water filled bowl after each shot at a steel plate hung 500 yds from my bench..I know Sharps.

2th doc--I hate to tell you this, but quite frankly, I smell bull shit. If an unsized Starline 45-70 case will only hold 66.8 grains of IMR 3031 level full, how do you load 69 grains and seat the bullet which has to be seated nearly a half inch deep in the case to cycle through the Marlin? Next question is, how does your "buddy" load 71.5 grains? I don't buy it.

If someone has access to Quickload would run 69 grains of 3031 under a 405 Remington JSP bullet, it would be interesting to see what kind of pressure is being generated with that load.

Here is a guide from what I see as a reliable source.
http://chuckhawks.com/45-70Govt.htm and
http://www.reloadammo.com/4570load.htm
For what it is worth, I load 52 grains max 3031 with a Remington 405 as a max load.

I made up 4 groups of 300 grain sierra pro hunter rounds.the top two grouping powders were reloder 7@ 49 grains and the imr3031. The reloder seemed to have more punch. While i didn't have a chrono on it, the reloder was going approximately 200 fps faster. I will be doing one more test before setting this load in concrete.