What bullet would you guys recomend to use out of a 375 Weatherby for black bears? It will be a bait hunt and shots will be 50yds. max. I was thinking about a Nosler Ballistic tip.

It seems to me at that range any soft bullet would do including the Nosler BTor even the partitions.

The 200 grain bullet designed for the .375 winchester at about 2,300'/sec should be about right.

The .375 H&H is a lot more than necessary for blackies.

I don't recommend Ballistic Tips for hunting up close because they open up too much too fast IMHO. As far as that goes, I don't care much for any polymer-tipped bullet for anything more than varmint hunting, but I'm stubborn and middle-aged.
I do recommend using a 260gr-300gr Nosler Partition instead. Partitions have worked well on most NA game since 1948. I prefer heavier constructed bullets, especially for close shots whereas the speed has not bled off much.

I realize that the 375 is WAY more than I need for a black bear but I have a 1948 M70 that is just dying to kill something! I figured I would load it with a realtivly mild load as far as 375 goes since it will be close shooting and I'm not shooting a Cape Buffalo or anything like that.

reelman ,,,,,, how do you KNOW the 375 whby will be way too much for a black bear..In the American hunting forum in December a guy in Penn. posted that he shot a 600 plus lb black bear with his 375 Weatherby,... The only shot he had was walking straight away from him..... He stated he was very glad he didn,t have a girl,s gun ,,,,,,,I mean one of his 308 cal rifles.... I would say use the most versitle bullet for large game in North America... The 270 gr Barnes Tri Shok....If you load it to 2700 fps you will be set for from 5 ft. - 350 yrds..or further.....

Hey gum, you sure a 375wby is big enough for a blackie? I figured that would be coyote size, atleast according to you. (just giving you a hard time man, no hard feelings)

Hi Joel .. The girl.s gun thing is just friendly BUT I was doing some researchand a poster ,, [ machinestbutler] posted a pic of him with a huge black bear....on the American B G forum .. He said he shot it 6 times with his 06 w 220 gr silver tips and in his words I had to get the hell out of there and that its breath stunk..... I bet after the 4 th round he probably wished he had a bigger gun ...............................The 270 s a good cyote gun..

reelman,

I shot a black bear with a 375 H&H using TBBC bullets over bait at about 35 yards. One shot, the bear went about 30 yards. Small exit hole and little hide damage. When compared to the ones our group shot using 300WSM 7MM Mag etc. the damage was less.

Try the TBBC I think you will be happy.

BigB

I would use any 300 grain RN bullet and not worry about it too much. Hawk, hornaday, Woodleigh, Barnes Original, whatever would produce th esame results

I shot my 7 foot black north of Vancouver with a 284 Win using a 160 Barnes x bullet. He dropped within 20 yds. The bullet entered the right rear hip and ended up under the hide on the opposite shoulder. It is bullet placement guys! If you need more firepower, try a howitzer.

quote:

Originally posted by gumboot458:
..In the American hunting forum in December a guy in Penn. posted that he shot a 600 plus lb black bear with his 375 Weatherby,... The only shot he had was walking straight away from him..... He stated he was very glad he didn,t have a girl,s gun ,,,,,,,I mean one of his 308 cal rifles....

That was me. I'm very fortunate I was not carrying one of my 30-magnums that morning or I very likely would not have anchored the bear. It was, indeed, a "Texas heart shot" from 50 yards. But, I'd imagine, over bait, you'd have more & better opportunities to choose a better angle. I didn't have that chance and took the one brief chance I was presented. The bullet was a 250 gr. Sierra Game King over a charge of H-414 at 3060 fps. The bullet penetrated 7"-8" of fat, 20-some inches of hindquarter, smashed the femur and went on up into the cavity someplace (a bad back prevented me from doing a complete P.M. and recovering the slug). By my estimate, I got somewhere between 5 1/2 and 6 feet of penetration. He was 677 lbs and the Sierra crushed him on the spot.

I'd use a 300 gr. Hornady r n soft. You have the rifle, might as well use it.

I have been using 250 grain Barnes "X" flat base, feral hogs, elk, and a musk ox out of my 375 H&H and have been well pleased with it. I have even killed several whitetails and had less damage than some of my smaller guns cause. Just my opinion.

I've shot several black bears wiht a 375 H&H and a 300 Gr Nosler Partition.

None of the bears I have shot took more than 2 steps, although one was still twitching and got a couple of spine finishers, at close range, which destroyed the spine, but didn't penetrate the whole bear. (it was a 6'6" bear that was record book size)

Every bear shot int he shoulders wiht this has penetrated through.

It's probably more bullet than you need for black bear, though. I'd take any 300gr bullet, or a 270gr Accubond or TSX woudl be very cool. I liek it when the bears just drop, and when hit well wiht the 375, it has been my experience that they do.

Of course a grizzly that was hit through both shoulders wiht a 7RM and 160gr X bullet just dropped, too..so there you go!

It would seem any bullet loaded on the business end of a 375wby would do the job nicely. You may just want to skip the light loads and work up something with a 260/270gr bullet that can be used on more types of game. A Nosler partition/accubond, Barnes X, or the like would be the perfect medicine. I don't necessarily think a 375wby is too much for black bear; it's just a little insurance.

+1 on the 300 RN. Works for me.

quote:

Originally posted by reelman:
What bullet would you guys recomend to use out of a 375 Weatherby for black bears? It will be a bait hunt and shots will be 50yds. max. I was thinking about a Nosler Ballistic tip.

Should you desire a nice pelt, don't use NBT's.
NP's at milder velocities will give you your pelt saving performance.

I have no doubt the ballistic tip or accubond would work nicely, however the bal. tip is no longer made . I've killed 2 elk with the accubonds pushed pretty fast out of a weatherby chamber and they killed well and left small exit holes.

For that kind of close range shooting I'd be inclined to try a 300 gr Hornaday roundnose over a moderate load......